"Treehouse of Horror VIII" is the fourth episode of The Simpsons' ninth season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 26, 1997. In the eighth annual Treehouse of Horror episode, Homer Simpson is the last man left alive when a neutron bomb destroys Springfield until a gang of mutants come after him, Homer buys a transporter that Bart uses to switch bodies with a housefly, and Marge is accused of witchcraft in a Puritan rendition of Springfield in 1649. It was written by Mike Scully, David X. Cohen and Ned Goldreyer, and was directed by Mark Kirkland.
Plot
The HΩmega Man
After Mayor Quimby makes an offensive joke about France, and refuses to apologize, the French president launches a neutron bomb directly into Springfield, killing everyone except Homer, who had been inspecting a bomb shelter he was considering buying from Herman's military surplus store. After the blast, Homer emerges from the shelter and seems to be the only person in town to survive the blast, but he is soon confronted by a band of hostile Springfield citizens who have become mutants. Homer flees back home where he discovers that his family survived the blast because their house was protected by its layers of lead paint. Marge and the children kill the mutants with shotguns that they were hiding behind their backs and the family head off to steal some Ferraris.
Fly vs. Fly
Homer buys a matter transporter from Professor Frink. That night, Bart, after experimentations involving the family pets, steps into the teleporter with a fly on his arm, thinking that he will become a mutant superhero. He comes out with his normal head, but with the fly's body whilst the fly has his body. Bart enlists the help of Lisa. However, she is chased by the fly and cornered in the kitchen. Bart tries to stop the fighting, but is quickly eaten by the fly. Lisa then sees this as an opportunity to undo the process and pushes the fly into the teleporter. Bart comes out the other end, now with his head back on his real body. Homer then pulls out an axe and angrily chases Bart for using the device.
Easy-Bake Coven
In 1649, the town is witness to many witch burnings. In the church, the townspeople try to figure out whom to condemn next. People begin accusing others and soon they erupt into chaos, until Marge intervenes. She tries to talk sense into the townspeople, but Moe accuses her of being a witch. Quimby assures her that she is entitled to due process which means she will be thrown off a cliff with a broomstick; if she is a witch she will be able to fly to safety, in which case the authorities expect her to report back for punishment. If she is not a witch, then she will fall to an honorable Christian death. After being shoved off the cliff, Marge flies up on the broomstick revealing that she really is a witch and vows to conquer the whole entire town. She returns to her sisters Patty and Selma. The sisters watch Ned and Maude Flanders talking about how the witches eat children, which gives them the notion to do just that. They knock on the Flanders' door and demand their sons, but before they leave, Maude offers the witches gingerbread men instead. The witches like these better than the children so they go to each house, getting goodies in exchange for not eating the children. As they fly off, the Sea Captain says that is how the tradition of Halloween and trick-or-treating started.
Production
"The HΩmega Man" was written by Mike Scully, "Fly Vs. Fly" was written by David X. Cohen, and "Easy-Bake Coven" was written by Ned Goldreyer. Large portions of the "Fly vs. Fly" segment were cut, including the original ending where the fly also emerges from the teleporter, but is considerably larger and the Simpson family ride it to the mall.
The producers had trouble with the censors over several segments in this episode. The opening segment of the episode, which features a Fox censor (pictured on the left) being stabbed to death, was pitched by David Mirkin and had a difficult time getting through the real-life censors. They had issues with the size of the knife and the sound effects used. Originally, the TV-rating was supposed to stab the Fox censor with a dagger, but Fox objected because it was too gruesome and was changed to a cutlass. The censors also objected to an unaired scene where Homer does his naked church dance on an altar. The scene was reanimated so that Homer was dancing naked in the front row.
This episode was the only Treehouse of Horror episode that was directed by Mark Kirkland. It was also the last episode Brad Bird worked on; he left the show to direct The Iron Giant. "Easy-Bake Coven" was storyboarded by Kirkland and the backgrounds were designed by Lance Wilder. Although Kang and Kodos make brief appearances in every Treehouse of Horror episode, their brief appearance in this one was nearly cut. David X. Cohen managed to persuade the producers to leave the scene in.
Cultural references
As with the majority of the Treehouse of Horror episodes, numerous cultural references are made throughout the episode. "The HΩmega Man" is an extended homage to film The Omega Man, which was one of Mike Scully's favorite movies as a child. In the same segment, Homer runs over Johnny and Edgar Winter while fleeing the mutants pursuing him, mistaking them as mutants as the Winter brothers are both albino.
The title "Fly vs. Fly" is a reference to the Mad magazine comic strip "Spy vs. Spy", while the segment itself is based on the film The Fly. In "Easy-Bake Coven", the animators referenced the film The Crucible for many of their designs, and Edna Krabappel is wearing a Scarlet A, which is a reference to the novel The Scarlet Letter.
Reception
In its original broadcast, "Treehouse of Horror VIII" finished 18th in ratings for the week of October 20â€"26, 1997, with a Nielsen rating of 11.2, equivalent to approximately 10.9 million viewing households. It was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, beating King of the Hill.
"Treehouse of Horror VIII" won a Golden Reel Award in 1998 for "Best Sound Editing - Television Animated Specials" for Robert Mackston, Travis Powers, Norm MacLeod and Terry Greene. Alf Clausen received an Emmy Award nomination for "Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore)" for this episode, which he ultimately lost. The A.V. Club named Comic Book Guy's line "Oh, I've wasted my life" as one of the quotes from The Simpsons that can be used in everyday situations.
References
External links
- "Treehouse of Horror VIII" at The Simpsons.com
- "Treehouse of Horror VIII episode capsule". The Simpsons Archive.Â
- "Treehouse of Horror VIII" on IMDb
- "Treehouse of Horror VIII" at TV.com
