1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,720 By the way, nice melons. 2 00:00:05,720 --> 00:00:07,660 Hey, welcome back everybody. 3 00:00:07,660 --> 00:00:12,480 Thank you so much for tuning in to the mmm donuts podcast. 4 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:20,160 I'm your host, Justin Metcalf, and I have a special treat for all eight of my listeners. 5 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:27,520 This I know seriously though, there's there's been like over 100 downloads as of this recording. 6 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:29,120 Thank you so much. 7 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:31,240 Like people are actually listening to this. 8 00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:33,080 It's not a lot of people, but that's fine. 9 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:34,080 I don't care. 10 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:35,700 Um, it makes me really happy. 11 00:00:35,700 --> 00:00:38,160 So I decided a couple of episodes. 12 00:00:38,160 --> 00:00:49,320 I talked about how if, if I do one a week, I won't finish this podcast series until 13 00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:50,880 like for like 15 years. 14 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:54,160 And that's if they stop making more episodes right now. 15 00:00:54,160 --> 00:01:00,600 Um, I don't want to be doing this for 15 years because I don't want to wait that long to 16 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:01,800 talk about them. 17 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:04,440 So I thought of ways to cut it down. 18 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:08,680 Like maybe I can cut it in half, but that would mean doing two episodes a week. 19 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:14,840 I'm not sure I'm going to commit to that yet, but for now I thought of something cool. 20 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:20,000 So it's Halloween, one of my favorite times of the year. 21 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:26,000 And as you know, it's a very famous favorite time of year for the Simpsons and they have 22 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:30,640 the longest running Halloween special of any TV show ever. 23 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:35,040 Um, and in the tree house of horror series. 24 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:42,760 So I thought I'll review three episodes, the first three tree house of horror episodes, 25 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:47,440 and I'll drop them all for Halloween of 2024. 26 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:54,240 Because my gift to you, the listener for listen during, thank you. 27 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:55,480 I really appreciate it. 28 00:01:55,480 --> 00:01:56,480 Truly. 29 00:01:56,480 --> 00:02:00,960 I make lots of jokes, but for real, I'm glad that you're listening and I appreciate it. 30 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:09,200 So this first tree house of horror episode is from season two, episode three. 31 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:14,620 If you ever want to know what tree house of horror number we're on, it's whatever season 32 00:02:14,620 --> 00:02:19,380 it is minus one because in season one, they didn't do one. 33 00:02:19,380 --> 00:02:21,140 First one was on season two. 34 00:02:21,140 --> 00:02:24,600 And in this one, when it came out, you can see it in the credits. 35 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:29,160 It's called the Simpsons Halloween special. 36 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:34,480 And then of course was later changed to the tree house of horror one. 37 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:41,200 And then all future Halloween episodes were the tree house of horror, whatever, two, three, 38 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:42,200 whatever. 39 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:47,320 We really looked forward to these when these came out every year. 40 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:50,520 It was like one of our favorite times of the year. 41 00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:53,920 We'd get a new Simpsons episode and it would be macabre. 42 00:02:53,920 --> 00:02:59,200 And they could take the show in different directions and they'd kill people off and 43 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:02,520 have all sorts of things happen that they couldn't do in normal episodes. 44 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:06,620 Because in this one, you could just start all over. 45 00:03:06,620 --> 00:03:08,400 It's just a Halloween special. 46 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:14,840 So it's okay if we murder Flanders and then the next episode. 47 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:15,840 That's all right. 48 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:16,840 That was just Halloween. 49 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:17,840 No harm done. 50 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:22,800 It was really brilliant and a lot of entertainment for over the years. 51 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:30,080 So some pretty cool stuff happened in this first tree house of horror. 52 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:31,640 We're still within the first two seasons. 53 00:03:31,640 --> 00:03:35,080 So there's some things missing. 54 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:38,360 Animation is a little better than season one, but still not quite there. 55 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:42,560 There's some character development that's not quite finished, but still there's a lot 56 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:44,840 that we get out of this episode. 57 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:52,320 So yeah, like I said, October 25th, 1990 is when it came out and it has one of the most 58 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:57,600 amazing actors on the planet as a guest star and it's James Earl Jones. 59 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:04,560 James Earl Jones plays the mover, Serak the preparer and the narrator. 60 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:09,160 Because this episode's broken up into three different sequences. 61 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:12,600 So I forgot to do the Troy McClure. 62 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:19,520 James Earl Jones, you might remember him from movies like, I mean, where do I begin? 63 00:04:19,520 --> 00:04:23,880 The first movie I ever saw him in was The Sandlot. 64 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:24,880 Loved that movie. 65 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:29,440 He was the blind neighbor where the ball goes with the big dog. 66 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:31,480 The ball goes over the fence. 67 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:38,160 Let's see, of course, Star Wars, he played the voice of Darth Vader. 68 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:44,980 He played Simba, no, the Lion King, Mufasa, he played Mufasa's voice. 69 00:04:44,980 --> 00:04:51,200 He was in so many movies, but his voice is absolutely unmistakable. 70 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:54,600 So I hope you enjoyed as much as I did. 71 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:55,600 Let's get into it. 72 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:56,600 Okay. 73 00:04:56,600 --> 00:04:58,840 Welcome back. 74 00:04:58,840 --> 00:04:59,840 Thank you again. 75 00:04:59,840 --> 00:05:01,200 I've said that enough. 76 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:02,820 Sorry, no more. 77 00:05:02,820 --> 00:05:05,440 You understand that I'm grateful, blah, blah, blah. 78 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:06,440 Let's do trivia. 79 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:07,440 Okay. 80 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:11,840 Starting off with what are the names on the tombstones in the opening credits? 81 00:05:11,840 --> 00:05:14,640 Ah, but there's so many, that's mean. 82 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:15,640 Shut up. 83 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:16,640 All right. 84 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:17,640 First of all, just shut up. 85 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:20,000 You get one point for every correct answer. 86 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:21,000 All right. 87 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:22,720 Now, we're on the honor system. 88 00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:27,160 If you didn't do your homework, that's not my problem. 89 00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:28,160 I don't care. 90 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:32,760 And I know I didn't tell you last episode that I was going to drop this episode, but 91 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:33,760 I don't know. 92 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:35,760 A true fan would just know. 93 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:36,760 Sorry. 94 00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:37,760 I'm not sorry. 95 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:38,760 Ah, this next. 96 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:42,760 Now I'll talk about that in a minute. 97 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:43,760 Second. 98 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:44,760 Okay. 99 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:47,640 What is the full name of the cookbook on the alien spaceship? 100 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:50,480 Dun, dun, dun. 101 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:51,480 All right. 102 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:55,640 And third, who plays the Raven in the third sequence? 103 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:56,640 Okay. 104 00:05:56,640 --> 00:05:57,640 Let's get into it. 105 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:07,200 So, the concept of the Treehouse of Horror episodes was just to be a Halloween special. 106 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:12,440 Whether or not they wanted it to be something they did every single season when they first 107 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:14,120 came out with it, I don't know. 108 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:20,280 There might be some DVD commentary that I missed from way back when that clarified that. 109 00:06:20,280 --> 00:06:25,520 But what we do know is that it came out as the Simpsons Halloween special and then was 110 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:29,920 later changed to the Treehouse of Horror one. 111 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:37,200 And then all future ones were just the Treehouse of Horror with the number in the sequence. 112 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:41,320 The Halloween episodes don't begin like other episodes. 113 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:46,600 Most of them start with somebody coming onto the screen with a red curtain behind them, 114 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:48,840 like they're in a theater. 115 00:06:48,840 --> 00:06:50,800 And they have a discussion. 116 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:55,720 Usually it's to implore adults to not let their children watch the show. 117 00:06:55,720 --> 00:06:58,120 And Marge says something hilarious. 118 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:00,880 This is my favorite joke of this episode. 119 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:07,800 Marge says, so if you have sensitive children, send them to bed early instead of watching 120 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:08,800 the show. 121 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:13,680 And don't let them watch the show rather than writing us angry letters in the morning. 122 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:15,920 I butchered that so hard. 123 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:19,320 Oh, I'm embarrassed. 124 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:20,920 I got over it though really quickly. 125 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:23,360 It was still funny. 126 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:25,080 Go watch it. 127 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:31,380 There is an abundance of written jokes in the beginning credits of these episodes. 128 00:07:31,380 --> 00:07:34,160 So in this one, it's on the tombstones. 129 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:35,160 And that's the trivia question. 130 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:40,680 We'll talk, we'll, we'll, I'll go through the names later, but there's names on the 131 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:41,960 tombstones that are funny. 132 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:48,160 And then in future episodes, they change the names of the credits. 133 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:51,520 So like, it's also a different theme song. 134 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:58,980 It's like an eerie theme song and the credits are in like a green melting font. 135 00:07:58,980 --> 00:07:59,980 You all know what I mean. 136 00:07:59,980 --> 00:08:05,040 It's the same every year and it's become kind of quintessential for the tree house of horror. 137 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:11,740 But what we know now is that the opening sequence has funny names like James L. Brooks. 138 00:08:11,740 --> 00:08:15,560 His name is James Hellbrooks. 139 00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:18,400 And Matt Groening is Matt Groening. 140 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:19,620 Funny clever stuff. 141 00:08:19,620 --> 00:08:23,280 But in this first one, they were regular credit names. 142 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:29,600 Still the right, the font that we know, but the jokes were in the tombstones. 143 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:40,760 Ah, lastly, the episodes, they're inspired by an old EC comics, not, not DC. 144 00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:41,760 I'm not saying it wrong. 145 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:47,560 It's called EC comics, a comic book or a comic strip called Tales from the Crypt. 146 00:08:47,560 --> 00:08:55,080 There was also a stint for several years of Tales from the Crypt on, I think HBO back 147 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:56,320 in the nineties too. 148 00:08:56,320 --> 00:09:01,240 So that inspired more than one show. 149 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:02,240 Pretty good stuff. 150 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:03,240 Okay. 151 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:04,980 It's broken up into three segments. 152 00:09:04,980 --> 00:09:06,800 So it starts with Homer. 153 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:12,040 He walks up into the tree house to listen to ghost stories and the three stories are 154 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:13,120 the three sequences. 155 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:18,860 So the first one, it's kind of like Poltergeist. 156 00:09:18,860 --> 00:09:21,400 It's called Bad Dream House. 157 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:26,280 And there's, there's a lot of comedic elements to this. 158 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:28,080 And the house is frustrated with the family. 159 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:29,080 He doesn't want it there. 160 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:31,300 The house talks back to him. 161 00:09:31,300 --> 00:09:33,840 There's this portal to another dimension. 162 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:37,640 Homer throws something in there and then a piece of paper, rolled up piece of paper gets 163 00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:41,240 thrown back and says, don't throw your garbage in our dimension. 164 00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:45,400 Lots of funny jokes like that. 165 00:09:45,400 --> 00:09:50,520 There's lots of satire of the classic haunted house tropes. 166 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:56,080 You know, like the, I say kind of based on Poltergeist because there's elements of Poltergeist 167 00:09:56,080 --> 00:10:04,120 in this, but there's a lot of, there's a lot of movies and shows that this episode is making 168 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:05,320 fun of. 169 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:10,100 I think the most prominent is Poltergeist, but so the house is going crazy. 170 00:10:10,100 --> 00:10:12,000 The cabinets are bleeding. 171 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:13,440 Walls are melting and changing. 172 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:19,560 And Lisa opens the door and says, Oh no, look at this. 173 00:10:19,560 --> 00:10:28,040 And she finds an Indian burial ground just down some stairs through one of the doors, 174 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:32,160 which again is, it's, they're poking fun at that. 175 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:35,080 The trope of you should look up trope. 176 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:36,080 I did. 177 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:44,760 And of how that was just, it was like a scapegoat almost, you know, like we want to tell a horror 178 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:45,760 story. 179 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:48,080 Well, how do we, how do we connect it to something sinister? 180 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:50,000 Ah, an Indian burial ground. 181 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:52,160 This was built on an Indian burial ground. 182 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:59,440 You know, like it's, it was played out a lot and I'm, I'm fairly certain that's why the 183 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:00,440 joke was there. 184 00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:05,360 And I, I think it landed perfectly and it's still funny today. 185 00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:07,480 There's some dark humor in this too. 186 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:14,980 So after a few minutes, the, the house is yelling at them and telling them to cut each 187 00:11:14,980 --> 00:11:20,400 other and do all sorts of nasty things and Marge starts almost looking like she's going 188 00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:28,840 to hyperventilate and then just screams, shut up, yells at the house and then gives it an 189 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:30,680 ultimatum. 190 00:11:30,680 --> 00:11:35,960 So they tell the house that, you know, we got to live together. 191 00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:37,040 Right. 192 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:41,640 And so the house takes a moment to think about it because it's a house with a mind like a 193 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:46,520 robot and the house, this is the dark humor. 194 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:53,560 It chooses to self-destruct rather than live with the Simpsons. 195 00:11:53,560 --> 00:11:58,840 It was, that's, I mean, you think about it, that's dark humor. 196 00:11:58,840 --> 00:11:59,840 And it was hilarious. 197 00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:00,840 I loved it. 198 00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:01,840 Damn. 199 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:02,840 Love it now. 200 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:03,840 Okay. 201 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:05,760 Segment two, it's called Hungry are the damned. 202 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:08,880 And Bart tells the story. 203 00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:14,560 The Simpsons are abducted by the aliens, King and Kodos. 204 00:12:14,560 --> 00:12:20,040 This is one of the best segments ever with King and Kodos. 205 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:23,720 Maybe even my favorite of all time. 206 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:31,280 There's they typically are only in the Halloween episodes, but, um, just when this one's great. 207 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:32,280 Okay. 208 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:38,280 So they plan to serve the humans a delicious feast or do they? 209 00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:39,280 Ha ha. 210 00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:43,360 There's a, some cloak and dagger here, which is funny the way they do it. 211 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:48,120 There's this classic sci-fi horror theme of an alien abduction. 212 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:54,160 And then they put Homer on a scale and they're foaming at the mouth and drooling, uh, as, 213 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:56,640 as he's weighed cause he's like super fat. 214 00:12:56,640 --> 00:13:01,980 And what we learn later is they're, they always drool. 215 00:13:01,980 --> 00:13:03,300 That's just a normal thing. 216 00:13:03,300 --> 00:13:07,820 But at the time it's making you think, Oh yeah, they definitely want to eat this dude. 217 00:13:07,820 --> 00:13:17,000 And the visual style, uh, which is, you know, play pays homage to homage, homage. 218 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:21,840 I'm not going to get hung up on how to pronounce that to a lot of classic horror films, but 219 00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:26,120 it also kind of sets the stage for some funny interpretation. 220 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:35,240 So Lisa's walking around the ship and she sees, uh, James Earl Jones, who, who plays 221 00:13:35,240 --> 00:13:40,200 Serac the preparer, he's making a meal and he's looking at a cookbook and the cookbook 222 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:43,160 is called how to cook humans. 223 00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:44,640 Dun dun dun. 224 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:48,400 Such a dumb joke, but it's so freaking funny. 225 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:53,040 They confront the aliens and the aliens say, Oh, there's dust on this book. 226 00:13:53,040 --> 00:14:01,800 And they blow dust, space dust off the book and it missed a word, how to cook for humans. 227 00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:07,840 And then Lisa, I know I'm giving away one of the trivia questions, but it's a big bit. 228 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:10,000 Lisa's like, wait, let me see that. 229 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:12,340 And she blows more space dust. 230 00:14:12,340 --> 00:14:15,800 And then the book says how to cook 40 humans. 231 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:17,940 Oh, dun dun dun. 232 00:14:17,940 --> 00:14:26,100 And then because you can never get too many attempts out of a gag, the alien takes it 233 00:14:26,100 --> 00:14:28,600 back and says, wait, there's more space dust. 234 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:36,920 Which is when we do finally see the full title of the book, how to cook for 40 humans. 235 00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:43,260 And then they get super offended and Serac the preparer cries and it's so funny. 236 00:14:43,260 --> 00:14:47,920 And they kick the humans out and Simpsons lose the opportunity of a lifetime to be able 237 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:53,600 to live in luxury and have all their needs met because they didn't trust the aliens. 238 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:55,600 Very, very funny. 239 00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:57,440 Uh, very well done. 240 00:14:57,440 --> 00:14:59,120 I thought that was great. 241 00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:01,740 The third is the Raven. 242 00:15:01,740 --> 00:15:05,320 And this is the poem from Edgar Allen Poe. 243 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:08,160 I think beautifully done. 244 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:14,960 It's narrated by James Earl Jones as the narrator and then Homer, he's still Homer. 245 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:19,440 He's, you know, Homer's voice and he has some mannerisms, but he's saying the lines from 246 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:25,240 his character of his character from the poem, which is funny, but still pretty well done. 247 00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:32,640 And then show some depth and Dan Castellaneta, my absolute favorite Simpsons, uh, voicer, 248 00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:35,600 bowl voice or voice actor. 249 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:37,920 She's, uh, did a great job. 250 00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:39,480 I loved it. 251 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:49,000 Uh, the adaptation of the poem into the Simpsons universe was very clever and the visual style 252 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:52,960 here again plays homage to some classic horror films. 253 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:57,920 The way that it's set up with the roaring fireplace and the high back chair and, you 254 00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:00,240 know, on the bust over the door. 255 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:07,440 Um, I'm, I didn't give enough thought to these, uh, to these trivia questions. 256 00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:10,400 I made them questions about very prominent scenes. 257 00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:12,320 So now I'm going to give away the third one too. 258 00:16:12,320 --> 00:16:18,160 But so eventually the Raven comes in, you know, as he does in the poem and it's played 259 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:22,520 by Bart and all he says is nevermore. 260 00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:29,240 And then something funny later on, but I think they did a great job connecting the theme 261 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:37,800 of the story of that poem into the Simpsons Halloween special, you know, and that, um, 262 00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:39,040 that style. 263 00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:41,000 What do you think? 264 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:42,840 How do you think they did? 265 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:48,700 This is, we're seeing some evolution from season one into season two, not quite to where 266 00:16:48,700 --> 00:16:55,480 we know it now or to where it really hits its stride and continuity in season three. 267 00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:57,520 But I, what do you think? 268 00:16:57,520 --> 00:16:59,120 Do you still like this episode? 269 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:02,680 I thought it was great. 270 00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:07,400 What about the lasting impact on the Simpsons in pop culture? 271 00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:12,720 So this is more for like the people my age, the Gen Xers, um, again, not boomers. 272 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:15,480 I don't, I've always, I don't like boomers. 273 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:16,480 I'm sorry. 274 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:17,480 I'm not sorry. 275 00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:18,480 I'm just not allowed to. 276 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:19,480 I'm just a generational thing. 277 00:17:19,480 --> 00:17:25,360 And then consequently, I also don't like millennials because they want, they pretend that I'm one 278 00:17:25,360 --> 00:17:26,360 of them. 279 00:17:26,360 --> 00:17:33,840 And it's such an argument that I just, my whole life I was a Gen Xer and then some Yahoo 280 00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:36,120 says, Oh, but you were born in this year. 281 00:17:36,120 --> 00:17:37,960 So you're actually a millennial. 282 00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:39,440 That's not how that works, bud. 283 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:40,440 All right. 284 00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:41,440 Shut up. 285 00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:43,120 Where was I? 286 00:17:43,120 --> 00:17:46,120 I have got to stop with this generational bashing. 287 00:17:46,120 --> 00:17:48,840 It's just, no, I don't know. 288 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:51,560 I'm going to power through anyway. 289 00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:56,760 So older people really are going to be better at, in my opinion of answering those questions 290 00:17:56,760 --> 00:18:01,400 because what is the lasting impact on the Simpsons and pop culture for this Halloween 291 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:03,040 special? 292 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:04,320 Like it is lasted. 293 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:05,520 They've done it every single year. 294 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:08,680 What do you remember year after year growing up? 295 00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:09,940 Did you anticipate it? 296 00:18:09,940 --> 00:18:12,120 Did you get excited for it? 297 00:18:12,120 --> 00:18:17,280 Were you, were you surprised by what you saw in the episodes? 298 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:20,760 I'm pretty sure they almost all have the three segments too. 299 00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:25,240 You know, like for the commercial breaks, but they're all, they're always three segments, 300 00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:26,920 but they're like three different stories. 301 00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:27,920 You know what I mean? 302 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:32,800 In, in the, in that format. 303 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:37,400 I think it was a great anthology format that the Halloween special, I think it was very 304 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:38,400 effective. 305 00:18:38,400 --> 00:18:41,600 Again, though, what do you think? 306 00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:44,480 Why do you think it held up? 307 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:53,040 Consider this, the, the show writers and the show runners ability to balance horror and 308 00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:56,480 comedy was very telling. 309 00:18:56,480 --> 00:19:00,840 We've already talked about a few episodes where they balance humor with other things, 310 00:19:00,840 --> 00:19:07,400 you know, like certain emotions, sadness and tragedy and things like that, but to balance 311 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:15,240 horror and comedy so beautifully, I think was, was definitely a something that propelled 312 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:18,200 them into wanting to do this every single year. 313 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:19,440 I know it got great reviews. 314 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:22,840 I know it was very well received. 315 00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:28,080 And I think, you know, some people could argue they missed the mark some years, but for the 316 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:34,860 most part, I mean, it's still, it's still a very popular episode, a very popular time 317 00:19:34,860 --> 00:19:35,860 of year. 318 00:19:35,860 --> 00:19:43,520 They just gave Disney Plus just early, well, yeah, early mid November or October dropped 319 00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:46,040 there. 320 00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:48,920 It's the one or best or the most wonderful time of the year. 321 00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:53,480 It's like a three minute song with Kelsey Grammer and it's about Halloween. 322 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:59,780 So like the Simpsons are synonymous with Halloween and they're special for this year. 323 00:19:59,780 --> 00:20:02,960 By the time you're listening to this may already be available. 324 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:04,260 Who knows? 325 00:20:04,260 --> 00:20:05,680 But I'm excited for it. 326 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:07,960 I think it's going to be terrific. 327 00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:11,200 So as you know, I'm alone right here. 328 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:12,200 I'm not talking to anybody. 329 00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:16,920 I'm going to have, I'm going to start having guests with me in the near future where we 330 00:20:16,920 --> 00:20:19,300 discuss and we have back and forth. 331 00:20:19,300 --> 00:20:25,520 So there's going to be more than just my voice, but you also know, even though it's just me, 332 00:20:25,520 --> 00:20:27,360 that I still try to engage. 333 00:20:27,360 --> 00:20:28,360 I've said it before. 334 00:20:28,360 --> 00:20:29,360 I like to have open dialogue. 335 00:20:29,360 --> 00:20:35,120 I like to have conversation that's hard to do with a microphone and a computer. 336 00:20:35,120 --> 00:20:41,840 So that's why I set up that, the Twitter account so that you can engage with me. 337 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:49,240 I absolutely still plan to reply to tweets and to have that open dialogue with you, whether 338 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:54,000 you're just, you're going to send a tweet and make fun of me or send me a tweet of a 339 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:57,280 correction of something that I did wrong. 340 00:20:57,280 --> 00:21:00,720 I'll reply depending on how I feel at the time. 341 00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:01,720 It could be a real repier. 342 00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:04,480 It could be a saucy reply. 343 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:09,000 But I still will reply because I told you, I like that back and forth in that dialogue. 344 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:13,880 I love being engaged in conversation about things that I'm passionate with. 345 00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:16,760 And I'm very passionate about The Simpsons. 346 00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:20,040 I'm pretty sure I've made that pretty clear. 347 00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:27,640 So tell me which of these segments was your favorite and why. 348 00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:34,240 Do you have a favorite tree house of horror moment in general? 349 00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:36,360 I got all the tree house of horrors. 350 00:21:36,360 --> 00:21:39,680 Is there one that's your favorite? 351 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:40,940 I do. 352 00:21:40,940 --> 00:21:41,940 And it's coming up soon. 353 00:21:41,940 --> 00:21:49,260 It's the, it's one of the very first ones where Homer is, he goes to hell and he's awaiting 354 00:21:49,260 --> 00:21:57,120 trial and while he's awaiting trial, he spends a day in hell and Flanders is the devil, which 355 00:21:57,120 --> 00:21:59,560 is so freaking funny. 356 00:21:59,560 --> 00:22:06,360 And they feed him like a billion donuts and it's this torture machine that's supposed 357 00:22:06,360 --> 00:22:09,800 to torment someone by overfeeding them. 358 00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:13,640 And of course in classic Homer fashion, he can't get enough. 359 00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:16,720 He's calling for more by the end. 360 00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:23,780 I won't ruin it, but there's the goblin or demon that's administering the torture says 361 00:22:23,780 --> 00:22:25,040 a very funny joke. 362 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:26,640 He says, I don't understand. 363 00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:28,200 And then it's a funny joke. 364 00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:29,800 You should look it up. 365 00:22:29,800 --> 00:22:32,880 I don't want to ruin it. 366 00:22:32,880 --> 00:22:34,620 But tell me what your favorite ones are. 367 00:22:34,620 --> 00:22:38,520 Favorite moment, favorite sequence, favorite tree house of horror. 368 00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:44,040 And how do you think this episode holds up compared to later Halloween specials? 369 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:46,280 I told you my opinion. 370 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:52,160 I think that this one was so well done that it set the stage for them to know this is 371 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:53,940 going to be a regular thing. 372 00:22:53,940 --> 00:22:55,720 This is something that we need to do. 373 00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:58,560 This format isn't going to work. 374 00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:00,380 Let's do it every year. 375 00:23:00,380 --> 00:23:01,380 So that's my opinion. 376 00:23:01,380 --> 00:23:02,380 But what's yours? 377 00:23:02,380 --> 00:23:04,040 Do you think it holds up? 378 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:07,320 There might be people out there who think this was a horrible one. 379 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:12,360 Fortunately, people like that are probably not listening to this podcast, so we won't 380 00:23:12,360 --> 00:23:15,600 have to hear from them. 381 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:17,080 Thank you so much for listening. 382 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:18,400 Let's get to the trivia answers. 383 00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:21,800 I'm going to go backwards because I already ruined them. 384 00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:27,400 But three, I told you Bart is the Raven, and two, the final name of the book was How to 385 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:29,320 Cook for 40 Humans. 386 00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:31,480 How to Cook for 40 Humans. 387 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:34,280 Yeah, I got that right. 388 00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:35,280 Okay. 389 00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:36,280 Sorry. 390 00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:38,160 I'll try to do better with trivia and make it. 391 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:40,320 I like the really obscure ones. 392 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:44,480 Like if you're not really paying attention, you're going to miss it. 393 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:49,200 But on this episode, these are the ones that stuck out to me that I liked. 394 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:50,200 Okay. 395 00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:53,680 Question one, the names on the tombstones. 396 00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:55,880 There were quite a few actually. 397 00:23:55,880 --> 00:24:03,720 It was clearly a Simpsons area, or Simpsons Cemetery, at least initially. 398 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:10,280 The first names are Ishmael Simpsons, Ezekiel Simpsons, Cornelius V. Simpsons, and then 399 00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:12,640 the jokes start. 400 00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:13,640 Garfield. 401 00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:21,000 This is funny because at the time Garfield was dying, kiddo, because never mind, because 402 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:23,240 it was animated and it didn't last nearly as long. 403 00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:26,320 Anyway, The Grateful Dead is the next one. 404 00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:28,280 Casper the Friendly Boy. 405 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:30,920 Get it? 406 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:36,640 Because he's Casper the Friendly Ghost, but when he died, he was Casper the Friendly Boy. 407 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:37,640 No? 408 00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:38,640 No. 409 00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:40,920 I thought it was funny. 410 00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:43,240 Okay, then Elvis. 411 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:48,360 And then the next one is Your Name Here, and then Paul McCartney, who ironically is the 412 00:24:48,360 --> 00:24:53,160 only Beatle still alive today, and then the last one is Disco. 413 00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:54,360 I believe that's 10. 414 00:24:54,360 --> 00:24:58,000 So you have the possibility of getting 10 points on that question alone. 415 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:00,360 How'd you do? 416 00:25:00,360 --> 00:25:04,000 Did you make me proud? 417 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:08,320 Well, I'll never know if you don't tweet me. 418 00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:09,700 Send me your scores. 419 00:25:09,700 --> 00:25:11,680 Tell me what you got. 420 00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:14,320 And be honest. 421 00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:15,320 Or don't. 422 00:25:15,320 --> 00:25:16,320 I'm not your mother. 423 00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:17,320 You do what you want to do. 424 00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:24,620 But I'm a fairly disbelieving person, mistrusting person, distrusting person. 425 00:25:24,620 --> 00:25:28,040 So I probably won't believe you either way. 426 00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:30,800 Hey, listen, thanks again for listening. 427 00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:37,200 I really appreciate you spending 25 to 30 minutes with me every week, or in this case, 428 00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:38,200 maybe three times. 429 00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:42,200 That's a lot to have to listen to me for that much time. 430 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:50,720 I want you to know genuinely, I appreciate you spending that time, which is our most 431 00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:54,400 valuable resource, with me. 432 00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:56,320 It means a great deal to me. 433 00:25:56,320 --> 00:25:57,640 I'm grateful. 434 00:25:57,640 --> 00:26:03,080 I hope that you're as passionate about The Simpsons as I am, and I hope that you'll continue 435 00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:08,400 to listen, and we can continue to have lots of fun together for several years. 436 00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:09,720 All right? 437 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:11,160 Be good. 438 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:33,840 Take care.