Treehouse of Horror XI

"Treehouse of Horror XI" is the first episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'', the 249th episode overall, and the eleventh Halloween episode. The episode features "G-G-Ghost D-D-Dad", "Scary Tales Can Come True" and "Night of the Dolphin" and was written by Rob LaZebnik (story by Mike Scully), John Frink and Don Payne and Carolyn Omine and directed by Matthew Nastuk.

This year's installment sees Homer as a wandering spirit who must do one good deed before going to Heaven ("G-G-Ghost D-D-Dad"), Bart and Lisa as genre-savvy peasant children who end up lost in a fairy tale forest in "Scary Tales Can Come True", and Springfield's population at war with sea mammals in "Night of the Dolphin".

The episode first aired on November 1, 2000, beginning a practice of the show's Halloween episodes debuting after the holiday itself due to Fox's late-October prime time schedule being pre-empted by the network's coverage of the 2000 World Series. (Until 2010, all subsequent Halloween episodes save for 2009's "Treehouse of Horror XX" premiered in November; 2011's " Treehouse of Horror XXII" onwards has had the network resuming airing the episodes on or before Halloween save for 2020's "Treehouse of Horror XXXI" having premiered in November.) This was also the first ''Simpsons'' episode to have mixed-case closed captioning. The episode received positive reviews from critics.

Plot

The opening sequence is done as a parody of ''The Munsters'', with Homer as Herman, Marge as Lily, Lisa as Marilyn, Bart as Eddie and Grampa as Grandpa Munster. Meanwhile, at the front of their mansion, an angry mob of townspeople attack the Munster Simpsons. They stab Marge and Grampa in the chest with stakes, set Homer on fire, and activate a bear trap on Bart's head, leaving Lisa unharmed; she then walks away from the scene while whistling, pretending as if she was never there with no connection of the monstrous family.

G-G-Ghost D-D-Dad

In a parody of ''Ghost Dad'', Homer's horoscope says he will die today. He dismisses it and leaves for work, narrowly escaping death several times on the way there. He is still alive at the end of the day, but is finally killed by a piece of broccoli. In Heaven, St. Peter informs Homer that he had not done a good deed in his life, and must perform one within 24 hours before he can officially be let into Heaven, although this is reduced to 23 hours when he re-eats the broccoli that killed him and re-dies. Over the next 24 hours, Homer tries to do good deeds, such as saving Bart from being bullied by Nelson and helping Principal Skinner's mother, Agnes across the street, which ends up with him dropping her to her death and Homer defending his actions by stating that she was "going to be the next Hitler". With only one minute left, Homer saves a woman's baby in a runaway stroller. Confident, he returns to St. Peter with news of his good deed. Unfortunately, St. Peter did not see Homer perform his good deed as he distracted himself by reading a newspaper. Homer is then sent to Hell, where Satan puts Homer in a headlock and gives him a noogie