The Simpsons Halloween episodes

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Bart introducing a segment of "Treehouse of Horror IV" in the manner of Rod Serling's Night Gallery.

The Simpsons Halloween episodes are an annual tradition in which there is a special Halloween episode consisting of three separate, self-contained pieces. These pieces usually involve the family in some horror, science fiction, or supernatural setting; they always take place outside the normal continuity of the show (and are therefore considered to be non-canon), and completely abandon any pretense of being realistic.

Regular Simpsons characters play humorous special roles, occasionally being killed in gruesome ways by zombies, monsters, or even each other. Groundskeeper Willie has died many times in the Treehouse of Horror episodes, mostly by being stuck in the back with an axe or impaled by a sharp object and even once by a dolphin. Homer and Maggie have killed Willie a number of times. In "Treehouse of Horror V", for example, he was axed in the back in all three segments: by Homer in the first act, by Maggie in the second, and by Principal Skinner in the third. In all three situations, he was coming to the rescue of a character who was facing imminent doom, saying, "I'm comin' to rescue the lot of you." After being axed the third time, he says, "Oh...I'm bad at this..." In addition to parodying many classic horror and science fiction films such as The Shining, these Halloween segments frequently spoof episodes of The Twilight Zone such as "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet", "To Serve Man", "Living Doll", "It's a Good Life", "A Kind of a Stopwatch" and "Little Girl Lost".

1 Origins
2 Traditions
3 Recent years
4 Top 10 Segments

[edit] Origins

According to DVD commentary, the reason why the episodes are non-canon is a trade-off for the writers. Writing three 7-minute segments was just too taxing for the writers, so it was proposed that they could do anything without worrying about continuity to appease them.

The yearly Halloween special was named "Treehouse of Horror" because the original special depicted the Simpson children in their treehouse telling scary stories to one another. In later years the series dropped the framing device of characters telling stories, but kept the Treehouse title.

In a section of "Treehouse of Horror VI" called "Homer³," Homer and Bart go into a three-dimensional world, which Homer likens to Tron, created by Pacific Data Images, a computer animation company. This segment from the Halloween episode was also used as a segment of a film shown in the IMAX 3D film Cyberworld. This was the first and one of the few times The Simpsons have strayed from their traditional 2D animation, and the longest, as other moments consisted of live action couch gags or short claymation or CGI television and film parodies. Other Treehouse segment name parodies include "Citizen Kang", "The Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace", "The Thing and I", "House of Whacks", "I've Grown a Costume On Your Face", "The Shinning" and "Reaper Madness".

[edit] Traditions

For several years the characters broke the fourth wall and introduced their pieces directly to the audience. In "Treehouse of Horror II" the writers decided to give the cast and crew of the show scary names in the opening and closing credits (like "Mad Matt Groening" and "James Hell Brooks"). This also became a tradition, and has been done in every Halloween episode except I, XII, and XIII. The names have changed in subsequent seasons.

Another mainstay of the Halloween shows is the appearance of the two space aliens Kang and Kodos, introduced in the second segment of the first "Treehouse of Horror." However they are not always important to any story in the special; starting with "Treehouse of Horror III" they began appearing just to keep up the tradition. While they have had significant parts in other "Treehouse of Horror" episodes, they often only appear in the middle of a totally different story---for example, a story about zombies attacking the town will suddenly turn to them in space, watching the events and laughing maniacally at the Earthlings' suffering, before switching back to the actual story. In later years they would sometimes appear at either the beginning or end of the episode, outside of any of the stories; for example, one year they appeared between the last segment and the credits wondering why The Simpsons producers hadn't called them to be in the episode.

The final gag of the Treehouse series comes after the end credits where the production companies are mentioned. This is set to organ-played minor-chord versions of the Gracie Films and 20th Century Fox Fanfare closing logo themes, with the Gracie Films "shhhh" overdubbed with a scream of horror.

[edit] Recent years

Although the Treehouse series is meant to be seen on Halloween, in recent years new installments have premiered after Halloween. This is due to Fox's current contract with Major League Baseball's World Series. If the Series does not go the full seven games, Fox usually airs the previous season's Treehouse episode on the Sunday before Halloween (or if Sunday happens to fall on Halloween). However, it has been known on many occasions for new shows to premiere on the West Coast only in time for Halloween regardless of how long the World Series lasts. It gets the full national premiere, of course, as scheduled in November, after Halloween.

FOX's arrangement with Major League Baseball was made fun of in the opening sequence for "Treehouse of Horror XVI". Kang, frustrated that the Treehouse of Horror is being delayed by a World Series baseball game, decides to "fast forward" the game, but overdoes it, sucking the Earth, the universe, and everything else (including God) into nothingness. He then leaves a sticky note, which shows the title. Another joke about the programming of Halloween episodes in November appears in "Treehouse of Horror XIV", where Kang looks at a TV Guide and says "A Halloween special? In November? We've already got our Christmas decorations up!". The camera then cuts to a shot of the fireplace with Christmas decorations scattered about.