The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Terror XIX" 11/2 - Grading & Discussion

[Aragorn]

Anyone still watching this show? Not really enough discussion on here to warrant a weekly thread, but I figure some of you might be tuning in to Treehouse of Terror.

Spoiler: Treehouse of Terror XIX

Parodies of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, Michael Bay's Transformers and on Election Day a renegade electronic voting machine turns Homer's vote into one for the other guy.

 

[TGTheodore]

Re: The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Terror XIX" 11/2 - Grading & Discussio

Looking forward to this year's TOT episode. Love Bart wearing a Charlie Brown shirt whose jagged stripe matches his hairline!

--Ted

 

[Small White Car]

Re: The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Terror XIX" 11/2 - Grading & Discussio

I can certainly write a long list of complaints for anything past season 9, but the Halloween episodes have always been standout stars every year.

I'll be watching.

 

[HappyDayRiot]

Re: The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Terror XIX" 11/2 - Grading & Discussio

I haven't put much effort into catching this season yet (despite finding last season to be the best since about 11) but I'll be trying to find this one just for the Transformers section.

Wait a minute - the Halloween special is actually 'on' HALLOWEEN this year!?

 

[Christopher]

Re: The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Terror XIX" 11/2 - Grading & Discussio

Wait a minute - the Halloween special is actually 'on' HALLOWEEN this year!?

No, it's 2 days after Halloween. Although I think that is closer than it's been for a few years.

 

[nx1701g]

Re: The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Terror XIX" 11/2 - Grading & Discussio

Ah we get to see the episode that the McCain Election Committee is upset over finally. There was a long story about this on CNN this morning.

 

[highlander]

Re: The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Terror XIX" 11/2 - Grading & Discussio

I voted average. The political stuff was kinda blah, nothing will ever beat the Clinton/Dole stuff. The Peanuts stuff was the high point for me. All in all things are fading for this timeless show.

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

Re: The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Terror XIX" 11/2 - Grading & Discussio

Generous Below Average. That they can't make great Halloween episodes anymore speaks about the decline of the show a lot.

The Transformers bit started off well, but ended the tired, lame Halloween episode way these Treehouse stories do.

The second act fell flat on its ass. The MAD MEN bit might be funny if I'd ever seen that show.

The PEANUTS parody was surprisingly weak. There were a few chuckles (racist pumpkin), but there's been far better parodies by other sources.

 

[Corran Horn]

Re: The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Terror XIX" 11/2 - Grading & Discussio

The Transformers was great, with the plane puking out people...

 

[nx1701g]

Re: The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Terror XIX" 11/2 - Grading & Discussio

Best part: Homer Simpson is an Obama Supporter.
Worst part: Everything else.

I see why McCain's Campaign protested the episode.

 

[Marc]

Re: The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Terror XIX" 11/2 - Grading & Discussio

Best part: Homer Simpson is an Obama Supporter.
Worst part: Everything else.

I see why McCain's Campaign protested the episode.

guess it makes a change - Abe and Homer Simpsons have generally been Republican supporters "That's the Demicrats for you".

 

[Christopher]

Re: The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Terror XIX" 11/2 - Grading & Discussio

^^Heck, McCain's people should be glad for this episode. I mean, Homer's the guy who thought voting for Monty Burns was a good idea. If he's endorsing Obama, surely that only helps McCain.

The opening was cute. The Transformers parody was incoherent, just a bunch of random gags with no story or character arc; its main advantage was that it was brief, or at least felt that way.

I'm glad my father made a point of showing me the title sequence of a Mad Men episode he had on TiVo, so I could get the reference here. That's got to be the longest opening title ever to a "Treehouse" segment. The cartoon itself was mediocre and a bit too crude.

The Peanuts segment was the best. Very good job capturing the animation style in the opening and a lot of the character movements. I liked the trombone gag, though they used it one too many times.

 

[Geck]

Re: The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Terror XIX" 11/2 - Grading & Discussio

Weak for a ToH, but decent for a regular Simpsons episode. I miss the days when they tried to make at least ONE of the segments creepy/scary.

The Transformers segment was ok and had a couple of good laughs, but a weak ending. The second segment was lame all the way through. The Peanuts spoof I thought was great and I was laughing almost throughout the whole thing.

 

[nx1701g]

Re: The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Terror XIX" 11/2 - Grading & Discussio

Best part: Homer Simpson is an Obama Supporter.
Worst part: Everything else.

I see why McCain's Campaign protested the episode.

guess it makes a change - Abe and Homer Simpsons have generally been Republican supporters "That's the Demicrats for you".

Which is interesting because they established Abe as being a Communist in the episode with the Stone Cutters.

 

[Marc]

Re: The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Terror XIX" 11/2 - Grading & Discussio

Best part: Homer Simpson is an Obama Supporter.
Worst part: Everything else.

I see why McCain's Campaign protested the episode.

guess it makes a change - Abe and Homer Simpsons have generally been Republican supporters "That's the Demicrats for you".

Which is interesting because they established Abe as being a Communist in the episode with the Stone Cutters.

And Abe said Homer was a communist in Simpsons Tide but I Grandpa is loosing it so we won't put too much stead in what he says

 

[TGTheodore]

Re: The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Terror XIX" 11/2 - Grading & Discussio

The Peanuts segment was the best. Very good job capturing the animation style in the opening and a lot of the character movements. I liked the trombone gag, though they used it one too many times.

Agreed. I still like the show a lot more than people who have been burned out on it, but I was real disappointed this year. Didn't recognize the writer's name (at least for the opening segment).

I DID like the Grand Pumpkin bursting into the gym like the Kool-Aid pitcher.

--Ted

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Re: The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Terror XIX" 11/2 - Grading & Discussio

^^Heck, McCain's people should be glad for this episode. I mean, Homer's the guy who thought voting for Monty Burns was a good idea. If he's endorsing Obama, surely that only helps McCain.

I was thinking the same thing, it's quite questionable whether having Homer be an Obama supporter is a good endorsement. It's sort of like Dick Cheney endorsing McCain.

It wasn't even that it was all that funny and I know this is obscure but my favorite part was how well they did the background shake when the Peanuts characters walk.

 

[Gojirob]

Re: The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Terror XIX" 11/2 - Grading & Discussio

I will give that I loved the blink-cameo of Santa's Little Helper flying his doghouse in the far background. TF was extremely lame, though, and just how many TOH skits end with Springfield being successfully taken over? and ummmm...most of the celebs shown did not die by Homer's hands.

Honestly, I think a Simpsons/Highlander Horsemen fic I once wrote is funnier than most of this stuff, and that's not bragging for my sake.

 

[Mr Light]

Re: The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Terror XIX" 11/2 - Grading & Discussio

I continue to enjoy watching the show, but this episode was pretty average. My main complaint is that the stories barely had any horror elements. When I think Halloween I don't think Transformers

 

[Christopher]

Re: The Simpsons: "Treehouse of Terror XIX" 11/2 - Grading & Discussio

and ummmm...most of the celebs shown did not die by Homer's hands.

They weren't so much taking revenge for being killed by Homer as taking revenge for having their images demeaned in advertising. At least, that was the idea.

If there's a unifying theme to these installments, it's that they all take fairly non-creepy ideas and tack on violence and gore in order to pass them off under the "Treehouse of Horror" rubric. Without the death and destruction, you'd just have: a blackout gag about electoral fraud; a story about giant robots disguising themselves as random things; a story about dead celebrities objecting to their use as advertising mascots; and a pastiche of a gentle, innocuous Halloween special. At least the final one actually fits the seasonal theme, which is more than can be said of the others. Overall, this is probably the weakest ToH ever, although the "Grand Pumpkin" segment redeems it somewhat.