Ugh... (THOHXII Review)

I'd like to know - just how bad can one make an episode? Well, tonight we may have seen the worst of The Simpsons. This was by far the worst THOH ever made, and one of the worst episodes ever made. And it had so much promise... too bad they didn't follow it up. One of the things we liked about the old Halloween specials (and, actually, anything with a scary mood to it) was that it built up the suspense. They have completely forgotten about that now, it seems, as all three stories had absolutely no pacing, and, in all actuality, very little humor.

"Hex In The City" It was okay at some points (the middle, mostly) but overall, it just kind of was there. A few standout moments (blow-drying shrunken heads) come close to making up for the bad plot and execution. They come close. But, overall the bad pacing annoyed me.

"House Of Whacks" By far the best, and, come to think of it, the only one that at least delivered something. It had at least some spookiness to it. And a few big laughs, especially the ending with Patty & Selma. I also liked Homer's "I'm missing the back of my head! Cut me some slack!" line, but that was about all. Again, it felt rushed.

"Whiz Kids" Definitely the worst one. It seems to me that sometimes the writers forget how to actually parody things. What did this have to do with Harry Potter? Let's see... it took place at a magic school, there was a shot of Harry. That's about it. This could be considered closer to a rip-off than a parody. I also disliked the way there was no explanation of the magical school at all. They were just there. I don't know, it just didn't work for me.

Someone (I forget who exactly) said that a plot is bad when you can sum it up in 30 words or less. I can do all 3 in 15 or less.

Homer gets a curse and his family turns into freaks so he finds a leprachaun.

The Simpsons get a computer that tries to kill Homer. It doesn't.

Burns kidnaps Bart in a plot against Lisa, but Bart has a change of heart.

All in all, this was a bad way to start off season 13, but since Al Jean takes over in a few weeks, I'm staying optimistic...

== Mike Reed

Worst Halloween Episode Ever

Rest assured I was on the internet within minutes registering my disgust throughout the world.

"S17Mil" wrote in message news:[email]...

Obviously, you didn't watch last year's Halloween Special. Personally, I felt that this was a return to the fun that the Simpsons Halloween specials were known for.

Joe Klemm

The 2001 parody was the best of the three, and it had the best ending by far.

The Harry Potter one had potential, but was more gross than funny. (The Milhouse bit was the highlight.)

I disagree - great episode.

I disagree about the plots, too. Especially on THOH, which are - what, 7 or 8 minutes in length? Little more than a skit. No time to do plot or character development, just do a gag, hopefully funny (last night's sure were), and get out.

"Aliens run for president" is four words, "Lisa creates living city for science fair" is seven. Be fair.

On Tue, 06 Nov 2001 21:17:09 -0500, Mike Reed wrote:

I disagree. "The Shinning" was fantastic. The skits have moved so far away from actually being based on horror stories and ghost tales that they really dont feel like Halloween stories anymore.

"Kelly" wrote in message news:[email]...

I mean, _be_ _fair_.

(Sorry. That phrase reminded me of the Python's)

Mike Reed wrote in message news:...

This segment was quite good. The Kubrick parody was good. There was Hal, and the house looked like the place where Bowman lived at the end of 2001, that is when it didn't look like the Discovery spaceship, and the scene where Homer dismantled the computer at the end, but without "Daisy, Daisy, ... ".

How many of you were able to guess ahead of time that Homer was going to take the broken computer to Selma and Patty's apartment? That was a little predictable.

The scene where one of the sisters stuck the self destruct mechanism between her breasts was reminiscent of the scene in the food critic episode where Homer saw his sister-in-laws exercising in their apartment when he was sitting in the revolving restaurant.

Aaron "Space Museum" Hirshberg

ill agree with you on the alst segment that didnt really work for me either but the other ones were classic. i dont think they give bart and lisa good plots for halloween episodes (stretch dude clobber girl, xena) but i can live with it but you were right about how it seemed more like a harry potter plug more then anything else. the rest was great i think.

mmmm unexplained bacon

I liked this episode, and I liked what Kelly did with plot summaries, and I have too much time on my hands: so I decided to summarize every THOH sketch:

THOH1:

Bad Dream House: OFF moves into a house that tries to kill them--10 (counting OFF as 1, which I'll do throughout.)

Hungry are the Damned: Aliens kidnap OFF and put them back when Lisa becomes suspicious--11

The Raven: OFF acts out Poe's classic--5

THOH2:

Monkey's Paw: OFF gets paw that grants them wishes, cause aliens to take over the world, Ned saves them.--17

Bart The Monster: Bart reads minds and does strange things to people--9

Homer's Brain: Burns takes Homer's brain, inserts it into robot--8

THOH3:

Clown Without Pity: Bart's talking Krusty doll tries to kill him--8

King Homer: OFF acts out King Kong--5

Dial 'Z' For Zombies: Bart tries to reanimate Snowball I, turns people into zombies instead--11

THOH4:

The Devil and Homer Simpson--Homer sells his soul for a donut, but gets it back when it's found that Homer pledged his soul to Marge--20

Terror at 5 1/2 Feet--Bart can't convince anybody that a gremlin is dismantling the bus--11

Bart Simpson's Dracula--Mr. Burns is a vampire, Bart and Lisa thwart him--10

THOH 5:

The Shinning--OFF goes to Burns's cabin, Homer goes insane and tries to kill everyone, Bart cures him with a portable TV--20

Time and Punishment--Homer repeatedly travels to the past, changing future--8

Nightmare Cafeteria--Skinner and Krabappel use kids for cafeteria food--8

THOH 6:

Attack of the 50 ft. Eyesores--Mascots come to life and terrorize Springfield--7

Nightmare On Evergreen Terrace--Groundskeeper Willie kills kids in their sleep--7

Homer^3--Homer is transported to the 3rd dimension, falls into the real world--12

THOH 7:

The Thing and I: Bart's unknown twin attempts to reattach them--7

The Genesis Tub: Lisa creates tiny civilization--4

Citizen Kang: Aliens run for President--4

THOH 8:

Homega Man: Homer is the last man in Springfield after a French nuclear attack--12

Fly vs. Fly--Bart is turned into a fly--6

Easy Bake Coven--Marge is a witch in colonial Springfield--7

THOH 9:

Hell Toupee: Homer receives Snake's hair, causing Snake to control Homer--9

The Terror of Tiny Toon: Bart and Lisa are inside an I&S cartoon--9

Starship Poopers: Kang is Maggie's real father, they go on Jerry Springer to solve the problem--14

THOH 10:

I Know What You Diddily-Iddily Did--Marge runs over Ned, and OFF is then terrorized by someone who saw the crime, turns out to be Werewolf Ned--21

Desperately Xeeking Xena--Bart and Lisa have special powers, save Lucy Lawless from the Collector--12

Life's A Glitch, Then You Die--Y2K glitch destroys Earth, Lisa, Marge and Maggie transported to Mars, Bart and Homer to the Sun--17

THOH 11:

G-G-Ghost D-D-Dad: Homer dies, has to do good deed in 24 hours to get into heaven--14

Scary Tales Can Come True: OFF acts out fairy tales--5

Night of the Dolphins: Dolphins take over Springfield--4

THOH 12:

Hex and the City: Gypsy curses Homer, Homer seeks a leprechaun to remove curse--10

House of Whacks: OFF gets a robotic house that tries to kill Homer--10

Wiz Kids: Lisa and Bart are wizards, thwart Burns--7

By this standard, THOH 12 is in the middle of the pack, and "I Know What You Diddly-Iddly-Id" is the best sketch ever. Clearly not a good way to judge.

Brian

Aaron Hirshberg wrote:

What are your ratings based on? Is there a system or did you pick yourself?

Andy(atuc.com), is in the dark again!

If you're talking about mine, it's the number of words in the plot summary :)

Brian

Andrew Hall wrote:

Oh jeez!

*WONK*

Thanks

Andy(atuc.com), rather he hit himself with the clue hammer than someone else...

Brian Beck wrote:

I can sum up _Ulysses_ in 5 words or less:

Mr. Bloom walks around Dublin.

I agree that it was the worst THOH, but it is nowhere near being the worst episode in general.

In article , [email] (Miklos2001) wrote:

I was also less than overwealmed, but in retrospect I should have seen it coming. I don't think this is the *worst* THOH, but it's no better or worse than the last two THOH's (seasons 11 and 12). All three of them have standout scenes, and standout segments, but none of them rank with the golden classic age of Simpsons I prefer. To be fair, *any* beloved series usually gets pretty soggy by Season 10.

My thoughts: Overall, I thought each segment... just... drifted away... instead of coming to a CONCLUSION! I didn't really like the exit of any of them, AND LETS NOT FORGET that "FOX animation lot parking space" coda... a bad aftertaste for the THOH reminiscient of low-cal Clamato. That bit added nothing, and gave no sort of BANG! ending a la "Homer 3" or the fog that turns people inside out.

Hex and the City: Good plot concept. The leprachaun unfortunately was written to overstay his welcome in each scene; overplayed, but funny when used effectively. Marge's body hair was disturbing! Good to see Yoda. The family's afflictions in general were good ideas. Sad to see Kang & Kodos again relegated to "our hated predecessors created them and so dump them somewhere" status. (Shuffles off to entertain self with TRU playset) although their lines were funny, better than the Old Navy bit last year.

House of Whacks: My personal favorite. I'm a big Kubrick fan, and Pierce Brosnan's 'character', I thought, was written and delivered with the tongue-in-cheekiness I love about OFF. Good gadgets. Funny, I thought Marge *liked* housework, or at least needed it to give her purpose. With "2001" references, would have been fun to work Kang & Kodos into the mix - controlling the Ultrahouse Brosnan remotely, or perhaps knowledge of them is what makes Ultrahouse Brosnan go faulty.

Wiz Kids: If I were familiar with Harry Potter, I'd probably enjoy more about it. As it is I have no big problems with it and thought it was well-done in general. Smithers eating Burns works, disturbing!, and is a fun little mental image. Can't wait to buy the Snake Smithers and Montymort figures with real eating action!

David Z Houston TX

Not bloody likely. What really made that segment a letdown was that if the writer was thoroughly familiar with the HP books, he didn't show it. I honestly think MAD magazine did a better Harry Potter parody than "The Simpsons," which truly makes it a disgrace.

"Miklos2001" wrote in message news:[email]...

honestly

which

Was it ever said "Wiz Kids" was supposed to be a Harry Potter "parody"? Or, was it just said the segment was Harry Potter influenced, or Harry Potter-like? Whose words were they? Where is the source on that? I'm not convinced someone (who knows anything) actually said the words "Harry Potter parody".

Sorry, but I thought it was hilarious. Hex in the City had me howling because of the goofiness. Seeing Marge looking like a blue Sasquatch was great. Long necked Bart was great too. The Leprechaun kicked ass (in more ways than one).

House of Whacks wasn't so hot for me.

Whiz Kids still has me giggling 2 days later. Sorry, but the puking frog or whatever it was hit me head on. The writer for this stint obviously had the humor frequency tuned to me.

Bjorn

[delurk]

To quote the late Michael O'Donoghue, "Making people laugh is the lowest form of humor."

[relurk]