Skip to content

Top Navigation

EW.com Entertainment Weekly EW.com Entertainment Weekly
  • TV
    • TV Reviews
    • TV Reunions
    • TV Recaps
    • Animated
    • Comedy
    • Crime
    • Drama
    • Family
    • Mystery
    • Reality
    • Sci-fi
    • Thriller
  • Movies
    • Movie Reviews
    • Trailers
    • Film Festivals
    • Movie Reunions
    • Movie Previews
  • Music
    • Music Reviews
  • Books
    • Book Reviews
    • Author Interviews
  • Theater
    • Theater Reviews
  • Podcasts
  • Gaming
  • Events
    • Comic-Con
  • Celebrity
  • Awards
    • Oscars
    • Emmys
    • Golden Globes
    • SAG Awards
    • Grammys
    • Tony Awards
  • Streaming

Profile Menu

Your Profile

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletter
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Order Past Issues this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout
Login
Subscribe

Explore EW.com

EW.com Entertainment Weekly EW.com Entertainment Weekly
  • Explore

    Explore

    • Every RuPaul's Drag Race season 13 runway look, ranked

      Every RuPaul's Drag Race season 13 runway look, ranked

      Read More
    • Spread the love with EW's Valentine's Day gift guide

      Spread the love with EW's Valentine's Day gift guide

      Read More
    • The Masked Dancer revealed: Every unmasked celebrity on season 1

      The Masked Dancer revealed: Every unmasked celebrity on season 1

      Read More
  • TV

    TV

    See All TV
    • TV Reviews
    • TV Reunions
    • TV Recaps
    • Animated
    • Comedy
    • Crime
    • Drama
    • Family
    • Mystery
    • Reality
    • Sci-fi
    • Thriller
  • Movies

    Movies

    See All Movies
    • Movie Reviews
    • Trailers
    • Film Festivals
    • Movie Reunions
    • Movie Previews
  • Music

    Music

    See All Music
    • Music Reviews
  • Books

    Books

    See All Books
    • Book Reviews
    • Author Interviews
  • Theater

    Theater

    See All Theater
    • Theater Reviews
  • Podcasts
  • Gaming
  • Events

    Events

    See All Events
    • Comic-Con
  • Celebrity
  • Awards

    Awards

    See All Awards
    • Oscars
    • Emmys
    • Golden Globes
    • SAG Awards
    • Grammys
    • Tony Awards
  • Streaming

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Profile

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletter
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Order Past Issues this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

LIVE
  1. HomeChevron Right
  2. GalleryChevron Right
  3. 'Simpsons': 'Treehouse of Horror' Top 10!

'Simpsons': 'Treehouse of Horror' Top 10!

In anticipation of Sunday's ''Treehouse of Horror XXII,'' we asked the show's writers to pick their faves from the past 21 Halloweens (that's 63 segments); see their list here, in chronological order, with commentary from exec producer Al Jean
By Dan Snierson
Updated October 28, 2011 at 12:00 AM EDT
Skip gallery slides
Save FB Tweet

1 of 10

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

1. HUNGRY ARE THE DAMNED ''Treehouse of Horror I'' (10/25/90)

The Simpsons | Features the origin of Kang and Kodos and James Earl Jones as Serak the Preparer . ''That was the first Halloween show. The idea ofĀ…
Credit: The Simpsons (c) and 1990 (c) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Features the origin of Kang and Kodos and James Earl Jones as Serak the Preparer.
''That was the first Halloween show. The idea of it to parody EC Comics was really original and kind of shocking for a cartoon on network television. [Executive producer] Jim Brooks said, 'We better have a disclaimer at the beginning of this Halloween show,' so Marge came out and warned people that they were going to see something scary. And the funny thing is it's now very tame by our Halloween standards and by network animation standards.''

1 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 10

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

2. TIME AND PUNISHMENT ''Treehouse of Horror V'' (10/30/94)

The Simpsons | Homer changes the future forever with a haywire toaster. '''Time and Punishment' is one of the fans' favorites. It's basically the butterfly effect, where ifĀ…
Credit: The Simpsons (c) and 1994 (c) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Homer changes the future forever with a haywire toaster.
'''Time and Punishment' is one of the fans' favorites. It's basically the butterfly effect, where if you cause a tiny change in the past it destroys the future, which I always think proves time travel to the past is impossible because things would be changing all the time and Hitler would be the president. I think it's really funny that Flanders is a dictator.''

2 of 10

3 of 10

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

3. HOMER3 ''Treehouse of Horror VI'' (10/29/95)

The Simpsons | Homer enters the third dimension. ''That was our first foray into 3-D animation. Now, of course, with Pixar and everything, it may look a littleĀ…
Credit: FOX

Homer enters the third dimension.
''That was our first foray into 3-D animation. Now, of course, with Pixar and everything, it may look a little primitive, but it was extremely technically proficient and beautiful for when it aired. I couldn't believe you were seeing this crazy thing on a network-TV show. And it has the infamous Tron joke that nobody's seen Tron. We were thinking of updating it to where nobody's seen Tron: Legacy, either. We've only had two live-action things [on the show]. One was Katy Perry and one was Homer walking around Burbank. We still have the erotic-cakes sign in our rewrite room.''

3 of 10

Advertisement
Continued on next slide.
Advertisement

4 of 10

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

4. ATTACK OF THE 50-FT EYESORES ''Treehouse of Horror VI'' (10/29/95)

The Simpsons | Springfield's giant logos come to life, and the town is saved by Paul Anka. ''Everybody loves the Paul Anka song, 'Just Don't Look' at theĀ…
Credit: THE SIMPSONS (c) and 1995 (c) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Springfield's giant logos come to life, and the town is saved by Paul Anka.
''Everybody loves the Paul Anka song, 'Just Don't Look' at the end. I thought it was a great multiplication of the Ghostbusters Marshmallow Man idea: 'What would happen if all of them came to life?' ''

4 of 10

Advertisement

5 of 10

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

5. CITIZEN KANG ''Treehouse of Horror VII'' (10/27/96)

The Simpsons | Kang and Kodos possess the bodies of Bill Clinton and Bob Dole — and no one notices. ''This might win the vote of the mostĀ…
Credit: THE SIMPSONS (c) and 1996 (c) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Kang and Kodos possess the bodies of Bill Clinton and Bob Dole — and no one notices.
''This might win the vote of the most popular 'Treehouse' segment ever. I love the line when somebody realizes that the people posing as Clinton and Dole are actually evil aliens and he says he's going to vote for a third party, and they say, 'Go ahead, waste your vote!' By the way, it relied on knowing that Clinton and Dole were sure things to be the candidates months in advance. It was an accurate guess.''

5 of 10

6 of 10

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

6. HELL TOUPEE ''Treehouse of Horror IX'' (10/25/98)

The Simpsons | The hair of a condemned man goes on a killing rampage through Springfield. ''The scene where the toupee is killed in a gunfight — IĀ…
Credit: The Simpsons (c) and 1998 (c) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

The hair of a condemned man goes on a killing rampage through Springfield.
''The scene where the toupee is killed in a gunfight — I defy anybody to watch it and not laugh.''

6 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement
Continued on next slide.
Advertisement

7 of 10

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

7. THE ISLAND OF DR. HIBBERT ''Treehouse of Horror XIII'' (11/3/02)

The Simpsons | Mad experiments horrifyingly combine Springfield favorites with animal bodies. ''It was an idea that the second you heard it, you just started laughing. And I'mĀ…
Credit: The Simpsons (c) and (c) 2002 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Mad experiments horrifyingly combine Springfield favorites with animal bodies.
''It was an idea that the second you heard it, you just started laughing. And I'm really excited because it's actually an action-figure set. We don't pitch things with that in mind; they did it after the fact. The Island of Dr. Hibbert action-figure set is one of the few Simpsons things I've actually laid out money for. It's right in my office. I like [the scene where] Homer was having sex with Marge; he knew she was a half-big cat half-person but he didn't care.''

7 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement

8 of 10

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

8. SEND IN THE CLONES ''Treehouse of Horror XIII'' (11/3/02)

The Simpsons | A horde of hungry, hungry Homers ravages Springfield. ''If one Homer is funny, then 1,000 Homers has to be really, really funny. It's one ofĀ…
Credit: FOX

A horde of hungry, hungry Homers ravages Springfield.
''If one Homer is funny, then 1,000 Homers has to be really, really funny. It's one of the classic segments. It features a little shot of the Family Guy in the clone, and there's also just the fact that the Homers are incredibly stupid and die in record numbers. And in fact, the one that Marge ends up with at the end isn't the original one but she doesn't care.''

8 of 10

Advertisement

9 of 10

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

9. IT'S THE GRAND PUMPKIN, MILHOUSE ''Treehouse of Horror XIX'' (11/2/08)

The Simpsons | Milhouse's beloved Grand Pumpkin comes to life and goes on a killing spree when he sees what Springfielders do to his fellow pumpkins. ''For yearsĀ…
Credit: The Simpsons and (c) 2008 TTCFFC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Milhouse's beloved Grand Pumpkin comes to life and goes on a killing spree when he sees what Springfielders do to his fellow pumpkins.
''For years we had never been able to parody Charlie Brown's Halloween special, which is one of the all-time top three animated shows ever. The Vince Guaraldi music is such a huge part of it, so we got to clear it. It was just a dream come true to satirize it. I thought it was a really funny idea that instead of not ever seeing the Grand Pumpkin, it comes to life, and he's really horrified at the way humans cook pumpkins into pies, and eat pumpkin seeds, which are basically pumpkin fetuses.... Yeardley [Smith] did this amazing rant as Lisa yelling at Milhouse the way Sally yells at Linus, and unfortunately it was cut for time, but we'll put that on the DVD.''

9 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement
Continued on next slide.
Advertisement

10 of 10

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

10. HOMER TRIES TO VOTE FOR OBAMA ''Treehouse of Horror XIX'' (11/2/08)

The Simpsons | Homer confronts a sinister voting booth in the 2008 election. ''It was satirizing the possibly correct fear that voting is not all on the up-and-upĀ…
Credit: The Simpsons (c) and 2008 (c) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Homer confronts a sinister voting booth in the 2008 election.
''It was satirizing the possibly correct fear that voting is not all on the up-and-up in America. I love Homer saying, 'This doesn't happen in America! Maybe in Ohio, but not America!' ''

10 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

  • By Dan Snierson@dansnierson

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Trending Videos
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 10 1. HUNGRY ARE THE DAMNED ''Treehouse of Horror I'' (10/25/90)
    2 of 10 2. TIME AND PUNISHMENT ''Treehouse of Horror V'' (10/30/94)
    3 of 10 3. HOMER3 ''Treehouse of Horror VI'' (10/29/95)
    4 of 10 4. ATTACK OF THE 50-FT EYESORES ''Treehouse of Horror VI'' (10/29/95)
    5 of 10 5. CITIZEN KANG ''Treehouse of Horror VII'' (10/27/96)
    6 of 10 6. HELL TOUPEE ''Treehouse of Horror IX'' (10/25/98)
    7 of 10 7. THE ISLAND OF DR. HIBBERT ''Treehouse of Horror XIII'' (11/3/02)
    8 of 10 8. SEND IN THE CLONES ''Treehouse of Horror XIII'' (11/3/02)
    9 of 10 9. IT'S THE GRAND PUMPKIN, MILHOUSE ''Treehouse of Horror XIX'' (11/2/08)
    10 of 10 10. HOMER TRIES TO VOTE FOR OBAMA ''Treehouse of Horror XIX'' (11/2/08)

    Share options

    Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message
    EW.com Entertainment Weekly

    Magazines & More

    Learn More

    • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
    • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
    • Sitemap

    Connect

    Follow Us
    Subscribe to Our Newsletter
    Other Meredith Sites

    Other Meredith Sites

    • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
    • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
    • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
    • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
    • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
    • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
    • Cooking Light this link opens in a new tab
    • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
    • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
    • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
    • Food & Wine this link opens in a new tab
    • Health this link opens in a new tab
    • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
    • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
    • Martha Stewart this link opens in a new tab
    • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
    • More this link opens in a new tab
    • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
    • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
    • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
    • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
    • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
    • Parents this link opens in a new tab
    • People this link opens in a new tab
    • People en EspaƱol this link opens in a new tab
    • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
    • Real Simple this link opens in a new tab
    • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
    • Shape this link opens in a new tab
    • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
    • Southern Living this link opens in a new tab
    • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
    • Travel & Leisure this link opens in a new tab
    Meredith© Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. Entertainment Weekly is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation All Rights Reserved. Entertainment Weekly may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://ew.com

    View image

    'Simpsons': 'Treehouse of Horror' Top 10!
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.