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Kicking off this collection of Simpsons episodes
is Tree House of Horror X. This contains three short
stories
in one episode. I know What You Diddily-Iddly-Did sees
Marge run over Ned Flanders. After ensuring Ned really is
dead, Homer attempts a typically incompetent cover-up, but
Ned rises again as a werewolf. This segment has lots of fun
with the I Know What You Did Last Summer franchise
and some obvious horror clichés.
Desperately Xeeking Xena sees Lisa and Bart being irradiated
by the Halloween candy x-ray machine and becoming super-heroes.
'Xena' is kidnapped by The Collector during a fan convention
and a fight ensues during superhero Bart and Lisa's botched
rescue mission. A satire on continuity fanboy nerds everywhere,
as toy light sabres lose their power when taken out of the
original packaging. Saddam Hussein and Hitler make an appearance
as enemies of the super-heroes and there are enough TV sci-fi
references to keep nerds everywhere glued to the Pause button.
Life's
a Glitch, Then You Die starts on the Eve of the Millennium
in Springfield. The Y2K virus spreads from Homer's PC at the
nuclear plant and brings down systems around the world. The
earth's 'brightest' are evacuated in spaceships, while Homer
and Bart's ship heads for the sun. This segment satirises
a wide range of targets from rock 'supergroups' ("Dude,
are we Whitesnake, Poison, Quiet Riot or Ratt tonite?")
, to commercialism (the millennium is sponsored by a mayonnaise
brand), and techno paranoia. When anarchy breaks out, the
looting is led by the police force. Bart and Homer's spaceship
is full of those we DON'T want populating a future earth -
Dr Laura, Ross Perot, Spike Lee, Dan Qualye, Courtney Love
and a host of minor TV celebs. Despite the dated celeb c-list,
a superb satire.
A
surprise inspection for Springfield's nuclear plant sees Homer
melt down the simulator . Homer is forced to go to college
to get a degree in Nuclear Physics and clashes with the nerdy
students and trendy Dean as he tries to realise his 'Animal
House' college fantasies...
Homer Goes to College packs
a heap of satire, including bribery of town hall and nuclear
officials and the baleful effects of Corporate sponsorship
of education. It's also full of good gags. A pig gives an
honorary degree to Richard Nixon before rolling royally in
the mud. Ultimately though, the redemptive nerdy student storyline
palls.
Springfield school prepares for United Nations day. On the
way to the convention, the kids get marooned after the school
bus crashes over a bridge, and anarchy breaks out. Meanwhile
Homer sets up an Internet business and is visited by a curious
- and vindictive -Bill Gates, anxious to protect his Internet
monopoly...
Order
and the breakdown of order are the central themes of Das
Bus. The UN is just a talking shop ("Do you kids
want to be like the real UN or just squabble and waste time?").
But the kids' logo - 'order at any cost' - hints at the breakdown
of order, scapegoating and violence which follows as the community
disintegrates on the desert island in a neat Lord of the
Flies spoof. Bill Gates makes a brief appearance to enforce
his Internet monopoly.
The Simpsons go on holiday to Itchy and Scratchy Land, which
is populated by robots playing out a series of violent fantasies.
The robots finally turn on the guests and are defeated by
the Simpson family using flash cameras...
Itchy
and Scratchy Land contains some exceptionally violent
imagery, taking the Tom & Jerry pastiche to new heights
of nausea inducing frenzy. Itchy & Scratchy's inventor is
revealed as a worshipper of the Nazi-Uber-mensch. Violent
commercialism masquerades as educational entertainment, and
its role as catharsis is explored in the telling final scene.
Again it's full of good gags (Unnecessary Surgery Land) and
has a lot to say about theme park rip-offs. Spot the spoofs
of Westworld and The Birds.
An
extra on this disk is the Think Frink featurette, a
funny and inventive series of sketches about the perils of
weird invention focussed around paranoid home security fantasies.
Andy
Thomas
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