“No TV and no beer make Homer…something, something.”
The JOE team did its very best to find out Ireland’s favourite horror film over the weekend – FYI, The Shining took an axe to the competition and beat The Exorcist to take the terrifying title – and it’s somewhat fitting that Kubrick’s classic will also be featuring in a very different take this week.
Just like choosing the greatest horror film of all time, it’s practically impossible to pick the best Treehouse of Horror segment from The Simpsons because during its golden era, every single horrific homage was a joy to behold.
Who can forget their King Kong parody when Homer was so out of shape that he couldn’t even climb five stories of The Empire State Building, never mind reach the actual summit?
Also, Homer’s conversation about the cursed monkey paw is still one of the greatest conversations that evert took place in The Simpsons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Krbl911ZPBA
Clip via ellogan
Would you believe that those two segments didn’t even feature in this poll of almost 10,000 votes to find the greatest ever Treehouse of Horror segment?
The poll is also cursed!
Given the extraordinary moments that featured in these iconic specials of The Simpsons, we’re delighted to say that Treehouse of Horror V is the episode with the most beloved segments – The Shinning, Time and Punishment, and Nightmare Cafeteria.
Truth be told, it’s extremely hard to argue against it.
The episode originally aired on 30 October, 1994 and the showrunner for that particular episode, David Mirkin, deliberately placed more graphic violence in the episode due to complaints about excessive violence in the show.
Regarding The Shining parody, there’s not a single second that isn’t perfect. A tiny thing we especially love is that none of The Simpsons give a crap about the fact that they left Abe back at the gas station!
As for Time and Punishment, who doesn’t remember the advice that Abe gave Homer on his wedding day: “If you ever travel back in time, don’t step on anything.”
Why he choose to tell his son that on his wedding day, we have no idea!
Despite the fact that this episode is 24 years old – yep, we feel old – its legacy continues to grow because in many ways, it’s a perfect example of The Simpsons during its golden era.
Entertainment Weekly ranked this episode as the ninth best of the entire series with The Shinning segment described as “a parody […] with such detail [and] comic timing” and that it “ranks with the great […] spoofs of all time”. They also described the Time and Punishment segment as “one of the most beautifully random moments in [The] Simpsons history.”
I wish, I wish, I hadn’t killed that fish.
Well, unlike Homer, you’ve no excuse to feel any regret because Treehouse of Horror V will air on Channel 4 at 18:00 on 31 October.
Don’t miss out because it might drive you crazy.
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