It will only be a few more years until The Simpsons’ annual “Treehouse of Horror” series will be viewed on the same plane as “Miracle on 42nd St.” for the holidays, the Rose Parade on New Year’s Day and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Genocide of the Balloons. Consider that a promise.
Since 1990, we counted down the days until we would see the already-fantastical Simpsons series turned into a three-part, ultra-fantastical variety show of parodies, laughs and spooks, all for the sake of creating a Halloween tradition — doesn’t that make Matt Groening a saint? And after it aired, you’d bet your ass that Monday morning at school would be marginally more interesting.
Ahh, collective viewership. Our pre-Tivo days seem nostalgic of tossing a copper ring around with a stick. But I digress.
This year is no different in that “Treehouse of Horror XIX,” is infinitely awesome.
Without giving too much away, the episode opens with good ol’ Homer showing up to the polls to cast his vote for president of the United States. When a confrontation with his electronic voting machine goes awry, Homer — an Obama supporter — faces defeat to the facelessness of Diebold, and dies. Roll the opening credits.
Also on the bill is “Untitled Robot Parody,” a creepy parody of Transformers; “It’s the Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse,” either a punch or homage to the Peanuts gang — production got rights to Vince Guaraldi music — and “How to Get Ahead in Dead-vertising,” which opens up with a brilliant mock-up of the opening sequence to AMC’s Mad Men, starring Homer as Donald Draper.
You have no idea how happy that made this Mad Men fan.
For fear of sounding like Gene Shalit on speed, I’ll spare the “spooktacular” hyperbole and promise that Groening and company have followed tradition in, not only timing, but quality, too — whoever has denounced post-2000 Simpsons might want to check in for a surprising and relieving reevaluation.
The Simpsons’ “Treehouse of Horror” episode will air Nov. 2 at 8 p.m. on Fox