Today is Halloween, which means it’s time to bask in TV’s warm glowing warming glow for some annual spooky specials. As everyone knows, it’s hard to do much better for Halloween themed TV than The Simpsons‘ famous Treehouse of Horror episodes. Treehouse of Horror began back in 1990 during the show’s second season and has aired annually ever since. These episodes are so entertaining because they are often direct spoofs of famous horror movies and stories, delivered with the cutting satire and attention to detail that marks the very best of what The Simpsons has to offer. Of course, much like the rest of the show’s later output, the overall quality of Treehouse of Horror has declined over the years, but even the more recent episodes are worth watching. Still, if you’re looking for the very best of Treehouse of Horror, you can’t do much better than the following ten segments (although you should still check out all the others, as this is a special part of The Simpsons canon).
10. It’s The Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse (Treehouse of Horror XIX)
While no one in their right mind would suggest that anything in the last decade of The Simpsons holds a candle to the first, there are several genuinely great Treehouse of Horror segments in the later seasons that many fans who long ago gave up on the show have probably missed out on. One of the best ones is “It’s The Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse,” a parody of the classic Charlie Brown Halloween special. In this delightfully-bonkers take, Milhouse (standing in for Linus) successively summons the Grand Pumpkin, who is revealed to be a homicidal monster who also happens to be racist against yellow pumpkins (apparently all pumpkins are racist; who knew?). It’s a fantastic spoof that proves the show still has some gas left in the tank years past its sell-by date. “It’s The Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse” may not be the greatest short in Simpsons history, but it’s a riot from start to finish and sometimes that’s enough.
Source: Screenshot via Fox