Treehouse Of Horror XVI opens with Kodos and Kang watching a boring baseball match and deciding to speed up time to avoid delaying the Simpsons Halloween Special. Unfortunately, it runs out of control , destroying the totality of existence. It’s fine though, they leave a note.
B. I. Bartificial Intelligence
“This stinks. I have stubby little robot legs and an ass that’s not equipped for an adult diet.”
When Bart is injured jumping out of a Patty and Selma’s apartment window, Marge is inconsolable. Until, that is, Dr Hibbert suggests a robot replacement son. It’s a fun parody of a not very fun movie that pokes fun at a lot of the pretentiousness of the Spielberg/ Kubrick collaboration and even manages to mimic the uneven dark and slightly adult tone of its source material. Again, it’s the ending that lets it down as it turns out to all have been a dream from a Homer who’s possessed by the devil.
Survival Of The Fattest
“Well, it’s a disgrace, Roger. This network will show a dozen gruesome murders but I bet they cut to commercial before these two begin the tender act of love.”
Another Treehouse Of Horror tale where “Family Guy” beat the Simpsons to the punch, this unfolds very much like the company picnic in 2001 episode “The Thin White Line” both, of course, being references to Richard Connell’s 1924 short story “The Most Dangerous Game”. It’s pretty violent and a little light on good jokes but it’s a passable entry and, at least, has an ending.
I’ve Grown A Costume On Your Face
“I am not a happy meal right now.”
Treehouse Of Horror XVI borrows a plot from “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” when a real witch wins the Halloween costume competition and is stripped of her gift certificate prize, she turns the townsfolk into their respective costumes, with amusing consequences. There are plenty of throwaway gags as the costumes take over (Chief Wiggum’s choice of Jared from Subway as a costume hasn’t aged at all well, though, especially the line about being ‘sexually ambiguous’) but luckily Maggie is around to pacify the situation.
