It’s not easy for a show that’s been on the air a whopping 25 years to still generate headlines, but that’s exactly what happened (sort-of…they were small headlines…mostly online) when The Simpsons announced that famed fantasy director Guillermo Del Toro would be directing the opening credits sequence for their 25th Treehouse of Horror episode. And that opening couch-gag (each episode uses a different one and has slight adjustments to the credit sequence) certainly delivered.
The rest of the episode involved a take on circus freaks in the 30’s, Bart’s head on Lisa’s body (the weakest one), and a delirious segment where Homer played The Cat in the Fat and took the kids on a sociopathic joyride in a hellish version of Springfield as Whoville. Needless to say, that was the best one. Grade for episode: B+ [Last week also saw a parody of Homeland that wasn’t half-bad. I have to say, it can’t be easy to come up with new scripts after 25 years, and if The Simpsons can still maintain any quality, then they’re doing better than anyone can expect. In fact, there are less than a handful of broadcast comedy shows that I actually think are better, animated or otherwise.]