The Simpsons Halloween Special/Treehouse of Horror

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Chantal B

New member
It seems like every Simpsons halloween episode has the official title "Treehouse of Horror" (followed by roman numeral), while until at least a few years ago the on-screen title said "The Simpsons Halloween Special" (again, followed by a roman numberal). Does anybody know why the various halloween specials had the alternate "Treehouse of Horror" title when it wasn't actually on-screen until a few years ago? It seems like in recent years they also changed from having roman numerals to having regular numerals in the title. I also wonder the same about "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", which had the on-screen title "The Simpsons Christmas Special" (which was also used on the VHS box).

Also interesting how they always have "Treehouse of Horror" in the title. The first one is really the only one where "Treehouse of Horror" is appropriate, as the linking scenes take place in the treehouse. In the other halloween specials with linking footage, the treehouse is nowhere to be seen. They could have had titles like "Simpsons Nightmares", "Halloween Party", and "Museum of Horrors".
 
In response to each question:

On the Treehouse of Horror title: While it's obvious that the first Xmas episode and a nubmer of Halloween episodes have "The Simpsons (insert holiday here) Special" to designate that these were special episodes, the Simpsons writers still give the episodes normal titles as well as a way to refer to an episode without providing a summary about it. As you mentioned, Treehouse of Horrors got its title from how the original episode involved Bart and Lisa telling ghost stories at the backyard treehouse.

On why each Halloween episode has the title "Treehouse of Horror": The reason for referring to the Halloween episodes as "Treehouse of Horrors" is inspired by the fact that these episodes are inspired by the horror comics published by EC Comics. Hence, rather than trying to give each episode it's own unique name, the Simpsons simply assigned each Halloween episode with the "Treehouse of Horror" name (which makes a lot of sense once the show stopped doing wraparound stories after the fourth special).

On the switch from referring to the episodes on screen from "The Simpsons Halloween Special" to "Treehouse of Horror": I think the switch happened as a result of

1. The widespread rise of the Internet resulting in Simpsons fans now becoming aware of episode titles (especially when it comes to Treehouse of Horror);

2. The fact that the Halloween episodes were starting to air after October as a result of Fox's coverage of the Major League Baseball playoffs pre-emptying the Simpsons at least two weeks year (including the final Sunday in October).
 
In the case of the halloween specials I feel like it would be just as confusing to keep using the same title and include a number at the end, especially since the halloween specials are such a tradition (I do wonder, if they didn't do these annual three-story halloween specials, would they have done a full half-hour halloween episode?). In the case of "The Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", I don't think that title really describes the plot beyond it being about Christmas, and for the longest time that was the only Christmas episode of the series.
 
Could anyone explain to me why they air a new Treehouse of Horror a week after halloween? I could never understood that. Its even weirder that even though Halloween is on Sunday that they still air it a week later.
 
again, as TnAdct1 mentioned above. Fox's coverage of the MLB playoffs (world series really) pre empts that sunday. This will also happen this year apparantly, with the latest episode (XXI) airing on nov 7.

There even was one year, where the halloween episode aired SO late, they made fun of it in the episode referring to thanksgiving...and football.
 
The latest a Treehouse of Horror aired was in 2004 and 2010 which was November 7:confused: and the earliest a Treehouse of Horror aired was in 2009 which was October 18.
 
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