Treehouse of Horror XVII

OK... This episode was much, much better than the previous episode. I don't go much on Halloween episodes, but this one is one of the best and out of the 18 and thats pretty good.

The first story was a bit silly, but it did have the funniest part out of the 3, the Dr. Phil scene.

The second story, I really liked it. It was different, and it really worked. There wasn't really any real funny bits, but it was really well done.

The third story, (there was an add in the middle of it, it kind of killed it) but it was good. I liked the World War I bit, with Grampa.

In conclusion: from best to worse; 1: Married to the Blob (Because of the Dr. Phil bit) 2: You Got to Know When to Golem (It was well written) 3: The Day the Earth Stood Stupid (The ad spoiled it, it also felt like it wen't for too long.)

Ironicly it is in the same order as the episode.

Anyway a 7/10 for the whole episode. Really well done.

Evem though the last part when the aliens attack the earth in the segment called the day the earth looked stupid it was a sad ending with lots of shocking explosions quite not bad.

Stars: Dan Castellaneta as Homer, Grampa, Sideshow Mel, Barney, Quimby, Krusty, Rabbi Krustofsky, Kang and Groundskeeper Willy.

Julie Kavner as Marge.

Nancy Cartwright as Bart and Kearney.

Yeardley Smith as Lisa.

Hank Azaria as Chief Wiggum, Chalmers, Moe, Disco Stu, Carl and Lou.

Harry Shearer as Mr. Burns, Smithers, Dr. Hibbert, Kent Brockman, Lenny, Flanders, Skinner and Kodos.

Also with: Pamela Hayden, Tress MacNeille, Karl Wiedergott, Marcia Wallace, Maurice LaMarche, Fran Drescher, Dr. Phil, Richard Lewis.

Segment 1: Married to the Blob. Homer eats goo from an asteroid and ends up craving human flesh. I thought that the idea of this segment was better than it actually came out. There was really no reason for Homer to eat the asteroid goo except to be stupid. There was no real plot to this, just a bunch of violent moments. I'd say the best part was the animation which looked absolutely great, but other than that, there was very little substance to this silly story. Dr. Phil makes an un-needed appearance. My rating: * 1/2 out of ****.

Segment 2: You Got to Know When to Golem. Bart takes a Golem from Krusty's set and makes it do his bidding. This was a very weird segment, but it did have it's moments. I found Krusty on HDTV to be funny, if not a bit disturbing. Richard Lewis does an excellent job as the Golem, and Fran Drescher is great as the annoying voiced Marge made Golem. I didn't think this was necessarily a classic segment, or a memorable one, but it had enough moments to keep my interest. My rating: ** 1/2 out of ****.

Segment 3: The Day the Earth Stood Stupid. Orson Welles radio broadcast puts 1938 Springfield in a scare, but when they realize it was fake, they are totally unaware for real aliens (lead by Kang and Kodos). There was really not much plot for this segment, but it was done well. The color was faded, which looked really good. There were some funny moments, however all in all, I found the end of it to be in pretty bad taste. It was such a well done segment, and it was funny, so I can't say I disliked it. It was an obvious attack on recents events, and I didn't think that was necessarily very nice, but it worked as a segment. My rating: *** out of ****.

Final rating: This Halloween special was really not very good. I found last years to be rather bland, but this one was worse. It was amusing enough for a view or two though, I suppose.

The Treehouse of Horror series in the Simpsons show tells 3 horror-inspired tales in time for Halloween each year. This year opens with a Tales from the Crypt intro with Burns.

"Married to the Blob" features Homer turning into a gigantic blob after a meteor hits (ala Slither) and he insists on eating the green goo inside. This one includes the rap song "Baby, got fat" (I like big fat and I cannot lie) and a Dr. Phil that gets eaten.

"You gotta know when to Golem" features an ancient Jewish monster that will do whatever commands are asked of him. The highlight is when a drunken Homer mistakes the Golem for Millhouse.

"The Day the Earth Looked Stupid" is an Orson Welles "War of the Worlds" spoof. This was more serious in tone and devoid of any laughs, which is uncharacteristic of the Simpsons.

Bottom Line: Worth viewing for the first two tales. Can pass on the third.

Rating: 6.5/10

Molly Celaschi www.HorrorYearbook.com MySpace.com/HorrorYearbook1980