The Simpsons
Season 27 Episodes 5: “Treehouse Of Horror XXVI”
Written by Joel H. Cohen
Created by James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, Sam Simon
Starring Dan Castellaneta, Nancy Cartwright, Julie Kavner, Yeardley Smith, Harry Shearer, Hank Azaria, Pamela Hayden, Kelsey Grammer
NBC
Air Date: Sunday, October 25th, 2015, 8pm

To crazed TV watchers, October means one thing: Halloween episodes! When I was a kid it was Roseanne. My parents and I gathered every year to watch the Conner family scare that crap out of us. At that point The Simpsons were just the weird yellow cartoon from Tracey Ullman’s show. Then I saw my first Treehouse of Horror episode, was introduced to Kang and Kodos, and the sweet sound of James Earl Jones reading Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven to a scared Homer, I was hooked. Since then, we’ve witnessed over a quarter century’s worth of Treehouse of Horror episodes, each with 3 scary Simpsons segments, including classics like The Shinning, Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace, and Citizen Kang. I never could have imagined that when I watched the first Simpsons Halloween special back in 1990 at the age of 8, I’d be able to watch the 26th edition of that same special with my 11-year old son. As usual, The Simpsons prove cross-generational and timeless.

Some spoilers and check out the “couch gag” clip below.

Take segment 1, “Wanted: Dead Then Alive”. My son wanted to know who Sideshow Bob was and why he wanted to kill Bart (Nancy Cartwright) so badly. He was laughing at the gross out effects in the segment. Being that my favorite episode ever is the 22-year old Cape Feare from season 5, in which Sideshow Bob (Kelsey Grammar) chases Bart and the Simpsons into witness protection. This segment hit all the warm nostalgia notes, with the DIE BART DIE tattoo, a rake, and Bob reading classic poetry.

Segment 2, “Homerzilla” is exactly what is sounds like. This segment is half homage and half parody and of course, Homerzilla (Dan Castellaneta) is kept calm by a donuts. The final segment, “Telepaths of Glory” is a version of the film Chronicle and the first person film movement with Milhouse (Pamela Hayden) as the mad one.

And yes, we do get a Kang and Kodos sighting near the end, with them joking about the duration of the series. The show ends as it begins with “scary” nicknames of the cast and crew, like James “You Have No Idea How Much You Frighten Me” Brooks, and of course, Bat Groening. While not the best Treehouse of Terror they’ve ever done, this was a good effort with topical allusions, spoofs of modern movies and tropes, and the moment many have been waiting for – Sideshow Bob. That was my favorite segment, as it was for my son, who immediately asked if we could watch more Simpsons and Treehouse of Terror episodes after. There’s really no better review than that.

The Simpsons “Treehouse of Terror XXVI” (that’s 26!!!) airs tonight at 8:00 ET on FOX.

FOX’ synopsis:

“TREEHOUSE OF HORROR XXVI”
SIDESHOW BOB FINALLY KILLS BART ON AN ALL-NEW “THE SIMPSONS” SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25, ON FOX
SUN OCT 25 8/7c

In the annual fright fest Halloween episode, Sideshow Bob finally kills Bart, only to reanimate him; Homer wakes up with short-term memory loss; and Lisa, Bart, and Milhouse get super powers from radiation in the all-new “Treehouse of Horror XXVI” episode of THE SIMPSONS airing Sunday, Oct. 25 (8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

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Video

THE SIMPSONS | The Couch Gag from “Treehouse of Horror XXVI” | ANIMATION on FOX

Watch the couch gag from this year’s spooky Halloween episode, “Treehouse of Horror XXVI.”