Mr Burns plays Ethan Rayne?

catalyst2 | November 06, 16:29 CET

Heh.

gossi | November 06, 17:24 CET

SMG???

nixygirl | November 06, 19:17 CET

Oh! I'll have to remember to watch this tonight. This'll be fun (even if The Simpsons isn't particularly funny anymore)... I wonder if the guest is a Buffy alum...

Knuckleball | November 06, 19:22 CET

Well according to imdb.com the guest stars for this episode are Terry Bradshaw and Dennis Rodman.

gilesno1fan | November 06, 19:58 CET

"Treehouse of Horror XVI"

Bart ends up in a coma after attempting to jump from the roof to the swimming pool at Spinster Arms Apartments. In an effort to cope with the loss of their boy, the family takes in a robotic boy who quickly proves to be a better son.


Sunday Nov. 6, 8/7c.



...........huh. The parallel is uncanning. I can practically invision Lisa running around like a ghosty-whore.

MySerenity | November 06, 20:09 CET

Treehouses of Horror are 3 storys on one episode, that one about Bart in a coma and the robot will just be one of them, one's about The Simpsons being hunted in some kind of competition, and the other one is the Buffy inspired segment.



Some of the Halloween episodes of The Simpsons are absolute classics, some, not so much, the episodes of this season that Fox aired a month or so ago were quite good, so hopefully this will be to.

Ghost Spike | November 06, 20:54 CET

I used to really love the Simpsons, and whilst the first ten or so seasons are excellent and will always be so, after that point it has just become repetitive, the plots ridiculously convoluted and completely unfunny. I might check this out at some point because of the Buffy reference, but I don't expect to find it that entertaining.

Razor | November 06, 21:05 CET

I agree Razor! the Simpsons used to be an absolute hilarious classic! full of hommages to movies, and now its just ridiculously convoluted.

Drusillaloveskyo | November 06, 21:53 CET

The Simpsons show is one of my few must-sees every week, so I'll be watching.

lycoming | November 06, 21:59 CET

I still love it. It is the only show we watch.

Otherwise, it's news, sports, and sometimes the Food Network.

Chris inVirginia | November 06, 23:10 CET

The Simpsons started when I was seven years old (on the Tracey Ullman Show). It's been one thing that's had the most continuous influence on my life, second only to my parents. That's sort of scary when I think about it.

lalaa | November 06, 23:43 CET

It's pretty much a fact that The Simpsons has declined in quality over the years, but there is still something about it that draws me to the show on a weekly basis.

The Simpsons has been around since I was a young kid, I grew up with it, and spent most afternoons after elementary school and High School watching reruns. I love the characters. So even in the weaker instalments, it's still nice to have new adventures, and to see the huge cast again. The Simpsons is one of those shows where I can bring up a reference to a secondary character and somehow kick off a conversation with just about anyone.

As for it's last 6 or 7 seasons, the show hit rock bottom around season 13-14 imo, and the last couple of years, while nowhere near their peak, have had a few keepers. Mainly though, the eps are just mediocre, and I can enjoy a mediocre Simpsons episode.

rabid | November 07, 03:03 CET

Just saw the episode... it's almost amazing how little it resembles "Halloween"... really, I doubt that they were thinking "Hey - time for us to do a 'Buffy' homage." None of the segments were particularly funny, so don't go out of your way to make time for the episode. Denis Rodman is indeed the guest at the end.

[ edited by adam_tvs on 2005-11-07 02:05 ]

Knuckleball | November 07, 04:04 CET

Bugger it, I'm gonna watch Boondocks instead.

Mort | November 07, 04:26 CET

I just can't beleive this didn't happen earlier!

buffbuff | November 07, 05:34 CET

Better than last year's Halloween ep, which is probably a good thing since I thought they have been getting worse since the "Dolphins attack Springfield" story. There wasn't a segment that was too awful, but neither were any at all memorable. It was worth the 30 minutes, but I wouldn't catch it again as a rerun.

[ edited by rabid on 2005-11-07 03:49 ]

rabid | November 07, 05:48 CET

There was one scene where there was an army guy standing next to a woman dressed in a big, poofy pink Victorian dress that looked just like Buffy's. They were in the same positions Xander and Buffy were in during one of the scenes. I think that was the tribute, however brief (and lame).

Nebula1400 | November 07, 06:05 CET

Nebula, I thought that dress, if anything was more a tribute to Kaylee in Shindig than the dress Buffy wore. Kaylee's dress looked just like that. And I also thought it was a nod to Xander as well.

Firefly Flanatic | November 07, 06:07 CET

Heh - I didn't even really notice that part. It was Skinner and his mother, wasn't it? Damn, I'll have to catch it again - just to see that part again...

Knuckleball | November 07, 06:54 CET

Yup, that's the part. I instantly thought of Xander from Halloween but the dress looked just like Kaylee's to me.

Firefly Flanatic | November 07, 06:59 CET

hey, the dolphins attack Springfield episode had it's moments. when the dolphin gets stuck in the volleyball net and the other dolphin slaps the first one, thats funny.(the worst Simpsons ep has to be the illegitimate child of Frank"Grimey"Grimes. terrible.) at least tonights episode had Kang and Kodos.

i totally thought Buffy and Xander when i saw Skinner and his mother as well. but she did have Kaylee's parasol...

[ edited by kittyholmes on 2005-11-07 22:42 ]

kittyholmes | November 07, 11:58 CET

Kittyholmes, please capitalise your words where it's appropriate.

Caroline | November 07, 12:11 CET

It was the same color as Buffy's dress, which was similarly bouncy and frilly.

Nebula1400 | November 07, 16:47 CET

I was totally oblivious to the Skinner and his mother bit, but my daughter pointed it out. At that moment I realised that I had finally hooked her on Buffy :) As far as this episode, when it was over my daughter said "that was 7 kinds of lame" and I'd have to agree.

supersymetry | November 07, 17:10 CET

You're probably right Nebula - I must just have Kaylee on the brain!

Firefly Flanatic | November 07, 19:30 CET

I liked it, but then I like The Simpsons, it was neither a great or a terrible episode, but as with most episodes I found that there were a few laugh out loud moments. Wasn't as Buffy inspired as I was expecting, surprised they haven't done something with Buffy in a halloween episode yet.

I'll never be able to give up on Simpsons, I was watching and enjoying new episodes when I was 7 and I'm still watching and enjoying new episodes now, there aren't many shows I can say that of. I still reckon that if they had to cancel a Matt Groening show when Futurama finished it should have been The Simpsons instead.

Ghost Spike | November 07, 19:49 CET

Ages ago, when the Simpsons was in Season 5 or so, there were people who'd say "I used to love it, but it's gone down hill." I regard this as akin to people who say young people are less respectful than they used to be, and listen to strange music. People will be saying it forever.

The Simpsons is as well-written as ever; it's just that it isn't as revolutionary. It doesn't stand out from the crowd so much anymore, because it has spawned so much of the crowd. But it still kicks Family Guy's ass, and is still better than any of its progeny ever were, like Futurama, King of the Hill, etc.

fruit punch mouth | November 07, 20:07 CET

Fruit Punch Mouth, I respectfull disagree. I never complained about The Simpsons before, and even now the ratings seem to be staying just as high as ever. I am 16 now, so the show is probably older than me, and I was able to appreciate it on some level throughout my childhood, which shows that the satire doesn't neccessarily need to be revolutionary, but it was still entertaining for younger viewers as well as adults who could appreciate some of the more advanced humour.

But after about season eleven, I think it has just been horrible, the more adult jokes have become less subtle and just coarse, the characters have become more and more ridiculous. I mean as funny as Homer was, you simply can't sustain a series so long based around any one character when they are so one-dimensional. They managed to keep the show consistantly funny for much longer than most comedy series, but it didn't last. There's only so much mileage you can get out of someon being stupid and lazy.

I agree perhaps some of the humour and satire isn't as biting as it once was, but there is just as much popular culture, if not more, which is around to satire, but I just don't feel it's very funny anymore, in stark constrast to the first ten seasons or so, which would be full of funny moments and references and brief character appearances.

Personally I felt there was a wholesomeness in the early Simpsons. Despite what critics said at the time, there was something very genuine and comforting about the Simpson family and their relationships. I think maybe at the start some of the characters were portrayed a little differently, but by the third season or so, they really nailed it, and really showed that these people really loved each other despite their differences. Now, I get the feeling that it's more cruel and cheap, like laughing at someone who has a disability. The humour itself is generally less sophisticated, much more crude and quite obscure.

The stories used to be generally much simpler, whereas lately they've become much more outlandish and strange. Personally I just don't find Homer being raped by a panda very funny, and don't find any sentiment or goodness behind the humour.

That's just my opinion. I like to think that I can judge things on their own merit rather than being affected by nostalgia or something. Because here in Ireland we usually get TV shows much later, and because I don't have Sky, the latest episodes I have seen were season twelve, which shows how we are maybe five seasons behind (thankfully we were never that far behind with Buffy or anything), so I have seen these episodes fairly recently, within the last three or four years, and I am not blinded by nostalgia for earlier episodes.

I think that Futurama at its best was about as good as The Simpsons at its best, but bear in mind it took the Simpsons a couple of seasons to really get good, and Futurama only lasted four, I think maybe it could have followed a similar trend and got even better.

And I don't think Futurama ever got as bad as really bad Simpsons, although I did notice a few occasions whenever I was worried that it would follow the same path, because of the crossover of work between the two shows. Like whenever it emerged Fry became his own grandfather, and stuff like that, it started reminding me of the really twisted Simpsons plots.

Razor | November 08, 00:04 CET

I think the problem with the Simpsons lately has been that they just concentrate on Homer. Don't get me wrong, I love Homer, but where is Lenny? or Karl? or Professor Frink? or any other secondary character? It seems like they just show up for the Halloween episodes. Also, I can see Homer going into space, but Heaven? (shark jump.)

kittyholmes | November 08, 00:48 CET

I used to like The Simpsons but then I started getting bored with it an stopped watching. Now I only tune in for the occasional episode. I think Southpark, Family Guy, and Futurama are better.

eddy | November 08, 02:08 CET