Treehouse of Horror III

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The Simpsons episode
"Treehouse of Horror III"

Episode no.	64
Prod. code	9F04
Orig. Airdate	October 29th, 1992
Show Runner(s)	Al Jean & Mike Reiss
Written by	Atrocious Al Jean and Morbid Mike Reiss Johnny Katastrophe Kogen and Warped Wallace Wolodarsky Scarifying Sam Simon and Vicious Jack Vitti
Directed by	Bloodcurdling Carlos Baeza
Couch gag	The family's skeletons run in and sit on the couch
DVD commentary by	Matt Groening Al Jean Jay Kogen Wallace Wolodarsky Jon Vitti
SNPP capsule
Season 4 September 24, 1992 – May 13, 1993
Kamp Krusty A Streetcar Named Marge Homer the Heretic Lisa the Beauty Queen Treehouse of Horror III Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie Marge Gets a Job New Kid on the Block Mr. Plow Lisa's First Word Homer's Triple Bypass Marge vs. the Monorail Selma's Choice Brother from the Same Planet I Love Lisa Duffless Last Exit to Springfield So It's Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show The Front Whacking Day Marge in Chains Krusty Gets Kancelled
List of all Simpsons episodes...

"Treehouse of Horror III" is the fifth episode of The Simpsons fourth season, and the third Simpsons Halloween episode. It is the first episode in the series of Treehouse of Horror episodes to have a zombie-related segment. The second is "The Fright to Creep and Scare Harms" in "Treehouse of Horror XIII". This was also the first to have a Halloween-themed couch gag.

1 Synopsis
2 Trivia
3 Cultural references
4 References

[edit] Synopsis

[edit] Opening segment

("Funeral March of a Marionette" plays as Homer walks on screen into Alfred Hitchcock's famous silhouette -- but Homer's stomach is bigger than that of the outline.)
Homer: Good eeeev'ning. I've been asked to tell you that the following show is very scary, with stuff that might give your kids nightmares. You see, there are some crybabies out there—religious types mostly—who might be offended. If you are one of them, I advise you to turn off your set now. Come on, I dare you. (makes chicken noises) Chicken!
(Screen goes black, footsteps approach))
Marge: Homer, did you just call everyone chicken?
Homer: No. I swear on this bible.
Marge: That's not a bible, that's a book of carpet samples.
Homer: Mmm, fuzzy.

[edit] Set-up

The Simpsons are having a Halloween party, and they tell scary stories. The Halloween costumes include Homer as Julius Caesar, Marge as an ancient Egyptian, most likely Cleopatra, Bart as Alex from A Clockwork Orange, Lisa as the Statue of Liberty, Milhouse as Radioactive Man, Martin as Calliope, Nelson as a pirate, Janie as a princess, Wendell as an astronaut,Ned Flanders as a headless zombie, and Lewis as Frankenstein's Monster.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Clown Without Pity

Homer buys Bart a talking Krusty doll at `House of Evil' (your one-stop Evil shop) for his birthday. Upon receiving the Krusty doll, Bart excitedly says "Great Caesar's ghost!", a catchphrase said by Perry White of the Superman comic book series. Although the doll is nice to Bart, it repeatedly tries to kill Homer (which no one believes). Homer captures the evil Krusty in a bag of dirty socks, which he then locks in a suitcase. He disposes of the suitcase in a "Bottomless Pit" and returns home, not realizing that the doll has managed to follow him. As the doll attempts to strangle Homer, Marge calls KrustyCo for help; a repairman arrives and discovers that the doll has been accidentally switched from "Good" to "Evil." He flips the switch back to "Good" and Homer uses the doll as a servant. The Krusty doll laments to his "girlfriend" Malibu Stacy, with whom he shares Lisa's doll house, "Today Homer made me give him a sponge bath!" However, the scene ends happily as Krusty gives Stacy a smooch on the cheek -- until her head falls off. "Clown Without Pity" is based on the Twilight Zone episode Living Doll and the film, Trilogy of Terror. The title itself is a play on the song Town Without Pity by Gene Pitney as well as the 1961 movie of the same name starring Kirk Douglas.

[edit] King Homer

In a black and white segment, Marge joins Mr. Burns and Smithers on an expedition to "Ape Island" to find the legendary "King Homer". Mr. Burns captures the giant ape and displays him to the press on Broadway. The photographers' flashes enrage King Homer, who breaks free from his restraints. He abducts Marge and wreaks havoc, eating many people in the process. He attempts to climb a tall building, but is unable to get even one story above the ground. King Homer collapses in exhaustion, and Marge helpfully suggests that he eat more vegetables and fewer people. In the end, King Homer and Marge marry on the same day Dick Cavett is born (November 19th, 1936). The story ends with the wedding, and King Homer eating one of Marge's relatives. This segment is an obvious parody of King Kong.

[edit] Dial "Z" For Zombies

While in the library searching for material for a book report, Bart finds a book of magic. In order to make Lisa happy, he tries to resurrect Snowball I for her, but accidentally reanimates hundreds of human corpses instead. The zombies terrorize Springfield until Homer wields a shotgun to help Bart and Lisa find the book again and cast the appropriate counterspell. In the end, the zombies got back to their graves and the family ends up watching TV, just before the credits roll in.

[edit] Trivia

"Dial Z for Zombies" is mainly parody of Night of the Living Dead, but the hordes of zombies who moan "Brains! Braaaaains!" came from the comedic zombie film Return of the Living Dead, in which the zombies only hunger for human brains.
The idea of human and animal sacrifice being interconnected and resulting in zombisim, is likely a reference to Stephen King's Pet Sematary
The title itself is a play on the 1954 Hitchcock film Dial M for Murder.
Bart wears the album Thriller on his head like a hat, which is inspired by a photo of Aleister Crowley wearing a funny hat.
The plot of "Clown without Pity" looks similar to the films Child's Play and Gremlins.
The incantations Bart reads to wake the zombies are: "Cullen, Rayburn, Narz, Trebek" (last names of game show hosts) and "Zabar, Kresge, Caldor, Wal-Mart" (names of retail stores).
The incantation Bart reads that turns Lisa into a snail is "Kolchak, Mannix, Banacek, Danno" (last names of detectives from American television crime dramas of the 1970s).
The incantation to return the zombies to their graves is "Trojan, Ramses, Magnum, Sheik" (brand names of condoms). A few of the zombies seen are undead versions of William Shakespeare, George Washington, Albert Einstein, (these two being shot by Homer during the run of the segment), and two John Smiths (one from colonial times and a cowboy).
The supernatural beam of light that bursts from the school roof when Bart recites the spell to send the zombies back is a parody of a similar scene in Ghostbusters.
There are a number of references to the 1991 movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day in "Dial Z for Zombies" with Homer using a sawn-off Winchester Model 1887 lever-action shotgun against the zombies.
In one scene, Homer flip-cocks the shotgun in the same manner as Arnold Schwarzenegger's character from Terminator 2 as well as a few scenes of Homer gunning down zombies in Springfield Elementary being inspired from the T-800's first battle with the T-1000.
This is the first "Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror" episode to feature a couch gag.

[edit] Cultural references

While raising the dead from their graves, Bart wears Michael Jackson's album Thriller on his head. This is a reference to Jackson's famous music video in which he dances with zombies.^[1]
At the Halloween party, Bart is dressed as Alex DeLarge from the novella "A Clockwork Orange".^[1]
The incantation that Bart uses to make the zombies return is "Trojan , Ramses , Magnum , Sheik.
Shotgun wielding Homer exclaims, "To the Book Depository!" This is an interesting reference to the assassination of JFK. It was from the third story window of the Dallas book depository that Lee Harvey Oswald shot and killed the President of the United States