Talking Simpsons - Talking Simpsons - Treehouse Of Horror IV

Episode Date: March 15, 2017

For the the fourth time, it’s another Halloween with The Simpsons, and we dare say it’s the best one they ever did. We’ve got Satan, gremlins, and vampires, plus the scariest of all… DOGS PLAYING POKER! All that and more in this week's podcast!

this week's talking simpsons is brought to you by casper premium mattresses and you listeners can go to caspertrial.com slash laser time and get 50 towards any new mattress i heartily endorse this event or product. Wang Computer user Bob Mackey, and this is the Lazer Time Podcast Network's chronological exploration of The Simpsons. Who else is here with me today? I'm Henry Gilbert, and this chair be high, says I. It's not that high. And who else is here? Super happy, Chris Anteaston.

Awesome. And today's episode is Treehouse of Horror 4. Foolish earthlings. Frightened of a creature that does not exist burn him right at the top and this episode aired on October 28th 1993 what happened on this day

in mythical history Chris this week Howard Stern's private parts is tearing up the bestseller list. Hey, guess what? Aladdin might be at the top of the video charts, but Children's Video Chart has not one, not two, but three Ren and Stimpy collections on the charts. Stupidest stories, stinkiest stories, and the classics. And I bet you got three whole episodes per VHS tape.

Those are 50 minutes of entertainment. But if they were in orange plastic, then that's good. I actually have one I can show you right after we're done. And NBC decides to ditch its long-running Friday Night Videos in the face of MTV, and they're in wavering commitment to playing music videos. Wow, it took that long? It did, and just because there's nowhere else to do it, I got a little clip of a host from that show that animation nerds will recognize.

Friday Night Videos was Dick Ebersole produced. He produced not only SNL, but like the Friday Night Companion 90-minute sketch in mostly music videos. This was the host for the 1991 period. Music news. The Milli Vanilli scandal continues to clog up the court system.

In response to lawsuits from betrayed Milli Vanilli fans, yeah, I know, I've never actually met one either, Arista Records offered a $1 to $3 discount on a future Arista purchase. Tom Kinney, Mr. Show in SpongeBob SquarePants fame, reporting on the Milli Vanilli scandal. He's in his Elvis Costello cosplay.

Indeed. And this was a stand-up comedy era. He was a stand-up comic for a while. Tom Cat and Bob Cat. That's right. Bob Cat and Bob Cat. That's right. Bob Cat Goldthwait. Way back in the 80s.

And he would be on The Edge, of course, David Merkin Show. Yeah, well, we also talked about him and Jill Talley being on The David Merkin Show. And hey, now it's time for part five of our biography of David Merkin. I kid because a couple people had nice comments, but they were still constructive but saying, like, we talked a lot about David Merkin on college. My excuse is these things are in my brain and they have to get out or I'll go crazy. Yes, we tricked you. You want me to go crazy? We tricked all of you. This is nothing but therapy.

Yes. We need to have some kind of productive use for these useless facts. I don't even think it's much of a secret anymore. This is just like recorded therapy through the symptoms. We're all laying down on couches. But, okay, there's so much to say about this episode.

But first off, I want to say this is the best animated Simpsons episode ever. Yep. The show will never look this good. I don't know what happened

outside of David Silverman to make it look this good. But every time I watch it, I pull away different frames, different poses. I see something different every time. It's just a beautiful episode.

This was my alternate intro clip and it visually emphasizes how great the animation is. Oh, God. They're dogs, and they're playing poker! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!

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Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! seen before or since in that one sequence and i think it is because you know silverman and his team are just going real they were going ham on it and they like that one especially is so that's like 18 david silverman poses in a row you can spot them every once in a while in in certain episodes but in that one it's just like i think he did every pose he's really all over this

and though that scene was like since let's just talk about that right now like that scene felt like practice for the homer shinning freak out later like you'll see a little bit of the shinning freak out there except none of the yeah i mean making silly faces is something they've done on tracy allman a lot you know like a face making contest so you see a lot of those weird poses and weird faces in in these episodes it goes between jim reardon and david silverman as my favorite simpsons director but this really shows them like when silverman is on his a-game he is the best yeah and he is the greatest and i would hate to work on the staff at this time because like i love mark kirkland's episode but immediately going from this to just a standard episode it's like wow such a difference such a huge difference yeah when you

even see rosebud was great and it had really good animation but it, it's like, wow, such a difference, such a huge difference. Yeah, when you even see, Rosebud was great, and it had really good animation, but it felt, it feels like very buttoned down compared to this one. And I think Silverman 2, this was one of, this wasn't the first one, but remember in the first, I believe it was the first two of the Treehouse of Har is that it was a different director each time, but this time the director controlled the whole thing. So he got to be hyper invested in all of it and i think it got like he got to be so creative with so him him and his team got to be so creative with the posing with the character design with placement with what they recreated by so much we see lots of things we hardly ever see like

camera movements within animation not panning a camera on top of a cell but actually moving the camera within the animation. Like actually moving the entire background, animating the movements. It's incredible. It's incredible. Especially, I think it's front. Every segment is animated well, but it's the first one that's done the best. Oh, for sure.

Yeah. But before we started, I wanted to get an intro from a special friend introducing us to this. So here was the thing I found. But when my search for jimmy kimmel promos for the simpsons this time which i still couldn't find i did find a set of promos for it that once i found this i completely remembered it because i actually taped this as it was on the night they aired it it was part of a block of they showed the previous three halloween specials and then end with hallow four. It was the night of it,

hosted from Halloween Horror Nights in Universal. And so a certain actor, who is one of my favorites of all time, got to intro the actual episode. I just photoshopped him. While he talks up his new show. And now, back to the Fox Halloween Bash. Hi folks, I'm Bruce Campbell

from the Adventures of Briscoe County, Jr. Don't go away because there's two full hours of Simpsons coming up. Universal Studios Florida. You don't mind if I jump in here for a minute? No, no, please. Jump right in. And then jump right out. So that guy who played Beetlejuice, that was his only time he will ever be on TV again.

I said one of the greatest moments in my life was going to Universal not knowing what to expect, being pissed it wasn't Disneyland. And the Ecto-1 screamed by, hee, hee, hee, with Beetlejuice sticking out of the sunroof with proton packs pointed at his head. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm like, this is the greatest place I've ever been. Is that a Universal property, Ghostbusters? No, but they licensed a shitload of other characters. And I have heard this from people too that cast at Universal, I think is given a little more looseness and leeway

than the very strict rules of what a princess or Mickey can do. They just started allowing mustaches. Wow. Seriously. At Disney World? At Disneyland? You were not allowed to have a mustache as decreed by Walt Disney in 1955, and they kept to it until like five years ago.

But Bruce Kilkenny Jr. was such a good show. It was really, really underrated. It was the first thing I saw Bruce Campbell in, because I didn't see Evil Dead when I was 11. I hadn't seen it then. I never saw the show, but I had a full-size poster in my room that I got at the leon county fair which i think immediately is like oh i never want to work in marketing it's it's a silly title the adventures of briscoe county junior but but it's intentionally silly it's an intentionally campy show that starring bruce campbell as briscoe county junior who is a super awesome like he's an an Indiana Jones type, but in the Old West.

And he's going on Old West adventures. But there are aliens and time travel hinted at. I never watched it. In the first episode, there is a hint of, oh, this looks like kind of a spaceship, isn't it? Or we got this special thing here. So there's little bits of that in there. And it's a lot of intrigue that they actually tell pretty well for a full season they actually got 22 episodes which for a fox one seat fight it's more than firefly got like it got the back nine yeah it's it's sad that

he didn't get a sequel he also had his uh the backup star in it was the man who played uh shown off in damn last the last dragon and he's so great at it he's uh lord got the glow his name's who played Shonuf in Last Dragon. And he's so great in it. He's Lord. He's got the glow. His name's Lord something. I do forget. It's been a while.

But it was a good show. It was, of all the shows that were put on after X-Files on Friday nights, it was the best. It was better than Mantis. It was better than Strange Talk. Better than Mantis. Get out of here. The Kung Fu, The Legend Continues. I have to jump in because if we have to keep talking about shows that aren't The Simpsons,

I want to get this out of the way immediately. This episode's strung together with a... You see Bart, and I never knew what this was until the show Night Gallery. Not as fondly remembered. Great theme song, though. Yeah, that's nice and scary. It sounds very Hitchcockian. They got to work with color.

So this is Rod Serling's Night Gallery that ran on NBC from 1969 to 1973. And it's important to talk about because almost every single Treehouse of Horror will be a Twilight Zone reference. And Twilight Zone is a beautiful show. Night Gallery, not so much. But here's a clip from the very first, I think this is the very first, Rod Serling intro of Night Gallery. If you seem to sense an aura of cold dampness that permeates this room, attribute it not to either defective air conditioning or inclement indoor weather.

It's simply because this is rather a special place, with a special statuary and special paintings, and they carry with them a coldness that seems to go best in a crypt or in a place like this called the Night Gallery. Yeah. Not the Twilight Zone. Not the Twilight Zone and not in black and white. And that episode, one of the last acting appearances from Joan Crawford and directed by a young Steven Spielberg.

That's right. Oh, I forgot about that. The Night Gallery is just crazy. So Twilight Zone, we talked about a billion times. Oh, for sure. Twilight Zone is the greatest thing ever. Rod Serling finished the show. It was canceled.

And he sold it. This is over. CBS wants to buy the right backs, and I say fine. And he sold the right. Twilight Zone. Wow. One of the most longest running syndicated shows. Rod Serling just threw that away.

Terrible investment there. So four years later, yeah, I guess I better do this again. And he created Night Gallery, which is a one-hour color anthology show. Right. And it's just, dude, I thought they were

decades apart, not less than five years. Well, because he'll be dead in 73. Yeah, 69 to 73. In this show, he doesn't constantly smoke. But the Twilight Zone,

I just love it. Can you believe, have you seen an episode of Night Gallery? I've only seen it in the past year because these were never syndicated around me they were never on nick at night or tv land but they're all on hulu oh they're on hulu okay yeah i recommend to watch but it's great because the twilight zone is to me is perfect and i think it's the greatest thing ever because it's shot on film and it's been restored it's up-res we will i watched an episode. And by being an anthology they could get great actors for one

week. Yeah, it's in black and white. It just has a dreamlike quality that's really good. Night Gallery is this soft every man has a perm. Gauzy 70s video. Everyone's drowning in lapels. And it's five years after the fact. I cannot make that connection.

I recommend if you want to watch Night Gallery, look up an EV Club article, what are the ten best episodes. But really, I think this was chosen for the wraparound segments because this is the show the writers grew up with. Not the Twilight Zone. They were too young for the Twilight Zone, but they were kids when Night Gallery was on TV. They were more attached to Night Gallery.

And I also just have to think about the situation where Night Gallery came out. This was easily the best dorky thing you could watch if you were if you were a dana ghoul type when dana i just think of dana ghoul stuff but when he talks about his childhood of like i read all the monster magazines and i was waiting for each what was better than night gallery that you'd see on the three channels that you had maybe six dollar man was a ways away incredible hulk and it was all horror focused so i feel like just how unsolved mysteries haunted us as children this is what haunted the writers of the simpsons these scary stories and they're fun they're just like yeah oh not

twilight zone it's the night gallery is an easy way of like i'm gonna show you this thing and then i'll tell i mean even now a comedy sketch it is so funny that the closest thing we had to it in our youth was the friday the 13th and nightmare on elm street shows well we're like tales from the crypt oh okay that was that crypt was which i've been watching again we put it on laser time tv it holds up really well yeah it is so outlandish and a lot like the twilight zone okay that and it's why it's better is that it was made for hbo real money and they actually got real directors to make things. Meanwhile, the Freddy show was just, eh, we film stuff.

Freddy was lucky to get it. Brad Pester Freddy. Freddy was lucky to get Brad Pitt in one episode. Wasn't it called Wes Craven's Nightmare Cafe? No. I was thinking of something else. This was Freddy Krueger's Nightmare. Okay.

And they got one episode where he actually was in the full episode yeah where he's not like the wraparound piece it's like well this thing is about a spooky hotel yeah i'll see you later i can't say bitch on tv date we were reminiscing about it on laser time and david like yeah i remember this episode about this this old man who gets a young body and like yeah i'm like this is pretty good i wonder who directed it and it's just like arnold schwarzenegger arnold schwarzenegger directed this episode and that old man was william hickey yeah the blessing yeah the show is the first episode is a guy who works on death row talking to camera the whole time who eventually ends up on it's like so experimental

why are we talking about other shows all right Bart does the Night Gallery intro, which is a great wraparound for it. They kind of just give up on those next season, which is fine. Because something they talk about heavily on the commentaries, and we know this because we've seen the deleted scenes on the 138th episode, Spectacular, is that they have no time to tell the story. They have to cut good stuff so if you get rid of the in uh like two minutes of bart introducing things yeah or a party that they're at where they're telling scary stories you get rid of that you free up a lot more time for the actual parodies which is what you're having fun with and this in this intro these

wraparounds are only partially in universe i found. I found it interesting. They work the Marge warning into these intros, but it's not her stepping onto a stage. And, I mean, Bart is addressing the audience, but they're also in a museum. And Bart has to watch Maggie. Marge is leaving to buy earrings. It's kind of making a reality out of this framing device. True, but Marge also says, don't watch this episode. Yeah, yeah. She's recognizing there in an episode.

It's all very weird and we talked about how college was conan's last episode but technically he wrote the wraparound right he wrote he wrote all the night galaxy sequences it's one of the craziest things this episode i think it is the most names ever on screen it covers the entire thing uh because the green font the bright green font okay because it was shared each segment was written by a different person, and WGA rules mean they all have to be seen on screen at the same time. So when Ned is talking about the deal, it's just for about one second, full screen, just names.

And Flanders being revealed as the devil, how wonderful is that? I'd sell my soul for a donut. Well, that can be arranged. Flanders, you're the devil? It's always the one you least suspect. Now, many people offer to sell their souls without reflecting upon the grave ramification. Do you have a donut or not? Coming up.

Just sign here. Careful, hot pan. Who's that goat-legged fellow? I like the cut of his jib. Prince of Darkness, sir. He's your 11 o'clock. They sneak Burns in there, even though it's so Burns-y at the end of the episode. Okay, this is tied with The Shining as my favorite Simpsons Halloween segment ever.

Like, this is, it's so gorgeous. It's so funny. It goes to so many great places. It's got Lionel Hutz. It has everything. Like, this is, I can't think of a better. This is a perfect storm of Halloween elements. It's a very strong contender for the best one ever.

And, man, the original King and Kodos one is so much fun. It's a great early one, for sure. And we'll get into it in a bit. My only problem with the episode now is that I'm looking at it from like, there's a lot of dated stuff in here. And the second one... It violates canon, Chris. It's not so much that it violates canon.

It's just that the second one is done so breathlessly and fast. If you don't have intimate knowledge of what they're talking about, this doesn't make sense and might not be fun. You're expected to be a Simpsons fan watching this like and you know homer likes donuts i like when homer wakes up in front of the donuts he is standing up asleep and then like oh like he's i didn't realize that until just now yeah he tricks the devil if homer doesn't finish the donut uh the devil doesn't get his soul but then eventually wakes up in the middle of the night. Well, wait. His transformation of like, I'm smarter than the devil. That's so funny.

Are we got it? We got it. Now, remember, the instant you finish it, I own your soul. Hey, wait. If I don't finish this last bite, you don't get my soul, do you? Technically, no. I'm smarter than the devil. I'm smarter than the devil.

You are not smarter than me! I'll see you in hell yet, Homer Simpson! Not likely. So a great Fantasia reference, right? Yeah, well, maybe. Chernabog? No, it's intentionally Chernabog.

And then also when he sloops down, you see a little face of Flanders in there. Oh, really? You gotta pause and see it. It's a little Flanders face as he goes down. I love that the little dudes in hell, they look like Disney characters. Like the demon characters from Hercules and a two-eyed Mike Wazowski.

They're all emaciated. It's great. Well, you know, David Silverman did work on Monsters Incorporated. Before we get too far, though, I want to on Monsters Incorporated. That's right. Before we get too far, though, I want to mention this segment is called The Devil and Homer Simpson. It's a parody of The Devil and Daniel Webster, which is a 1937 short story about a farmer who sells his soul to the devil for a good season of crops. What do you call it? Oh, was it? Oh, that's Daniel Johnson.

And he gets helped by the fictional version of the famous lawyer, Daniel Webster, who was a real person who died before 1937. I didn't know that. It's a good story. We're going to go deep in this episode. That's what we're here for. That donut had to be indestructible because I just thought as a kid watching, I was like, well, then you crumple up that donut and throw it away. Yeah, or you should have buried the donut. You had it in your pocket. But I could also see like,

well, this donut is the key to my soul, so if it can't be destroyed, then I would keep it with me at all times to make sure nobody would like secretly feed it to me or something. So I get that. Safe deposit box. But then it is a great like easy joke

of Homer just accidentally eating it and then lying to Mark. But then he recognizes what it is. Forbidden Jonah. Well, well. Finishing something? Ah! Of all these sound effects,

it really... The camera move there is the great... It sweeps through the kitchen. Yeah, and they had to just draw that. It wasn't a computer. effects it really the camera move there is the great like it's sweet yeah yeah and like they had to just draw that like it wasn't a computer and then that just that angle on marge's hair getting pulled into the portal and then also when homer gets stuck in it the camera spins around like i was thinking about when he falls into hell and just he's like twisting and the camera is turning and spinning it's great it also reminded me reminded me of Roger Rabbit just because we just watched the opening together recently

and the checkerboard floor and using that to show, to give you a better idea of spatial awareness. Yeah, if you look at it frame by frame, it's showing Roger travel around a room, but someone had to draw like the most warped background ever to match the swishing movements of the camera. It's insane. I always call that piece like the culmination of 2D animation.

You have to emulate how the camera lens warps yeah image and everything it's really interesting i wish like i would kill i'm trying to imagine how much i'd pay for that that original background because it has to look insane well it would fill your apartment it's gotta be like 28 feet long like that's the thing with those pans on old i did not buy that rosebud uh cell by the way no good follow-up. I thought you were pointing at it. I was like, oh, shit. And then Homer goes to hell and that is so amazing

and filled with a reference. Well, first off, I think it was the first time as a kid that I found out hot dog meat is bad and you shouldn't eat it. I was like, but I eat hot dogs.

Hot dogs are good. This is so visual, but as a kid and an adult, this joke is... I don't know. This gag is awesome. So you like donuts, eh? Uh-huh. Well, have all the donuts in the world!

Passage of time fading. I don't understand it. James Coco went mad in 15 minutes i meant to look up oh i know the thing is i think they wanted to make a marlon brando joke here but they were like oh fuck he's not dead who else was fat and dead so james coco was a portly character actor of the 70s who he was in tons of stuff none uh no listeners probably seen he is a muppet steak manhattan uh but the thing i know him best for is in the film version of man of la mancha the donkey hote musical he plays pancha the little fat guy who falls around with him on a donkey he's really fun i'm his squire i friend. He died in 1987, and so he would have definitely been in hell.

I think that's a little mean to be like, oh, this real person who's dead, he was also fat, and he's in hell. I think it was either a family guy or American dad that implied Jim Henson was in hell, and they didn't explain why. I think, yeah. I think you're right. that's what james coco is but that reference there i love that i use that to talk about when i did it recently when nintendo announced 18 new fire emblem games yes and i use that as a gif of just like uh you like fire emblem games huh i have them all in the world i was like more more fire with the memification of the simpsons i've seen that a lot as like we're getting too much of a good thing, kind of.

It's a great shorthand for that. But everyone is Homer now who just goes like, no, I will eat. I'll eat until I die. Like, I can't stop it. And yet in the previous episode, he could not eat all that cheese without going blind. That's true. Maybe it's just... Hey, is that a continuity?

Yeah, I agree. But this is... Well, but that reference, though, is from a very specific thing. I actually have a clip of it. So they mention it on the commentary, but I'd never looked it up until now. A 1937 Warner cartoon called Pigs is Pigs, which, if you don't know the history of Warner animation, before Bugs and Daffy and Porky... Because Porky was big.

Yeah, but this isn't Porky. These are just pigs. This is back when they were like let's just do what disney does the whole warner phenomenon is based on like we own a bunch of music make cartoons that use the music but this is just a ripoff of a like if you told me this was a a a poorly animated disney one from 37 i'd be like okay sure because it is it is a bunch of moralizing it stars uh piggy the pig yeah and it's a frizz freeling creation yes and it's it stars piggy the pig and it's just it's just a lame moral story or fable just like this pig likes to eat too much

and he steals everybody's food at dinner time and he'll have a nightmare that tells him not to and it's it's just a dumb thing for kids but it really is torture porn and then it turns into torture porn so when you see this bit here oh that's the guy from the disney cartoon they steal it though this is again they just stole the design of the doctor from disney this and this is pigs as pigs 1937 there's also a disney one from the 50s called pigs as pigs but that was one of those weird ones that like the government paid us to teach people about economics. So we made this. It's not good.

I've watched everything. I've watched so many Disney cartoons about how to rivet a panzer tank. Anyway. So, you love food, eh? He's being fed lots of horse shit. It's the same apparatus. It's holding his nose. Him saying, like, so you love donuts, huh?

It's meant to be the same way that guy says it. That's a deep cut. Yeah, as a kid, I thought it was just based on the... I was terrified by the cartoons that sent pluto and sylvester to hell like those those were dreams and scared the hell out of me as a kid as they were intended to they were meant to terrify children into being good that was a trick but but also same with all dogs all dogs go to heaven when they go to hell in that like that terrified i don't know who greenlit that fucking movie to begin with.

Even when they're in the real world, why is every animal smoking? Don Bluth just got to do what he wanted to. He's a maverick. This is one of those things, I love this joke, but it's so dated by the way it stops itself. We get introduced to the jury of the damned.

After Lionel Hutz comes in to represent Homer. As a kid, I went so crazy. Like, Lionel Hutz is here. What a great gift. He was in a bar watching Matlock with the sound off, so we can assume he fell off the wagon. Hear ye. The court of infernal affairs is now in session. Very well.

But first, some ground rules. Number one, we get bathroom breaks every half hour. Agreed. Number two, the jury will be chosen by me. Agreed. No, wait. Silence! I give you the jury of the damned. Benedict Arnold, Lizzie Borden,

Richard Nixon. But I'm not dead yet. In fact, I just wrote an article for Redbook. Hey, listen, I did a favor for you. Yes, master. John Wilkes Booth, Blackbeard the Pirate, John john dillinger and the starting line of the 1976 philadelphia flyers so bart lisa and marge are afraid of the flyers that's the only one i react to and i that's great i'm not a sports guy but i remember asking diana

who grew up in uh philadelphia yeah and like yeah they were pretty notable like if you've seen the movie slap shot where like there's like three guys who all they do is rough people up? They don't score goals. The goons, right? The goons, yeah. Goon, great movie. David Merkin is from Philadelphia, and I think that was his joke. Philly teams are famously violent. I'll say Oakland teams are also known for that.

But the stories they tell of fans at Philly games, like threw batteries at Santa Claus when he came out of the game. That story they tell. It was a battery day? I think they just brought stuff to throw at him and the other story I read specifically about the 76 Flyers who were they won the Stanley Cup in 74 and 75 I believe don't correct me Sportos but that's what I think but in 76 they didn't win it but they got close but they were a championship team but they also like they would fight their fans on it and in 76, they didn't win it, but they got close. But they were a championship team. But they also, like, they would fight their fans on it. And in 76, they almost caused an international incident where they played against the Soviet team.

They were like the Soviet, which if you know the story of the miracle on the ice, it was because the Soviets were so dominant in hockey. Nobody beats them. So they have a game of the Philadelphia Flyers versus the red team. And in the game, one of the Flyers checks the Russian player so violently that the guy is like just down on the ice for a minute. And the Russians leave the ice and they're like, we're not playing anymore. Like this is you. You were too violent. The Americans fight dirty.

And it was said that the Flyers insisted, like, if you don't finish this game against us, we will not pay you any of the money we said we would for coming to do this exhibition. It only bums me out as much as I like... I love cartoons. I love animation, mostly because it's timeless. You can enjoy it in any way you want. Any generation can enjoy many episodes of The Simpsons,

especially Treehouse of Horror. But that Richard Nixon joke is awesome, but just like, I'm not dead yet. He would be dead in months. Yeah, in April of 94, he would be dead. Like I said with the other times. Red Book, not dead, still around. Nope, you can still have an article for that.

I want to know what Nixon's Red Book article was. Because Red Book, we should say, is a women's magazine. It's kind of a woman from 1903. Wow. It's been around a while. And made the audio for Sega CD. It was just crazy. It was crazy that Nixon just got to keep going around like, yep, that

was a criminal, but I'm just hanging around. It's not illegal if the president does it. Ford said it was okay. I mean, that will just tell you that every... If you're hoping for somebody to be impeached now or go to jail, nothing will happen. It'll never happen to either side of it. Nothing will happen with that.

Nixon's crimes were small potatoes compared to other presidents. By the way, watch Small Potatoes to see why Donald Trump is horrible. Yeah, the Nixon joke in him saying, yes, Pastor. Oh, something just hit me just now hearing that story, that clip. When Hutz is asking for bathroom breaks every 30 minutes, it's to do coke, isn't it? Like he wants to do. I think it is. I think it is.

Maybe. He did say that's pretty frequent. That is a little too frequent for a trial. I never thought about it until now. The only people I would think of were like, oh, I got to go to the bathroom again. Oh, not again. Like, yeah, you're doing cocaine. I mean, in the next episode, he's in really bad shape.

This is his lowest point in the next episode. Though, that's my theory. He's doing cocaine there. I buy it. But the verdict is in. It is some kind of treasure map. You idiot. You can't read.

Aye, it is true. My debauchery was my way of compensating. Dear Marge, you have given me your hand in marriage. All I can give you in return is my soul, which I pledge to you forever. We've heard enough. Your Honor, we find that Homer Simpson's soul is legally the property of Marge Simpson

and not of the devil. No. No. So yeah, they violated continuity. It's out of universe. It bothered me then, it bothered me now. They got married at Shotgun Pete's wedding chapel. They couldn't afford a wedding cake. Across the state line.

They are drawn to look like they did in that episode, but they didn't have a wedding cake for Homer to eat. They definitely didn't go to the hospital and they didn't know, andend lovejoy did not marry them but again it's it's out of continuity we're in the goofy zone it's fine fine but that's the you know hell is like in their living room right right that's well there's nothing to say there never is until the simpsons world though i guess also it disrupts the continuity that the devil we've seen the devil before and it's not Ned.

But I think they would. Harry Shearer, it's fine. It's still Harry Shearer. The devil. None of these writers were around on season three when they wrote that episode. So I think that could be why they didn't think about it. But still good casting within the universe. Ned is the devil's the perfect devil.

I love it. And Homer gets cursed heavy donut head for the rest of his life so the only thing i will say that i think why i think this is worse than the shinning why i would put shinning above it but i still it's still tied for me is that this ending isn't as good as the shinning it's just like it's kind of a cop-out march promise your soul announce over and a funny visual of his donut head the end while meanwhile just the shot of the simpsons for all frozen together. Screaming with their mouths clamped shut. Yeah, that's beautiful.

I also like the sound of Thunder parody. That is a really good one. That's my top three. One of my top three we'll talk about in just a few seconds. The Simpsons will be right back. there. You see, our new Net Zero Hub has all you need to know about smart meter plans, EV tariffs, solar panels, and much more. Making your usage clearer, your trips greener, your home cozier, and your world brighter. Find our Net Zero Hub at electricireland.ie. Thank you folks for listening. I hope you're not too scared. And if you are, I hope you're taking it lying down.

And if you're lying down, I hope you're doing it on a Casper premium mattress. I can cut that out now, right? Okay, thank you, Casper. Yes, Casper mattresses bring you to the show today. And we are letting you listeners know

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caspertrial.com slash laser time and get 50 towards any new mattress you like laser time and get $50 towards any new mattress. You like laser time shows? Then you might like bonus time. Laser time's weekly bonus show exclusively on patreon.com slash laser time. Here's a taste of what you've been missing. Zero time delivery came out on 3DS and I was trying to call around. Calling around to GameStop, it was always like, look, thanks for calling GameStop. And I'm like, oh, right.

There's like a 60 second preamble before I can engage with you, human. I know I will towards the person who has to do it because that's your job. I'm the district manager calling just to see if you did it. Just so you can go, you weren't nice enough. Oh, really? For $5.25 an hour, I wasn't nice enough? You didn't mention all six of the add-on things per sale. I worked at Suncoast, the movie outlet in the mall and I'm like I have

never in my life at 20 years old had a job that I'm good at I am really good at this job and then every every morning that I'd be chewed out you didn't sell enough Sports Illustrated I don't want to push that shit I can literally sell any movie in this fucking store to anybody that kid I'm the Ricky Roma of

Suncoast employees it didn't fucking matter how many direct TVTV subscriptions. That kid buying Dumb Dumber on VHS really needed a Sports Illustrated subscription. He just wanted to buy Fair Game. What a beautiful choice! That's all I wanted. The game stops. Thank you, Car Track.

That's my favorite line from that movie. I don't remember it at all. They hack into Car Track to find Cindy Crawford and the Russian terrorist. Ah, Car Track. Thank you, Car Track. Thanks Cindy Crawford. And the Russian terrorist, Ah, Car Track. Thank you, Car Track. Thanks, Car Track. It's great.

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You'll help us live, and we'll do our best to help you never be bored again. Laser! The exhibit in our ghoulish gallery is entitled, The School Bus. Oh, oh, they must mean the ghoul bus. Nope, says right there, school bus. Well, there's nothing scarier than having to go to school. I feel you, Bart.

I have to do streams like almost every day. Bart's laughter, that's an underrated animation. Yeah, his little touches are great. Yeah, him just embellishing that moment. Like, ha ha ha ha. Not to harp on Night Gallery again. I never got the parody for a long time and just thought this was a beautiful sequence. Yeah, it's so beautiful.

I recognized Bart as doing Rod Serling, but I was like, well, this is a weird way to do Twilight Zone in a gallery of some kind. I thought the same thing, yeah's with the paintings but the next parody is I think might be the most famous Twilight Zone oh yeah so because the movie really yeah yeah it might be because the movie I think it probably is and that it starred it had the one of the biggest stars that yeah Twilight Zone ever had yeah I think time at Last. I'd put that up there. That's a good one but there's no message it's like this guy's

life got fucked over. He doesn't suck. He's stuck in the town. Yeah. Because everybody's dead. Nuclear Holocaust happened and he's the only one left. Was he being punished

for wanting to read too much? I'm getting chills by how much I love Twilight Zone and William Shatner's in three episodes? This was the best one. This is based on

Nightmare at 20,000 Feet it aired in uh october of 63 it's still a great episode written by richard math is an author of i'm a legend i think based on one of his short stories within weeks john f kennedy will be dead oh god but the but yeah that that is one of their all-time best that uh william shatner's character has just gotten out of a mental hospital because he had a nervous breakdown on a plane, and he's trying to stay relaxed on this plane. So people already don't have a reason to believe him.

And also played by John Litgow in the movie, which I only look at now and I'm like, William Shatner's a bigger star than John Litgow. Why don't you just ask him to do it again? He was a little puffy and not as energetic at this point. He was too busy with TJ Hooker. 30 years ago. I watched this last Halloween because it's still great. And so only three things date this in a hilarious way.

Number one, everyone is dressed up to go on an airplane. It's like, we're in our fancy clothes. We're on an airplane. Number two, everyone is smoking. Everyone is smoking. And I don't know if you got this one. The fucking plaid curtains to the airplane. They're like kitchen curtains.

And number three, to save the day, he takes a loaded gun off another passenger. A guy just sleeping with a loaded gun hanging from his belt. So it was a domestic flight. Yes, yes. So those are the three things that I thought were hilarious about this episode, which is still really good. That is one of the biggest holes in that logic. It's just like, well, this old sheriff fell asleep with a six-shooter. Because the writer's like, he needs to have a gun.

He has to have a gun for this ending and so yeah he's a man on a plane who sees a gremlin on the wing and can't take it and he's and nobody else ever sees it but it's but it's gonna crash the plane and he can't stop and i forget when i when i watch it again and talk about it here i one the costume is just hilarious yeah why the clip of it too is a bad bear bear costume with the ears taken off and a dumb mask. I like how terrible it is. People don't see him, but I forgot how he is dragged and hovers onto the wing. It looks so cool to this day. It's weird and unearthly.

You just can't explain it. He's just looking at it out the window, and it's getting pelted with rain. Yeah, you only see it through a rain-soaked window. I did get a little clip of it. There's a man out there. What? Look! Look, he's crawling on... No one's there!

No one's in the plane! Socks. Must have been them. I've watched I've watched some original Star Trek episodes William Shatner is doing a way more

William Shatner William Shatner in this Twilight Zone piece that is some classic theater acting well he's being asked to go crazy yeah

then there's nothing to hold him back this is peak Shatner please this is on Netflix will be forever it's fucking been remastered in hd

this looks amazing yeah really the the root of this of those the story is to have the shame of mental illness like he's like that that's really the symbolic thing there that he doesn't want to admit he's he's he's going crazy again but all the stories all three stories the twilight zone movie in this in the same way, were like, he was right. Yeah, and I feel like in the voiceover, I think in the voiceover, Rod Serling says, soon he'll be proven right and happily because there are manifestations in the real world of this thing to prove him true. A happy ending. But I think it's better if it's just like, only he knows it's true and you, the viewer.

And it will haunt him. But I think the executives were probably just like, that's too depressing. I still have too many clips of this. But did you know who directed that segment in the Twilight Zone movie?

Shit. A very famous person who made a movie everybody loved in 2015. What? Oh, George Miller. That is correct. George Miller.

What an act. If you've never seen the... Reading about that movie, it was like Steven Spielberg wanted to do something, so we decided to make him happy. Yeah. And that... So the Twilight Zone movie is insane. Well, I mean, that's why animation came back in the early 90s.

Just because Steven Spielberg wanted it to happen. It was apparently a nightmare. It was really hard on everybody. Killed two people. Killed two people. Three people. Three people, including two children. Everybody knew it wasn't going to make a lot of money.

Yeah. And it has a ton of recognizable stars in it. Dan Aykroyd and Albert Brooks kind of shell the film. And Nancy Cartwright's in it. And Nancy Cartwright is in it in the Joe Dante segment. That's another Simpsons parody. Yes, it's good that Bart did that. The only difference, really, in the John Lithgow one to the original one is

that Dan Aykroyd is the guy driving the the ambulance that takes him away he's like you remember that show right but it's because Dan Dan Aykroyd and Albert Brooks bring in the beginning they book in the film it's a great book end and there were funny bits this I think might be one of the most referenced across all media of twilight zone episodes there's been a million of them of the there's a man on the wing they especially got so much out of that on third rock from the sun oh in the first season they had an episode where john lithgow's character dick solomon freaks out on a plane because he thinks he saw something and i can't get it john lithgow did it and then when they had william shatner on the show they like meet him in

an airport and he said they say how was the flight he's like oh it's terrible i kept seeing something on the wing and then john lithgow says that happened to me too damn they're both so theatrical i love apparently i'm not supposed to hate the show as much as I do I just never watched it because it was on Counter to the Simpsons I think On Sunday nights It's so prevalent that there was just a Very clever reference to it

In Lego Batman There's a gremlin on the wing Guess what type of gremlin Is that fair to say? Did they play the music? I thought so. Is that fair to say? Also Joe Dante. This might be the most recognized

Twilight Zone piece. I think so. Right? I think so. I think it's the most iconic. The man on the wing and the plane. Again, the original is really cool and the movie version is really cool. This episode is really cool but it moves so fast. What I like is it also takes place within a bus, so it's very creative with the use of space.

I really like how they pull that off. It's really good on the ghoul bus. The ghoul bus. Just so you know that this is the one written by Oakley and Weinstein, it opens with a very humorously boring joke of the Krusty Karts. Hey, Bart, look. Krusty Trading Karts. The, Bart, look. Krusty trading cards. The long-awaited 8 series.

Krusty visits relatives in Annapolis, Maryland. Krusty poses for a trading card photo. He seems to be running a little low on ideas. Well, at least you got the gum. Ow! I cut my cheek! That's one of the things I miss about how fast times be

changing and all that is that my dad and I had the same trading card experience. That's true. Shitty gum and trading cards. The powder covered

gum that was inedible. Well, allegedly, isn't that, they were, like, they were,

the baseball cards were meant to sell gum. Right. Like, that's how they, that's how it all got started.

And then it became a collector's market. Yeah, and by the time I'm, like, getting, like, fucking Batman and Beavis and Butthead Simpsons trading cards, there's still a fucking

inedible stick of gum in it for no reason. And it's petrified in many pieces. You know, I think they definitely were meant to be called that because you remember

it's in the Peanuts Christmas special where he's like, it's not on a bubble gum card. A bubble gum card. She says, Beethoven's, Lucy says, Beethoven's not famous because he's never been on a bubble gumum card. A bubblegum card. She says, Beethoven's, Lucy says,

Beethoven's not famous because he's never been on a bubblegum card. And I just hope there's an equivalent now. In the digital age, I can't just be Skylanders. That's too expensive. But I definitely had that, like,

it's so, such great observation of buying trading cards, being disappointed with what's in there, trying to eat the gum, and also thinking that like, oh, this fourth run of Marvel cards, they're really running out of ideas for these.

Because my favorite card that I can't even find the name of, let me know if you know what it is. It was dinosaurs, but they were also rad in the 80s as shit. Jams, sunglasses, skateboards, but also dinosaurs. I'm guessing there are roughly eight series like that out there. Even Garbage Pail Kids, which I did love. Those are great. Those were gum cards, too.

Yeah, they were gum cards. But they get to a point like, this isn't funny anymore. And every card was actually a sticker at the same time, right? Yeah, and a puzzle. Oh, a puzzle. I wonder, too, if they came up with that joke or if they knew it was coming because the next year is when the real Simpsons trading cards came out with a very similar layout to the look of Krusty Poses for trading cards.

Which, again, thank you to Caleb for sending us a bunch of those, as well as this amazing Franklin Mint Simpsons collector's plate. Only he's going to go up in value. I mean, the first run of Simpsons trading cards are just shit. They're like Tracy Allman stills, and they had nothing to work with. But they knew kids would buy trading cards if they said they existed, so they printed whatever shit they could. I have a real dumb reference I want to get out of the way because this sucks.

Let's do it. Hello, Simpson. I'm riding the bus today because Mother hid my car keys to punish me for talking to a woman on the phone. She was right to do it. Excuse me, Bart's a little upset this morning, so could everyone please be extra nice to him? Hey, where's your diaper, baby?

Thank goodness he's drawn attention away from my shirt. This is one of the things that made me want to do the show. Because I've seen this episode so many times, and about three years ago, I'm just like, what the fuck is Wayne Computers? They're real. It's very real. They were real. But I think it was like

the nerdy of the nerds. That's who liked Wayne Computers. They were kind of incompatible with everything. It was the Linux of their time. People would be like, I don't want IBM.

I'm on Wang. I'm on Wang. Well, the other thing is that Wang was a gift to comedians. Oh, for sure. For sure. The easiest joke to make.

I mean, that's how I knew. I already knew who Wang Computers was from Gallagher. I was just like, they know what that means. The Wang goes up, the Wang goes down. Get it?

Other people's names. This is terrible, but I wanted to give you a clip. This is what I remember it from. One of my favorite movies the world has never seen. And it is, in my opinion, the greatest,

single greatest film trailer of all time we've been fortunate enough to see the original film trailer like run in a projector in widescreen because it doesn't exist online for electric dreams it's never been on DVD it's a movie about a guy who gets a computer that's voiced by Bud

Kort who eventually falls in love with his girlfriend the computer falls in love with a man's girlfriend and and they have a fight. And it's all shot in San Francisco. It literally ends with a fucking music video. It's amazing. But the first second of the clip always makes me laugh. Because this is a 1984 America discovering computers.

What if computers can do bad stuff? What's your preference? Apple, Pear, Wang? Oh, listen, I don't know anything about computers. What if computers can do bad stuff? What's your preference? Apple, Pear, Wang? Oh, listen, I don't know anything about computers. Nobody does. This is the biggest computer I could afford. So it's one of three names given to

your options for computers in 1984. Man, and just thinking, like, I need to have a computer. That's what I do love about horror films. Even if the films aren't that good, they take a snapshot of what we were afraid of then. That's why, you know, we can make fun of it, but the teen films of, like, the 2000s of, like, ooh, Swimfan is stalker. Fear.com. Yeah, Fear.com.

And then there was that one that was just all in a Google Hangout. Remember that one? Oh, yeah, Smiley or something?'ve been doing they've been doing those forever and so that's that's what i liked that that one shows you we were afraid and same with videodrome was like what if our tv cable got us back like same deal so i want to go back to the skinner thing in that this is the first real reference to his uncomfortable relationship with his mother where it was established in uh bart the lover where kerbopple is saying first real reference to his uncomfortable relationship with his mother. Where it was established in Bart the Lover where Krabappel was saying, let's just say his mommy won't let him come out to play.

Then we have the psycho reference and now we have this. And when Lisa is doing the phone calls, it's like what's that mother? I'm too old for Red Sailor suit. That's specifically a psycho reference. But here it's like it's more realistic, even though it's a Halloween episode. This is more of what Skinner's mom would do to him.

And I think it just rolls on from there. She was right to do it. I love that fucking line so much. She was right to do it. And it's a great excuse. They have to have Skinner and Willie on the bus. They find good ways to get them onto the bus. And Willie even uses his bridle that he got from killing his mule. Oh, we went

really quickly past it, but I did love the line, i hope this is sweat like yeah our teeth is bad in fear and that homer is in it for like a teeny tiny bit of this this segment but it's so funny yeah that he's like i just stole the stuff in the marina and he just doesn't care that part's terrified and he shows up for one joke like i like i like that hans molman uh is blown up in a car in and out of continuity. That comes to a gentle rest. Nicholas, Nicholas, wake up.

Quick, look out the window. No way, Bart. If I lean over, I leave myself open to wedgies, wet willies, or even the dreaded rear admiral. Otto, you gotta do something. There's a gremlin on the side of the bus. AMC gremlin. No problemo, Barton, dude. I'll get rid of it.

Oh no. I just made my last payment. And then Otto is just happy to be like, oh yeah, I'll kill this guy. And'll kill this guy, yeah. And then when Willy shows up, that's the most direct reference to the monster from the show. He's looking at Bart from the window the same way the gremlin is looking at Shatner in Twilight Zone. But the actual design of the gremlin is very good and specific. I like it.

It's like a sharp-fingered little monkey thing who just is tinkering with stuff the and he looks he looks more like the movie version than the show version so i wonder if that's what inspired them to do this it's like a dose of the movie version but also a dose of joe dante's gremlins too as well who are these just these little long-limbed things that can get into everything and mess with it. That's what they were and I shouldn't go off on that anymore than I have to. But we do learn that Willie put 17 bullets into his mule. That seems a little excessive.

But where's his gun? I like to think he had a real strong mule. Wouldn't go down. And I just love the animation on Bart's face squished against the thing. You get so much movement out of that. You get a real feel of like that's his fleshy face squeaking across it. Silverman said he based the facial expressions of Bart on both Shatner and Lithgow in this scene.

In this segment, I mean. And when you get that little Kang and Kodo shot, they've talked on other commentaries about how they forgot to put them in one. And I really think that was the retake because that had literally nothing to do with it but i think that's right yeah and and also it could since it was the first one in the merkin era i think it's possible they thought oh we oh we forgot king kodos we should really have them in there retake 30 second reshoot it was a good use of king and kodos it was great especially hearing him do the charlieis. Yeah. Is that Charles Nelson Reilly? Oh, yeah, you're right.

Charlie Callis is more like... Too many annoying noises next to Jerry Lewis. Whatever Tom Kenny does in the Mr. Show sketch of, please don't kill me, that's Charlie Callis. Love the joy joy. You believe me, don't you? You're my friend who believes me. Sweet, trustworthy Milhouse.

Actually, Bert, you're kind of creeping me out. I think I'm going to go sit with that foreign exchange student. Oh, guten tag. Would you care for a bite of my feng shui? I also have a bag of mouth-sipping joy joints. So, yeah, the introduction of Uder, who would be murdered next year in the PTA disbands,

and much later there's a joke with his parents, sitting with Principal Skinner, saying, we just want answers. God bless the man who invented permission slips. But just that great joke of, you can even say we ate Uder,

and he's in our stomachs right now. No, that's too far. But just that great joke of, you can even say we ate Uter. And he's in our stomachs right now. No, that's too far. But that Uter is a much more used character than you would think for such an easy joke. Like, you can see the creation of, like, well, we need a joke about a foreign exchange student. What is a safe foreign country for us to make fun of that we're not, like, so they go with Germany of, like, no one cares if to make fun of that will not like so they go with germany of like no one cares if you make fun of germany that's what happens when you're full of holocaust you're not allowed to complain when you try to conquer the world twice we can make fun of you for liking uh

candy weird salty candy or shitting on each other well yes all everything and and now they're more free than we are but anyway the uh but i just love udder as a source of all the easy jokes they can make i love foreign candy jokes and yeah they're just like well it's a marzipan joy joys meat iodine would you like a lick of my flavor bar my flavor bar but foreign candy sucks yeah marzipan yuck but i bet every country feels that way i mean we're on a podcast i feel like every podcast started with eating weird candy from other countries. I mean, one of my favorite things to do at Epcot is to buy

foreign candies, but my favorites in Germany was just like fancy Werther's. Like, mmm, extra fancy Werther's. Like, melted Werther's over a popcorn ball. Mit Butterscotch. Mit Butterscotch. Iodine. I don't even know what it

means. With iodine. Gathered. They had to use, they use Uter quite a lot because whenever they have a film

in a scene in school and they need another kid there, he became a great kid you could count on for a quick joke. We, where were

we at on another podcast? We were having a debate that Nelson, Bart's classroom has the same kind of students in it and nelson is almost never there he's there it when he has a line i guess so but

like when you see like a long shot of bart's classroom we were wondering if nelson was in the same grade because he's a little bigger i think he was originally established to be older than bart but uh he works so well in that classroom. I mean, he's there when they need a joke like, say, someone likes you, and then he looks back to Milhouse. It's clearly there in the same class, but that's not always. But also, that could just be Nelson doesn't go to class

when he doesn't feel like it. I love this clip of Flanders. The gremlin falls off the bus, only to be rescued by the Flanders. Well, I love how the bus is depressurized when the window breaks. Also, when they grab Bart to tie him up, that's one of the most obvious ones. That's the act break in the Twilight Zone thing of him getting an arm put around his neck like, Pull him down! But Bart succeeds.

He gets a flare and stops the gremlin. Though he's doing it so well that even with willie and skinner pulling on his legs they can't get him in and yeah the net season which is they did so much net before you'd almost think like another net joke but it's so good it's great animation of uh ned hitting the gremlin yeah oh dear lord it's some sort of hideous monster. Oh, isn't that cute? He's trying to claw my eyes out. He's trying to claw my eyes out.

I don't know. I love Shears' take. And the gremlin looks worried. Yes, yes. And it turns out, yes, like the Twilight Zone movie and TV show, Bart was right about the gremlin. Look at the bus. I was right, I tell you. I was right.

Right or wrong, your behavior was still about the gremlin. Look at the bus. I was right, I tell you. I was right. Right or wrong, your behavior was still disruptive, young man. Perhaps spending the remainder of your life in a madhouse will teach you some manners. Ha ha! Look how he calls it a madhouse. And that's a great reveal on the ha ha that Skinner leaves

frame and then Nelson's right behind there for the ha ha. He's perfectly placed yeah and i would say that the severed head of of ned is too far like it's like this is really too grisly i love that veins hanging out of the spinal column is hanging out of his head yeah it's like this is too scary well david merkin he says in the commentary a lot he believes the Halloween episode should be scary which is why in the next one they turn inside out

they turn inside out like it's a blood everywhere it should leave like because what great Halloween specials in horror films it for me even like the old Universal Frankenstein

so G rated is leave you with a horrific image that you can't forget yes and I think that's what the Simpsons should do and they usually do a good job of it. And I mean, moving into the next segment, this is the only thing I worry about,

is that there's... Richard Nixon is alive, with a Red Book reference, moving into a Twilight Zone reference, moving into a parody of Francis Ford Coppola's... A very specific parody. Here's the thing, though. I think the only thing tied to this

is how Burns looks. Looks, yes. And that is cool on its own. You don't need to have seen the movie to understand that that was a very iconic portrayal of it is one of the most beautiful pieces of garbage i try and re-watch it once every year it is gorgeous winona ryder's just trying god bless her kiana reeves at westminster abbey i will go to dracula it is it is so bad outlandishly bad. But beautiful. Bram Stoker's Dracula.

92? Yes, 92. Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula. Lots of possessives. And it's impressive. I didn't realize until you pointed out, Chris, how impressive it is, all the things they did with practical effects in that. Yeah. I mean, there's so many things they did with good mat good matting and, like, sunlight and sunsets.

I mean, that was Francis Ford Coppola's last watchable movie. I think the next one was Jack. I think it was his last one with a budget. Oh, yeah. With a real big budget. Yeah, and that the movie also made the, it sexed it up real good. They did. Because they were like, enough of this, enough of these references to sex or pretending that vampires are about sex.

Like, everybody's just going to fuck. These vampires who were going to suck, his blood. That was there in the books. Yeah, it was. It was never able, because the first Dracula movie is so terrible. After the opening.

The Bela Lugosi one? It is. Dude, it takes place in a room after his introduction, and they just talk about, I might be a vampire. Ah, I don't like crosses. I'll get out of here. Thank you. action tamra never was better yes i think yes the original and warner herzog's nosferatu remake is also amazing with um with his greatest enemy as has nosferatu

in it it's just it's it's beautiful and it was him doing a tribute to german cinema to make that film it's one of her songs best i'd say best at non-docs and i say that like i love parts about the movie dracula and i still watch it almost every year but it's but this like if you want to watch a fun dracula movie francis ford coppola is pretty fun and it's a it's like i said sexy good time like and gary old man does a really good job and that's you're right i guess. And it's, like I said, sexy good time. And Gary Oldman does a really good job. You're right. I guess it's the haircut

and the joke about the haircut and that's pretty much the only time. All the Dracula movies start the same way. Like someone being invited to this castle. Yeah, the shadow

is the reference too from the movie, for sure. And also sort of how they draw Smithers but they barely do anything. Yeah, but Renfield is Renfield. He's kind of just universal.

Renfield is already kind of Smithers but it's usually the most interesting part but Renfield is Renfield. He's kind of just universal. Renfield is already kind of Smithers but it's usually the most interesting part in a Dracula movie. Unless you're Tom Waits and Bram Stoker's Dracula. So they jump straight into the Dracula stuff very quickly. Let's let Brockman set it up. We think we're dealing

with a supernatural being. Most likely a mummy. As a precaution, I've ordered the Egyptian wing of the Springfield Museum destroyed. Nice work, Ed. No, no, they're wrong. The creature they seek is the walking undead.

No, Sferatu, that's Vampyr. A vampire. These, uh, vampires are make-believe, just like elves, gremlins, and Eskimos. In a completely unrelated story, Montgomery Burns has just closed a deal to buy the Springfield Blood Bank. Precious blood. It's weird that Homer says gremlins are real when we just saw the gremlin sketch.

It's a strange choice of words. That's the only time Burns is in a normal outfit. He's dressed as Gary Oldman in his old... Gary Oldman has a ton of outfits in that film. Yeah, he does. Because he goes through multiple transformations, and it's kind of beautiful in a way. They put so much effort into it,

but at its core, it's just like, this just isn't good. It's not a good movie. It is so terrible. The ending is even worse. Oh, my God. But Anthony Hopkins is okay as Van Helsing. I want Van Helsing to be a grumpy

old man who's just like, I hate sex! I'll kill it! That's great. And then they go to Pennsylvania. Another knock on Pennsylvania. It sure was nice of Mr. Burns to invite us for a midnight dinner at his country house in Pennsylvania.

There's something fishy about this whole setup. Lisa, stop being so suspicious. Did everyone wash their necks like Mr. Burns asked? Yes. Sure did. Homer's filthy rag that he's carrying with him is so great. His neck was just caked in dirt and grime. And then a great way of getting around the word bitch

in the next scene. Which is weird, because I said that in the first Halloween Treehouse of Horror. Simpsons is the first show I heard say bitch, but Bart said bitch in. Yeah, and then the trainer of dogs said son of a bitch,

which is technically a true statement that a British person would say. There's a video of Jimim henson saying on the york city hall show it's really well yeah son of a bitch but uh i do love the doorbell guy welcome come in fresh victims for my ever-growing army of the undead sir you have to let go of the button oh son of a bitch so smithers as renfield would not be as put together as he is in that little segment he's just kind of like a staggering Igor kind of character afterwards. Son of a...

And then the door opens. It's really cute. And then Homer... How do we feel about this joke? It's less funny now. Well, if it isn't my good friends, the... Simpson, family master. Simpson, eh?

Excellent. Dad, do you notice anything strange? Yeah, his hairdo looks so queer. I heard that! He was a boy! I still, I'm not positive it's like... Being gay. Like, I've heard that word used, I mean, they love old-timey words.

Yeah. And I think maybe, I don't know, it could be either way. I'm pretty sure, I'm just not positive. If someone said that's not how they meant it, I would, like, I could see that. Yeah, same here. But coming out of Homer, it's just like, I don't know, I think he not positive. If someone said that's not how they meant it, I could see that. Yeah, same here. But coming out of Homer, it's just like, I don't know. I think he is saying his hairdo looks gay. Because if you're Homer thinking that, you'd be like, yeah, that does look gay.

Yeah. But, you know, it's funny to an extent of just Homer thinking. Like, it's a dumb thing for Homer to say when Lisa's like, isn't he obviously a vampire? And Homer's just like, yeah, his hair's gay. It's the least notable thing about the situation. And he's never had any of these assumptions with Burns and Smithers ever before. No, no, no. Just because of the haircut.

And then, correction, free blood. I love that. Just Homer happily drinks blood, which that can't taste good. No, no. He knows it's blood. And Marge has no comment on any of this, I don't think. No, Marge is pretty silent in a lot of this until the end, and then they

find these... Well, we know why Marge is quiet, she's the lead vampire. It doesn't really come together in the daytime, but then they find the crypt while looking for it, and I like the little line of it's the same as the basement in Grandpa's old books.

They just keep corpses there. That's really fucked up. And some Three Stooges references. Oh my god! Please pardon Senior Stupid Shem. Yeah, I've seen your curly too. Yay. It's beautiful, though.

That's one knock, the tiniest knock I'll give on the animation in this episode. The vampires he meets down there are too generic. They're very much like these Simpsons arcade game zombies. Totally. Totally. They're just very bland. Bart is undone by the super fun happy slide. I don't know. Our group of friends adopted the super happy fun moniker to get things. This is the super happy fun McDonald's.

I prefer the Homer super fun happy slide. And I like, though, how Bart goes from, Whee! Good acting on Nancy. And I love how that burns transforms from a bat into burns and pounces on him with that great piece of animation. So great animation. And that... How we use electricity can be smarter, cleaner, and greener. At Electric Ireland, we can help guide you there.

You see, our new Net Zero Hub has all you need to know about smart meter plans, EV tariffs, solar panels, and much more. Making your usage clearer, your trips greener, your home cozier, and your world brighter. Find our Net Zero Hub at electricireland.ie. Burns doesn't even know who Bart is. That's too it is a little boy boy and i'm glad they cut away because literally seeing bart get bit by birds would be like this is too sexual of burn yeah like it i mean in case you don't know vampire is vampirism is sex it is a sexually transmitted disease that's that's the symbolism bram stroker was from the beginning so the idea of like oh then burns fucked bart

like that's the that's what has to happen in there so they kind of have to cut around that as best they can because it's weird otherwise that's true i'm gonna i gotta give i keep forgetting to give out line of the show. Oh, I mean, is this it? I love, Grandpa's line I still think is the funniest take in the whole show.

That's the joke. How many times have I told you not to bite your sis? Wait a minute! You are a vampire! Quick! We have to kill the boy!

How'd you know he's a vampire? He's a vampire? Ah! So, I had to... Homer, we gotta do something. Today he's drinking people's blood. Tomorrow he could be smoking.

The only way to get Bart back is to kill the head vampire, Mr. Burns! Kill my boss? Do I dare live out the American dream? That is the best line. You're right, Chris. Both of these are amazing. Grandpa's running out of American dream. That is the best line. You're right, Chris. Both of these are amazing. Grandpa's running out of the room. I love that he leaves

and lets go of the steak and it falls behind him. And we don't know why he's there in the middle of the night. Yes, to stab Bart in the chest. The new great animation I pulled out of this, which I noticed before

but really noticed this time, is you are a vampire! Just the extreme exaggeration. You can see Homer making a V-shape with his bottom lip. It's so good. And the squish on Bart's nose.

And meanwhile, Lisa's like, duh, I told you. But just like that exaggerated pointing into his nose, and the nose squishes in. It's so great. God, I love this episode. And just for that 30 seconds of, and you get a free soda at the movies. Oh, yeah. That whole section, that's the Lost Boys.

Yes, and I think we get one of the last Twister mouths. You get to drink blood. And it's usually your Halloween Twitter profile pic, isn't it? Yes, yes, every Halloween I have the barf vampire with the twisty head. It looks insane still. Whenever I think of beer killing brain cells, I also think of like, where are beds in TV? I love this. Dad, Dad, Mr. Burns is a vampire and he has barf!

Why, barf is right here. Hello, Mother. Hello, Father. I missed you during my uneventful absence. Oh, Lisa, you and your story. Bart is a vampire. Beer kills brain cells. Now let's go back to that building thingy

where our beds and TV is. They're attacking beer. We learned on a previous episode that they were told not to attack beer. That's true. And then when Homer says super fun happy slide when they go back to kill Burns, that was intentionally animated to look like Humphrey Bear,

the unrelated Disney star. That's right. That was a Brad Bird edition, actually. Humphrey Bear, when he gets excited, Humphrey Bear doesn't talk. He's all animation. He's just like, put it in the bag like put it in the bag put it in the bag

love Humphrey the Bear and so him doing the R move that's how I think of like I'm so happy and I had a good little laugh as a kid at this next clip dude take that vile fiend dad that's his crotch Yeah. Yeah, this is... Take that, vile fiend!

Dad, that's his crotch. Oh, sorry. I also like that Burns didn't feel it. No, no, it wasn't his heart. And the work it took to wiggle it out like... Oh, it's so gross. That is the sound of wood, like a wooden stake being removed from genitals. Yeah, the foley is always so great, especially when you don't see the visuals, you get to really focus on it.

But Homer is fired after killing Mr. Burns. You're fired! Where's he gonna get money now? And, of course, as a giant Peanuts fan... Oh, I want to say one thing. This only works on you once, really. Yeah. And it was the most amazing thing I'd seen on TV.

You can't do that! That's an excellent point to bring up. And just completely blowing your... I mean, this is a prime David Merkin joke, I think. I'm like, I'm giving you this horrible ending. Nah, just kidding. I'm just goofing on you. Just kidding.

For a Christmas reference, because they don't do Christmas specials, which is dumb. I mean, it's unsatisfying in terms of a story, but it is the greatest joke to just say, fuck you, fuck this whole story. Here's something you weren't even expecting. Here's a Christmas joke on a Halloween show.

Yeah. I'm a vampire, and I've come to suck your blood. This tape is giving me a rash. Grandpa's a vampire? We're all vampires. But, no, we killed Mr. Burns. You have to kill the head vampire. You're the head vampire?

No, I'm the head vampire. Mom? Well, I do have a life outside this house, you know. Happy Halloween, everybody! Happy Halloween! It starts snowing in the kitchen. It's snowing in the kitchen. Santa's little helper is dancing like Snoopy, which is literally the only dance I'm capable of doing.

Milhouse playing the piano yes i mean you could end the episode with them about to attack lisa and be like the end happy halloween but they i think that too is the it was the joke of them not wanting to leave you upset or scared or like oh the whole family murdered lisa that's a bit intense so instead they're like all right we'll give you what you don't expect and yeah you went even then you would have still seen a lot of parodies of the peanut special but as a kid i always appreciated a reference i'd get yeah yeah same here i got it then you're right bob it worked it worked may only work once maybe twice for forgetful me yeah when i don't expect and i

don't see it coming but it's like endings like this and the lester and eliza one are just out of nowhere and they're and I really appreciate them, but they really only do work once, because you know where it's leading if you've seen it before. But, I mean, if you want to talk about this in the context of other Halloween specials, I feel like this is the best one so far, and I think we really did see the weaknesses

in Season 4's special with all the added lines. There was none of that here outside of maybe one joke, I noticed, but it was more confident, I think, overall. Yeah, much more confident. The only one I can think of that here outside of maybe like one joke i noticed but it was more confident i think yeah much more common the only one i can think of that was like an a that looks obviously adr was the only monster on this bus is a lack of proper respect for the rules i think you're right about that still a funny line but the mouth are definitely but none of that distracting stuff and they're all extremely strong stories and they move super fast and again you will never see another episode the simpsons that looks like this is the best looking episode that will ever be made in the history of the show yeah

no way this this was the best even by the next one which is the next halloween special which is also amazingly animated it's also very good even then they've still like they lost a little they lost like a little bit they lost like five percent of their fluidness i think macarani must have been mad about this i i don't want to blame macarani for everything but he definitely he wants very staid animation like yeah he does i don't get him as he likes animation i don't know why he likes it to be stiff and have these weird rules thinking as a boss like that will be hard don't do what's going to be hard. Maybe. Give us hell. But this is

my favorite Halloween special they ever did. These three together are my all-time favorite. I mean, oh, man. The next one is so good, though. The next one is Shinning the Time Travel. Four and five are tied. I can't decide between them. Shinning Time Travel and Eating the Kids are all so good.

Boy, it's tough. But these are really good, too. Life doesn't get better than a Treehouse of Horror episode. Eating time travel and eating the kids are all so good. Boy, it's tough. Yeah. But these are really good, too. Life doesn't get better than a Treehouse of Horror episode. It really doesn't. Especially at this time of the... Yeah, good old... The Ides of April.

The Ides of March. What a great time to watch the Halloween specials. So, are we ready to wrap up? Yeah, I think so. So, thank you for listening, everybody. This has been Talking Simpsons. I've been your host, Bob Mackie. You can find me on Twitter as Bob Serbo.

I also write every day from fandom about video games. It's fandom.com. And I write a comedy article every other Thursday for somethingawful.com. My other podcast is Retronauts. It's a classic gaming podcast. Every Monday, a brand new episode about a topic you probably like. So go to retronauts.com and find an episode about a topic that you've heard of. And you should get into the show that way or just search for Retronauts in your podcast machine.

That's every Monday on Retronauts.com. Everybody else? I mean, the Bart vs. the Space Mutants episode is quite a good one to start with on Retronauts. It's basically us doing a Simpsons episode but about a video game. So look into that one. And I'm H-E-N-E-R-E-Y-G on Twitter.

Follow me there for all my thoughts and sub-tweets. And also, you can read my work on fandom.com and most importantly, patreon.com slash laser time. I still do stuff with laser time. This is in particular, and this is only possible through your support on patreon.com slash laser time, where if you give there,

it's not just that you keep getting this out, but you get a bunch of exclusives, hundreds of hours of exclusive content give there, it's not just that you keep getting this out, but you get a bunch of exclusives, hundreds of hours of exclusive content on there, including the entire first season of Talking Simpsons and our seasons two, three, and four wrap-ups. All great for as little as $5 a month, but all that you can give is always appreciated. Patreon.com slash LazerTime.

This show and many others are executive produced by caleb and many others over at patreon.com slash laser time i also wanted caleb also gave us this amazing plate too nice thank you so much and i wanted to thank before i forget because i forgot about the video uh jonathan wilson in the laser time facebook community group cut together every time i yell oh boy bobby i listened to that five times i hate the sound of my own voice and it's surprisingly addictive to listen to that's because it just keeps going dun dun dun every single one in a row i find a different way to curse and i gotta tell you put enormous amount of pressure me doing it doing it this time to go over the top

every time yeah god i don't know how i could top some of those two in your head yeah um and and i want to thank him and i want to say listen to laser time go to laser time podcast.com dave and i have been doing simpsons races where he raced the first level of bart's nightmare and bart was the space mutants on our youtube channel youtube.com slash later time and the next episode will be all about the worst raps of all time of which bart simpson participates oh oh boy uh deep deep trouble or is there a worse one than that? Worse than that. Fucking yellow album bad, right?

Oh, is there a rap on that? I don't know. There probably will be though. I think it's technically worse. Okay, cool. I'm looking forward to that. Thank you for listening. We'll be back next time

with Marge on The Lamb. See you then. Whoop-ch. Thank you.