Better late than never

The Simpsons adopt a robot boy, David, then discover they like him better than Bart.

Forget Michael Myers and the Great Pumpkin, too. Halloween s not really over til Homer says it s over. And that won t be until 8 p.m. Sunday, when Fox airs The Simpsons annual Halloween trilogy, Treehouse Of Horror XVI.

Even though the Simpsons hometown of Springfield is in a different dimension from ours, it s not normally on a different calendar as well. But the annual Halloween episode of The Simpsons was held back a week because of the World Series.

Fox was committed to running the Series and had blocked off last Sunday night for Game 7. When the White Sox swept the series, beating the Houston Astros in four games, Fox decided that running the popular Treehouse of Horror episode on such short notice wasn t a good idea.

But better late than never.

Before the half-hour trilogy of terror even gets properly under way, there s a quick visit from Kang and Kodos, a pair of drooling, one-eyed green aliens who often pop up in Treehouse of Horror episodes. This time around, they try their hands or technically, their tentacles at speeding up a World Series game so The Simpsons can air sooner.

Unfortunately, things don t go as planned, and the players, as well as the field, the stadium, the world, and the universe, all end up somewhere.

Part I of the mini-trilogy is B.I.: Bartificial Intelligence, in which Bart ends up in a coma after trying to jump from the roof into a swimming pool. His grief-stricken family tries to cope by taking in a robot son to replace Bart and guess which kid they wind up liking more.

Next up is Survival of the Fattest, in which Mr. Burns invites Homer and his derelict friends to his estate to go hunting. It turns out, though, that Homer and his pals are the prey and they re featured on a new reality show called The World Series Of Manhunter, hosted by Fox football analyst Terry Bradshaw.

Finally there s I ve Grown a Costume on Your Face, in which a witch turns everybody in Springfield into whatever character they were portraying for Halloween. The only one who can save them all is Maggie, who, dressed as a witch, has the power to reverse the spell. Everybody is relieved except Bart, who would rather remain a Wolfman: I don t want to reverse the spell, he whines. I can howl at the moon and eat rats.

Even though it s arriving a week late, The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror is a nice little Halloween treat.

Contact Mike Kelly at: mkelly@theblade or 419-724-6131.