"Treehouse of Horror X" is the fourth episode of the eleventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the tenth annual Treehouse of Horror episode, consisting of three self-contained segments. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on Halloween, 1999. In "I Know What You Diddily-Iddily-Did", the Simpsons cover up a murder and are haunted by an unseen witness. In "Desperately Xeeking Xena", Lisa and Bart gain superpowers and must rescue Xena star Lucy Lawless from the Comic Book Guy's alter ego The Collector, and in "Life's a Glitch, Then You Die", Homer causes worldwide destruction thanks to the Y2K bug.
"Treehouse of Horror X" was directed by Pete Michels and written by Ron Hauge, Donick Cary and Tim Long. The episode contains numerous parodies and references to horror and science fiction works, including Doctor Who, I Know What You Did Last Summer and Battlestar Galactica. It also features actress Lucy Lawless and actors Tom Arnold, and Dick Clark as themselves. In its original broadcast, the episode was seen by approximately 8.7 million viewers, finishing in 34th place in the ratings the week it aired. Since its airing, the episode received positive reviews from critics. A spin-off comic book series based on the segment "Desperately Xeeking Xena", entitled Simpsons Super Spectacular, has been published by Bongo Comics since 2005. "I Know What You Diddily-Iddily-Did" was conceived and written by former staff writer Cary. In the DVD commentary for the episode, Cary said that he came up with the segment after watching the 1997 horror film I Know What You Did Last Summer. "I had just seen the movie and I was like, 'Hey, there you go.'" he said. While Flanders serves as the segment's antagonist, the role was originally written for Grampa, who would chase Homer inside a roller disco. While Grampa does not appear in the segment, the Springfield Roller Disco is seen during the Simpsons escape from Flanders. "Stretch Dude & Clobber Girl"'s theme song was written by Long and composed by Alf Clausen. During the sequence, Stretch Dude and Clobber Girl are seen assaulting Saddam Hussein, the fifth President of Iraq and being thanked for their help by President Bill Clinton afterwards. According to Long, the writing staff had a "passionate" discussion about whether the duo would be attacking Hussein or Iranian religious leader and politician Ruhollah Khomeini during the sequence.
"Life's a Glitch, Then You Die" was written and conceived by Hauge. In DVD commentary for the episode, Hauge stated that, when writing the segment, he knew it would not age well. "I was aware of it at the time, that it wouldn't last forever" he said, "But I wanted to capture that moment." According to director Michels, the rocket which transported the "best and brightest" of the population was drawn to resemble an ice pop.
Cultural references
The opening segment, which shows Kang and Kodos attempting to entertain an audience of aliens, was "born out of [The Simpsons<nowiki>'</nowiki> staff's] love" of comedy teams like Martin and Lewis and the Smothers Brothers. The segment also features the series' first reference to Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, when The Collector uses a mint-condition Darth Maul double-bladed lightsaber. Because the episode was written before the film's release, the writers did not know "how bad it was gonna be", in their view, and therefore did not include any "obligatory shot" at the film.
Release and reception
In its original American broadcast on October 31, 1999, "Treehouse of Horror X" received an 8.6 rating, according to Nielsen Media Research, translating to approximately 8.7 million viewers. The episode finished in 34th place in the ratings for the week of October 25-31, 1999. Following the episode was a rerun of "Treehouse of Horror IX", which was originally broadcast the previous year. In 2000, "Treehouse of Horror X" was nominated for a CINE Golden Eagle Award, which it ultimately won. On October 7, 2008, "Treehouse of Horror X" was released as part of The Simpsons: The Complete Eleventh Season DVD set. Mike Scully, George Meyer, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Ron Hauge, Donick Cary, Tim Long, Matt Selman and Pete Michels participated in the audio commentary of the episode. DVD Talk's Ian Jane gave the episode a positive review as well. Considering it to be one of the season's best episodes, Jane wrote "This one, like so many that have come before and since, is a great blend of horror movie parody and Halloween themed fun in Springfield." In 2007, Seb Patrick of Noise to Signal included "Desperately Xeeking Xena" in a list called "The Ten Best Treehouse of Horror Vignettes". Although he disliked Bart and Lisa's part in the segment, Patrick wrote that it "earns its stripes by being perhaps Comic Book Guy's finest hour". In 2009, The Collector's marriage proposal to Lawless was included in "Line-O-Rama: Comic Book Guy", a compilation of what IGN considers to be The Comic Book Guy's best lines.
Comic book series
A spin-off comic book series based on the segment "Desperately Xeeking Xena", entitled Simpsons Super Spectacular, has been published by Bongo Comics since 2005, following the continued adventures of Stretch Dude and Clobber Girl (with the addition of Bouncing Battle Baby).