VI (Season 7, Episode 6, Aired October 29th, 1995)
Well, the first segment, “Attack of the 50-Foot Eyesores” has a reference to Night of the Living Dead, so there’s that. Again, another that’s just not very good. Some good gags (like Bart acting as both sides of a devil sign’s conscience or Paul Anka making an appearance, with his lameness ultimately saving), but it’s just sort of a weird concept (like is it a parody of something, or just a satire of advertising mascots?), and the joke seems to be “there are parodies of mascots, and they’re rampaging, like they’re in ….”, oh you know what, this might be a parody of 50’s monster movies. Still doesn’t really work.
I like the Tex Avery style opening of the next segment, “Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace”, with the more fluid animation and the over-the-top gags. Remember when I said (or implied) that “The Shinning” worked whether or not you’ve seen The Shining. Well, this one kind of works a little better if you’ve seen its source, the 1984 Wes Craven movie A Nightmare on Elm Street. Not to say there aren’t funny gags unrelated to that film (“the 13th hour of the 13th day of the 13th month” referring to a misprinted calendar with “Smarch”), but the parody works better if you’ve seen the film or really any one of the sequels and you get the specific scenes it’s referencing. Still, I have seen all the Nightmare on Elm Street films, so I did get all the references, and I did like the way it put Groundskeeper Willie into the Freddy Kruger role, especially the multiple transformations he undergoes…
