Treehouse of Horror XXIV

Directed by:	Rob Oliver
Written by:	Jeff Westbrook
Release date:	October 6, 2013

"Treehouse of Horror XXIV" is the 24th Halloween episode of The Simpsons, aired in the show's 25th season. The episode was written by Jeff Westbrook and aired on October 6, 2013 on the Fox Network.

Synopsis

Oh, the Places You'll D'oh

It is Halloween and the Simpson kids are unable to go out due to having the mumps. Once their mother leaves for a costume party, they are visited by The Fat in the Hat (Homer) who gives them vaccinations so he can take them out to get candy. However, instead of helping the kids get their treats, Fat takes them on a path of death and destruction before they manage to elude him and get back home. But Fat is waiting for them there and gloats that he will never leave them before getting fatally stabbed with his own umbrella by Maggie. With Fat dead, the kids faked having the mumps when their mother gets home.

Dead and Shoulders

After getting his head ripped off in a kite accident at the airport, Bart is surgically attached to Lisa's body. Though the two eventually are able to get along, Bart learns that can control Lisa's body while she is unconscious and resolves to get rid of her to have total control. Unfortunately, the attempt on the sawmill results with Bart transferred to Selma's body while Lisa's bodiless head is grafted onto Krusty.

Freaks No Geeks

In a 1920s era circus, the self-serving strongman Homer gets his lover trapeze artist Marge to marry sideshow performer Moe after learning of the ring he inherited from his mother. At their wedding reception, the other "freaks" announce that they accept Marge in spite of her being a "normal" outsider. Later finding Homer attempting to poison Moe' wedding wine class, Marge kicks him out as he soon finds himself attacked by the freaks. The scene fast forwards to a mutilated "human duck" Homer finishing the story of how he and Marge met to their kids.

Production

In October 2013, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Guillermo del Toro spoke about directing the opening of the episode, saying: "The Simpsons titles are so iconic and yet they've never been riffed in this vein. I really wanted to land the connections between the show's set pieces and the titles and some of the most iconic horror movies, and intersperse them with some of my stuff in there for pure joy. For example the idea that Ms. Krabappel could be outside the school with Alfred Hitchcock which is a reference to the sequence in The Birds that happens outside of the school in Bodega Bay. To use Chief Wiggum as the Cyclops from Harryhausen, dipping the Lard Lad donut in a water tank, to have the nuclear spill from Mr. Burns' plant create zombies — all of this stuff seems to make sense to interconnect. If Homer really gets a radioactive isotope, he could turn into a reaper from Blade. Or the famous shot that is always in the titles — Maggie driving and then you pull back and there's Marge driving, right? But in this case Maggie is driving, and she's driving the car from the horror movie from the 70s called The Car, which is one of my favorite guilty pleasure B-movies. And what if Lisa is in the music class, but she's in the music class with every Phantom of the Opera ever made? It was a unique opportunity."

He also spoke about the references in the opening, saying: "You as a kid could spend an afternoon on your bed with your magnifying glass going through a frame of Mad magazine and finding all these references to this and that. I integrate[d] Lisa falling through the couch like Alice in Wonderland but in the dress of the girl from Pan's Labyrinth, and instead of landing next to the giant toad in Pan's Labyrinth, she lands next to the Hypnotoad from Futurama. At the last minute I wanted to put a Mexican wrestler in there, but casting producer Bonnie Pietila said to me, "We've got to go! We cannot keep adding and adding stuff."

Trivia

• This is the second Treehouse of Horror episode to have a Halloween-themed opening sequence, after "Treehouse of Horror IX" in Season 10.
  • This is also the first Treehouse of Horror episode since "Treehouse of Horror IX" to have a chalkboard gag.
• With an airdate of October 6, 2013, "Treehouse of Horror XXIV" is, to date, the Treehouse of Horror episode that has aired the earliest in the calendar year.
• In the opening, Lard Lad comes to life with lightning referencing "Treehouse of Horror VI".
• This episode features the first Halloween-themed couch gag since "Treehouse of Horror X".
• This is the first (and only) Treehouse of Horror episode with a segment using the word "D'oh" in its title.

Cultural references

"Oh, the Places You'll D'oh" is a spoof of the Dr. Seuss book The Cat in the Hat. Another Seuss character, the Lorax, appears promoting an SUV in an obvious jab at the marketing for the 2012 Lorax film adaptation. Marge goes to attend a Halloween party in a Catwoman costume. When Homer, as the cat, is killed, he requests that he not be portrayed by Mike Myers, an obvious jab at the 2003 live-action Cat in the Hat movie where Myers portrayed the Cat.

"Dead and Shoulders" borrows the premise of the 1972 movie The Thing with Two Heads, which starred Ray Milland and Rosey Grier.

"Freaks No Geeks" is a parody of Tod Browning's classic 1932 horror film Freaks.

Reception

Critical reception

David Hinckley of the New York Daily News gave "Treehouse of Horror XXIV" three stars out of five, writing that "'Treehouse of Horrors' remains an honorable tradition, and if nothing else, it reminds fans that they don't have to wait for South Park to get some good old-fashioned animated mayhem." Dennis Perkins of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B, saying, "After the season-opening Homeland parody storyline in last week's episode and a "Treehouse of Horror" for its second, we have yet to see exactly what this season has going for it as The Simpsons soldiers on for its 25th season, as these premise-heavy episodes haven't left much room for character. Next week will be the real test, but for now, I'll take these first two installments as cause for hope." Tony Sokol of Den of Geek wrote that the episode was "nearly a classic". He felt the third segment was the best and wrote that "When The Simpsons commit to a joke, they commit."

Ratings

The episode received a 3.0 rating and was watched by a total of 6.42 million people, this made it the most watched show on Animation Domination that night beating its fellow FOX cartoons American Dad!, Bob's Burgers and Family Guy.

External links

• Simpsons Wiki: Treehouse of Horror XXIV
• "Treehouse of Horror XXIV" recap at TV Tropes