29x04 Treehouse of Horror XXVIII

[4.4/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale.] Phwew, this was a stinker even by latter day Simpsons standards. Treehouse of Horror has gone from one of the show’s more dependable outings even when it was in decline, to one of its more consistent weak spots despite a mild bounce back in recent years.

The first segment is a pretty uninspired parody of The Exorcist. There are a few good gags here and there, and it’s nice that they got William Friedkin for a cameo, but it’s a paint-by-numbers spoof with weak gags and not much else.

The second segment can at least boast a neat art shift as the show apes Coraline, and the other dimensional versions of The Simpson family are pretty neat-looking. Neil Gaiman also performs ably as a talking Snowball II. But again, the humor is mild at best and the story goes nowhere (beyond an amusing if gross callback to the prior segment with Maggie’s upchuck).

The last segment is...man...I don’t know. I consider myself to be pretty stiff-upper-lipped, but the premise of Homer deciding that the most delicious meat is himself was a bridge too far for some reason. It was pretty uncomfortable watching Homer mutilate and consume himself, and it’s not like the segment found any real worthy comedy in it, shoehorning in another tired celebrity cameo and calling it a day.

The best thing in the episode may have been the light but fun opener with all of the family members as Halloween candy. It’s no great shakes, and there’s not much to it, but it was short and amusing enough, which is more than you can say for the rest of the episode. Overall, this was a real low-light among THoH installments.