There are a lot of Simpsons episodes that you could credibly argue are the show's very best. You Only Move Twice, starring Hank Scor൩pio, the best one-and-done character ever, is a frontrunner. Homer's Enemy, featuring fellow season eight one-and-doner Frank Grimes is another. Last Exit To Springfield, Homer The Smithers, Homer The Heretic, and I Love Lisa would be up there too. 22 Short Films About Springfield is now immortalised for its 'steamed hams' bit, but the whole thing is a gem. What is mentioned far less frequently is Treehouse of Horror V, which is not only a worthy contender to the throne, it also features the best piece of horror comedy anywhere in any medium.
Treehouse of Horror V is split into three distinct stories; a great time travel segment where Homer's toaster takes him back to the dinosaurs, a decently funny flesh-eating teachers story, and of course, The Shinning. I considered writing why The Shinning was the best parody of all time, but that felt like too low a bar. It is the best parody of all time, by a distance, and every sketch show that dabbles in parody should learn from it. But despite clearly being The Shining, it's well written and funny enough to stand alone. In the crowded field of horror comedies, these eight minutes of magic might be the best thing to ever grace the genre.
Of course, the parody is a ﷽crucial part of its genius. Most parodies make the mistake of trying to rip whatever they are parodying to comedic shreds. Like a good roast, a good parody should be a send up. It should be a homage, full of respect for the source material - so much love and respect that it can get away with turning everything into a gag, just like the best roast comedians can.
The Shinning loves The Shining. Where modern Treehouse segments tend to make the thing they are parodying the butt of the joke, The Shinning finds humour in The Shining, not in laughing at it. "That's odd, usually the blood gets off at the second floor" - it takes the innate ridiculousness of horror and turns it inwards, letting it laugh with The Shining, not at it. Likewise, where Jack's ghostly bartender was a reverent gentleman in the movie, in The Shinning, it's Moe. That's the whole joke. But it works, because Moe is hilarious, and he's close enough to the original - he is, after all, a bartender - yet so completely different that every joke lands.
That's another important part of The Shinning - it's just very, very good. As an early season six episode, it's smack dab in the middle of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the Golden Age, and comes off the back of Treehouse IV, the second best Treehouse episode ever. It's sometimes discounted when we talk about The Simpsons, 'it used to be good and now it's bad' is a bit reductive. It used to have some of the best writers in television history. Today's writers are better than they're given credit for, especially Carolyn Omine, but there's no shame in them not being as good as Bill Oakley, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:John Swartzwelder, Conan O'Brien, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Mike Reiss, Jon Vitti, Mike Sculꦿly, Greg Danie🎐ls, or David X. Cohen.
It's not just a straight comedy either - there is horror to be found here. Nothing on the level of Insidious, but when Homer breaks down the doors or chases his family through the snow, it's framed in such a wonderfully sinister way. Again, it takes what it needs from The Shining, but also adds its own humour ("Hi David, I'm Grampa!") and manages to be so much more than The Shining With Homer.
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:I watch a lot of horror comedies. It's easily my favourite subsection of horror, so much so that I put up with Night Teeth, even though I still can't figure out if the comedy was intentional. The Babysitter is up there with Get Out, Train To Busan, Midsommar, and 28 Days Later as the best horror films this century. And of course, Jennifer's Body is better than them all. This is a genre I love, and I’ve never watched a film I’ve loved more than The Simpsons’ take on it.
While The Shinning is subst🔴antially shorter and borrows heavily from its almost-namesake, it still feels like the be⭕st ever blend of horror element and comedy. This Halloween, in between your movie marathons, spare eight minutes for The Simpsons.