Rate And Review: Treehouse Of Horror XXIV (RABF16)

How would you rate Treehouse Of Horror XXIV?


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    135
he changed it a few years ago to "simonsam@twitTERROR" but doesn't appear to have done it since
 
Segment 1:
I'm not a big fan of Dr.Seuss' style of storytelling and the Simpsons take on it wasn't really to my taste but I do appreciate some of the gags and efforts gone to do this segment. 6/10
Segment 2:
I kind of liked this one, but the concept isn't really what these episodes were intended to do, I still liked how it brought Lisa and Bart together, but the ending was rushed and that spoiled it for me.
5.5/10
Segment 3:
This segment was fairly unoriginal as here have been many other episodes where the cast have been changed into their creatures, like "The Island Of Doctor Hibbert" and if that wasn't enough it had the most rushed ending ever.
3/10
Overall:
This was better fairly the same quality as last years, it was fairly rushed and didn't work out as well as it could've.
5/10
 
Maybe the second segment would've been better if it were Homer and Marge's heads on one body. Or why not both?
 
Opening Sequence - I really liked this one with it's tons of references; maybe it was a bit overly long but it didn't matter since it was pretty cool.

Oh, the Places You'll D'oh - This one was really fun with the Dr. Seussian animation, references and jokes. I really liked the constantly rhyming dialogue which made for some really nice jokes and rhymes. It had a clear beginning and a clear end and I liked all of it.

Dead and Shoulders - It wasn't that much of a ripoff of Futurama's "Put Your Head on My Shoulders" since it got a somewhat fresh spin on it with Lisa controlling the body when awake but Bart being in charge while she was asleep. Had some good jokes and the ending was wierd but I kinda liked it.

Freaks no Geeks - I have never seen "Freaks" but I did kinda like this one; I enjoyed the sepia-toned 30's setting and the characters as workers at a travelling circus and there was some nice jokes in it. Ending was pretty bizarre with an abrupt cut to present day but it was ok.

Overall, the opening was really good as was the first segment, but he other two weren't as good and definitely felt weaker but I enjoyed all of it. Not an awesome Treehouse Of Horror episode but still a pretty good one with some good jokes and gags throughout.

4/5
 
I am a big Dr. Seuss fan, so "Oh, The Places You'll D'oh" was easily the best of the three IMO. The other were pretty good as well, but not great.

Still, pretty damn good for a modern THOH. 4/5
 
I am a big Dr. Seuss fan, so "Oh, The Places You'll D'oh" was easily the best of the three IMO. The other were pretty good as well, but not great.

Still, pretty damn good for a modern THOH. 4/5
 
Brillant episode, flawless. Best opening in a decade. 5/5 easy. Probably one of the best 10 of the past decade too.
 
I really loved this episode. The opening was great.

There is so many references to Futurama... Hypnotoad, Dead and shoulders makes references to Put your head on my shoulders, and in the last segment, 2 references: the quote "Of all the kisses I have gotten in my life, that was the first" makes references to I, roommate's quote "Of all the friends I've had, you're the first", and some seconds later, there is a joke that which makes references to a joke from Less than hero, when there are a long-eared mutant who is talking to a big-mouthed mutant. By the way, speaking of that, I didn't recognize Rabbit Ears, but I recognized Big Mouth: except his hair and except the fact he has all of his upper jaw's teeth which are prominent, you should recognize him too.

I noticed that Four regrettings and a funeral has at least one reference to Futurama: when people believe that Milhouse's nose is Bart's butcher shop, Jasper's beard hide his eyes. This makes references to an episode when Zoidberg's tentacles hide his eyes. I think that since Treehouse of horror XXIV, Season 25 will make references to Futurama in each episode.
 
9/10 - Great first half, weak second half

Opening sequence: The opening sequence is extremely detailed. Even though I'm not a big fan of horror films, I really appreciate the amount of effort they put in the opening. None of the references are really overexplained, and there are a lot of smaller ones in there for the viewer to catch. It even manages to follow the regular opening sequence of the show, just with tons of references stuck in there. My only minor problem with this opening is that there isn't much satire or humor; it's just a ton of references, one after the other. The only mildly funny bits were the (literally) Illustrated Man, Milhouse getting hit by the car on a girly bike, and Hans Moleman doing nothing in the pan across Springfield. (Sidenote: I didn't like how the pan was slowed down. It was probably done because they didn't have enough material for the pan.) Besides this minor complaint, it was a very creative and well-executed opening sequence, one of the best in latter day Treehouse of Horrors. 9.5/10

Oh, the Places You'll D'oh!: One of the best post-classic Treehouse of Horror segments. To begin with, it's obviously a full-blown Dr. Seuss parody; however, unlike weaker parodies like Tweenlight, this one really nails the satire. Instead of making obvious nods to specific pop culture icons ("Tweenlight," "Funtendo Zii"), this generalizes the surreal, wacky world of Dr. Seuss and gives it a Simpsons twist. For example, we have the automatic pool table at Moe's (complete with robotic hands), Nelson's automated bullying door (robotic hands break Milhouse's glasses), Lisa and Maggie's hairstyle, and the Fat in the Hat's three-needle mump-curing shot. Of course, we'll also get some direct parodies (The Cat in the Hat, the Bore-ax, Thing 1 and Thing 2), but these are all done with a twist on them, complete with commentary (in the case of the Bore-ax plastering his likeness on consumer goods). (Sidenote: Homer calls the Bore-ax a sellout, but he himself does it later in the season with Brick Like Me.) Another thing I really liked about this segment was the use of violence to their advantage. The violence makes the segment fresher and less of a full-blown Dr. Seuss parody. Violence is really used nicely in this segment: for example, the missiles that Homer use to destroy Burns Manor have happy faces on. Or when Homer kills all the Ralphs, the last Ralph dies with a smile on his face. The segment manages to keep the atmosphere of the show really happy and light, despite all of the intense violence. The writing is very well done in this segment, with the entire segment rhyming. The animation is another plus for the episode; if you watch closely, the characters' eyes are drawn differently. The lines and color schemes of the scenes are also done to resemble Dr. Seuss-style animation. A lot of the characters got Dr. Seuss re-designs, with the best being a Barney camel, a purposely off-model Apu, the girlish-looking Sideshow Bob, and a Bumblebee Man bee. I kind of feel like I'm giving the segment too much praise, but I do have to add the jingles that they used in the episode to the positive list. Lines like "You might see his name on an amber alert" and "The Fat in the Hat has some anger issues, and some highly unusual political views" were pretty funny. The segment was a little lacking in humor, but it was still there, with the dead Patty, Selma, and Moe, Homer saying, "Just don't ever let me be played by Mike Myers," the homeless retching when they ate Mr. Burns' corpse, and Apu's torture being an afternoon with eight kids and Manjula. There weren't really any major flaws with this segment, and the violent Dr. Seuss parody is one of the best they've done in year, so I might as well give this segment a 10/10.

Dead and Shoulders: After a great opening and first segment, the episode starts to go downhill a little. Dead and Shoulders is a rather mediocre segment, but it's still serviceable. For one, I'm actually very surprised that they haven't done a plot like this, even after 70 Treehouse of Horror segments. When they finally got around to it, though, the end result is plagued with problems and some decent parts. The story is set in regular Springfield, which is the setting for many of my favorite Treehouse of Horror segments; again, a different setting isn't the key to a good THOH segment, although it has produced some good ones too. Bart flies a kite, ties it to his neck, and gets his head chopped off after Arnie Pye's helicopter catches the kite. The lead-in to the main plot is a little too long for a 7-minute story, and is stuffed with hit-and-miss filler. I really would have preferred the lead-in to Bart being on Lisa's body to be shorter. Once that happens, we get plenty of hit-and-miss sequences showing Bart on Lisa's head. Homer patching up Bart's fallen head with gum was gross, Bart being rejected from Homer's man cave wasn't that funny, but Skinner accomodating Bart was probably the best joke of the episode. Willie painting another circle on the side of the women's restroom sign's head was hilarious. Ms. Hoover giving Lisa an A+ and Bart an F- for the same project was pretty dumb, as was Lisa and Ralph spinning the globe placed between them. (Ralph saying that licking the globe was his project was pretty funny, though.) So basically, all of this was hit-and-miss filler trying to show us what Bart's new life is like. While it's a good idea, it's not a very smart idea, considering this is a 7-minute sequence. So pacing is already the main problem here, as we've gotten pretty much halfway into the segment, and nothing has happened. Oh wait, something is happening - Lisa and Bart become friends thanks to some minimal therapy (which Homer tries to pay for with a two heads for one coupon - nope, it's a coupon for lettuce). Then another quick scene with Homer saying he should have chopped off Bart's head long ago; not particularly funny, but it was funny seeing Bart stick his head into Lisa's saxophone as a mute. This is where the segment starts to go downhill. At this point, there are two options - one, let Bart discover that he's in control when Lisa's asleep. Or, they could turn it into a Bart-Lisa relationship episode. Unfortunately, the writers attempt to tackle both, causing the end of the episode to really bomb. The writers take off with the fact that Bart is in control when Lisa's asleep (basically throwing away the therapy scene), and despite the fact that they were on their way to being friends, now Bart wants to kill Lisa. We get several scenes with Bart attempting to chop Lisa's head off; first, a scene with pathetic Skinner having a panic attack (just sad). Then, we reach the climactic scene at the sawmill, which isn't really climactic at all because nothing really happened in this segment yet. Quick visual gag with the mill being a double-cut sawmill, Lisa's head and Bart's head are both cut off, and the segment ends on a joke with Bart attached to Selma, Lisa attached to Krusty, and Dr. Nick attached to Dr. Hibbert (?).

Overall, it's a very mediocre segment. Sparse laughs, a really disjointed plot (especially toward the end), and pretty bad pacing all of the way through, thanks to too much filler. Rather weak for a Treehouse of Horror segment, especially compared to the first half of the episode. 6/10

Freaks no Geeks: Let me start by saying I'm a huge fan of the color scheme used in this segment. The grayscale colors are chosen very nicely and are actually pretty pleasing to see. The episode starts by introducing the characters. The only funny scenes were the freaks; we have a freeze-frame gag of the Spineless Man (Skinner), followed by a showcase of the Human Donkey (Nelson: "Hee-haw!"), the terrifying Callback (Bart on Selma's head), the standard Kang and Kodos appearance (they're afraid of the dark now?), and...Moe. Just regular Moe. Like the Dr. Seuss segment, this one really has fun with transforming all the characters into freaks; it was fun to see torso Barney, the Human Snail Comic Book Guy, really off-model Lenny and Carl, and no-legs Rafael (aka Sarcastic Salesman), among others. Mr. Burnsum is in more evil character here, but he's not as much of a villain as he can be. Not a major complaint, though. The plot does leave something to be desired; it starts out nicely with Marge leaving Homer because he can't appreciate the freaks, and then Moe falling for Marge. But when Homer comes out with his stupidly overcomplicated plan (Marge marries Moe, kill Moe, Marge gets the ring, Homer marries Marge, Homer gets the ring), it kind of gets overcomplicated for a 7-minute segment. Homer convinces Marge to marry Moe. When he tries to kill Moe, Marge finds out and leaves him. Then the freaks find out and...I'll get to the ending later. The plot really does get pretty complex here. And for a 7-minute story, it shouldn't get this complex. The jokes are hit-and-miss, with the funnier lines being "What the hell does gooble goo mean?" and "Why is it company parties always get weird?" My biggest complaint about this segment, though, is its horribly rushed ending. We switch back to normal coloring as a tar-and-feathered Homer says, "And that, kids, is how I met your mother." It's not a big surprise that the ending sucked, though, considering how overly complicated of a plot they had going in the segment. Naturally, time cut short, and the episode just had to falter like that. Really hate that ending. Overall, though, it's serviceable. The plot and pacing are major issues, and the jokes are mediocre. Great animation, though. 6.5/10

The average of my four scores is 8/10, but because the first half of the episode was some of the best post-classic Treehouse of Horror material, I'll bump it up to a 9/10.
 
5/5 loved the freaks no geeks one . it reminded my of another Simpsons treehouse of horror epsiode called the day earth looked stupid . i like the old collars and the story is in the past and springfield is called springfieldland . greatest story out of all 3! from this year treehouse of horror
 
Very good Treehouse Of Horror.
The opening is undoubtedly the best thing about it, but the rest of the episode is pretty decent.

Oh, the Places You'll D'oh! : The best of the three. I loved the rhymes, it was quite fun and unfortunately it was short. 5/5.

Dead And Shoulders: It's cliche, but I think it was well executed. It was fun and I liked the end. 4/5.

Freaks, No Geeks: Meh ... This is one of those segments that have a more complex story that can not be well developed in 6 minutes. 3/5.

Overall, 4/5.
 
There is so many references to Futurama.


Neat list. Some of those slipped by me.


I think this may be the best Treehouse of Horror episode since the golden era. No segment was fantastic, but all three were solid. "Oh, the Places You'll D'oh!" was very imaginative and I really liked the coloring in "Freaks, No Geeks."

Oh, and the intro was A+. It's my favorite since the "Homer's Evolution" couch gag in season 18. I'd love to have a list of all the references.
 
And so we reach Treehouse Of Horror XXIV, which has more 3 segments for us! Time for me to review them.

Firstly, we have Oh, The Places You Will D'oh!, which is easily the best of the 3 we have this year. I'm really impressed with the animation in this, and whilst the plot writing wasn't the best, it was decent enough for me to like it. On a modern grade, 4/5.

Next, we have Dead And Sholders, which personally, I didn't like at all. I just thought it was mediocre at the best, and that the final joke was kinda reused, so it wasn't funny enough. 2/5.

Lastly, we have Freaks, No Geeks, which like DAS, gets a 2/5 for me, being on the same level as mediocre for me.The main thing that puts this over DAS is the animation.

Overall, my final score is a 3/5, when my 8/15 grade is rounded up.
 
  1. Opening (setting) - My favorite Guillermo del Toro opening. It's fantastic.😃So much really cool references. It provided high mood for the episode itself (how it was silly)
  2. Oh, The Places You Will D'oh! - Cool spoof story. Despite it had more comic and "mash-up" character, rather horror, but I liked it. 75/100
  3. Dead And Sholders - Just random shot plot. Bart's beheading... and whatever. 49/100 The 2nd worst segment ever
  4. Freaks, No Geeks - The segment of mood. It could make you joy, or (in my case) bored. Poor writing. 58/100

TOTAL (in average) 59.67/100 (strong 2/5, with rounding, or C-). BAD!
The 3rd worst Treehouse of Horror, IMHO.
 
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