TREEHOUSE OF HORROR XII (Aka The Simpson's Halloween Special12)
I understand that they don't want to support a dead format, but I do wish that the Season sets were still made. They had great features like the multi-language episode bonuses. This episode for instance was so much more re-watchable when you could see how jokes were handled in Japanese for instance. (There used to be a blog I followed that was a haven for the Japanese fandom. They did meetups, tracked the voice actors in other works, complained when the movie had a different cast, and more. Anyone know what I'm talking about?)
HEX AND THE CITY
It seems that this was a popular episode. The Leprechaun character introduced makes multiple cameos later on, even in the likes of the most recent THOH.
Great line, but I also wanted to point out that this is one of the few THOH's that don't have comedic credits. Did they just get sick of them by this point?
Honestly, it sometimes feels like I'm too soft with these segments. We're well past the classic era, so lines like this shouldn't make me laugh, and the episodes should be treated with more scrutiny. But perhaps I've just gotten bored with the hard limits put on what's constituted as classic, or perhaps I'm just white knighting the show to be contradictory, Or maybe it's just that I try and do these when I'm in a good mood.
Regardless of era though, I do think this is a funny line.
The closest we'll ever get to a legitimate Life In Hell adaptation.
Katie Couric is secret best monster girl.
HOUSE OF WHACKS
The more I think of it, the inclusion of sci-fi themes does seem a tinge odd for a Halloween show in general, but since it was established as a spoofable genre from the first installment, it at least fits better then a Mr and Ms Smith or a Dr Seuss parody.
While the over-reliance on guest stars and references can get grating (especially later on), if they can sneak in a slam or two, it's better then just saying their name and profession while in awe of the celebrity at hand.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. A Simpsons episode lives and dies by it's pace. Even for a gag that's as drawn out and tired as blatantly explaining an idea that's against your best interests, if it ends with a quick topper, it can make all the difference.
The episode's also worth it to hear Brosman in action. He does a great performance, and really makes the episode more memorable in my eyes.
Even in these segments, you can really tell that Patty and Selma get shit on quite a bit. Really, if someone was new to the series, you could show them the THOH's, and they'd learn a ton about the show in general,
WIZ KIDS
Was Philosophers Stone out in theaters by this point? I know the books themselves were massive from the get-go, but the movies are what shot the franchise into the stratosphere.
With the revelation of more magical schools outside of Europe (As an aside, really Joanna? The Japanese school is literally called Magic Place?) I do kind of hope that we see more foreign attitudes to magic, even within the context of bullying. I mean, since Fantastic Beasts is going to be 5 movies long, they'll have to pad it out with the newly revealed material, right?
There's been some debate over if movie parodies are a good fit for THOH's. For me, I echo what I said with Xena. If something is funny, I'll let it slide. However, Potter has become a modern classic, and is decently Halloween related, so it's got a lot of good material to make fun of.
But even with amusing lines like these, it can't save the fact that it really only scratches the surface of parody with the franchise. Like someone read a summary in their local newspaper's review section and made a parody based off of that.
The characters do feel like themselves, though. Like, even though it's exaggerated, you can still get the vibe that the writers know what makes Bart and Lisa tick. Bart's not worried about his 9th girlfriend or not wanting to disappoint Homer, and Lisa's not a mouthpiece for whatever cause the writer wants to soapbox.
For whatever reason, I do like this line. I dunno, I guess I'm weird.
Hex: 6/10
Whacks: 6/10
Wiz: 7