Every Halloween, viewers can always count on The Simpsons bringing the jokes and terror on their annual Treehouse of Horror episode.

  • The Simpsons’ annual installments of Treehouse of Horror have become a mainstay of the Halloween season, and they’ve been such a consistent presence that many viewers can hardly remember a time before this yearly celebration of all things spooky. However, with such a long history, it’s a guarantee that some of the jokes simply don’t hold up.

These episodes perfectly mix in comedy with fear, and have also created some memorable episodes, including one in which Homer Simpson played a creepy and funny version of The Shining’s Jack Torrance. While most of the jokes in the Treehouse of Horror episodes land with great aplomb, there are some that have aged poorly.

Facemasks Jokes

In the recent Treehouse of Horror episode, viewers were treated to their present-day reality: Wearing masks everywhere they go. In normal times, this would be a funny joke, as it would be an idea that seemed far-fetched at the time.

But since people are wearing masks everywhere now thanks to the pandemic, it was a joke that didn’t seem so funny and only reinforced the “new normal” of daily life that viewers are longing to be over with, minus the burning buildings and lave potholes.

Infinity Gauntlet Gag

It feels like one of the problems with the newer Treehouse of Horror episodes is that they just want to cram in any pop culture reference regardless of its relevance. This includes a forced gag from Avengers: Infinity War.

While The Simpsons has plenty of Marvel references, they don’t necessarily belong in the Halloween specials. So when an alien brings out the Infinity Gauntlet to wipe out his enemies, it feels more desperate than funny.

Toy Story Jokes

If this was a Treehouse of Horror episode of old, then a story based on the Toy Story franchise would have been money in the bank. Now, it seemed like 20th Century Fox was trying to make good on getting some Disney content within the plotline of Treehouse of Horror XXXI.

The jokes really didn’t land, and it came off as more of an attempt to “stick it to The Mouse” than anything else.

Multiverse Jokes

In the latest edition, one of the stories revolved around Homer realizing that there are versions of him that came from the Multiverse and that an explosion from a vending machine caused a time portal to ripple open, disturbing the space-time continuum.

It was a play on the Back To The Future trilogy, in which something happens in the past that greatly alters the future, and with so many other winning storylines the writers could have chosen, this one seemed a bit lazy and uninspiring.

Kingsman Parody

As with the Infinity Gauntlet gag, some of the more recent Treehouse of Horror episodes have veered away from the horror genre. It is a shame, as it makes the specials feel less fun when it is just random movies being spoofed.

One example is a recent parody of Kingsman. Not only is it an action movie, but it is also a very funny spy movie in its own right, poking fun at the genre tropes. So for the Simpsons to try to satirize a satire feels quite redundant.

Stranger Things Jokes

In the 30th edition of the series, one of the stories revolved around a parody of Stranger Things. The tale took place in the 80s and has all sorts of rad jokes from the decade.

When done right, 80s jokes can and do succeed in bringing a certain type of hilarity to the punch line. But, when done wrong, they can seem uninspiring, which is what plagued the “Danger Things” story and showed that this once-fabled horror series was losing its luster.

God Jokes

The Simpsons have used religion to crack so many jokes that it doesn’t seem all that groundbreaking anymore in today’s world. In the story “Heaven Swipes Right,” the writers parodied Heaven Can Wait and did it so poorly.

It wasn’t one of the writers’ finest hours, and turning to God jokes seemed like the writers were running on fumes trying to come up with interesting and funny stories.

Homer Simpson Clone

One segment in Treehouse of Horrors called “Send in the Clones” finds Homer acquiring a magical hammock that allows him to duplicate himself. Once it gets out of hand, a scene shows the endless clones of Homer with Family Guy’s Peter Griffin among them.

While there are certainly similarities between Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin, to call the latter a copy seems needlessly childish. This is especially true as Family Guy has arguably surpassed the modern run of The Simpsons in popularity since this joke aired.

The Lackluster Second Story

The Simpsons has never been afraid to poke fun at itself, but that kind of humor can be a little hard to pull off well. In one recent episode, Homer draws attention to the fact that they always seem to get into Halloween mischief every year with three stories, the second one usually being the worst among them.

This joke might have worked in the golden age of The Simpsons, but with the most recent Treehouse of Horror specials ranking among the worst, showing awareness to the show’s shortcomings doesn’t make it any better.

Hunger Games Jokes

The 28th edition of the Treehouse of Horror didn’t stand out to many viewers and critics alike. One of the stories that contributed to its poor critical showing was the story titled “Dry Hard,” which parodied a combination of the Hunger Games and Mad Max.

With so many parodies of these two movies already out there, it didn’t make any sense for The Simpsons to go down that road, especially when the films were well out before this episode permitted.

Moe Jokes

Moe Szyslak is the beloved bar tavern owner who is an essential part of The Simpsons. In the latter Treehouse of Horror episodes, however, jokes surrounding Moe have become quite dated.

The “MoeFinger” story wasn’t memorable, and subsequent episodes featuring him have just been dry and uninspiring. They were funny in the beginning, but have now aged well past their sell-by date.

Happy Death Day Jokes

In the latest Treehouse of Horror episode, Lisa and Nelson are trapped in a Happy Death Day-like scenario where they both keep dying and have to restart their days over again.

This is a joke that doesn’t play out too well when mimicked, in large part because the films played the comedy of dying and restarting so well, it would be impossible for a show to replicate that. The Simpsons did try, but they ended up failing.

Moleman Jokes

Hans Moleman has long been the brunt of jokes in The Simpsons, and that continued this year when Hans Moleman was kicked in the groin basically for voting for Kanye West for president.

While it got some chuckles in there, the jokes surrounding Springfield’s resident elder is getting worn out. Besides, they’ve been making fun of the poor guy for nearly 32 years, and it seems as if the writers are stretching things out to get those Moleman jokes to land, which could be a symbol that it could be time to lay off them.

Spike Lee Appearance

One underrated segment on Treehouse of Horror X deals with the fallout of Y2K. As the Year 2000 strikes, the world begins to fall apart, leading to the Simpsons sneaking aboard a spaceship carrying the most important people in the world. However, Homer and Bart mistakenly sneak aboard a shuttle carrying D-list celebrities which is heading toward the sun.

It is a funny idea that is not too mean spirited. But given how many great movies Spike Lee has made, his inclusion among the rejects is puzzling.

Election Jokes

The 2020 election could go down as one of the most polarizing in history, and that polarization is ripe for exploration by comedy writers. However, with the bitterness of the election still fresh in the minds of voters, making fun of it seems a bit arbitrary.

Also, it also felt like the writers were grabbing low-hanging fruit to try to get some laughs, which is unfortunate given how many times The Simpsons has actually managed to riff on politics effectively.