When people look back on 2014, they’re going to call it “The Year of The Simpsons crossovers.” Or at least the nerdier people might. We’re eagerly anticipating Bender and Bart going head to head for the Futurama crossover, and we can’t wait to see the Griffins hit Springfield on Family Guy. But now Matt Groening and his cohorts are pitting the Simpsons against their strangest foes yet: themselves.
For this year’s “Treehouse of Horror,” TV’s longest-lasting family will come face to face with their original incarnations, as first conceived for the Tracey Ullman Show back in 1987. This spooky segment will parody the supernatural drama The Others, and the more crudely designed Simpson family will be the ghosts also living in the Evergreen Terrace home. We hope this wasn’t supposed to be an Others-like surprise ending, but that’s on them for releasing the news in the first place. (Also, way to spoil The Others, guys.)
While this already sounds like a fun idea based solely from a nostalgia and design standpoint, it will be even more extravagant with the cast members performing their characters’ voices as they were in the old days. That was when Dan Castellaneta’s Homer sounded a lot more like Walter Matthau and Nancy Cartwright’s Bart was more nasal. This was a sweet deal for the producers as far as guest characters go, because as executive producer Al Jean puts it in an interview with EW, “We didn’t have to ask – we already had the cast hired for the Tracey Ullman Simpsons.”
The original version of the Simpson family has made brief appearances in the show over the years. They were part of a couch gag for Season 11's "Beyond Blunderdome," sitting on the couch when the family traditionally runs into the living room. And they were also a part of the Season 24 episode “Adventures in Baby-Getting,” when the dead family can be seen buried in the ground beneath the house. (Still intact, too.) So it makes sense that they would want murderous revenge, so much so that viewers can expect a “real Halloween bloodbath,” according to Jean.
They were also seen buried underground in last year’s iconic couch gag from director Guillermo Del Toro. Check it out below and keep a close eye out.
I’ve been a non-stop fan of The Simpsons since its Tracey Ullman Show days – because what 8-year-old doesn’t love Tracey Ullman? – but many of the less devout viewers out there will still tune in every year for the series’ annual “Treehouse of Horror” episode. Put on your scariest pair of pants and catch it when it haunts Fox on Sunday, October 19.
