None of you will argue with me that The Simpsons is the best TV show of the 1990s. Will you? No? Good.
Well, will you argue with this? THE NINE HALLOWEEN SPECIALS ARE THE NINE BEST EPISODES OF THE SIMPSONS.
Even if you don't agree, you'll surely concede that the Halloween specials, run annually since the show's second season in 1990, are some of the best stuff that's ever been on The Simpsons. Titled "Treehouse of Horror I through IX" (with "Treehouse of Horror X" airing this Sunday), there are too many funny little bits of horror spoof to remember.
And so, IGN TV has combed the four corners of the world to find out all 30 segments-- three per show-- to appear in The Simpsons Halloween specials!
Treehouse of Horror, Season 2, broadcast 10/24/90
"Bad Dream House"
The Simpsons move a haunted house. They spend the night there and then almost kill each other. When they start arguing and basically being themselves, the house destroys itself to avoid living with the Simpsons. Funny rating: 7.
"Hungry Are The Damned"
The Simpsons' barbecue is interrupted when aliens take them aboard a spaceship. Lisa mistakes the aliens' generosity with food for an effort the 'fatten up' the Simpsons, and accuses the aliens of trying to eat them. Funny rating: 8.
"The Raven"
Homer acts out Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven." Funny rating: 0.
Treehouse of Horror II, Season 3, air 10/31/91
"The Monkey's Paw"
Homer buys a monkey's paw that grants his wishes, all of which go horribly wrong. He gives the paw to Lisa, who wishes for world peace; the aliens' coming down and enslaving the human race. Homer gives the Paw to Flanders, who gets rid of the aliens and becomes a hero. Funny rating: 10
"Bart the Monster"
In this send-up of the omnipotent child story from Twilight Zone: The Movie, Bart is all-seeing, all-knowing, and all-powerful, so everyone in Springfield must cater to his whims or suffer his wrath. Funny rating: 9
"Homer's Brain"
Mr. Burns & Smithers, in their attempt to build the perfect employee, steal Homer's brain and put it in their robot; the robot, of course, turns out to be an imbecile just like Homer. Funny rating: 8
Treehouse of Horror III, Season 4, 10/29/92
"Clown Without Pity"
Homer gets Bart a Krusty doll from the House of Evil, and it tries repeatedly to kill Homer. (It turns out that the good/evil switch on its back is set for "Evil.") Funny rating: 10
"King Homer"
In this parody of King Kong, Mr. Burns goes to Ape Island to capture King Homer, a huge Ape, with Marge as bait. When they bring King Homer back to the city, he escapes and wreaks havoc; King Homer and Marge end up marrying. Funny rating: 5
"Dial 'Z' For Zombies"
Bart finds a book in the "occult section" of the library and uses its incantations to try and raise Snowball I from the dead. Instead, all of the corpses in the graveyard come to life. Funny rating: 8
Treehouse of Horror IV, Season 5, 10/28/93
"The Devil and Homer Simpson"
Homer sells his soul to the devil (who turns out to be Ned Flanders) for a donut, and is promptly sent to hell. Funny rating: 7
"Nightmare at 5½ feet"
In a parody of the classic Twilight Zone story "Nightmare at 50,000 feet" (starring William Shatner on the TV show and John Lithgow in the movie), Bart sees a gremlin sabotaging the school bus. Funny rating: 7
"Bart Simpson's Dracula"
Mr. Burns invites the Simpsons to his mansion in Pennsylvania. Bart and Lisa discover that Mr. Burns is a vampire, and as they flee, Bart is bitten and turned into a vampire. The rest of the Simpsons find out and go to kill the head vampire, Mr. Burns. Then it ends with a twist: Marge is actually the head vampire. Funny rating: 7
Treehouse of Horror V, Season 6, 10/30/94
"The Shinning"
A hilarious spoof of the Stanley Kubrick/Jack Nicholson movie The Shining. Funny rating: 9
"Time and Punishment"
Homer accidentally turns his toaster into a time machine, and every time he goes back in time, he screws something up, and the future is altered, for the worse. Funny rating: 10
"Nightmare Cafeteria"
The teachers at Springfield Elementary solve their overcrowding problem by eating the children. Or is the problem that fog that turns people inside out? Funny rating: 8
Treehouse of Horror VI, Season 7, 10/29/95
"Attack of the 50-foot Eyesores"
Homer steals a giant donut from Lard Lad's statue, and when a mysterious storm hits Springfield, all the statues come to life. Funny rating: 7
"Nightmare On Evergreen Terrace"
Groundskeeper Willie assumes the role of Freddy Krueger in this Nightmare on Elm Street parody. Funny rating: 7
"Homer³"
While trying to hide from Patty & Selma, Homer finds a way into the third dimension, and Bart goes in to rescue him. Not that funny, but it features a cool conclusion with a 3D Homer walking down a real street. Funny rating: 4
Treehouse of Horror VII, Season 8, 10/27/96
"The Thing and I"
Bart and Lisa discover the existence of Bart's twin brother Hugo, who's been locked in the attic because he's 'evil.' Or is he? Funny rating: 8
"The Genesis Tub"
Lisa accidentally creates a race of tiny people who believe she is their god, and that Bart is the devil. Funny rating: 6
"Citizen Kang"
Aliens take over the bodies of Bill Clinton and Bob Dole. Homer informs everyone that they are really aliens, but since it's only a two-party system, Kang is elected, and the human race is enslaved. Funny rating: 9
Treehouse of Horror VIII, Season 9, 10/26/97
"The Homega Man"
When France drops the bomb on America, Homer discovers that he is the only man left alive on Earth, and the rest of the townspeople have become monsters. Funny rating: 7
"Fly vs. Fly"
In this spoof of The Fly (the original, not the remake), Bart is spliced with a fly. Funny rating: 7
"Easy-Bake Coven"
Marge, Patty, and Selma are accused of witchcraft in 1649 "Sprynge-Fielde." Funny rating: 8
Treehouse of Horror IX, Season 10, 10/25/98
“Hell Toupée,”
Homer's new hair transplant, which is actually the scalp of the deceased criminal Snake, commands him to exact revenge on Snake's enemies. Funny rating: 9
“The Terror of Tiny Toon”
Bart and Lisa are sucked into their television to play a deadly game of cat and mouse with Itchy & Scratchy. Funny rating: 9
“Starship Poopers”
Maggie is revealed to be the illegitimate child of an alien, leading to a confrontation on the Jerry Springer Show. Funny rating: 8
Treehouse of Horror X, Season 11, 10/31/99
We can't rate this one yet, and we don't have the segment titles, because it hasn't aired yet. But our tireless scouring of the Net has revealed the following:
Homer causes a Y2K incident at the nuclear power plant by forgetting to reset its clock;
Radiation from X-ray candy gives Bart and Lisa superpowers;
And in "I Know What You Diddly-Iddly-Did," Flanders rises from the grave to avenge his own murder.
