Treehouse of Horror IX
Encyclopedia
"Treehouse of Horror IX" is the fourth episode of the tenth season
of The Simpsons
. It first aired on the Fox network
in the United States on October 25, 1998. This is the ninth Treehouse of Horror episode, and, like the other "Treehouse of Horror" episodes, contains three self-contained segments: In "Hell Toupée", Homer
gets a hair transplant and is possessed by the spirit of an executed criminal; in "Terror of Tiny Toon", Bart
and Lisa
are trapped in a special, extremely violent episode of The Itchy & Scratchy Show
; and in "Starship Poopers", Marge
reveals that Maggie
is the product of a one-night stand with the alien Kang.
"Treehouse of Horror IX" was written by Donick Cary
, Larry Doyle and David S. Cohen
, and directed by Steven Dean Moore
. "Terror of the Tiny Toon" includes a live-action segment starring Regis Philbin
and Kathie Lee Gifford
. Jerry Springer
and Ed McMahon
also appear in the episode, voicing themselves, while Robert Englund
provides the voice of Freddy Krueger
from the Nightmare on Elm Street
film series. The episode also features Jason Voorhees
from Friday the 13th while various characters visit the talk shows Live with Regis and Kathie Lee and The Jerry Springer Show
.
In its original airing on the Fox Network, the episode had an 8.6 Nielsen rating
. In 1999
, composer Alf Clausen
was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award
for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series
for his work on the episode.
Snake is arrested for smoking inside the Kwik-E-Mart
. Chief Wiggum explains that this is Snake's third strike, so he will be executed in accordance with the three strikes law
. Before hauling Snake away, Chief Wiggum helpfully points out that Apu
, Moe
, and Bart
are all witnesses; Snake vows to kill all of them. Snake is executed in the electric chair
on World's Deadliest Executions, hosted by Ed McMahon
and proudly broadcast on Fox
. Chief Wiggum then sends the body to the hospital to be carved up for organ donations and Barney
calls out "dibs on the liver". Shortly afterward, Homer visits Dr. Nick, who transplants Snake's hair onto Homer's head. When Homer goes to sleep the following night, it plants its roots in Homer's brain. With the hair controlling his mind, Homer murders Apu by stuffing him in his own Squishee machine. The next day, Homer goes to Moe's Tavern, where he removes Moe's heart with a corkscrew
. Bart realizes that the other two witnesses have been killed, and Homer vows to protect him. Homer locks himself and Bart in a room, but Snake's hair takes control of him. Homer starts to try to kill Bart with a sledgehammer. Bart begs Homer to fight the hair and, after a struggle, Homer rips the hair off his head. The hair tries to smother Bart (like the Facehugger) but Homer helps his son by punching the hair. Bart quickly shouts out "that's my face, you idiot" Homer gets enraged and does the trademark "why you little..!" and strangles Bart. Wiggum bursts through the door with the intention of arresting Homer for the murder of Moe (not being able to say Apu's last name he settled for just the murder of Moe). Homer states the hair is the killer, which makes a jump for the window. The cop opens fire and the hair is shot dead. Maggie picks up the hair and lays her head on it as a cushion. Chief Wiggum states "now that's a bad hair day" every one laughs at the joke except Marge who reminds everyone that two well known people of Springfield have been murdered, only to suddenly get the joke,and everyone laughs until the end of the segment.
Halloween special, even going to the lengths of taking the batteries out of the remote control. When Marge leaves, Bart finds a small piece of highly unstable plutonium
in Homer's toolbox and hammers it into the remote's battery slot. When they use the remote, the kids actually enter the world of Itchy and Scratchy. They watch Itchy decapitate Scratchy and use his head as a jack-o-lantern. While the two laugh, Scratchy's head asks why Bart and Lisa are laughing to which Itchy replies that they are laughing at his pain. Because of this, Scratchy reattaches his head and forms a partnership with Itchy to "teach them a lesson". Back in the Simpson house, Homer enters the living room and watches the show. Bart and Lisa go through life-death situations such as being in a police car with Itchy and Scratchy being the police, Itchy lighting up a cannon while Scratchy loads it with various weapons. Homer decides to change the channel, and Bart, Lisa, Itchy and Scratchy wind up on Live with Regis and Kathie Lee
. Afterward, they end up back at Itchy's house and urge Homer from inside the TV to use the remote to get them out. While Homer is figuring out which button to press, Itchy and Scratchy unleash a hose full of piranha
s at Bart, which eat away at his body until it is a skeleton. Homer finally picks the right button and zaps them both out and Lisa then presses the rewind button to return Bart's body to normal. Unfortunately, Itchy and Scratchy also escape from the TV into the real world, armed with axe
s. At first, the family is scared, but realize how small the two characters are and decide to keep them as pets. Itchy ends up in a hamster cage and Scratchy has fallen in love with Snowball II. However, much to his terror, Marge says he has to be neutered
.
s. Maggie's pacifier sucks contact the alien duo, Kang and Kodos. They arrive at the Simpson house, coming to retrieve Maggie. Marge reveals that Kang is Maggie's real father and Homer calls Marge an intergalactic hussy. Marge retells the story: Kang and Kodos abducted her while she was doing laundry, selecting Marge for a cross-breeding program. She says the aliens used mind-control techniques on her. In realtiy, the entire process consisted of Marge and Kang sitting on a couch, Kang quoting terrible pick-up lines only to suddenly pull a "look-over-there" and use a ray which impregnates Marge as she looks. She recalls that nine months after the abduction, Maggie was born. Kang and Kodos demand that the Simpsons give Maggie to them and a struggle ensues. Both Homer, Marge, and the aliens start to fight over Maggie until Bart stops them and suggests that there can be only one way to solve the problem: let the Simpsons appear on The Jerry Springer Show
, with Homer and Kang duking it out, but there is a lot of swearing between both of them as insults. When an audience member criticizes Kang for not manning up and being a real father to Maggie, Kang vaporizes her. During Jerry's "final thought," Maggie attacks Jerry Springer (resulting in him dying), Kang and Homer continue fighting and Marge says she is so fucking embarrassed with the word "fucking" bleeped out. After leaving the studio, Kang and Kodos threaten to destroy every politician
in Washington unless given Maggie. Marge and the Simpsons slyly imply that the aliens could not possibly destroy every politician, and as they fly off to do so, Bart reminds them not to forget Ken Starr. Homer decides to take his family home, then Maggie offers to drive when she talks in Kang's voice.
During the beginning of the ending credits Maggie states (while still in Kang's voice) she needs blood.
. "Terror of Tiny Toon" was written by Larry Doyle. "Starship Poopers" was written by David S. Cohen
and was the last writing credit he ever received for the show. The episode continues the Treehouse of Horror tradition of having the credits re-written as "scary names". David S. Cohen's executive producer credit is "David 'Watch Futurama' Cohen" is a reference to the show Futurama
, created by Cohen and Matt Groening
, which premiered the following year.
"Terror of the Tiny Toon" includes a live-action segment starring Regis Philbin
and Kathie Lee Gifford
of Live with Regis and Kathie Lee
. The segment was directed by Donick Cary
. In the sequence, Itchy, Scratchy, Bart and Lisa fall into a pot of soup that Regis and Kathie Lee are making. The soup splash was created by dropping an item into the pot, then adding the animated characters over it. The filming took longer than expected, so a news broadcast that was to take place had to be moved to another studio. Jerry Springer
also guest stars in the episode as himself. His lines were recorded by Julie Thacker
.
Much of the animation in "Hell Toupée" was worked on by assistant director Chris Clements
. Moe's death scene was originally more violent, but it was toned down at the request of Mike Scully
. The animators looked forward to working on "Terror of Tiny Toon" because they were fans of Itchy & Scratchy.
In "Starship Poopers", there is a shot of sound waves emanating from Springfield. At one point, there is a shot of North America and it appears that Springfield
is located in Louisiana
. The mystery of the location of Springfield is a running joke in The Simpsons, and a number of fans assumed that Louisiana was where the family lived. However, the animators had drawn the waves so that there were coming from the center of the screen, and they never intended to have them emanate from a specific location. In one scene, Marge is abducted by Kang and Kodos, who lasso
her then pull her into the ship. According to David Cohen, it is a running gag that Kang and Kodos' abduction methods are never the same. Maggie has a line at the end of the episode, where she sounds like Kang. She was voiced by Harry Shearer
.
" is seen during the "Terror of the Tiny Toon" segment. The couch gag features Freddy Krueger
from the Nightmare on Elm Street
film series and Jason Voorhees
from Friday the 13th. Freddy is voiced by Robert Englund
, who portrayed the character in eight films. Two talk shows appear in the episode. Bart, Lisa, Itchy and Scratchy accidentally visit Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, while the Simpson family and Kang appear on The Jerry Springer Show
. The title of the third segment, "Starship Poopers", is a reference to the film Starship Troopers
.
and was viewed in approximately 8.5 million homes. It finished the week ranked 35th. It was the fifth highest rated show on Fox that week, after two games of the 1998 World Series
, a World Series pre-game show, and Ally McBeal
.
The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, wrote, "Another collection of horrors, of varying degrees of wit. The Itchy and Scratchy one is by far the best, and Starship Poopers is only really amusing once the Jerry Springer segment begins." Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide gave the episode a positive review saying "The series usually rises to the occasion of its Halloween episodes, and “IX” doesn’t disappoint. Each of the three stories satisfies, as they offer a lot of clever, amusing moments. "Toupée" is probably the best, though, as it’s the most creative of the bunch. While funny, the other two can be a bit predictable." Kay McFadden of The Seattle Times
wrote that the episode is "certainly not on a par with that all-time doppelganger classic, "Treehouse of Horror VII
", [...] still, No. 9's dialogue is sharp and there's reassuring continuity to such beloved institutions as Itchy and Scratchy."
In 2008, "Starship Poopers" was named the tenth best Treehouse of Horror segment by IGN
. They wrote that "While [it is] not the best Kang & Kodos segment, "Starship Poopers" delivers consistent laughs and a great ending, as Kang & Kodos vow to destroy all the politicians in Washington (to the Simpsons' delight) and Maggie creepily laughs and says, "I need blood." In 1999
, composer Alf Clausen
was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award
for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series
for his work on the episode.
The Simpsons (season 10)
The tenth season of the animated television series The Simpsons was originally broadcast on the Fox network in the United States between August 23, 1998 and May 16, 1999. It contains twenty-three episodes, starting with "Lard of the Dance". The Simpsons revolves around a working class family that...
of The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
. It first aired on the Fox network
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
in the United States on October 25, 1998. This is the ninth Treehouse of Horror episode, and, like the other "Treehouse of Horror" episodes, contains three self-contained segments: In "Hell Toupée", Homer
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
gets a hair transplant and is possessed by the spirit of an executed criminal; in "Terror of Tiny Toon", Bart
Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
and Lisa
Lisa Simpson
Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...
are trapped in a special, extremely violent episode of The Itchy & Scratchy Show
The Itchy & Scratchy Show
The Itchy & Scratchy Show is a show within a show in the animated television series The Simpsons. It usually appears as a part of The Krusty the Clown Show, watched regularly by Bart and Lisa Simpson...
; and in "Starship Poopers", Marge
Marge Simpson
Marjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
reveals that Maggie
Maggie Simpson
Margaret "Maggie" Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She first appeared on television in the Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Maggie was created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening while he was waiting in the lobby of James...
is the product of a one-night stand with the alien Kang.
"Treehouse of Horror IX" was written by Donick Cary
Donick Cary
Donick Cary is an American television writer. He has written for The Simpsons, Just Shoot Me!, Complete Savages, Late Night with David Letterman and served as head writer on The Naked Trucker and T-Bones Show....
, Larry Doyle and David S. Cohen
David X. Cohen
David Samuel Cohen , primarily known as David X. Cohen, is an American television writer. He has written for The Simpsons and he is the head writer and executive producer of Futurama.-Early life:...
, and directed by Steven Dean Moore
Steven Dean Moore
Steven Dean Moore is an animation director who has directed 35 episodes of The Simpsons, in addition to several episodes of the long running Nicktoon programme Rugrats...
. "Terror of the Tiny Toon" includes a live-action segment starring Regis Philbin
Regis Philbin
Regis Francis Xavier Philbin is an American media personality, actor and singer, known for hosting talk and game shows since the 1960s. Philbin is often called "the hardest working man in show business" and holds the Guinness World Record for the most time spent in front of a television camera...
and Kathie Lee Gifford
Kathie Lee Gifford
Kathie Lee Gifford is an American television host, singer, songwriter and actress, best known for her 15-year run on the talk show Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, which she co-hosted with Regis Philbin...
. Jerry Springer
Jerry Springer
Gerald Norman "Jerry" Springer is a British-born American television presenter, best known as host of the tabloid talk show The Jerry Springer Show since its debut in 1991...
and Ed McMahon
Ed McMahon
Edward Peter "Ed" McMahon, Jr. was an American comedian, game show host and announcer. He is most famous for his work on television as Johnny Carson's sidekick and announcer on The Tonight Show from 1962 to 1992. He also hosted the original version of the talent show Star Search from 1983 to 1995...
also appear in the episode, voicing themselves, while Robert Englund
Robert Englund
Robert Barton Englund is an American actor, voice-actor and director, best known for playing the fictional serial killer Freddy Krueger, in the Nightmare on Elm Street film series. He received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors in...
provides the voice of Freddy Krueger
Freddy Krueger
Frederick Charles "Freddy" Krueger is a fictional, horrifying character from the Nightmare on Elm Street series of horror films. He first appears in Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street as a disfigured dream stalker who uses a glove armed with razors to kill his victims in their dreams,...
from the Nightmare on Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street (franchise)
A Nightmare on Elm Street is an American horror franchise that consists of nine slasher films, a television show, novels, and comic books. The franchise began with the film series created by Wes Craven. The franchise is based on the fictional character Freddy Krueger, introduced in A Nightmare on...
film series. The episode also features Jason Voorhees
Jason Voorhees
Jason Voorhees is a fictional character from the Friday the 13th series of slasher films. He first appeared in Friday the 13th , as the son of camp cook-turned-murderer, Mrs. Voorhees, in which he was portrayed by Ari Lehman. Created by Victor Miller, with contributions by Ron Kurz, Sean S...
from Friday the 13th while various characters visit the talk shows Live with Regis and Kathie Lee and The Jerry Springer Show
The Jerry Springer Show
The Jerry Springer Show is a syndicated television tabloid talk show hosted by Jerry Springer, a former politician, broadcast in the United States and other countries...
.
In its original airing on the Fox Network, the episode had an 8.6 Nielsen rating
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
. In 1999
51st Primetime Emmy Awards
The 51st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were held Sunday, September 12, 1999. The awards show was hosted by Jenna Elfman and David Hyde Pierce. It was broadcast on Fox...
, composer Alf Clausen
Alf Clausen
Alf Clausen is an American film and television composer. He is best known for his work scoring many episodes of The Simpsons, of which he has been the sole composer since 1990...
was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series
This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series.-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-Total Awards:* CBS - 10* ABC - 7* NBC - 6* FOX - 3* Syndicated - 3* Discovery Channel - 2...
for his work on the episode.
Hell Toupée
Kwik-E-Mart
The Kwik-E-Mart is a fictional chain of convenience stores in the animated television series The Simpsons. It is a parody of American convenience store chains, such as 7-Eleven and Circle K, and represents many myths and stereotypes of them. It is notorious for its high prices and the poor quality...
. Chief Wiggum explains that this is Snake's third strike, so he will be executed in accordance with the three strikes law
Three strikes law
Three strikes laws)"are statutes enacted by state governments in the United States which require the state courts to hand down a mandatory and extended period of incarceration to persons who have been convicted of a serious criminal offense on three or more separate occasions. These statutes became...
. Before hauling Snake away, Chief Wiggum helpfully points out that Apu
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon is a character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the episode "The Telltale Head". Apu is the proprietor of the Kwik-E-Mart, a popular convenience store in Springfield, and a friend of Homer Simpson. He is also...
, Moe
Moe Szyslak
Momar / Morris "Moe" Szyslak is a fictional character in the American animated television series, The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire"...
, and Bart
Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
are all witnesses; Snake vows to kill all of them. Snake is executed in the electric chair
Electric chair
Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...
on World's Deadliest Executions, hosted by Ed McMahon
Ed McMahon
Edward Peter "Ed" McMahon, Jr. was an American comedian, game show host and announcer. He is most famous for his work on television as Johnny Carson's sidekick and announcer on The Tonight Show from 1962 to 1992. He also hosted the original version of the talent show Star Search from 1983 to 1995...
and proudly broadcast on Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
. Chief Wiggum then sends the body to the hospital to be carved up for organ donations and Barney
Barney Gumble
Barnard "Barney" Gumble is a fictional character on the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. The character is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". He is the town drunk and Homer Simpson's best friend. His capacity for...
calls out "dibs on the liver". Shortly afterward, Homer visits Dr. Nick, who transplants Snake's hair onto Homer's head. When Homer goes to sleep the following night, it plants its roots in Homer's brain. With the hair controlling his mind, Homer murders Apu by stuffing him in his own Squishee machine. The next day, Homer goes to Moe's Tavern, where he removes Moe's heart with a corkscrew
Corkscrew
A corkscrew is a kitchen tool for drawing stopping corks from wine bottles. Generally, a corkscrew consists of a pointed metallic helix attached to a handle. The user grips the handle and screws the metal point into the cork, until the helix is firmly embedded, then a vertical pull on the...
. Bart realizes that the other two witnesses have been killed, and Homer vows to protect him. Homer locks himself and Bart in a room, but Snake's hair takes control of him. Homer starts to try to kill Bart with a sledgehammer. Bart begs Homer to fight the hair and, after a struggle, Homer rips the hair off his head. The hair tries to smother Bart (like the Facehugger) but Homer helps his son by punching the hair. Bart quickly shouts out "that's my face, you idiot" Homer gets enraged and does the trademark "why you little..!" and strangles Bart. Wiggum bursts through the door with the intention of arresting Homer for the murder of Moe (not being able to say Apu's last name he settled for just the murder of Moe). Homer states the hair is the killer, which makes a jump for the window. The cop opens fire and the hair is shot dead. Maggie picks up the hair and lays her head on it as a cushion. Chief Wiggum states "now that's a bad hair day" every one laughs at the joke except Marge who reminds everyone that two well known people of Springfield have been murdered, only to suddenly get the joke,and everyone laughs until the end of the segment.
The Terror of Tiny Toon
Marge forbids Bart and Lisa from watching the Itchy & ScratchyThe Itchy & Scratchy Show
The Itchy & Scratchy Show is a show within a show in the animated television series The Simpsons. It usually appears as a part of The Krusty the Clown Show, watched regularly by Bart and Lisa Simpson...
Halloween special, even going to the lengths of taking the batteries out of the remote control. When Marge leaves, Bart finds a small piece of highly unstable plutonium
Plutonium
Plutonium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with the chemical symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four oxidation...
in Homer's toolbox and hammers it into the remote's battery slot. When they use the remote, the kids actually enter the world of Itchy and Scratchy. They watch Itchy decapitate Scratchy and use his head as a jack-o-lantern. While the two laugh, Scratchy's head asks why Bart and Lisa are laughing to which Itchy replies that they are laughing at his pain. Because of this, Scratchy reattaches his head and forms a partnership with Itchy to "teach them a lesson". Back in the Simpson house, Homer enters the living room and watches the show. Bart and Lisa go through life-death situations such as being in a police car with Itchy and Scratchy being the police, Itchy lighting up a cannon while Scratchy loads it with various weapons. Homer decides to change the channel, and Bart, Lisa, Itchy and Scratchy wind up on Live with Regis and Kathie Lee
Live with Regis and Kelly
Live! with Kelly is a syndicated American television morning talk show, hosted by Kelly Ripa. The show has aired since 1983 in New York City and 1988 nationwide. Tony Pigg has been the show's announcer since its inception...
. Afterward, they end up back at Itchy's house and urge Homer from inside the TV to use the remote to get them out. While Homer is figuring out which button to press, Itchy and Scratchy unleash a hose full of piranha
Piranha
A piranha or piraña is a member of family Characidae in order Characiformes, an omnivorous freshwater fish that inhabits South American rivers. In Venezuela, they are called caribes...
s at Bart, which eat away at his body until it is a skeleton. Homer finally picks the right button and zaps them both out and Lisa then presses the rewind button to return Bart's body to normal. Unfortunately, Itchy and Scratchy also escape from the TV into the real world, armed with axe
Axe
The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood; to harvest timber; as a weapon; and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol...
s. At first, the family is scared, but realize how small the two characters are and decide to keep them as pets. Itchy ends up in a hamster cage and Scratchy has fallen in love with Snowball II. However, much to his terror, Marge says he has to be neutered
Neutering
Neutering, from the Latin neuter , is the removal of an animal's reproductive organ, either all of it or a considerably large part. The process is often used in reference to males whereas spaying is often reserved for females. Colloquially, both terms are often referred to as fixing...
.
Starship Poopers
Marge discovers Maggie's first baby tooth, which appears to be a sharp fang. Maggie later loses her legs and grows green tentacleTentacle
A tentacle or bothrium is one of usually two or more elongated flexible organs present in animals, especially invertebrates. The term may also refer to the hairs of the leaves of some insectivorous plants. Usually, tentacles are used for feeding, feeling and grasping. Anatomically, they work like...
s. Maggie's pacifier sucks contact the alien duo, Kang and Kodos. They arrive at the Simpson house, coming to retrieve Maggie. Marge reveals that Kang is Maggie's real father and Homer calls Marge an intergalactic hussy. Marge retells the story: Kang and Kodos abducted her while she was doing laundry, selecting Marge for a cross-breeding program. She says the aliens used mind-control techniques on her. In realtiy, the entire process consisted of Marge and Kang sitting on a couch, Kang quoting terrible pick-up lines only to suddenly pull a "look-over-there" and use a ray which impregnates Marge as she looks. She recalls that nine months after the abduction, Maggie was born. Kang and Kodos demand that the Simpsons give Maggie to them and a struggle ensues. Both Homer, Marge, and the aliens start to fight over Maggie until Bart stops them and suggests that there can be only one way to solve the problem: let the Simpsons appear on The Jerry Springer Show
The Jerry Springer Show
The Jerry Springer Show is a syndicated television tabloid talk show hosted by Jerry Springer, a former politician, broadcast in the United States and other countries...
, with Homer and Kang duking it out, but there is a lot of swearing between both of them as insults. When an audience member criticizes Kang for not manning up and being a real father to Maggie, Kang vaporizes her. During Jerry's "final thought," Maggie attacks Jerry Springer (resulting in him dying), Kang and Homer continue fighting and Marge says she is so fucking embarrassed with the word "fucking" bleeped out. After leaving the studio, Kang and Kodos threaten to destroy every politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
in Washington unless given Maggie. Marge and the Simpsons slyly imply that the aliens could not possibly destroy every politician, and as they fly off to do so, Bart reminds them not to forget Ken Starr. Homer decides to take his family home, then Maggie offers to drive when she talks in Kang's voice.
During the beginning of the ending credits Maggie states (while still in Kang's voice) she needs blood.
Production
Like the other Treehouse of Horror episodes to that point, the segments of "Treehouse of Horror IX" were credited to different writers. "Hell Toupee" was written by Donick CaryDonick Cary
Donick Cary is an American television writer. He has written for The Simpsons, Just Shoot Me!, Complete Savages, Late Night with David Letterman and served as head writer on The Naked Trucker and T-Bones Show....
. "Terror of Tiny Toon" was written by Larry Doyle. "Starship Poopers" was written by David S. Cohen
David X. Cohen
David Samuel Cohen , primarily known as David X. Cohen, is an American television writer. He has written for The Simpsons and he is the head writer and executive producer of Futurama.-Early life:...
and was the last writing credit he ever received for the show. The episode continues the Treehouse of Horror tradition of having the credits re-written as "scary names". David S. Cohen's executive producer credit is "David 'Watch Futurama' Cohen" is a reference to the show Futurama
Futurama
Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
, created by Cohen and Matt Groening
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
, which premiered the following year.
"Terror of the Tiny Toon" includes a live-action segment starring Regis Philbin
Regis Philbin
Regis Francis Xavier Philbin is an American media personality, actor and singer, known for hosting talk and game shows since the 1960s. Philbin is often called "the hardest working man in show business" and holds the Guinness World Record for the most time spent in front of a television camera...
and Kathie Lee Gifford
Kathie Lee Gifford
Kathie Lee Gifford is an American television host, singer, songwriter and actress, best known for her 15-year run on the talk show Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, which she co-hosted with Regis Philbin...
of Live with Regis and Kathie Lee
Live with Regis and Kelly
Live! with Kelly is a syndicated American television morning talk show, hosted by Kelly Ripa. The show has aired since 1983 in New York City and 1988 nationwide. Tony Pigg has been the show's announcer since its inception...
. The segment was directed by Donick Cary
Donick Cary
Donick Cary is an American television writer. He has written for The Simpsons, Just Shoot Me!, Complete Savages, Late Night with David Letterman and served as head writer on The Naked Trucker and T-Bones Show....
. In the sequence, Itchy, Scratchy, Bart and Lisa fall into a pot of soup that Regis and Kathie Lee are making. The soup splash was created by dropping an item into the pot, then adding the animated characters over it. The filming took longer than expected, so a news broadcast that was to take place had to be moved to another studio. Jerry Springer
Jerry Springer
Gerald Norman "Jerry" Springer is a British-born American television presenter, best known as host of the tabloid talk show The Jerry Springer Show since its debut in 1991...
also guest stars in the episode as himself. His lines were recorded by Julie Thacker
Julie Thacker
Julie Thacker is an American television writer. She has written for The Simpsons, and along with her husband The Simpsons writer and producer Mike Scully she has co-created The Pitts and Complete Savages.-The Simpsons episodes:...
.
Much of the animation in "Hell Toupée" was worked on by assistant director Chris Clements
Chris Clements
Chris Clements is an animation director with The Simpsons and has directed four episodes. Prior to that, he was a character layout artist with the show...
. Moe's death scene was originally more violent, but it was toned down at the request of Mike Scully
Mike Scully
Mike Scully is an American television writer and producer. He is known for his work as executive producer and showrunner of the animated sitcom The Simpsons from 1997 to 2001. Scully grew up in West Springfield, Massachusetts and long had an interest in writing. He was an underachiever at school...
. The animators looked forward to working on "Terror of Tiny Toon" because they were fans of Itchy & Scratchy.
In "Starship Poopers", there is a shot of sound waves emanating from Springfield. At one point, there is a shot of North America and it appears that Springfield
Springfield (The Simpsons)
Springfield is the fictional town in which the American animated sitcom The Simpsons is set. A mid-sized town in an undetermined state of the United States, Springfield acts as a complete universe in which characters can explore the issues faced by modern society. The geography of the town and its...
is located in Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. The mystery of the location of Springfield is a running joke in The Simpsons, and a number of fans assumed that Louisiana was where the family lived. However, the animators had drawn the waves so that there were coming from the center of the screen, and they never intended to have them emanate from a specific location. In one scene, Marge is abducted by Kang and Kodos, who lasso
Lasso
A lasso , also referred to as a lariat, riata, or reata , is a loop of rope that is designed to be thrown around a target and tighten when pulled. It is a well-known tool of the American cowboy. The word is also a verb; to lasso is to successfully throw the loop of rope around something...
her then pull her into the ship. According to David Cohen, it is a running gag that Kang and Kodos' abduction methods are never the same. Maggie has a line at the end of the episode, where she sounds like Kang. She was voiced by Harry Shearer
Harry Shearer
Harry Julius Shearer is an American actor, comedian, writer, voice artist, musician, author, radio host and director. He is known for his long-running role on The Simpsons, his work on Saturday Night Live, the comedy band Spinal Tap and his radio program Le Show...
.
Cultural references
Poochie from the Simpsons episode "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie ShowThe Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show
"The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" is the fourteenth episode of the eighth season of The Simpsons, which originally aired February 9, 1997. In the episode, The Itchy & Scratchy Show attempts to regain viewers by introducing a hip new character named Poochie, who will be voiced by Homer...
" is seen during the "Terror of the Tiny Toon" segment. The couch gag features Freddy Krueger
Freddy Krueger
Frederick Charles "Freddy" Krueger is a fictional, horrifying character from the Nightmare on Elm Street series of horror films. He first appears in Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street as a disfigured dream stalker who uses a glove armed with razors to kill his victims in their dreams,...
from the Nightmare on Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street (franchise)
A Nightmare on Elm Street is an American horror franchise that consists of nine slasher films, a television show, novels, and comic books. The franchise began with the film series created by Wes Craven. The franchise is based on the fictional character Freddy Krueger, introduced in A Nightmare on...
film series and Jason Voorhees
Jason Voorhees
Jason Voorhees is a fictional character from the Friday the 13th series of slasher films. He first appeared in Friday the 13th , as the son of camp cook-turned-murderer, Mrs. Voorhees, in which he was portrayed by Ari Lehman. Created by Victor Miller, with contributions by Ron Kurz, Sean S...
from Friday the 13th. Freddy is voiced by Robert Englund
Robert Englund
Robert Barton Englund is an American actor, voice-actor and director, best known for playing the fictional serial killer Freddy Krueger, in the Nightmare on Elm Street film series. He received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors in...
, who portrayed the character in eight films. Two talk shows appear in the episode. Bart, Lisa, Itchy and Scratchy accidentally visit Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, while the Simpson family and Kang appear on The Jerry Springer Show
The Jerry Springer Show
The Jerry Springer Show is a syndicated television tabloid talk show hosted by Jerry Springer, a former politician, broadcast in the United States and other countries...
. The title of the third segment, "Starship Poopers", is a reference to the film Starship Troopers
Starship Troopers
Starship Troopers is a military science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, first published as a serial in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and published hardcover in December, 1959.The first-person narrative is about a young soldier from the Philippines named Juan "Johnnie" Rico and his...
.
Reception
In its original airing on the Fox Network, the episode had an 8.6 Nielsen ratingNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
and was viewed in approximately 8.5 million homes. It finished the week ranked 35th. It was the fifth highest rated show on Fox that week, after two games of the 1998 World Series
1998 World Series
The 1998 World Series, the 94th edition of Major League Baseball's championship series, matched the New York Yankees against the San Diego Padres . The Yankees swept the Series in four games to capture their second championship in three years, and their 24th overall...
, a World Series pre-game show, and Ally McBeal
Ally McBeal
Ally McBeal is an American legal comedy-drama series which aired on the Fox network from 1997 to 2002. The series was created by David E. Kelley, who also served as the executive producer, along with Bill D'Elia...
.
The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, wrote, "Another collection of horrors, of varying degrees of wit. The Itchy and Scratchy one is by far the best, and Starship Poopers is only really amusing once the Jerry Springer segment begins." Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide gave the episode a positive review saying "The series usually rises to the occasion of its Halloween episodes, and “IX” doesn’t disappoint. Each of the three stories satisfies, as they offer a lot of clever, amusing moments. "Toupée" is probably the best, though, as it’s the most creative of the bunch. While funny, the other two can be a bit predictable." Kay McFadden of The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times is a newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, US. It is the largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington. It has been, since the demise in 2009 of the printed version of the rival Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle's only major daily print newspaper.-History:The Seattle Times...
wrote that the episode is "certainly not on a par with that all-time doppelganger classic, "Treehouse of Horror VII
Treehouse of Horror VII
"Treehouse of Horror VII" is the first episode of The Simpsons eighth season and originally aired October 27, 1996. In the seventh annual "Treehouse of Horror" episode, Bart discovers his long-lost twin, Lisa grows a colony of small beings and Kang & Kodos impersonate Bill Clinton and Bob Dole in...
", [...] still, No. 9's dialogue is sharp and there's reassuring continuity to such beloved institutions as Itchy and Scratchy."
In 2008, "Starship Poopers" was named the tenth best Treehouse of Horror segment by IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
. They wrote that "While [it is] not the best Kang & Kodos segment, "Starship Poopers" delivers consistent laughs and a great ending, as Kang & Kodos vow to destroy all the politicians in Washington (to the Simpsons' delight) and Maggie creepily laughs and says, "I need blood." In 1999
51st Primetime Emmy Awards
The 51st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were held Sunday, September 12, 1999. The awards show was hosted by Jenna Elfman and David Hyde Pierce. It was broadcast on Fox...
, composer Alf Clausen
Alf Clausen
Alf Clausen is an American film and television composer. He is best known for his work scoring many episodes of The Simpsons, of which he has been the sole composer since 1990...
was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series
This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series.-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-Total Awards:* CBS - 10* ABC - 7* NBC - 6* FOX - 3* Syndicated - 3* Discovery Channel - 2...
for his work on the episode.
External links
- "Treehouse of Horror IX" at The Simpsons.com