Treehouse of Horror V
Encyclopedia
"Treehouse of Horror V" is the sixth episode of The Simpsons
' sixth season
and the fifth episode in the Treehouse of Horror series. It premiered on October 30, 1994, and features three short stories called The Shinning, Time and Punishment, and Nightmare Cafeteria. The episode was directed by Jim Reardon
and written by Greg Daniels
, Dan McGrath
, David Cohen
and Bob Kushell
.
In The Shinning the Simpsons become caretakers at Mr. Burns'
mansion. Deprived of television and beer, Homer
becomes insane and tries to murder the family; after finding a portable TV set, he returns to normal. In Time and Punishment, Homer repeatedly travels back in time and alters the future; upon failing to restore the future, he settles for a reality close to his own. In Nightmare Cafeteria, Principal Skinner
begins using students in detention as cafeteria food; when Bart
and Lisa
are about to be slaughtered, Bart realizes it is a dream (but is then attacked by fog which turns people inside out).
David Mirkin
deliberately placed more graphic violence
in the episode due to complaints about excessive violence in the show. The episode features James Earl Jones
as the voice of an alternate timeline Maggie
(his second appearance in a Simpsons Halloween episode), and a recurring joke where Groundskeeper Willie
is struck in the back with an axe in every tale when trying to help someone.
warns that the episode is frightening and children should not watch it. During the warning, she is told that it is so scary that Congress will not let them show it. Bart
interrupts with a radio transmission and shows the episode anyway.
go to Mr. Burns' mansion to become its caretakers. Burns cuts the cable television wire and removes the beer, believing that this will ensure hard work from the family. While there, Groundskeeper Willie
discovers that Bart has the power to read his thoughts and that if Homer
goes insane, he should use this to call him. The absence of his two favorite things sends Homer insane and a ghost
ly Moe
tells Homer he must kill his family in order get a beer. Marge finds that Homer has covered the walls with the phrase "No TV and no beer make Homer go crazy". Homer begins chasing the family with an axe and Bart uses his powers to call Willie, who runs to the family's rescue, dropping his portable television in the snow. Homer kills him by stabbing him in the back with the axe. Homer chases his family outside but just as he is about to kill them, Lisa
shows him Willie's discarded television. Homer's insanity gradually fades and the family sit in the snow to watch with him. They eventually freeze and are thus unable to change the channel when the Tony Award
s begin. This leads Homer's "urge to kill" to rise again.
, Homer accidentally turns it into a time machine
. It transports him to prehistoric
times where he realizes that he must be careful because if he affects anything in the past, it could change the future. He kills a mosquito
before returning to the present to find a dystopia
where Ned Flanders
is now a brutal world dictator. Homer travels back in time again to try to set things right. However, he accidentally kills a walking fish, and after returning to the present he finds Bart and Lisa are giants
, narrowly avoiding being crushed by them. He then infects the dinosaurs with a cold virus
while defending himself from a Tyrannosaurus Rex
, which proceeds to cause their extinction. He is initially pleased with the results in the present; amongst other perks, the family is now extremely wealthy and Patty and Selma are dead. However, he is terrified to find that donuts
do not exist in this timeline and flees, seconds before donuts begin raining from the sky. In another world, Willie tries to help Homer, but is again hit in the back with an axe, this time by a deep-voiced Maggie
. When Homer returns to the prehistoric times again, he furiously smashes everything in sight with a baseball bat. After several more trips back and forth in time, Homer eventually arrives in a reality that appears normal. However, he finds that humans eat with lizard
-like tongues, but decides it is "close enough".
is worried that the detention hall is becoming overcrowded and Lunchlady Doris is being forced to serve "Grade F" meat in the cafeteria. Skinner discovers a common solution: eating misbehaving children. The first student to be eaten is Jimbo Jones who is served as "Sloppy Jimbos
". Üter is then made into a German meal called "Üterbraten". Bart and Lisa figure out what the teachers are doing, but one by one, the kids are "sent to detention" where they are caged and butchered. The kids try to get Marge to help, but she instead tells them that they must stand up for themselves. Eventually Bart, Lisa and Milhouse
are the only students left and decide to escape. Skinner and the other teachers corner them on a ledge above a giant blender. Willie tries to help the students, but is again killed with an axe in the back, this time by Skinner. Milhouse, Bart, and Lisa fall to their demise.
tried to put "as much blood and guts" into the episode as he could. This was because Mirkin was angry about complaints by the United States Congress
about the amount of violence in the show and their attempting to censor
it. He later called it "the most [...] disturbing Halloween show ever". The opening sequence, in which Marge states the episode cannot be shown and plays some live action stock footage, was also in reaction to this. Mirkin said he believes Halloween shows can be "scary as well as fun".
This episode marks the end of the tradition of using humorous tombstones in the title sequence of Halloween episodes. This sequence contained a tombstone that reads "Amusing Tombstones", which was the writers' way of showing that they were tired of coming up with ideas for humorous tombstone messages. Similar sequences had been used as introductions in all four previous Treehouse of Horror episodes, but have not been used since this episode.
The staff also decided against continuing the tradition of using wraparound segments that were used before each story in the previous Treehouse of Horror episodes, to make more time for the main stories.
The first segment, The Shinning, was inspired by the film The Shining
, and is basically a parody of that film. The film's director, Stanley Kubrick
, had been a big influence on the writer, and was "one of the main reason [he] wanted to be a director". Ironically, series creator Matt Groening
admitted that he had not seen The Shining and most of the references to the film were entirely lost on him.
Matt Groening originally pitched the idea that Homer would travel through time in Time and Punishment. His original idea was that the time-travel would be the result of Homer simply jamming his hand in the toaster, but the other writers rejected that. Scenes where Homer is in the past were written so that he is there for the time it takes to toast a piece of bread. Mirkin gave Peabody and Sherman
cameo appearance in this segment, which was due to the show Rocky and His Friends
being a major influence on The Simpsons.
The first time Homer travels back in time, he was originally supposed to state "I'm the first non-fiction
al character to travel backwards through time". The line was later changed from "non-fictional" to "non-Brazilian". Groening was confused as to the reason for the change, since he liked the original so much. In fact, he did not even understand what the new line meant.
In the scene where the Simpsons' house changes into various things, one of the original designs was the house made entirely of squirrel
s. The layout artist who designed it worked on the drawings for more than two days, but ultimately it was cut. To make sure their work did not go to waste, some staff members have used the drawings on Christmas cards and other studio-related notices.
In another deleted scene involving an alternate Simpsons future, the Simpsons had a teenage son named Roy. Groening said that "somebody from outside the show" originally suggested the idea. The joke was later used as a sub-plot for the episode "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show
", although Roy was a lodger in that episode, rather than a son.
Nightmare Cafeteria was the first Simpsons story to be written by David X. Cohen
. He wrote the final scene where a nightmarish fog turns the family "inside out". This was inspired by a thriller featured on the radio show Lights Out
called The Dark, which scared Cohen as a child. A dance number was added immediately afterwards in order to end the show on a lighter note. He also cut two scenes from this segment feature Sherri and Terri being cooked as "Teriyaki
" steak with "Sherry
" sauce and Homer regaling Lisa about his dream of eating Milhouse. Nevertheless, a book from this scene was used in this segment. As a result of this scene being cut, Homer does not appear in the third segment, something Cohen believed to be unprecedented at the time. The "grade F meat" joke was written by Mirkin, inspired by his cousin once seeing a box of hot dog
s labeled "grade C, approved for human consumption".
. The first segment The Shinning is a parody of the Stephen King
novel The Shining
and the Stanley Kubrick
film
of the same name. The basic plot of the segment is the same as the novel and there are also many references to specific moment from the film, such as the blood coming out of the elevator and Homer breaking though a door with an axe and yelling "Here's Johnny".
The plot of the second segment Time and Punishment, where Homer causes major changes in the future by killing animals in the past, is a parody of the Ray Bradbury
short story "A Sound of Thunder
". Peabody and Sherman
from the animated series The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show
, make an appearance during Homer's time traveling sequence. The dinosaur scenes are reminiscent of Jurassic Park
, and the floor morphing into a television screen is a reference to similar scenes in both Terminator 2: Judgment Day
and Time Bandits
. The title of the third segment Nightmare Cafeteria, is a reference to the television series Nightmare Cafe
. The song sung over the end credits is based on the song "One" from the musical A Chorus Line
.
of 12.2, equivalent to approximately 11.6 million viewing households. It was the second highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, following Beverly Hills.
The episode is often considered one of the best Simpsons Halloween episodes ever. It finished ninth on a list by the magazine Entertainment Weekly
of its top 25 Simpsons episodes. In it, The Shinning segment was described as "a parody [...] with such detail [and] comic timing" and that it "ranks with the great [...] spoofs of all time", and the Time and Punishment segment as "one of the most beautifully random moments in [The] Simpsons history", but also said that the Nightmare Cafeteria segment "doesn't shine as brilliantly". It ranked fifth on AskMen.com's "Top 10: Simpsons Episodes" list. The list stated that the episode "offers three completely different tales, [...] boasting a potent combination of wit and humor" that, "the laughs never end" and that it "does a great job of incorporating Halloween-themed stories with the standard Simpsons charm". IGN
called the episode "the funniest Treehouse of Horror to date". In 2006, they also named it the best episode of the sixth season. Adam Finley of the weblog TV Squad called it "possibly one of the best Halloween episodes ever". Michael Passman said the episode "is largely regarded as the best, but a weak final third holds it back".
The Shinning segment is particularly highly praised. As well as Entertainment Weekly's praise, IGN voted it first on their list of the best segments in the Treehouse of Horror series, with Time and Punishment coming fourth. It came ninth on the blog Noise to Signal's, list of "The Ten Best Treehouse of Horror Vignettes". Adam Finley of TV Squad contemplating that it "could [...] be the best Treehouse of Horror segment ever" as well as praising the opening of Time and Punishment. When putting together the perfect Treehouse of Horror episode, Michael Passman of Michigan Daily
included The Shinning as "a shoo-in". Empire
named "No TV And No Beer Make Homer Go Crazy" the sixth best film parody in the show's history.
Alf Clausen
's musical score for this episode received an Emmy Award
nomination for "Outstanding Dramatic Underscore - Series" in 1995. The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood called it "Another fine entry to the Treehouse canon".
James Earl Jones's guest appearance in this episode, as well as in "Treehouse of Horror
" and "Das Bus
", was listed seventh on IGN's "Top 25 Simpsons Guest Appearances" list. Jones ranked 25th on AOL
's list of their favorite 25 Simpsons guest stars. Matt Groening said that this line is among his favorite lines in the show. David Mirkin said that Homer's line "Oh I wish, I wish I hadn't killed that fish" is one of his favorites in the show, and that the alternate future in which the family are rich "breaks [his] heart every time". Homer's line "close enough" from "Time and Punishment" was later used in the Stargate SG-1
episode "Moebius
".
Time and Punishment was later referenced in DC Comic
's Booster Gold
comic series, where Booster Gold explains the butterfly effect
by asking if anyone had seen the episode where Homer stepped on a butterfly and it began raining donuts, only to wish it were raining donuts where he was.
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...
The Simpsons (season 6)
The Simpsons sixth season originally aired on the Fox network between September 4, 1994 and May 21, 1995 and consists of 25 episodes. The Simpsons is an animated series about a working class family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie...
and the fifth episode in the Treehouse of Horror series. It premiered on October 30, 1994, and features three short stories called The Shinning, Time and Punishment, and Nightmare Cafeteria. The episode was directed by Jim Reardon
Jim Reardon
Jim Reardon is an animation director and storyboard consultant, best known for his work on the animated TV series The Simpsons. He has directed over 30 episodes of the series, and was credited as a supervising director for seasons 9 through 15...
and written by Greg Daniels
Greg Daniels
Gregory Martin "Greg" Daniels is an American television comedy writer, producer, and director.-Life and career:...
, Dan McGrath
Dan McGrath
Dan McGrath is an American television writer. He has written for Saturday Night Live, The Simpsons, Mission Hill, The PJs and King of the Hill.- The Simpsons episodes :He wrote the following episodes:...
, David 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 Bob Kushell
Bob Kushell
Bob Kushell is a writer and producer for The Simpsons. As of December 2008, Kushell began hosting his own talk show, Anytime with Bob Kushell, on Crackle.-Writing credits:Samantha WhoThe VirginThe Break UpThe AffairThe Park...
.
In The Shinning the Simpsons become caretakers at Mr. Burns'
Montgomery Burns
Charles Montgomery "Monty" Burns, usually referred to as Mr. Burns, is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons, who is voiced by Harry Shearer and previously Christopher Collins. Burns is the evil owner of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and is Homer...
mansion. Deprived of television and beer, 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...
becomes insane and tries to murder the family; after finding a portable TV set, he returns to normal. In Time and Punishment, Homer repeatedly travels back in time and alters the future; upon failing to restore the future, he settles for a reality close to his own. In Nightmare Cafeteria, Principal Skinner
Seymour Skinner
Principal W. Seymour Skinner is a fictional character in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer. Born in Capitol City, he is the principal of Springfield Elementary School...
begins using students in detention as cafeteria food; when 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 about to be slaughtered, Bart realizes it is a dream (but is then attacked by fog which turns people inside out).
David Mirkin
David Mirkin
David Mirkin is an American feature film and television director, writer and producer. Mirkin grew up in Philadelphia and intended to become an electrical engineer, but abandoned this career path in favor of studying film at Loyola Marymount University. After graduating, he became a stand-up...
deliberately placed more graphic violence
Graphic violence
Graphic violence is the depiction of especially vivid, brutal and realistic acts of violence in visual media such as literature, film, television, and video games...
in the episode due to complaints about excessive violence in the show. The episode features James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones is an American actor. He is well-known for his distinctive bass voice and for his portrayal of characters of substance, gravitas and leadership...
as the voice of an alternate timeline 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...
(his second appearance in a Simpsons Halloween episode), and a recurring joke where Groundskeeper Willie
Groundskeeper Willie
William McDougal, usually referred to as Groundskeeper Willie, is a recurring character on The Simpsons, voiced by Dan Castellaneta. He is head groundskeeper at Springfield Elementary School. Willie is a Scottish immigrant, almost feral in nature and immensely proud of his homeland...
is struck in the back with an axe in every tale when trying to help someone.
Opening
MargeMarge 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...
warns that the episode is frightening and children should not watch it. During the warning, she is told that it is so scary that Congress will not let them show it. 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...
interrupts with a radio transmission and shows the episode anyway.
The Shinning
The SimpsonsSimpson family
The Simpson family is a family of fictional characters featured in the animated television series The Simpsons. The Simpsons are a nuclear family consisting of the married couple Homer and Marge and their three children Bart, Lisa and Maggie. They live at 742 Evergreen Terrace in the fictional town...
go to Mr. Burns' mansion to become its caretakers. Burns cuts the cable television wire and removes the beer, believing that this will ensure hard work from the family. While there, Groundskeeper Willie
Groundskeeper Willie
William McDougal, usually referred to as Groundskeeper Willie, is a recurring character on The Simpsons, voiced by Dan Castellaneta. He is head groundskeeper at Springfield Elementary School. Willie is a Scottish immigrant, almost feral in nature and immensely proud of his homeland...
discovers that Bart has the power to read his thoughts and that if 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...
goes insane, he should use this to call him. The absence of his two favorite things sends Homer insane and a ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
ly 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"...
tells Homer he must kill his family in order get a beer. Marge finds that Homer has covered the walls with the phrase "No TV and no beer make Homer go crazy". Homer begins chasing the family with an axe and Bart uses his powers to call Willie, who runs to the family's rescue, dropping his portable television in the snow. Homer kills him by stabbing him in the back with the axe. Homer chases his family outside but just as he is about to kill them, 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...
shows him Willie's discarded television. Homer's insanity gradually fades and the family sit in the snow to watch with him. They eventually freeze and are thus unable to change the channel when the Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
s begin. This leads Homer's "urge to kill" to rise again.
Time and Punishment
While trying to fix a broken toasterToaster
The toaster is typically a small electric kitchen appliance designed to toast multiple types of bread products. A typical modern two-slice toaster draws anywhere between 600 and 1200 W and makes toast in 1 to 3 minutes...
, Homer accidentally turns it into a time machine
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
. It transports him to prehistoric
Prehistory
Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...
times where he realizes that he must be careful because if he affects anything in the past, it could change the future. He kills a mosquito
Mosquito
Mosquitoes are members of a family of nematocerid flies: the Culicidae . The word Mosquito is from the Spanish and Portuguese for little fly...
before returning to the present to find a dystopia
Dystopia
A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four...
where Ned Flanders
Ned Flanders
Nedward "Ned" Flanders, Jr. is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". He is the next door neighbor to the Simpson family and is generally...
is now a brutal world dictator. Homer travels back in time again to try to set things right. However, he accidentally kills a walking fish, and after returning to the present he finds Bart and Lisa are giants
Giant (mythology)
The mythology and legends of many different cultures include monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength. "Giant" is the English word commonly used for such beings, derived from one of the most famed examples: the gigantes of Greek mythology.In various Indo-European mythologies,...
, narrowly avoiding being crushed by them. He then infects the dinosaurs with a cold virus
Common cold
The common cold is a viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory system, caused primarily by rhinoviruses and coronaviruses. Common symptoms include a cough, sore throat, runny nose, and fever...
while defending himself from a Tyrannosaurus Rex
Tyrannosaurus
Tyrannosaurus meaning "tyrant," and sauros meaning "lizard") is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex , commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other...
, which proceeds to cause their extinction. He is initially pleased with the results in the present; amongst other perks, the family is now extremely wealthy and Patty and Selma are dead. However, he is terrified to find that donuts
Doughnut
A doughnut or donut is a fried dough food and is popular in many countries and prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and franchised specialty outlets...
do not exist in this timeline and flees, seconds before donuts begin raining from the sky. In another world, Willie tries to help Homer, but is again hit in the back with an axe, this time by a deep-voiced 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...
. When Homer returns to the prehistoric times again, he furiously smashes everything in sight with a baseball bat. After several more trips back and forth in time, Homer eventually arrives in a reality that appears normal. However, he finds that humans eat with lizard
Lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...
-like tongues, but decides it is "close enough".
Nightmare Cafeteria
Principal SkinnerSeymour Skinner
Principal W. Seymour Skinner is a fictional character in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer. Born in Capitol City, he is the principal of Springfield Elementary School...
is worried that the detention hall is becoming overcrowded and Lunchlady Doris is being forced to serve "Grade F" meat in the cafeteria. Skinner discovers a common solution: eating misbehaving children. The first student to be eaten is Jimbo Jones who is served as "Sloppy Jimbos
Sloppy joe
A sloppy joe is an American dish of ground beef, onions, sweetened tomato sauce or ketchup and other seasonings, served on a hamburger bun. Commercially made sauces are also available. Textured vegetable protein may be used as a vegetarian substitute for the meat...
". Üter is then made into a German meal called "Üterbraten". Bart and Lisa figure out what the teachers are doing, but one by one, the kids are "sent to detention" where they are caged and butchered. The kids try to get Marge to help, but she instead tells them that they must stand up for themselves. Eventually Bart, Lisa and Milhouse
Milhouse Van Houten
Milhouse Mussolini Van Houten is a fictional character featured in the animated television series The Simpsons, voiced by Pamela Hayden. He is Bart Simpson's best friend in Mrs. Krabappel's fourth grade class at Springfield Elementary School....
are the only students left and decide to escape. Skinner and the other teachers corner them on a ledge above a giant blender. Willie tries to help the students, but is again killed with an axe in the back, this time by Skinner. Milhouse, Bart, and Lisa fall to their demise.
Ending
Bart wakes up from a nightmare to find his family beside his bed. Marge tells him he has nothing to be afraid of "except that fog that turns people inside out". The aforementioned fog seeps through the window and the Simpsons are turned inside out; they proceed to perform a musical number over the end credits.Production
David MirkinDavid Mirkin
David Mirkin is an American feature film and television director, writer and producer. Mirkin grew up in Philadelphia and intended to become an electrical engineer, but abandoned this career path in favor of studying film at Loyola Marymount University. After graduating, he became a stand-up...
tried to put "as much blood and guts" into the episode as he could. This was because Mirkin was angry about complaints by the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
about the amount of violence in the show and their attempting to censor
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
it. He later called it "the most [...] disturbing Halloween show ever". The opening sequence, in which Marge states the episode cannot be shown and plays some live action stock footage, was also in reaction to this. Mirkin said he believes Halloween shows can be "scary as well as fun".
This episode marks the end of the tradition of using humorous tombstones in the title sequence of Halloween episodes. This sequence contained a tombstone that reads "Amusing Tombstones", which was the writers' way of showing that they were tired of coming up with ideas for humorous tombstone messages. Similar sequences had been used as introductions in all four previous Treehouse of Horror episodes, but have not been used since this episode.
The staff also decided against continuing the tradition of using wraparound segments that were used before each story in the previous Treehouse of Horror episodes, to make more time for the main stories.
The first segment, The Shinning, was inspired by the film The Shining
The Shining (film)
The Shining is a 1980 psychological horror film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, co-written with novelist Diane Johnson, and starring Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, and Danny Lloyd. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King. A writer, Jack Torrance, takes a job as an...
, and is basically a parody of that film. The film's director, Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
, had been a big influence on the writer, and was "one of the main reason [he] wanted to be a director". Ironically, series creator 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....
admitted that he had not seen The Shining and most of the references to the film were entirely lost on him.
Matt Groening originally pitched the idea that Homer would travel through time in Time and Punishment. His original idea was that the time-travel would be the result of Homer simply jamming his hand in the toaster, but the other writers rejected that. Scenes where Homer is in the past were written so that he is there for the time it takes to toast a piece of bread. Mirkin gave Peabody and Sherman
Mister Peabody
Mr. Peabody is a fictional dog who appeared in the late 1950s and early 1960s television animated series Rocky and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show produced by Jay Ward, collectively referred to as Rocky and Bullwinkle...
cameo appearance in this segment, which was due to the show Rocky and His Friends
The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show
The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show is an American animated television series that originally aired from November 19, 1959 to June 28, 1964 on the ABC and NBC television networks...
being a major influence on The Simpsons.
The first time Homer travels back in time, he was originally supposed to state "I'm the first non-fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
al character to travel backwards through time". The line was later changed from "non-fictional" to "non-Brazilian". Groening was confused as to the reason for the change, since he liked the original so much. In fact, he did not even understand what the new line meant.
In the scene where the Simpsons' house changes into various things, one of the original designs was the house made entirely of squirrel
Squirrel
Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots , flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia...
s. The layout artist who designed it worked on the drawings for more than two days, but ultimately it was cut. To make sure their work did not go to waste, some staff members have used the drawings on Christmas cards and other studio-related notices.
In another deleted scene involving an alternate Simpsons future, the Simpsons had a teenage son named Roy. Groening said that "somebody from outside the show" originally suggested the idea. The joke was later used as a sub-plot for the episode "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show
The 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...
", although Roy was a lodger in that episode, rather than a son.
Nightmare Cafeteria was the first Simpsons story to be written by David X. 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:...
. He wrote the final scene where a nightmarish fog turns the family "inside out". This was inspired by a thriller featured on the radio show Lights Out
Lights Out (radio show)
Lights Out is an extremely popular American old-time radio program, an early example of a network series devoted mostly to horror and the supernatural, predating Suspense and Inner Sanctum...
called The Dark, which scared Cohen as a child. A dance number was added immediately afterwards in order to end the show on a lighter note. He also cut two scenes from this segment feature Sherri and Terri being cooked as "Teriyaki
Teriyaki
Teriyaki is a cooking technique used in Japanese cuisine in which foods are broiled or grilled in a sweet soy sauce marinade...
" steak with "Sherry
Sherry
Sherry is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the town of Jerez , Spain. In Spanish, it is called vino de Jerez....
" sauce and Homer regaling Lisa about his dream of eating Milhouse. Nevertheless, a book from this scene was used in this segment. As a result of this scene being cut, Homer does not appear in the third segment, something Cohen believed to be unprecedented at the time. The "grade F meat" joke was written by Mirkin, inspired by his cousin once seeing a box of hot dog
Hot dog
A hot dog is a sausage served in a sliced bun. It is very often garnished with mustard, ketchup, onions, mayonnaise, relish and/or sauerkraut.-History:...
s labeled "grade C, approved for human consumption".
Cultural references
The voice over in the pre-title sequence is a reference to The Outer LimitsThe Outer Limits (1963 TV series)
The Outer Limits is an American television series that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1965. The series is similar in style to the earlier The Twilight Zone, but with a greater emphasis on science fiction, rather than fantasy stories...
. The first segment The Shinning is a parody of the Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
novel The Shining
The Shining (novel)
The Shining is a 1977 horror novel by American author Stephen King. The title was inspired by the John Lennon song "Instant Karma!", which contained the line "We all shine on…". It was King's third published novel, and first hardback bestseller, and the success of the book firmly established King...
and the Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
film
The Shining (film)
The Shining is a 1980 psychological horror film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, co-written with novelist Diane Johnson, and starring Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, and Danny Lloyd. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King. A writer, Jack Torrance, takes a job as an...
of the same name. The basic plot of the segment is the same as the novel and there are also many references to specific moment from the film, such as the blood coming out of the elevator and Homer breaking though a door with an axe and yelling "Here's Johnny".
The plot of the second segment Time and Punishment, where Homer causes major changes in the future by killing animals in the past, is a parody of the Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th...
short story "A Sound of Thunder
A Sound of Thunder
“A Sound of Thunder” is a science fiction short story by Ray Bradbury, first published in Collier’s magazine in 1952. As of 1984 it was the most re-published science fiction story up to the present time...
". Peabody and Sherman
Mister Peabody
Mr. Peabody is a fictional dog who appeared in the late 1950s and early 1960s television animated series Rocky and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show produced by Jay Ward, collectively referred to as Rocky and Bullwinkle...
from the animated series The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show
The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show
The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show is an American animated television series that originally aired from November 19, 1959 to June 28, 1964 on the ABC and NBC television networks...
, make an appearance during Homer's time traveling sequence. The dinosaur scenes are reminiscent of Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park (film)
Jurassic Park is a 1993 American science fiction adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Michael Crichton. It stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Martin Ferrero, and Bob Peck...
, and the floor morphing into a television screen is a reference to similar scenes in both Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a 1991 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr.. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick, and Edward Furlong...
and Time Bandits
Time Bandits
Time Bandits is a 1981 British fantasy film produced and directed by Terry Gilliam.Terry Gilliam wrote the screenplay with fellow Monty Python alumnus Michael Palin, who appears with Shelley Duvall in the small, recurring roles of Vincent and Pansy. The film is one of the most famous of more than...
. The title of the third segment Nightmare Cafeteria, is a reference to the television series Nightmare Cafe
Nightmare Cafe
Nightmare Cafe is a short-lived American telefantasy program which aired on NBC for an abridged first season from January to April 1992. While the overall tone of the program was that of a mystical fantasy, it frequently incorporated elements of dark humor, horror, and even outright comedy. A total...
. The song sung over the end credits is based on the song "One" from the musical A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line
A Chorus Line is a 1975 musical about Broadway dancers auditioning for spots on a chorus line. The book was authored by James Kirkwood, Jr. and Nicholas Dante, lyrics were written by Edward Kleban, and music was composed by Marvin Hamlisch....
.
Reception and legacy
In its original broadcast, "Treehouse of Horror V" finished 27th in ratings for the week of October 24–30, 1994, with a 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...
of 12.2, equivalent to approximately 11.6 million viewing households. It was the second highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, following Beverly Hills.
The episode is often considered one of the best Simpsons Halloween episodes ever. It finished ninth on a list by the magazine Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
of its top 25 Simpsons episodes. In it, The Shinning segment was described as "a parody [...] with such detail [and] comic timing" and that it "ranks with the great [...] spoofs of all time", and the Time and Punishment segment as "one of the most beautifully random moments in [The] Simpsons history", but also said that the Nightmare Cafeteria segment "doesn't shine as brilliantly". It ranked fifth on AskMen.com's "Top 10: Simpsons Episodes" list. The list stated that the episode "offers three completely different tales, [...] boasting a potent combination of wit and humor" that, "the laughs never end" and that it "does a great job of incorporating Halloween-themed stories with the standard Simpsons charm". 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...
called the episode "the funniest Treehouse of Horror to date". In 2006, they also named it the best episode of the sixth season. Adam Finley of the weblog TV Squad called it "possibly one of the best Halloween episodes ever". Michael Passman said the episode "is largely regarded as the best, but a weak final third holds it back".
The Shinning segment is particularly highly praised. As well as Entertainment Weekly's praise, IGN voted it first on their list of the best segments in the Treehouse of Horror series, with Time and Punishment coming fourth. It came ninth on the blog Noise to Signal's, list of "The Ten Best Treehouse of Horror Vignettes". Adam Finley of TV Squad contemplating that it "could [...] be the best Treehouse of Horror segment ever" as well as praising the opening of Time and Punishment. When putting together the perfect Treehouse of Horror episode, Michael Passman of Michigan Daily
Michigan Daily
The Michigan Daily is the daily student newspaper of the University of Michigan. Its first edition was published on September 29, 1890. The newspaper is financially and editorially independent of the University's administration and other student groups, but shares a university building with other...
included The Shinning as "a shoo-in". Empire
Empire (magazine)
Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
named "No TV And No Beer Make Homer Go Crazy" the sixth best film parody in the show's history.
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...
's musical score for this episode received an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
nomination for "Outstanding Dramatic Underscore - Series" in 1995. The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood called it "Another fine entry to the Treehouse canon".
James Earl Jones's guest appearance in this episode, as well as in "Treehouse of Horror
Treehouse of Horror
"Treehouse of Horror" is the third episode of The Simpsons second season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 25, 1990. The episode was inspired by 1950s horror comics, and begins with a disclaimer that it may be too scary for children. It is the first of a...
" and "Das Bus
Das Bus
"Das Bus" is the fourteenth episode of The Simpsons ninth season and originally aired on the Fox network on February 15, 1998. Bart, Lisa and other children from Springfield Elementary School are stranded on an island and are forced to work together. Meanwhile, Homer founds his own Internet...
", was listed seventh on IGN's "Top 25 Simpsons Guest Appearances" list. Jones ranked 25th on AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
's list of their favorite 25 Simpsons guest stars. Matt Groening said that this line is among his favorite lines in the show. David Mirkin said that Homer's line "Oh I wish, I wish I hadn't killed that fish" is one of his favorites in the show, and that the alternate future in which the family are rich "breaks [his] heart every time". Homer's line "close enough" from "Time and Punishment" was later used in the Stargate SG-1
Stargate SG-1
Stargate SG-1 is a Canadian-American adventure and military science fiction television series and part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate franchise. The show, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner, is based on the 1994 feature film Stargate by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich...
episode "Moebius
Moebius (Stargate SG-1)
"Moebius" is the season finale for season eight of the Canadian-American military science fiction television series Stargate SG-1. The episodes were written by Joseph Mallozzi, Paul Mullie, Executive producers Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper, the episodes were directed by Peter DeLuise...
".
Time and Punishment was later referenced in DC Comic
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
's Booster Gold
Booster Gold
Booster Gold is a fictional DC Comics superhero. Created by Dan Jurgens, he first appeared in Booster Gold #1 and has been a member of the Justice League, DC Comics' all-star team of heroes. The character is initially depicted as a glory-seeking showboat from the future, using knowledge of...
comic series, where Booster Gold explains the butterfly effect
Butterfly effect
In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions; where a small change at one place in a nonlinear system can result in large differences to a later state...
by asking if anyone had seen the episode where Homer stepped on a butterfly and it began raining donuts, only to wish it were raining donuts where he was.
External links
- "Treehouse of Horror V" at The Simpsons.com