The Simpsons (animation)/Recap/S04/E05 Treehouse of Horror III

The Simpsons family hold a Halloween party and tell scary stories.

Lisa presents "Clown Without Pity", a parody of The Twilight Zone's "Living Doll" in particular and the killer-doll genre in general. When Homer forgets to get Bart a present on his birthday, he hurriedly buys a talking Krusty doll -- from the local House of Evil. When Bart unwraps the present, Grampa shouts "That doll is evil, I tells ya. Evil! Eeeeeeviillll!!!" (Marge notes that he said the same thing about all of the presents.) Soon, Grampa's prophecy comes true and the doll comes to life and targets Homer when the others aren't around. When Marge finally catches the killer Krusty in the act, she contacts the toy company and they send a repairman. He reveals that the doll was set to Evil rather than Good, and with a flip of the switch, Homer now has a grumpy servant waiting on him hand and foot.

Grampa bases his story on an old movie: "King Homer" is an Affectionate Parody of 1933's King Kong. Mr. Burns and his crew, plus token woman Marge, set out to find a fabled giant ape, who proves to be real -- and played by Homer. When King Homer is brought to New York City, his Broadway debut proves less than stellar, as does his subsequent rampage through the city. But true love conquers as he and Marge get married.

Finally, Bart's "Dial Z for Zombies" starts with Bart, having been assigned to redo his book report after he did a presentation on an ABC book, discovering a spellbook in the occult section of the school library. At the same time, Lisa is observing the anniversary of Snowball I's death, and she and Bart decide to use a spell from the book to bring the cat back to life. At the pet cemetery, which adjoins a more traditional one, the plan backfires when Bart accidentally uses a spell that brings humans back from the dead. Soon, Springfield is overrun by zombies, and the Simpson family undertakes a perilous journey back to Springfield Elementary to find the spell that will return them to the dust of the Earth. Once it's cast, the zombies are no more, leaving the family to render themselves similarly mindless by focusing on the boob tube.

Tropes:
"Bart: Homer, you shot the zombie Flanders!
 * Berserk Board Barricade: The family board up the windows in this manner, but when Marge asks Homer if he's boarded up the front door, he absent-mindedly mentions that he hasn't.
 * Brain Food: Zombies!
 * Deliberately Monochrome: The "King Homer" segment.
 * The Doll Episode: Homer gets Bart a cursed Krusty doll from a Chinese man's curio shop filled with cursed and weird objects from around the world.
 * Evil Laugh: Kang and Kodos' appearance. They laugh at the thought of humanity being overrun by zombies.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: Bart intones brand name condoms for a magic spell ("Trojan, Ramses, Magnum, Shiek!") to get the town's zombies back to their graves.
 * Smithers' line in "King Homer": "I think women and seamen don't mix."
 * Halloween Episode
 * Not a Zombie

Homer: He was a zombie?"

"Marge: Grampa, you said that about all the presents.
 * Number of the Beast: All of the numbers in the library.
 * The Operators Must Be Crazy: Marge tries to let the toy company know the Krusty doll is attempting to drown her husband as she speaks. She gets "Everybody Loves a Clown" as the hold music.
 * Perverse Puppet: The killer Krusty doll.
 * Pretend We're Dead: Homer spots Barney eating an arm and exclaims "Barney, you're a zombie too!" to which Barney replies "Naah, but when in Rome..."
 * Properly Paranoid: Grampa in the first segment, in which he calls the Krusty doll evil.

Grampa: I just want attention."

"Lisa: Dad, we did something very bad!
 * See You in Hell: "See you in Hell." "Still pushing that boulder?" "Uh-huh."
 * Shout-Out:
 * The opening is given in the same style as Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
 * Bart dresses as Alex.
 * "My name is Krusty, and I love you very much." and "I'm Krusty the Klown and I don't like you."
 * Psycho Strings play when the Krusty doll raises a knife.
 * Cheesy music plays and a heart-shaped iris frames the Krusty doll with Malibu Stacy. This also closes out "King Homer".
 * The Krusty doll belts himself to the bottom of the car.
 * Skewed Priorities

Homer: Did you wreck the car?

Bart: No!

Homer: Did you raise the dead?

Lisa: Yesss!

Homer: But the car's okay?

Kids: Uh-huh.

Homer: All right then."

"Tribe Leader (in tribal language): The blue-haired woman will make a good sacrifice
 * Spelling Song: "My baloney has a first name, it's H-O-M-E-R. My baloney has a second name, it's H-O-M-E-R..."
 * Suspiciously Specific Denial:

Marge: What's he saying?

Mr. Burns: Aaaaaaaaah... he's saying... ummmmm... "We wouldn't dream of sacrificing the blue-haired woman!"

Marge: Awwwwww, well isn't that-"


 * Your Brain Won't Be Much of a Meal: A zombie horde clamoring for "Braaaains" inspects Homer's head, then abandon him in disgust. Most ridiculously, the zombie taps Homer on the head and a very hollow sound is heard before it moves along.
 * Zombie Apocalypse