21x04 Treehouse of Horror XX

[7.7/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] I’ve cooled a little bit on this episode. I loved it when it first came out, and I still like it quite a bit! But while the premises are some of the show’s most creative for a set of “Treehouse of Horror” stories, some of the gags didn’t land as well for me. All that said, I’d put this in my top five post-classic THoH installments, which is a good place to be.

I still enjoy the quick hit opener. Watching the old Universal monsters try to blend in by dressing up as Harry Potter/Iron Man/etc. makes for an amusing riff on new trends around Halloween versus new ones. The monsters’ wives haranguing them for cheating at the Simpsons’ party is a little weak as gags go, but it still works for a short intro.

The first proper segment, a Hitchock parody, is my favorite. I hadn't seen Strangers on a Train when I first watched this segment, but still appreciated it as a broader Hitchcock homage. Having now seen the source material, I love all the smaller, more specific references I caught, like Edna reaching for the lighter, Bart having an alibi at a tennis match, the merry-go-round climax, and even the way the animators “shoot” Lisa stalking Mrs. Krabappel. There’s a lot of love and care to this one, and it shows. The humor’s the strongest in this segment too, with Bart as his terrible best, and some fun one-off gags.

The middle segment was a blast too. It had been eighteen years since The Simpsons did a zombie segment, and while “Dial Z for Zombies” nicely spoofed the Romero-style undead, “Don’t Have a Cow, Mankind” did a good job of lampooning more modern, fast zombie movies. The design work on the zombified Springfield residents was good, and the show finds humor in recreating the tropes of movies like 28 Days Later and the Dawn of the Dead remake. Some of the one-off gags were a little dumb (What was with that stale Aresnio joke?), but the spirit of the piece is good.

Last but not least, I love the stage-y quality of the show’s Sweeny Todd spoof. It would be easy to just do the plot of the play in Simpsons form. And in truth, the actual story and songs “Treehouse of Horror XX” puts together here are just so-so. But it’s a blast how the show frames it as the Simpsons and friends putting on a play, replete with stagehands, vamping for time, and other unique theater qualities. The gags here aren’t the best, but making the most of a traditional theatrical production setting still boosts this one and makes it memorable.

Overall, I’m not over the moon about this episode like I was when it originally aired, but I still like it quite a bit, and it’s worth including in any grand Halloween Simpsons watch!