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“Treehouse of Horror XII” is the first episode of ''The Simpsons'' thirteenth season. Because of Fox’s contract with Major League Baseball’s World Series, the episode first aired on the Fox Network in the United States on November 6, 2001, nearly one week after Halloween. It is the twelfth annual ''Treehouse of Horror'' episode, consisting of three self-contained segments. In the first segment, a gypsy puts a curse on Homer, which puts everybody he cares about in danger. In the second segment, which is a parody on both ''2001: A Space Odyssey'' and ''Demon Seed'', the Simpson family buys a new house, who falls in love with Marge and attempts to kill Homer. In the third and final segment, which lampoons the ''Harry Potter'' franchise, Lord Montymort attempts to capture Lisa, a skilled magician, in order to drain her magic powers. The episode was written by Joel H. Cohen, John Frink, Don Payne and Carolyn Omine while Jim Reardon served as the director. It was the first ''Treehouse of Horror'' since the original special to not employ “scary names” in the credits. According to executive producer Ian Maxtone-Graham, this was due to the September 11 terrorist attacks, after which the ''Simpsons'' staff tried to be more serious and sensitive. However, according to current show runner Al Jean, the “scary names” were dropped because they were too difficult to come up with. The episode contains numerous references and parodies to science fiction and horror works, including ''2001: A Space Odyssey'', ''Demon Seed'', ''Harry Potter'' and ''Star Wars''. The episode also features Pierce Brosnan and Matthew Perry as guest stars. The episode was considered a success in the ratings when it first aired, boosting the Fox Network to victory among viewers between ages 18 and 49 the night it was broadcast. Since airing, the episode has received mixed reviews from critics. In particular, critics were dissatisfied with the last segment of the show, while “House of Whacks” was often considered to be the best of the three. ==Plot== Outside Mr. Burns' manor, Smithers is standing on a ladder, trying to put up a small orange bat decoration on a weather vane. He slips on the ladder, grabs on an electric cord and slides down into an electricity box and gets zapped. A tower from Mr. Burns' mansion breaks in half, damaging a mausoleum, which opens up four caskets which in turn reveal three skeletons which all resemble Mr. Burns, dressed in various costumes. Later, we see the Simpsons dressed up in costumes, with Homer as Fred Flintstone, Marge as Wilma Flintstone, Lisa and Maggie as conjoined twins, and Bart as a hobo walking up to the mansion (with Bart and Lisa complaining that Flanders gave them toothpaste instead of candy). The family sees the building and caskets on fire, and screams in terror. They run out the gate, which as it closes, has its bars slice the family. The slices of the Simpsons continue to scream and run away. Mr. Burns, delighted, pats the orange bat as it comes to life and flies into the screen, revealing the title, “The Simpsons Halloween Special XII". 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Treehouse of Horror XII」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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