I know it's a little OT, but what I love about Homer's wish for a turkey sandwich is that he has enough foresight to demand that nothing bad happens. And yet he's freaked out by the dry turkey. It's genius.
Seeing Martin die violently and in agony, only for a beat to go by with him lying totally still, and then Nelson to still go "Ha ha!" is one of the funniest moments in the show's history and it gets me everytime.
Even when the show dropped in quality, I still watch the Treehouse of Horror each year. III through VI are my favorites. The stage play story in XX and the Guillermo del Toro opener were creative.
i'm Italian, and my favourite one is the italian version of the raven, from the first special. the italian voice of Homer was (he passed away) Tonino Accolla, one of the best in italian history, he was directly chosen by Matt Groening and was so good of an actor that voiced not only Homer Simpson, but Eddie Murphy and Jim Carrey in all of 90s classic movies. give it a try even if you don't understand italian.
hi, I'm also a fan from Italy and there is a UA-camr called "il canale del chaddone" who took the script of the video and translated it exactly without giving you credits. the video is called “il declino dello speciale di natale de i simpson”
The quality drop off can also be seen in when the THoHs stopped doing framing sequences around the stories. Things like having the segments as nightmares from too much candy or Bart setting the scene through a picture gallery made it something a bit more.
The only disagreement I might have, is I think their golden age started in season 2, not 3. If I were to pinpoint a moment the show's golden age began: it'd be Homer at Springfield Gorge. So perfectly constructed. Homer and Bart have their heartwarming moment, and then Homer starts slowly rolling out of frame. Terrified at first, and he looks like he's gonna make it, but then his momentum arc just.... stops.... and he plumments and you hear every impact and see him get bloodied and bruised. They could've ended it there. But then he's shown getting lifted put helicopter and they keep banging his head. They could've ended it there. But they have him get loaded onto an ambulance (why not just airlift him the whole way?) and it immediately crashes and he falls down AGAIN. When he falls the second time, the golden age begins.
7:48 that's one of the funniest scenes because of Nelson's reaction. The scene you played before it, from the same episode, does the same sort of gag where Bart wakes up screaming. Homer yells "Bart, is that you?" Bart: "Yes." Homer: "Take out the garbage." I thought the scariest scenes were when Goldilocks gets mauled to death by the three bears, and when the gremlin holds up Flanders' decapitated head.
i think wiggums "we got a complaint from an anonymous ""neighborino"" about an elaborately choreographed high octane ultra fight" line from Mr. and Mrs. Simpson is one of the best lines from any treehouse of horror idk why it always just really gets me
Probably the scariest Treehouse of horror segment for me would have been "Bad Dream House" from the second season. The music and the house's voice creeped me out as a kid.
The Raven sketch is maybe one of the best pieces of television ever to air, ever. Beautiful and brilliant, and bone chillingly haunting, it really was an exceptional retelling
I disagree on the scariest moments in the Simpsons. The creepiness came more with Mr.Burns as the weird alien walking through the forest. The design of that was just so jarring. Same with the camping episode where Bart, Homer and Flanders are stuck on a raft but the rest of the campers are following through and the episode ends with them being stalked by a monster and it attacks them. Super dark ending.
The Raven is only one that is actually kind of unnerving. They really did a fantastic job of adapting Allen Poe's work to the point where it's not so much funny as it is unsettling to watch someone go slowly insane.
Horror and comedy can really work off one another. The ending of The Thing and I messed with me as a kid because I couldn't decide if it was funny or cruel.
I genuinely enjoyed the Halloween episodes up until Hommerzilla. Even some of the more bland segments were tolerable, and some segments were even memorable. Tree House of Horrors and the parodies of stories i.e. Simpsons Tall Tales even had their moments. I even liked the concept of a more recent THOH segment where Lisa had an imaginary best friend, but the writers ruinted it when they introduced Homer's best friend who was a hot dog. This video has inspired me to check out the most recent THOH, so I thank you for that, and it's nice to have an essay format echoing the sentiments of the fans of the Simpsons who truly appreicated when show was at its peak.
I’ve been watching The Simpsons since it first aired, and I will say that the last 3 seasons have been surprisingly good. Not as great as the golden years, but going above cheap jokes by using interesting narrative devices to given more depth to existing character and also expanding the Simpsons universe.
I feel like after this long if they really have no intention of ending it, I would love to see a time jump. Get Bart and Lisa in high shool and an older Marge and Homer could revitalize the show a bit. Or destroy it but either way its a gamble I would take. Its needs something for sure.
I was so surprised from last years Treehouse of Horror. I usually go in with the mindset "yea, it will probably be bad, maybe scary at best", but oh boy was I caught of guard from the first segment. Really had me frozen on my sofa. Interesting that you didn't mention "Thanksgiving of Horror". It's not a typical Treehouse of Horror, but it follows the same formular. It's pretty bloody tho. If you hadn't watch it yet, then it's still worth a watch. For none Halloween episodes you might want to check out Pixelated and Afraid from season 33. It's a beautiful Homer and Marge story.
Last season's Treehouse of Horror with The Babadook, Death Note, and Westworld was arguably one of if not the best Treehouse of Horror episodes they've done. Among the best Simpsons episodes they've done.
Life long memory:showing my husband the episode with the death note parody and then us watching next year's episode together for the 1st time. We were soooo hopeful and soooo disappointed. NFTs are NOT funny....or scary.
For me the treehouse of horror with Hugo will always be my favourite but I randomly remember the one with snakes hair making homer be a killer being a childhood favourite😂 incredible video as always🎉
In addition to everything you said I'd like to give another thing, that to me make sthe older episodes better. Its the animation style AND detail! Older episodes were slower animated and did not have so much detail (especially people) in the background, resulting in a more solitude environment, which - in my opinion - added something to the creepy atmosphere, as it was somewhat uncanny.
I consider the start of the golden age of The Simpsons to be season 2. There are a handful of episodes, maybe 5, that feel like they could have been in season 1, but the majority, I believe, fall into the absolute classic category.
@@Vivi_9 Season 10 was the first season where I saw cracks on a large scale. To be fair, seasons 8 an 9 had them too but they were either small or confined to a few episodes at most. However, that being said, the series was still watchable even after the golden age. Well, until season 22 for me. I could sit through a "middle Simpsons" episode, knowing very well that the A* quality was no longer there but still contained moments that were enjoyable.
@@ItsHailee7 I remember first starting to really not care about the show I think around season 13 with their trip to England, season 16 was when I gave up, that was garbage, but when the movie came out which I loved, I think it gave a good kick up the backside for the show but it never came close to being more than just watchable IMO
i STILLLL vividly remember the first time i ever watched the very first Treehouse of Horror episode. it felt sooo special and eerie. Just as it started with Marge stepping out from the curtain really set the tone. I was a lil kid who watched that show since the initial run on German TV somewhere around late 1990 or 1991 and was instantly a fan of it. And i remember how much of an impression that very first Halloween episode had. Didn't even know what Halloween was but i loved that take on telling 3 creepy and well animates stories, which had such a strong atmosphere. It still felt like a regular Episode but with the difference of having 3 mini episodes being shown that took some liberty in terms of setting and continuity. That worked amazingly great. But after season 6 onwards it really became VERY very dull, pointless and just too forced and generic. They just wanted to parody movies without having actual original stories and they just wanted to become more extreme and gross.
I really enjoyed the analysis, it brings back memories I loved watching these when I was younger. And I'm so excited to see people still analyzing I looove treehouse of horror episodes❤❤
I really enjoyed the analysis in this video. It was quite interesting to see the comparisons between the new and old episodes, and see what caused the decline of the episodes over the years.
Although I am not a religious fan of The Simpsons, I occasionally watch it with my family. It is interesting how nicely you broke down the shows as I have a deeper appreciation for it. I especially love how you dive into the interrelationships of horror and comedy. It's truly quite fascinating how two separate genres can be so intertwined! Love your videos!
I for one wish they brought Devil Flanders back, because he was cool and/or the most memorable thing about the Treehouse of Horror in my eyes next to Kang/Kodos.
I’d always been watching Simpsons with my cousin in our childhood, but I never watched the treehouse episodes since i grew up in China and i think they block these “disturbing” episodes. However, in my pov this illustration of the halloween Simpsons episodes is time worthy to watch and i really feel him when it comes to there would be more concept than characters in the future cuz i watched almost 20seasons w my cousin and i consider the old ones are legendary.
I think the real message about the Simpsons tree house of horror becoming worse is just that things become worse overtime. For as long as the show has gone on for your never gonna have enough out of the park home-run style segements that can take a dark story into the Simpson life that gives the original story new life. Your most likely gonna get cheap Simpson parodies of current dark media or cheap action gags.
Thanks to this video, I watched Treehouse of Horror XXXIII and shed a tear with the first mini-episode with Maggie and Marge. Thank you for telling us how amazing it is. On a side note, it's a little jarring hearing Marge's voice actress sounding to scratchy. I'm sure the cast has aged over the decades, but I'm glad she gets the role that is so iconic still.
You really know how to put these things into words. I've been off of youtube for quite a while but so glad to see you're still making these. I hope you still love making them too
The one where homer angers a leprechaun genuinely scared me as a kid. I can name the exact moment that did it. It was when bart gave up and drowned in his cereal, wasnt overly dramatic the joke was just the leprechaun danced on his head after he died. Something about how casual bart gave up and chose to die was terrified me as a kid.
How did Bart choose to die? I always interpreted it that the weight of his head finally overcame him and he drowned in his own cereal bowl in a completely helpless manner. What always jarred me about it though, was he drowned in like 1.5 seconds. Moreover, no reaction from his family whatsoever who were right in front of him.
I'm torn on that because while I loved the short and love TOH I also really like how the first movie felt like it could fit into the series. I worry that if it was made into a movie it would've felt almost detached from the rest of the show
the parasite spoof was unbearable dude. I only got a laugh out of the one line where they try to kill Lisa. Absolutely concept over character. They didn’t even spoof the one scary shot from that movie!
3:33.. yup.. exactly what I thought.. I watched that episode so much i memorised the entire thing and shocked my Older cousin when i spoke the episode out word for word while reading a comic while emulating all the voices involved (not perfectly mind you)..
11 місяців тому+1
I agree, for the new ones, Tree House of Horror XXXIII was outstandingly good. One thing I disagree about with you and many other commentators is that some of my favorite type of episodes are the big concept ones, where you get to see what happens to all the ensemble characters. Some examples of this are the island where they all turn to animals and the witch curse where they turn into their costumes. It's just so much fun to watch. I really love the sight gags.
Although I stopped following the Simpsons a while ago, the Treehouse of Horror were real highlights. Concisely constructed but with a really friendly presentation. Really enjoyed this.
Wiz Kids wasn't bad actually (IMO), and it had a heartwarming ending with Bart and Lisa reconciling. JKR herself liked it for what it's worth. You also ignored the fact that the Bart Simpson's Dracula segment was mainly a spoof of Coppola's Dracula film, so the idea of TOH segments spoofing modern works isn't a recent phenomenon.
Mr. And Mrs. Simpson is not my favorite segment but it's one I will go back to frequently because it has the funniest one liners. The best part for me is when his brain is talking to him and telling him not to eat the lasagna and he keeps eating it. Finally his brain says "you moron just kill her," and then out loud he says, "I'll kill her after dessert."
I like that there's logic to Homer's sentiment. Lisa did just take the monkey paw and use it without asking. Without considering they had only four or five wishes in total. Of course, the wish itself being not selfish at all is the joke and it still works 100%.
I _thought_ we were gonna have a worthy succesor to The Simpsons with Rick and Morty, but it just fizzled so bad after the first couple seasons, and they took ages to produce them. Just didn't pan out. As long as this stupid serialization and season story arc model remains the prevailing format, we're never gonna have TV like it used to be. The current model has killed the shared experience of TV. Like, you never heard someone say "Oh, don't spoil anything, I'm not caught up!" when you were talking about last night's Third Rock From The Sun back in the 90s. An awesome show that's not remembered enough. People too young to remember the millennium piss and moan that episodic TV was full of "filler espisodes", because they fail to realize there was no story to advance. That was never the point. The point was to watch an amusing 22-minute play with characters you knew. And next week, they'd be performing another one. And if you haven't watched the show in awhile, or it's your first time watching altogether, you'll pick up the premise pretty quick.
I was too young to watch the first Treehouse of Horror when I was a kid (plus I wasn’t allowed to watch the show since my mum, a teacher, had heard all the early-mid nineties moral panic about it) but as a 10-year-old I read The Raven myself in a trilogy of Poe stories from my school library. I loved it immensely, even if I was a bit too young to fully grasp the complexity. When I started watching The Simpsons despite my parents hating it they re-aired that first THoH and by then I’d read the story myself and was a little older and understood it better. The show did such a magnificent job with it. It was honestly flawless.
And it is now owned by the studio that made the not-exactly-classic-but-prescient-in-hindsight because of the casting 1981 movie *The Devil and Max Devlin.* The guy they cast later had a TV show that was up against this one.
The very first Simpsons episode I ever watched was the Treehouse of Horror episode with Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace. I had never heard much about the Simpson before so I thought that all episodes contained three stories and that Willy was always a bad guy trying to kill the children.
@@EntertainTheElk It was certainly weird, especially since that episode also has an exaggerated animation style like in a scene where Bart screams and his mouth opens extremely wide.
@@alixconnor8129 it wasn't a Treehouse of Horror episode but I expected one. I think I didn't even watch the first episode from the start and thus didn't have a chance to realise it's a special episose.
I used to teach English as a second language. Around Halloween, I always had a sesssion where we analyzed The Raven as a story. Playing the Simpsons version always helped understand it a bit more and make it less pretentious and boring for my students. Some of them told me they enjoyed the class very much. It is one of my fond memories as a teacher.
Easiest way I’ve explained it, they went from real horror to parody and meta. Instead of using like a good idea (like the teachers eating the kids) and instead used a horror movie from the past like The grudge and made it meta.
The Shinning is always the one I think of first. Then there's the 3D Homer that comes to the real world. I remember when it first aired here kids at my school were saying it was the end of The Simpsons and Futurama was taking over as it was about to premiere.
Why am I under the impression that you've never seen any 'Twilight Zone' episodes? Seems like you'd mention the inspiration for half of the early episodes. Btw 13:36 is where one of my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE clips comes from, When Burns lamely tosses the gas grenade and winds up doing a "I was strolling through the gas one daaaay" 😂🤣
I've seen a good amount of TZ but certainly know that's where a lot of the inspiration came from. I mention that they're inspired by novels, TV shows and films. Didn't feel like I needed to stop down and give them a specific mention. But yes, TZ is a huge inspiration.
I always enjoy your channel and informative insight on things. Keep up the great work 👍🏾 Attack of the 50 foot eyesore was my favorite tree house segment
Right? That was a weirdly useful idea to have learned as a kid from that episode that I still think about to this day. About how the weakness of advertisers and media really is disengagement.
A little late here, but I would highly recommend the Treehouse of Horror comic books from the now defunct Bongo Comics. I'm cautioning that they're very much written for a comic book audience rather than a TV audience. They did the "Death Note" parody before the television show did. Mark Hamill wrote one of the stories.
16:00 hey, we're in a new golden age right now, almost every episode in the recent seasons have been absolute bangers with a few meh episodes here and there
Its like supereyepatchwolf lite . I got worried when it was only toting the 'golden age is so far behind us' line, without also acknowledging that the world and show structure we expect anymore is so changed. But it stuck the landing by mentioning last years good Treehouse episode.
Hm, I wonder if the idea for The Bart Zone comes from that segment of The Twiligth zone movie (1983) where Nancy Cartwright plays the sister to the boy with similair powers.
if I did a canon horror themed Simpsons episode I would have created a prequel episode about Marge's Uncle Arthur alluded to in a throwaway line from the episode The Boy Who Knew Too Much and we see him getting taken by those marshals.
Treehouse of horror 33 Meh. The second segment is nice from a visual point of view, but as a re-narration of Simpsonized Death Note it's not that great, and the third starts from an excellent premise, but is narrated too quickly. Indeed, let's even say that, rather than three segments (which all seemed extremely sped up and inconclusive to me) it would have been far better to have two, but longer: the third, I repeat, would have been much more beautiful if it had started as a normal old-fashioned episode, gradually introducing more suspicious elements which then revealed the final surprise... so it's really badly cut with a blunt axe. The first is really not received, dull and boring.
All I know is that I just watched the latest episode of Treehouse of Horror and found it to be really stupid. For me that is sad because I have watched since day 1 and loved the first few treehouses of horror but now it sees like the writers have just given up.
I absolutely hated the Diving Bell and the Butterball, burping has always been a cornerstone of the Simpsons and instead they chose farting, and Homer shooting spider silk from his behind is just weird.
Outstanding! A most excellent analysis based on the Halloween specials and the long decline. One of my favorite segments of TSHS would have to be HS # IV and Bart Simpson's Dracula. Classic.
“The raven”, “The devil and Homer Simpson” and “The shinning” are some of the best TOH segments. Even though I don’t like or don’t care about the modern installments, there are some segments from them I like such as “Death tome”.
Super Eyepatch Wolf's "The Simpsons Are Good Now" video that just came out convinced me to watch Treehouse of Horror XXXIII yesterday. It's one of the best in the entire history of the show, and if you're interested it's highly recommended to go in blind.
Treehouse of Horror V was the best one, and the first one with a notable decline, I was gonna say IX, but I can't even remember all the segments from VIII. There was Fly vs Fly, and there was the Salem witch one at the end. Oh, The Homega Man. That was a good one, now that I remember it. Then IX had the one where Homer gets Snake's hair transplanted on his head. Bart and Lisa transfer into the TV. Maggie turns out to be Kang's baby and they go on Springer. Yeah, I had a hard time remembering VIII, but it was still good now that I remember. IX straight up sucked.
There must be something going on with The Simpsons if both you and Super Eyepatch Wolf dropped similarly themed videos at pretty much exactly the same time.
Can we talk about how several TOH episodes centered around Lisa either being a killer or getting involved with paranormal force have fallen flat? With the exception of Death Tome, it worked well. I did like Coralisa but it might have been the animation that won me rather than the story.
Personally what seems to stick out in modern Simpsons vs the golden age is the abandonment of clever comedy writing, there's jokes from the 90s up to the early 2000's which were risky and went over my head as a child. But that wit and deadpan comedy disappeared and has since been replaced by the very obvious- let me spell it out for you- comedy. Or jokes that dissolve into kissing some celebrities/ tech giants ass. Nothing makes that point more than the lizzo episode they put out into this world in much the same way a cat puts out a hairball.
The Treehouse of Horror was always parodying movies or books from horror, thriller, etc. New movies/books from those genres have been declining in quality as well, so when Simpsons parodies them, they're also not good.
I'm a huge Simpsons fan (or I was... whatever, you understand), and i was so lucky as a kid because the golden era of the Simpsons was right when i was like 8, 9, 10 years-old. It was perfect. I remember watching every week and just being in love with the show. And those great Treehouse of Horror episodes really were a fun part of my Halloween. Looking back, I really appreciate how great it all was. By the way, i really enjoyed your video. Great job.
They were already spoofing that movie in season one when Bart and Lisa said “one of us, one of us.” Even the two references to “Gabba Gabba Hey” are to a Ramones song that misquotes the “gooble gobble” line from that movie.
I actually didn´t like the Treehouse of Horror that had the Death Note parody and the full-length It parody was also just going through the motions. The one recent segment in a ToH I liked was where Homer ate himself bit by bit from 2017.
I think the problem is the lack of resource and drop off of the mainstream horror genre. Treehouse of Horror is at its best when it’s parodying big horror franchises like Shining, King Kong, Nightmare on Elm Street. When they started doing superhero skits and Harry Potter you could tell the horror genre had ran dry.
There are hundreds of horror movies, horror TV shows, horror video games, horror comics and other stuff they could have done episodes about. But yea it was not interesting anymore when they stopped focusing on horror.
Go to buyraycon.com/elk and use code BIRTHDAY to get 20 to 40% off sitewide during Raycon’s Anniversary Sale! Brought to you by Raycon.
I know it's a little OT, but what I love about Homer's wish for a turkey sandwich is that he has enough foresight to demand that nothing bad happens. And yet he's freaked out by the dry turkey. It's genius.
It's so so so damn good.
I mean the turkey was dry though
Not just dry, but only “a little dry” lol
Seeing Martin die violently and in agony, only for a beat to go by with him lying totally still, and then Nelson to still go "Ha ha!" is one of the funniest moments in the show's history and it gets me everytime.
To then being rolled into the kindergarten class.
I also love when Milhouse died when he stumled in the mixer
@@EntertainTheElkI especially like Skinner’s dialogue in that scene.
Even when the show dropped in quality, I still watch the Treehouse of Horror each year. III through VI are my favorites. The stage play story in XX and the Guillermo del Toro opener were creative.
The Death Note one was really well done.
Same! :) I love them every year !
Same! Every year. It’s the only episode I don’t miss.
i'm Italian, and my favourite one is the italian version of the raven, from the first special. the italian voice of Homer was (he passed away) Tonino Accolla, one of the best in italian history, he was directly chosen by Matt Groening and was so good of an actor that voiced not only Homer Simpson, but Eddie Murphy and Jim Carrey in all of 90s classic movies. give it a try even if you don't understand italian.
That's so awesome. Thanks for sharing this information. And hello Italy!
hi, I'm also a fan from Italy and there is a UA-camr called "il canale del chaddone" who took the script of the video and translated it exactly without giving you credits.
the video is called “il declino dello speciale di natale de i simpson”
Wow wow wow. That sucks.@@keithaunn
The quality drop off can also be seen in when the THoHs stopped doing framing sequences around the stories. Things like having the segments as nightmares from too much candy or Bart setting the scene through a picture gallery made it something a bit more.
I don’t know if I fully agree with that. Treehouse V was the one where they dropped the framing devices, and V is arguably the best of the whole lot.
The only disagreement I might have, is I think their golden age started in season 2, not 3.
If I were to pinpoint a moment the show's golden age began: it'd be Homer at Springfield Gorge.
So perfectly constructed. Homer and Bart have their heartwarming moment, and then Homer starts slowly rolling out of frame.
Terrified at first, and he looks like he's gonna make it, but then his momentum arc just.... stops.... and he plumments and you hear every impact and see him get bloodied and bruised.
They could've ended it there.
But then he's shown getting lifted put helicopter and they keep banging his head.
They could've ended it there.
But they have him get loaded onto an ambulance (why not just airlift him the whole way?) and it immediately crashes and he falls down AGAIN.
When he falls the second time, the golden age begins.
I agree with you wholeheartedly. And him getting hit by the gurney after his second fall is real, cruel and absolutely hilarious.
@@joetowers4804it's strangely funny, that gurney bit
7:48 that's one of the funniest scenes because of Nelson's reaction. The scene you played before it, from the same episode, does the same sort of gag where Bart wakes up screaming.
Homer yells "Bart, is that you?"
Bart: "Yes."
Homer: "Take out the garbage."
I thought the scariest scenes were when Goldilocks gets mauled to death by the three bears, and when the gremlin holds up Flanders' decapitated head.
I always loved the alien Citizen Kang episode and the Thing and I -- plus that old "How to Cook Humans/for Humans/Forty Humans" gag always gets me lol
i think wiggums "we got a complaint from an anonymous ""neighborino"" about an elaborately choreographed high octane ultra fight" line from Mr. and Mrs. Simpson is one of the best lines from any treehouse of horror idk why it always just really gets me
I love this line, too. It almost makes up for the fact that "Mr. And Mrs. Simpson" isn't actually horror.
Probably the scariest Treehouse of horror segment for me would have been "Bad Dream House" from the second season. The music and the house's voice creeped me out as a kid.
That was the very FIRST one. Classic.
The scariest one for me is Homer in 3D universe.
Nelson laughing at Martin obviously dying is pure gold
The Raven sketch is maybe one of the best pieces of television ever to air, ever. Beautiful and brilliant, and bone chillingly haunting, it really was an exceptional retelling
Totally agree. It was amazing.
None of the big three networks would ever have taken a chance on something like that.
Tbh ive never really gotten the appeal. It doesn’t seem to add anything more than any other dramatic reading of the poem
I disagree on the scariest moments in the Simpsons. The creepiness came more with Mr.Burns as the weird alien walking through the forest. The design of that was just so jarring. Same with the camping episode where Bart, Homer and Flanders are stuck on a raft but the rest of the campers are following through and the episode ends with them being stalked by a monster and it attacks them. Super dark ending.
The Raven is only one that is actually kind of unnerving. They really did a fantastic job of adapting Allen Poe's work to the point where it's not so much funny as it is unsettling to watch someone go slowly insane.
Yes I agree
Horror and comedy can really work off one another. The ending of The Thing and I messed with me as a kid because I couldn't decide if it was funny or cruel.
Yeah very off-putting.
At least it didn’t actually happen in-universe.
I genuinely enjoyed the Halloween episodes up until Hommerzilla. Even some of the more bland segments were tolerable, and some segments were even memorable. Tree House of Horrors and the parodies of stories i.e. Simpsons Tall Tales even had their moments. I even liked the concept of a more recent THOH segment where Lisa had an imaginary best friend, but the writers ruinted it when they introduced Homer's best friend who was a hot dog. This video has inspired me to check out the most recent THOH, so I thank you for that, and it's nice to have an essay format echoing the sentiments of the fans of the Simpsons who truly appreicated when show was at its peak.
Absolutely! Glad you liked the video. Simpsons S3-6 will always be my favorite TV period.
I’ve been watching The Simpsons since it first aired, and I will say that the last 3 seasons have been surprisingly good. Not as great as the golden years, but going above cheap jokes by using interesting narrative devices to given more depth to existing character and also expanding the Simpsons universe.
I feel like after this long if they really have no intention of ending it, I would love to see a time jump. Get Bart and Lisa in high shool and an older Marge and Homer could revitalize the show a bit. Or destroy it but either way its a gamble I would take. Its needs something for sure.
TOH XXXIII was insanely good. I'm still blown away.
Been hearing that since season 26 or so, but when I go and watch it it's still bad.
@@YellowBriefs 33 and 34 are the actually good ones. 30 is the absolute nadir. Rock Bottom.
It'd be awesome to know from what alternate Earth you come from, because in this planet the last 3 seasons are still unfunny horrible shit.
I was so surprised from last years Treehouse of Horror. I usually go in with the mindset "yea, it will probably be bad, maybe scary at best", but oh boy was I caught of guard from the first segment. Really had me frozen on my sofa.
Interesting that you didn't mention "Thanksgiving of Horror". It's not a typical Treehouse of Horror, but it follows the same formular. It's pretty bloody tho. If you hadn't watch it yet, then it's still worth a watch.
For none Halloween episodes you might want to check out Pixelated and Afraid from season 33. It's a beautiful Homer and Marge story.
Last season's Treehouse of Horror with The Babadook, Death Note, and Westworld was arguably one of if not the best Treehouse of Horror episodes they've done. Among the best Simpsons episodes they've done.
TBH I didn't like westworld tree house of horror that much
4:21 these episodes are like a what-if spin offs or whats it called today, its a rare traditional episode, so its special to me i hold dearly.
We got to watch the raven segment in english class in high school. One of the only times the class payed attention.
My wife is an English teacher and she shows it every year.
Life long memory:showing my husband the episode with the death note parody and then us watching next year's episode together for the 1st time. We were soooo hopeful and soooo disappointed. NFTs are NOT funny....or scary.
For me the treehouse of horror with Hugo will always be my favourite but I randomly remember the one with snakes hair making homer be a killer being a childhood favourite😂 incredible video as always🎉
"All work and no 'Entertain The Elk' video make Homer something something."
Go crazy?
@@gonzo6489 Don't mind if I do!
I like the way your mind works.
In addition to everything you said I'd like to give another thing, that to me make sthe older episodes better. Its the animation style AND detail!
Older episodes were slower animated and did not have so much detail (especially people) in the background, resulting in a more solitude environment, which - in my opinion - added something to the creepy atmosphere, as it was somewhat uncanny.
I consider the start of the golden age of The Simpsons to be season 2. There are a handful of episodes, maybe 5, that feel like they could have been in season 1, but the majority, I believe, fall into the absolute classic category.
Lisa's Substitute is a classic.
Definitely. Still wonder why season 2 doesn't get the love it rightfully deserves. Frankly, I consider the golden age to consist of seasons 2-9.
@@ItsHailee7 agreed, even 10 has more classic than not episodes, I'm on 11 right now and struggling to get through it
@@Vivi_9 Season 10 was the first season where I saw cracks on a large scale. To be fair, seasons 8 an 9 had them too but they were either small or confined to a few episodes at most. However, that being said, the series was still watchable even after the golden age. Well, until season 22 for me. I could sit through a "middle Simpsons" episode, knowing very well that the A* quality was no longer there but still contained moments that were enjoyable.
@@ItsHailee7 I remember first starting to really not care about the show I think around season 13 with their trip to England, season 16 was when I gave up, that was garbage, but when the movie came out which I loved, I think it gave a good kick up the backside for the show but it never came close to being more than just watchable IMO
i STILLLL vividly remember the first time i ever watched the very first Treehouse of Horror episode. it felt sooo special and eerie. Just as it started with Marge stepping out from the curtain really set the tone. I was a lil kid who watched that show since the initial run on German TV somewhere around late 1990 or 1991 and was instantly a fan of it. And i remember how much of an impression that very first Halloween episode had. Didn't even know what Halloween was but i loved that take on telling 3 creepy and well animates stories, which had such a strong atmosphere. It still felt like a regular Episode but with the difference of having 3 mini episodes being shown that took some liberty in terms of setting and continuity. That worked amazingly great. But after season 6 onwards it really became VERY very dull, pointless and just too forced and generic. They just wanted to parody movies without having actual original stories and they just wanted to become more extreme and gross.
I think the evil stealing baby sitter in like the first season actually scared me a little.
I really enjoyed the analysis, it brings back memories I loved watching these when I was younger. And I'm so excited to see people still analyzing I looove treehouse of horror episodes❤❤
I really enjoyed the analysis in this video. It was quite interesting to see the comparisons between the new and old episodes, and see what caused the decline of the episodes over the years.
Although I am not a religious fan of The Simpsons, I occasionally watch it with my family. It is interesting how nicely you broke down the shows as I have a deeper appreciation for it. I especially love how you dive into the interrelationships of horror and comedy. It's truly quite fascinating how two separate genres can be so intertwined! Love your videos!
I for one wish they brought Devil Flanders back, because he was cool and/or the most memorable thing about the Treehouse of Horror in my eyes next to Kang/Kodos.
What about king homer?
I’d always been watching Simpsons with my cousin in our childhood, but I never watched the treehouse episodes since i grew up in China and i think they block these “disturbing” episodes. However, in my pov this illustration of the halloween Simpsons episodes is time worthy to watch and i really feel him when it comes to there would be more concept than characters in the future cuz i watched almost 20seasons w my cousin and i consider the old ones are legendary.
I think the real message about the Simpsons tree house of horror becoming worse is just that things become worse overtime. For as long as the show has gone on for your never gonna have enough out of the park home-run style segements that can take a dark story into the Simpson life that gives the original story new life. Your most likely gonna get cheap Simpson parodies of current dark media or cheap action gags.
Thanks to this video, I watched Treehouse of Horror XXXIII and shed a tear with the first mini-episode with Maggie and Marge. Thank you for telling us how amazing it is. On a side note, it's a little jarring hearing Marge's voice actress sounding to scratchy. I'm sure the cast has aged over the decades, but I'm glad she gets the role that is so iconic still.
On one youtube video, someone said that 30 years of doing Marge's voice had ruined Julie Kavnar's vocal chords.
Thank you for pointing out last year's Treehouse of Horror. It was the best one in DECADES, right up there with classic Simpsons!
You really know how to put these things into words. I've been off of youtube for quite a while but so glad to see you're still making these. I hope you still love making them too
I love how in-depth he goes into each of the episodes. It's very interesting how much the Simpsons' treehouse of Horror declines throughout the years.
The one where homer angers a leprechaun genuinely scared me as a kid. I can name the exact moment that did it. It was when bart gave up and drowned in his cereal, wasnt overly dramatic the joke was just the leprechaun danced on his head after he died. Something about how casual bart gave up and chose to die was terrified me as a kid.
How did Bart choose to die? I always interpreted it that the weight of his head finally overcame him and he drowned in his own cereal bowl in a completely helpless manner.
What always jarred me about it though, was he drowned in like 1.5 seconds. Moreover, no reaction from his family whatsoever who were right in front of him.
i saw it as him dropping but the Leprechaun drowning him by standing on top of him
Anyone else feel bad for the voice actors ?
Whenever i hear how they sound now i just want them to go home and rest.
Julie Kavner’s current voice is just heartbreaking to listen to. Marge now sounds like her mother!
7:44 “Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace” made me afraid of Groundskeeper Willie for years.
Simpsonsworld felt like it would have been a great sequel to the Simpsons Movie
I wanted more from that segment. Such a good idea.
I'm torn on that because while I loved the short and love TOH I also really like how the first movie felt like it could fit into the series. I worry that if it was made into a movie it would've felt almost detached from the rest of the show
Personally, I thing treehouse of horror episodes took a few years after the golden age to really take a dip in quality. Like THOH XVII.
the parasite spoof was unbearable dude. I only got a laugh out of the one line where they try to kill Lisa. Absolutely concept over character. They didn’t even spoof the one scary shot from that movie!
3:33.. yup.. exactly what I thought.. I watched that episode so much i memorised the entire thing and shocked my Older cousin when i spoke the episode out word for word while reading a comic while emulating all the voices involved (not perfectly mind you)..
I agree, for the new ones, Tree House of Horror XXXIII was outstandingly good. One thing I disagree about with you and many other commentators is that some of my favorite type of episodes are the big concept ones, where you get to see what happens to all the ensemble characters. Some examples of this are the island where they all turn to animals and the witch curse where they turn into their costumes. It's just so much fun to watch. I really love the sight gags.
The Death Note and Thanksgiving of Horror episodes were refreshingly good
Although I stopped following the Simpsons a while ago, the Treehouse of Horror were real highlights. Concisely constructed but with a really friendly presentation. Really enjoyed this.
Wiz Kids wasn't bad actually (IMO), and it had a heartwarming ending with Bart and Lisa reconciling. JKR herself liked it for what it's worth. You also ignored the fact that the Bart Simpson's Dracula segment was mainly a spoof of Coppola's Dracula film, so the idea of TOH segments spoofing modern works isn't a recent phenomenon.
Smithers the snake sobbing as he swallows Burns still feels iconic to me
Mr. And Mrs. Simpson is not my favorite segment but it's one I will go back to frequently because it has the funniest one liners. The best part for me is when his brain is talking to him and telling him not to eat the lasagna and he keeps eating it. Finally his brain says "you moron just kill her," and then out loud he says, "I'll kill her after dessert."
"Lisa! That was very selfish of you!"
Gold! 😂
I like that there's logic to Homer's sentiment. Lisa did just take the monkey paw and use it without asking. Without considering they had only four or five wishes in total. Of course, the wish itself being not selfish at all is the joke and it still works 100%.
She failed to consider how the Earth would defend itself against an alien invasion. That invasion just ended up happening.
I like the Del Toro intro because it shows Ray Bradbury scribbling on the Illustrated Man while Richard Matheson looks on disapprovingly.
Basically any Halloween special from the 90s was always brilliant. Tho i do love the vampires one and zombies one just because they were perfect.
I _thought_ we were gonna have a worthy succesor to The Simpsons with Rick and Morty, but it just fizzled so bad after the first couple seasons, and they took ages to produce them. Just didn't pan out.
As long as this stupid serialization and season story arc model remains the prevailing format, we're never gonna have TV like it used to be.
The current model has killed the shared experience of TV.
Like, you never heard someone say "Oh, don't spoil anything, I'm not caught up!" when you were talking about last night's Third Rock From The Sun back in the 90s. An awesome show that's not remembered enough.
People too young to remember the millennium piss and moan that episodic TV was full of "filler espisodes", because they fail to realize there was no story to advance. That was never the point.
The point was to watch an amusing 22-minute play with characters you knew. And next week, they'd be performing another one. And if you haven't watched the show in awhile, or it's your first time watching altogether, you'll pick up the premise pretty quick.
I was too young to watch the first Treehouse of Horror when I was a kid (plus I wasn’t allowed to watch the show since my mum, a teacher, had heard all the early-mid nineties moral panic about it) but as a 10-year-old I read The Raven myself in a trilogy of Poe stories from my school library. I loved it immensely, even if I was a bit too young to fully grasp the complexity.
When I started watching The Simpsons despite my parents hating it they re-aired that first THoH and by then I’d read the story myself and was a little older and understood it better. The show did such a magnificent job with it. It was honestly flawless.
The Devil segment is inspired by classic but hugely underrated 1941 movie "The Devil and Daniel Webster".
And it is now owned by the studio that made the not-exactly-classic-but-prescient-in-hindsight because of the casting 1981 movie *The Devil and Max Devlin.* The guy they cast later had a TV show that was up against this one.
No question it’s the Krusty doll segment but that whole episode is gold
Nightmare Cafeteria scared me. Especially when they fall into the giant food processor at the end, right before they wake up.
The very first Simpsons episode I ever watched was the Treehouse of Horror episode with Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace. I had never heard much about the Simpson before so I thought that all episodes contained three stories and that Willy was always a bad guy trying to kill the children.
What an interesting introduction to the series.
@@EntertainTheElk It was certainly weird, especially since that episode also has an exaggerated animation style like in a scene where Bart screams and his mouth opens extremely wide.
Do you remember what was the second episode you saw? Was it confusing for you, that it was so different?
@@alixconnor8129 it wasn't a Treehouse of Horror episode but I expected one. I think I didn't even watch the first episode from the start and thus didn't have a chance to realise it's a special episose.
I used to teach English as a second language. Around Halloween, I always had a sesssion where we analyzed The Raven as a story. Playing the Simpsons version always helped understand it a bit more and make it less pretentious and boring for my students. Some of them told me they enjoyed the class very much. It is one of my fond memories as a teacher.
Easiest way I’ve explained it, they went from real horror to parody and meta.
Instead of using like a good idea (like the teachers eating the kids) and instead used a horror movie from the past like The grudge and made it meta.
The Shinning is always the one I think of first. Then there's the 3D Homer that comes to the real world. I remember when it first aired here kids at my school were saying it was the end of The Simpsons and Futurama was taking over as it was about to premiere.
Why am I under the impression that you've never seen any 'Twilight Zone' episodes? Seems like you'd mention the inspiration for half of the early episodes. Btw 13:36 is where one of my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE clips comes from, When Burns lamely tosses the gas grenade and winds up doing a "I was strolling through the gas one daaaay" 😂🤣
I've seen a good amount of TZ but certainly know that's where a lot of the inspiration came from. I mention that they're inspired by novels, TV shows and films. Didn't feel like I needed to stop down and give them a specific mention. But yes, TZ is a huge inspiration.
Eek! RAYCON! Ho, man! You scared me with the worst headphones ever! 😜😉🙃
The Homerzilla segment is a commentary on how America keeps trying to remake Godzilla and keeps fucking up every time.
I always enjoy your channel and informative insight on things. Keep up the great work 👍🏾
Attack of the 50 foot eyesore was my favorite tree house segment
Just don't look. Just don't look. Thanks for watching! :)
Right? That was a weirdly useful idea to have learned as a kid from that episode that I still think about to this day. About how the weakness of advertisers and media really is disengagement.
A little late here, but I would highly recommend the Treehouse of Horror comic books from the now defunct Bongo Comics. I'm cautioning that they're very much written for a comic book audience rather than a TV audience.
They did the "Death Note" parody before the television show did.
Mark Hamill wrote one of the stories.
All the real ones still get creeped out with the raven episode
16:00 hey, we're in a new golden age right now, almost every episode in the recent seasons have been absolute bangers with a few meh episodes here and there
Its like supereyepatchwolf lite . I got worried when it was only toting the 'golden age is so far behind us' line, without also acknowledging that the world and show structure we expect anymore is so changed. But it stuck the landing by mentioning last years good Treehouse episode.
Hm, I wonder if the idea for The Bart Zone comes from that segment of The Twiligth zone movie (1983) where Nancy Cartwright plays the sister to the boy with similair powers.
That was also an episode in the original series
Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace traumatised me for YEARS as a kid.
I'm 39 now but damn that was scary as heck!
if I did a canon horror themed Simpsons episode I would have created a prequel episode about Marge's Uncle Arthur alluded to in a throwaway line from the episode The Boy Who Knew Too Much and we see him getting taken by those marshals.
Fascinating!
"do you see towels? cos if you see towels you're in the linen closet again"
Treehouse of horror 33
Meh. The second segment is nice from a visual point of view, but as a re-narration of Simpsonized Death Note it's not that great, and the third starts from an excellent premise, but is narrated too quickly. Indeed, let's even say that, rather than three segments (which all seemed extremely sped up and inconclusive to me) it would have been far better to have two, but longer: the third, I repeat, would have been much more beautiful if it had started as a normal old-fashioned episode, gradually introducing more suspicious elements which then revealed the final surprise... so it's really badly cut with a blunt axe.
The first is really not received, dull and boring.
i really liked the bart twin treehouse of horror granted i dont watch the simpsons that much so i havent seen a lot of tree house of horror specials
All I know is that I just watched the latest episode of Treehouse of Horror and found it to be really stupid. For me that is sad because I have watched since day 1 and loved the first few treehouses of horror but now it sees like the writers have just given up.
A lot of the episodes were basically mini episodes of the Twilight zone
Rod Serling would have been proud.
I absolutely hated the Diving Bell and the Butterball, burping has always been a cornerstone of the Simpsons and instead they chose farting, and Homer shooting spider silk from his behind is just weird.
It would have worked on *Family Guy.*
Outstanding! A most excellent analysis based on the Halloween specials and the long decline. One of my favorite segments of TSHS would have to be HS # IV and Bart Simpson's Dracula. Classic.
"dad... that's his crotch."
@@EntertainTheElk Think of that immediately. Lol
“The raven”, “The devil and Homer Simpson” and “The shinning” are some of the best TOH segments. Even though I don’t like or don’t care about the modern installments, there are some segments from them I like such as “Death tome”.
6:06 the gremlin is so cute I just want to pet it o.o
5:18 One of the best exchanges in The Simpsons full stop! 😂
Toy gory is the only memorable modern toh
"I see you mastered the dead tongue. LET'S SEE IF YOU CAN HANDLE A LIVE ONE!"
Super Eyepatch Wolf's "The Simpsons Are Good Now" video that just came out convinced me to watch Treehouse of Horror XXXIII yesterday. It's one of the best in the entire history of the show, and if you're interested it's highly recommended to go in blind.
Agreed. I talk about it at the end of my video.
Treehouse of Horror V was the best one, and the first one with a notable decline, I was gonna say IX, but I can't even remember all the segments from VIII.
There was Fly vs Fly, and there was the Salem witch one at the end. Oh, The Homega Man.
That was a good one, now that I remember it.
Then IX had the one where Homer gets Snake's hair transplanted on his head. Bart and Lisa transfer into the TV. Maggie turns out to be Kang's baby and they go on Springer.
Yeah, I had a hard time remembering VIII, but it was still good now that I remember.
IX straight up sucked.
There must be something going on with The Simpsons if both you and Super Eyepatch Wolf dropped similarly themed videos at pretty much exactly the same time.
Crazy coincidence. Both our channels had popular Simpsons vids about 6 years ago.
Can we talk about how several TOH episodes centered around Lisa either being a killer or getting involved with paranormal force have fallen flat? With the exception of Death Tome, it worked well. I did like Coralisa but it might have been the animation that won me rather than the story.
Personally what seems to stick out in modern Simpsons vs the golden age is the abandonment of clever comedy writing, there's jokes from the 90s up to the early 2000's which were risky and went over my head as a child. But that wit and deadpan comedy disappeared and has since been replaced by the very obvious- let me spell it out for you- comedy. Or jokes that dissolve into kissing some celebrities/ tech giants ass. Nothing makes that point more than the lizzo episode they put out into this world in much the same way a cat puts out a hairball.
SO SOLID elk. Makes me want to dig more into the Simpsons, especially those newer episodes you mentioned towards the ends.
The Treehouse of Horror was always parodying movies or books from horror, thriller, etc. New movies/books from those genres have been declining in quality as well, so when Simpsons parodies them, they're also not good.
"Homer forgot to put the foglights in" ha ha if you get this quote you eat way too much cereal like me
I'm surprised you didn't mention the Thanksgiving version of Treehouse of Horror.
i love that scream martin does when he dies. it makes me laugh so hard because its played straight and the death is so realistic. its shocking
Yeah it's terrifying.
Then there’s the gag of his dead body being on display by accident, first to his class then the kindergarten.
I'm a huge Simpsons fan (or I was... whatever, you understand), and i was so lucky as a kid because the golden era of the Simpsons was right when i was like 8, 9, 10 years-old. It was perfect. I remember watching every week and just being in love with the show. And those great Treehouse of Horror episodes really were a fun part of my Halloween. Looking back, I really appreciate how great it all was. By the way, i really enjoyed your video. Great job.
The only time I've laughed at a newer episode is in the Freaks parody when the big mouthed guy goes "WHAAAAAAT?"
They were already spoofing that movie in season one when Bart and Lisa said “one of us, one of us.”
Even the two references to “Gabba Gabba Hey” are to a Ramones song that misquotes the “gooble gobble” line from that movie.
I actually didn´t like the Treehouse of Horror that had the Death Note parody and the full-length It parody was also just going through the motions. The one recent segment in a ToH I liked was where Homer ate himself bit by bit from 2017.
I think the problem is the lack of resource and drop off of the mainstream horror genre.
Treehouse of Horror is at its best when it’s parodying big horror franchises like Shining, King Kong, Nightmare on Elm Street.
When they started doing superhero skits and Harry Potter you could tell the horror genre had ran dry.
Time and Punishment is science fiction but is still reallly good.
There are hundreds of horror movies, horror TV shows, horror video games, horror comics and other stuff they could have done episodes about.
But yea it was not interesting anymore when they stopped focusing on horror.
They stopped tapping into the Twilight Zone, which was inspiration for some great THoH episodes.
@@CyberLance26 I think they're moving back to doing horror though. Last year's treehouse was basically all horror based
Eventually, they ran out of episodes that anybody remembers outside of hardcore fans.
Also, *Futurama* stole their thunder with *The Scary Door.*