YMMV / The Simpsons S10 E4 "Treehouse of Horror IX"

• Crosses the Line Twice:
  • Kent Brockman reporting on Apu's murder as a lighthearted news story, followed by the Simpson family reacting in appropriate shock and horror, before Marge turns to Homer and exclaims "that's horrible, who'll run the Kwik-E-Mart?"
  • When Snake's hair latches onto Bart's face, Homer starts punching Bart's face. Bart calls Homer an idiot over it and he replies by strangling him.
  • Wiggum slurping his Squishee, having not noticed Apu's decomposing body still in the Squishee machine? Squick. Him doing so even after calling Lou and Eddie out on it? Hilarious.
  • Moe chastising Snake for smoking at the Kwik-E-Mart, then asking Apu if there's a cereal for people with syphilis (which does exist, but is prescription-only).
  • Snake's Hair is shot on the "back" while trying to flee, then several times more when it tries to surrender, and again after its shakes a "fist" in silent frustration.
  • Everything about Kang and Homer at The Jerry Springer Show, but perhaps nothing more than Maggie suffocating Jerry during his "Final Thought" segment while Kang punches Jerry, Homer attacks Kang, and Marge groans, "I'm so [bleep] embarrassed.".
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • In the Darker and Edgier opening sequence, Homer gets hit by Marge in her car. The show's HD opening, introduced in season 20's "Take My Life, Please", now has Marge accidentally hitting Homer in her car.
  • The following scene features Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees sitting on the couch, wondering where the Simpson family are. This predates the two appearing in their own crossover film by five years.
• Memetic Mutation: "My eyes, my beautiful eyes!" when Regis gets soup in his eyes pops up now and again, often in response to seeing something disturbing.
• One-Scene Wonder: Krusty appearing in vampire getup to host the Itchy and Scratchy segment of "Terror of Tiny Toon". Reached Ensemble Dark Horse status considering how that incarnation of Krusty became a Burger King Halloween toy and appeared in some Treehouse of Horror merchandise and imagery, despite not really playing a role in the segment.
• Parody Displacement: "Hell Toupee" is a parody of an Amazing Stories episode of the same name. Invariably, anyone learning of the latter today will reply with a "so that's where The Simpsons got the idea for that Treehouse of Horror episode."
• Ugly Cute: Maggie when she transforms into an alien.
• Unintentional Period Piece:
  • Bart and Lisa briefly drop into Live with Regis and Kathie Lee - and the latter was replaced with Kelly Ripa in 2001. And in The New '10s, Regis was replaced with Michael Strahan and later Ryan Seacrest. The Simpsons appearing on Jerry Springer also dates the special to the late 90s.
  • Kang and Kodos vow to destroy every politician in Washington, to which Bart quips, "Don't forget Ken Starr!" referencing the recent release of the Starr Report concerning his investigation of Bill Clinton.
  • The climax of the final short being the Simpsons and Kang and Kodos trying to talk out their differences on The Jerry Springer Show places the show between 1991 and 2018 (when the show was cancelled) as well as before Springer's death in 2023.

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