68. Hex and the City

• Treehouse of Horror: XII
• Year: 2001
• Synopsis: A gipsy fortune teller puts a curse on Homer.
• Rating: ★★☆☆☆
• Best Gag: Lenny and Carl: “You know who’s best? Jesus.  He’s like 6 leprechauns.  Harder to catch though, so go with the leprechaun.“

Hex and the City feels like a mishmash of ideas, and none of them really work together, but the leprechaun has his moments.

67. Terror at 5 1/2 Feet

• Treehouse of Horror: IV
• Year: 1993
• Synopsis: A gremlin starts destroying the school bus while Bart and the kids are on the schoolbus.
• Rating: ★★☆☆☆
• Best Gag: Skinner, “I’ve gotten word that a child is using his imagination, and I’ve come to put a stop to it“

As a huge fan of The Twilight Zone, let me point that finding this episode kinda boring was a legit shock to me. Maybe it’s because Terror at 20,000 Feet is so famous already, or maybe it’s because it has been parodied so many times since, but this one did not hold up for me at all.

66. Easy Bake Coven

• Treehouse of Horror: VIII
• Year: 1997
• Synopsis: In a 1600s New England Springfield, Marge turns out to be a witch.
• Rating: ★★☆☆☆
• Best Gag: Captain McCallister: “And it wasn’t long before this yearly custom became an annual tradition”

A few chuckles, but otherwise boring. I did also laugh at “if I’d known you were coming, Id’ve baked a cat.” I feel like if this was more closely based on The Crucible and not just generic New England witch stories, it might be better.

65. Attack of the 50-Foot Eyesores

• Treehouse of Horror: VI
• Year: 1995
• Synopsis: All the giant mascot statues in Springfield come to life.
• Rating: ★★☆☆☆
• Best Gag: Bart whispering in the devil’s ear OR “He came to life. Good for him!”

Another one that, despite a few iconic images, passes by with only a couple of laughs. I also do like Homer throwing it to commercials right after Kent Brockman says, “Even as I speak, the scourge of advertising could be heading toward your town! Lock your doors, bar your windows, because the next advertisement you see could destroy your house and eat your family!“

64. Coralisa

• Treehouse of Horror: XXVIII
• Year: 2017
• Synopsis: Lisa finds a secret door behind a bookcase that leads to a 3D world where the cat can speak and everyone has buttons for eyes
• Rating: ★★☆☆☆
• Best Gag: Snowball II: “For centuries the cat has been a symbol of intelligence and OOOH shiny!”

I didn’t use an image of it, but the 3D animation in Coralisa is actually super stylish and awesome, and Neil Gaiman shows up to voice Snowball II, which is neat. This one is a little unsettling but also not that funny, though.

63. The Island of Doctor Hibbert

• Treehouse of Horror: XIII
• Year: 2002
• Synopsis: The Simpson’s head to an island owned by Doctor Hibbert where he conducts experiments splicing animal DNA into humans.
• Rating: ★★☆☆☆
• Best Gag: Homer: “All you can do is mate and eat and roll around in your own filth and mate and eat and WHERE DO I SIGN UP?”

Honestly, this one seems like it would be right up my alley, but I didn’t connect with it for some reason. The idea is great, but the laughs are few.

62. The Exor-Sis

• Treehouse of Horror: XXVIII
• Year: 2017
• Synopsis: Homer orders an ancient Sumerian idol from Amazon and it contains a demon.
• Rating: ★★☆☆☆
• Best Gag: Pazuzu: “I used to be very important.  Google it.  GOOGLE IT”

It’s actually strange in hindsight that The Simpson’s didn’t get to The Exorcist sooner than just 3 years ago. Anyway, the most notable thing about this one to me is that Ben Daniels, star of the actually excellent Exorcist TV series, is on board as the exorcist priest in the story. Also, the montage of all the toys in the bedroom reacting to Pazuzu is great.

61. Fly vs. Fly

• AKA: the one where Bart becomes a fly, and Barts body gets a fly’s head.
• Treehouse of Horror: VII
• Year: 1997
• Synopsis: Bart enters a teleporter along with a fly.
• Rating: ★★☆☆☆
• Best Gag: Homer to Frink at the garage sale: “I dunno… $2.. .and it only transports matter?”

Another one that has a solid premise but is short on laughs.

60. Freaks no Geeks

• Treehouse of Horror: XXIV
• Year: 2013
• Synopsis: The life and times of a group of circus freaks.
• Rating: ★★☆☆☆
• Best Gag: Moe: “My mothers ring.  She gave it to me on her deathbed.  She also acquired it on her deathbed. It was a busy deathbed.“

A nicely stylized episode that recasts all the characters perfectly but then does very little with it. Still, a few of the gags are good, so your mileage might vary.

59. Telepaths of Glory

• Treehouse of Horror: XXVI
• Year: 2015
• Synopsis: Bart, Lisa, and Milhouse stumble on a mysterious cave in the woods which gives them telepathic powers.
• Rating: ★★☆☆☆
• Best Gag: Homer: “God gave you these powers for good not for jazz!”

A parody of Chronicle that does its job but is a bit light on laughs.

58. Intrusion of the Pod-Y Switchers

• Treehouse of Horror: XXIX
• Year: 2018
• Synopsis: The one where Apple products turn out to be made by aliens.
• Rating: ★★★☆☆
• Best Gag: Lisa: “Dystopian movies have taught me two things.  a) you can make a four part movie out of a three part book and b) there is no hope.“

As much as I am tired of the “Apple is a cult” type narrative, this parody of Invasion of the Body Snatchers manages to be both good and funny, which is nice.

57. There’s No Business like Moe Business

• Treehouse of Horror: XX
• Year: 2009
• Synopsis: A theatre musical starring Moe, Homer, and Marge, set in Moe’s bar with all on Springfield in attendance.
• Rating: ★★★☆☆
• Best Gag: Homer: “Can you love a man who is half beer?” Marge: “I always have.”

No Business like Moe Business is a different kind of segment as an adaptation of Sweeney Todd, but as a stage show with all Springfield (including Kang and Kodos) in attendance. High concept, funny, and kind of a sweet ending. I like it.

56. Dry Hard

• Treehouse of Horror: XXVII
• Year: 2016
• Synopsis:
• Rating: ★★★☆☆
• Best Gag: Homer, as Homish: “I sober up with no problems, just like in real life”

Dry Hard is a good example of a good segment, but it would be great if it could decide between being a parody of The Hunger Games and Mad Max: Fury Road.

Still, this one has a ton of good gags and visuals and an evil Mr Burns. It’s good.

55. School is Hell

• Treehouse of Horror: XXV
• Year: 2014
• Synopsis: Bart gets transferred to school in hell, and turns out to be a prodigy.
• Rating: ★★★☆☆
• Best Gag: Bart’s hell school report card, which includes an “A” for ““Keeping the yankees in first place”

School is Hell almost seems too obvious a premise, but it works! Plenty of laughs and plenty of fun visuals to boot.

54. Heaven Swipes Right

• Treehouse of Horror: XXX
• Year: 2019
• Synopsis: Homer dies, as it turns out, prematurely.
• Rating: ★★★☆☆
• Best Gag: The idea that god sold out to Google 

This one goes off the rails a little toward the end as Homer comes back in body after body, but the setup/parody is good, and there are enough jokes at Google’s expense to make it funny enough. I do wonder why Heaven looks like an Apple store if God sold out to Google, though.

53. Dial M for Murder Or Press # To Return to the Main Menu

• Treehouse of Horror: XX
• Year: 2009
• Synopsis: Lisa and Bart pull a Strangers on a Train
• Rating: ★★★☆☆
• Best Gag: There is an awesome montage in the middle

Ah yes, it’s amazing they haven’t parodied Hitchcock a lot more than they have, to be honest. I dig the black and white styling of this one and the numerous references to Hitchcock’s work, but ultimately it’s how this one resolves along with the surreal montage in the middle that makes me like this one as much as I do.

52. The Greatest Story Ever Holed

• Treehouse of Horror: XXIII
• Year: 2012
• Synopsis: Professor Frink creates a black hole using a supercollider, which Lisa then keeps in her basement.
• Rating: ★★★☆☆
• Best Gag: Professor Frink: “You can tell your grandchildren you were here when we learned that this accelerator is far too small to tell us anything important.”

The beginning of this segment where Professor Frink and Mayor Quimby are introducing the partial accelerator is laugh-out-loud funny from start to finish (“that money could have been used to start a war!“). The story slows down a little after that, but I love the black hole effect on the animation as well everyone using the black hole as trash disposal despite being told it would end the universe if they do.

51. Mr. & Mrs Simpson

• Treehouse of Horror: XVIII
• Year: 2007
• Synopsis: Homer and Marge are revealed to be international assassins, unbeknownst to each other.
• Rating: ★★★☆☆
• Best Gag: Homer, taking aim with a sniper rifle: “Now all I need to do is think up a clever line to say before I pull the trigger. <pause>  Ooh, that’s a perfect one but I don’t need to say it because I’m alone”

When The Simpson’s does a really focussed parody, they actually do really well. For example, Mr & Mrs Simpson is a really well-executed parody of Mr & Mrs Smith, and one of the things I’ve always loved about The Simpson’s is that Marge and Homer are actually really into one another.

50. Homerzilla

• Treehouse of Horror: XXVI
• Year: 2015
• Synopsis: A giant monster from the depth of the ocean attacks a Japanese island.
• Rating: ★★★☆☆
• Best Gag: Scientist: “We can’t stop him! All we can do is avoid him easily!“

As a fan of the Godzilla franchise, especially the Shōwa Era films, I wish they had just done a full-length parody of the 1954 classic rather than lampooning how American filmmakers poorly remade the film in the 1990s. Still, the references in this are great, and the initial sequence in grainy black and white and with dodgy dubbing is great.

49. The Day the Earth Looked Stupid

• Treehouse of Horror: XVII
• Year: 2006
• Synopsis: Orson Welles broadcasts a radio play about an alien invasion that Springfield believes to be real.
• Rating: ★★★☆☆
• Best Gag: Lou: “Well they didn’t eat the skin.  That’s healthy”

The Day The Earth Looked Stupid is a fun episode, and I love the conceit that Kang and Kodos show up right after Welles broadcast. I also love the sepia tone colour scheme, and there are some killer jokes here. Then the story ends with a dark and hell reference to the war in the middle east, and I have to say, it’s refreshing when they actually take the time to do make it clear they have thoughts about the real world.

48. Mulitplisa-ty

• Treehouse of Horror: XXIX
• Year: 2018
• Synopsis: Lisa, suffering from dissociative identity disorder, seeks revenge on Bart and Milhouse
• Rating: ★★★☆☆
• Best Gag: Homer: “How am I supposed to know that the day we got married falls on our wedding anniversary??”

It’s a timely parody of Split, and honestly, it’s just refreshing to see Lisa be the villain. They should do that more often!

47. Send in the Clones

• Treehouse of Horror: XIII
• Year: 2002
• Synopsis: Homer acquires a magic hammock which can make copies of anyone who lays in it.
• Rating: ★★★☆☆
• Best Gag: Homer, after creating this third and fourth clones: “I think this might be a magic hammock!”

Homer is the funniest character in the show, so it’s shocking to me that this episode isn’t the classic I had in my memory. There are a few good gags, Homer shooting the clones at the end being one of them, but it’s missing that certain extra something that would have made it truly great.

46. The Ned Zone

• Treehouse of Horror: XV
• Year: 2004
• Synopsis: After an injury, Flanders gains the ability to foretell how people will die.
• Rating: ★★★☆☆
• Best Gag: Flanders: “Homer, please, don’t tempt the gods… er, I mean God! There’s one God! Only one! Well, sometimes there’s three.”

The funniest things in this segment are Homer trying to get a frisbee off the roof with a bowling ball and how Ned’s vision leads to the end of the story, but for such strong source material to work from, it’s weird that this one ends up landing in a-ok territory rather than great.

45. A Clockwork Yellow

• Treehouse of Horror: XXV
• Year: 2014
• Synopsis: Moe leads a Clockwork Orange style gang in London
• Rating: ★★★☆☆
• Best Gag: Moe: “Time for a little of the ol’ in-out”

Not so much a parody of A Clockwork Orange as it is the film of Stanley Kubrick, but for once, that’s not really a complaint. The whole sequence in the Eyes Wide Shut style orgy is great, and Comic Book Guy exclaiming, “Even I don’t remember what this is a reference to” after reenacting a scene from Barry Lyndon is hilarious.

44. Starship Poopers

• Treehouse of Horror: IX
• Year: 1999
• Synopsis: We find out who Maggie’s real father is.
• Rating: ★★★☆☆
• Best Gag: Homer: “You intergalactic hussy, how could you! Was he better than me?”

I have fond memories of this one, but almost none of the gags landed for me on re-watching. However, the idea that Maggie, or any of the kids, was actually sired by Kang is one that should be hilarious.

Though I do love the exchange between Doctor Hibbert and Marge.

Marge: “Is there anything you can prescribe?”

Doctor Hibbert: “Fire, and lots of it!”

Marge: “That’s your cure for everything.”

And the four most common spawning locations of the human species.