The Simpsons/Treehouse of Horror VII

Treehouse of Horror VII
Season 8, Episode 1
Airdate	October 27, 1996
Production Number	4F02
Written by	Ken Keeler Dan Greaney David S. Cohen
Directed by	Mutant Mike B. Anderson
← 7x25 Summer of 4 Ft. 2	8x02 → You Only Move Twice
The Simpsons — Season Eight

Treehouse of Horror VII is the first episode of the eighth season of The Simpsons, and the one-hundred and fifty-fourth episode overall. This episode is the seventh Treehouse of Horror Halloween special and is split up into three segments: The Thing and I, The Genesis Tub, and Citizen Kang.

Special Guest Voice: Phil Hartman (Bill Clinton)

Starring: Atenalletsac Nad (Say Three Times), Ghoulie Kavner, Nancy Heart-Fright, The Reaper, Hank Aaaaaahh!-Zaria, Harry Shearer

Plot Overview

The Thing and I

Lisa and Bart hear a strange commotion coming from the attic, but decide not to investigate. They ask their parents about the noises in the morning, but are shrugged off until Homer tells them to never go up there. He then leaves to feed "it" with a bucket of fish heads. That night, Bart sees something peering at him through a vent which causes him to raise more questions about the thing in the attic. When Homer and Marge refuse to answer again, the Simpson kids take it into their own hands to discover what's in the attic while their parents are out. In the attic, they find a box of Homer's unsold autobiography and a vaguely human creature which chases them out of the attic.

When Homer and Marge return, they discover that the creature, named Hugo, has escaped through the front door. They explain that Hugo is Bart's conjoined twin, but when the two were delivered, Dr. Hibert discovered that one of the two was pure evil. They decided to separate the two babies and chain the evil one in the attic. While the family searches for Hugo, he appears and ties Bart to a table so that he can sew the two back together but before he can go through with the surgery, Dr. Hibert shows up and knocks him out. But, while examining the body, they realize that the evil twin was always Bart. With that mix-up sorted out, the Simpsons chain Bart in the attic and let Hugo take his place

The Genesis Tub

Lisa loses one of her baby teeth and uses it as the focus of her science project that will examine the acidity of cola and whether or not it will dissolve a tooth. While conducting her experiment, she is shocked with static electricity by Bart and accidentally conducts the electricity into the tooth. The electricity causes what Lisa believes at first to be mold, but later discovers to be a race of tiny people. After breakfast, she sees that the people have already progressed to the Renaissance and continue to evolve into a futuristic race. Bart, naturally, sabotages the tiny city by crushing many buildings with his finger but the little people retaliate with a fleet of space ships. They then manage to shrink Lisa down so that they can praise her as their lord and ask her to protect her from the devil (Bart). While she's shrunk down, "the destroyer" returns and presents the tiny universe as his science project.

Citizen Kang

While Homer fishes in a lake, he is abducted by Kang and Kodos. They demand that Homer tell them who his leader is, but because it's a week before elections, Homer tells them that it could be either Bill Clinton or Bob Dole. They two then abduct both Bob Dole and Bill Clinton, strip them of their clothing, stuff them into stasis tubes and finally "bioduplicate" the candidates. They spray Homer with rum and kick him out of the spaceship before speeding off to continue the campaign trail.

At the presidential debate in Springfield, Homer attempts to out them as aliens but is tackled to the ground by secret service. He finds the space ship with Clinton and Dole inside and tries to bring the back to Washington where he can out the impostors. Unfortunately, he accidentally launches both of them into space just as Clinton and Dole decide on a bipartison agreement that will unite America. He then crashes the space ship into the capitol building and pulls off the masks of Kang and Kodos. The crowd recoils in horror, but wind up voting for one of the two because voting for a third part would be "throwing their votes away."

On inauguration day, humanity is seen enslaved and building a giant ray gun to destroy an unnamed planet under the guidance of president Kang.

Notes

Opening Sequence

• Opening: The traditional credits are thrown out entirely, in favor of Homer attempting to light a jack-o-lantern but instead accidentally lighting himself on fire. While he runs back and forth, the title card "The Simpsons Halloween Special VIII" appears on screen.
• Couch Gag: The Simpsons run to the couch, where Death waits for them. They all run close, but die in a heap at the foot of the couch. The grim reaper then uses the pile of corpses as a foot rest.

Trivia

Behind the Scenes

• Cultural Influence: The last line of the episode, "don't blame me, I voted for Kodos," was the inspiration of a Wisconsin ska band, "I Voted for Kodos."

Allusions and References

• Fish Heads: "Fish Heads" is a novelty song recorded by Barnes and Barnes in the late 1970s which went on to become the most requested song in the history of the Dr. Demento show. It later became the focus of a sketch and short film on Saturday Night Live, first appearing in the December 6, 1980 episode.

Homer: (singing) Fish heads, fish heads, do do do dodo...

• The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies: The writers of the segments are listed as "the incredibly strange creatures who stopped living and became." This is a reference to a b-movie about zombies released in the 1960s. The film has a cult fanbase mainly established because of its appearance on Mystery Science Theater 3000.

• Martin Luther: Disgusted with the actions of several clergy members attached to the Roman Catholic church, Martin Luther nailed his thesis on religion to the door of a prominent cathedral. Luther's outspokenness led to the Great Schism, the formation of protestantism and the reformation period of history.

Lisa: I've created Lutherans!

• Citizen Kane: The title of the last act of the episode is a reference to the classic Orson Wells film, Citizen Kane. The film told the story of an analogue of William Randolph Hearst, the famed newspaper mogul who arguably was the reason for the Spanish-American War. The segment has little to do with the movie and is more or less just a pun.

• Ross Perot: During the 1992 presidential elections in the United States, billionaire named Ross Perot ran on the independent party ticket. He managed to poll at such high numbers that he rivaled major party candidates George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, but inevitably lost the election. In 1996, Perot ran for office again under the Reform party but only received 8% of the vote, much lower than 19% in 1992.

Quotes

• Bob Dole: Abortions for all.
  Crowd: Boo!
  Bob Dole: Very well, no abortions for anyone!
  Crowd: Boo!
  Bob Dole: Abortions for some, miniature American flags for others!
  Crowd: Hurray!

• Clinton: We must move forward, not backward. Upward, not forward. And always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom!

• Marge: I don't understand why we have to build a ray gun to aim at a planet I've never ever heard of.
  Homer: Don't blame me. I voted for Kodos.