XV(Season 16, Episode 1, Aired November 7th, 2004)
Sitcom parodies are very played out at this point(which is why sitcom tributes like Bojack Horseman and WandaVision have become such iconic shows), and even when this episode aired, but this opening is alright with its dark jokes about Kang and Kodos eating the Simpsons.
Luckily, the segment picks up immediately with “The Ned Zone”, a parody of Stephen King’s 1979 novel The Dead Zone and its 1983 adaptation by David Cronenberg, which starts immediately with a good gag about Homer trying to get a frisbee off the roof with a bowling ball, only to hit Ned in the head and realizing the frisbee was behind him. From there, there are a bunch of great gags, including a bunch of callbacks to the Frisbee gag and one about “Rosie O’Donnell Musical”. Again, the best gags rely on Homer’s chaotic, greedy personality and Ned’s straight-laced personality being besieged by premonitions of death, especially when these two collide at the end. The ending of this is just comedic gold, just a great premise with a bunch of clever gags interspersed, culminating in an explosive ending and another callback to the frisbee joke. Just for the ending alone, this is one to watch.
“Four Beheadings and a Funeral” is… well, its’ obviously a Sherlock Holmes parody, but Wikipedia says it’s Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell’s From Hell, which is a Ripper story but doesn’t have Sherlock Holmes in it, so… Anyways, another good one of the pastiche segments, with the characters acting out Victorian versions…
