Das Bus vs. Treehouse of Horror IV

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Das Bus

The Springfield Elementary School Model United Nations club is going on a field trip. On the bus, Bart, Nelson, Ralph, and Milhouse are playing a game by racing fruit down the aisle. Milhouse rolls a grapefruit that gets stuck under the brakes. When bus driver Otto attempts to press down on the pedal, it squirts juice into his eyes, causing him to lose control and drive the bus off a bridge.

Otto attempts to swim for help but ends up being swept away by the current and picked up by Chinese fishermen. The students swim to a nearby tropical island, where Bart tries to tell the children that being stranded on an island is fun. Reality soon sets in when the island is found to be largely barren and the children lack survival skills. With no food found on the island and no adult supervision, the children rely on snack food retrieved from the sunken bus by Bart. They awaken the next morning to find the snacks all gone. Suspecting Milhouse because of his pot-belly and nacho cheese breath, the students put him on trial and he blames the loss on a mysterious island "monster".

Back at home, Homer discovers that Ned Flanders has his own home-based Internet business, and decides he wants to start his own company. His business is later dismantled by Bill Gates and his goons.

As there is insufficient evidence to prove Milhouse ate all the food, he is acquitted. The other students are not happy with this verdict and attempt to kill Milhouse, along with Bart and Lisa, who tried to intervene. The other students end up chasing them into a cave, where it is revealed that Milhouse's "monster" is actually a wild boar. On one of the boar's tusks is an empty bag of chips, revealing that it was the actual culprit for eating the snacks. The kids kill the boar and eat it (except for Lisa, who adheres to her vegetarianism). The episode concludes with a comically obvious deus ex machina ending, narrated by James Earl Jones

Treehouse of Horror IV

Bart introduces each of the three segments by walking through a gallery of paintings and each time choosing one of them as the focus of his story.
The Devil and Homer Simpson

In a parody of The Devil and Daniel Webster, at work, Homer states that he would sell his soul for a doughnut after finding that Lenny and Carl took all the doughnuts and threw them at an old man (Abe Simpson) "for kicks". The Devil, revealed to be Ned Flanders, appears and offers Homer a contract to seal the deal. However, before Homer finishes the doughnut, he realizes that Ned will not be able to have his soul if he does not eat all of the doughnut and keeps the final piece in the refrigerator. Unfortunately, while half-asleep and looking for a midnight snack, he eats the final piece of the "forbidden donut", and Ned instantly reappears to take possession of Homer's soul. Marge and Lisa plead with Ned, finally getting him to agree to hold a trial the next day. Until then, Homer is sent to spend the rest of the day being punished in Hell. At the stroke of twelve midnight, Ned brings Homer back to the Simpson household for his trial. Then, when the Simpsons' lawyer, Lionel Hutz, flees after ruining his case, Marge makes a final effort to save Homer by displaying a photo from their wedding day. On the back of the photo, Homer has written that, in return for Marge giving him her hand in marriage, he pledges his soul to her forever; therefore, it was not his property to sell at the time of his deal with Ned. The jury rules in favor of the Simpsons and the presiding judge dismisses the case. Enraged, the Devil leaves, but not before he turns Homer's head into a doughnut.

Terror at 5½ Feet

In a parody of the Twilight Zone episode, "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet", after having a nightmare in which he is killed in a bus crash, Bart rides the bus to school one rainy morning. He panics when he sees a gremlin on the side of the bus loosening the lug nuts on one of the wheels. Bart unsuccessfully tries to convince the other passengers of the danger. In desperation, Bart climbs halfway out the window to scare off the gremlin with an emergency flare. The gremlin catches fire and falls from the bus, but is found by Ned Flanders, who decides to adopt the creature. When the bus finally stops, everyone sees the obvious damage, but Bart is still sent away to an insane asylum for the rest of his life for his disruptive behavior. Bart is relieved as he is finally able to rest, but the gremlin appears in the back window of the ambulance, holding Flanders' decapitated (yet still living) head, which makes Bart scream in terror.

Bart Simpson's Dracula

In a parody of Bram Stoker's Dracula, after a news story about several vampire attacks, Lisa begins to suspect that Mr. Burns is a vampire, but the rest of the family dismisses her concerns. The family is invited to Burns' castle in Pennsylvania, where Bart and Lisa discover a secret staircase descending to an eerie basement filled with coffins. As they investigate, vampires emerge from the coffins and encircle them. Lisa escapes, but Bart activates the "Super Fun Happy Slide", causing him to be captured and get bitten by Burns. Bart returns to the table with Burns, who tells him to take a seat. Bart is very pale and is behaving oddly, but these factors get little attention by the family. Later that night, Lisa is awakened by a now undead Bart and his vampire friends. When Bart is about to bite Lisa, Homer and Marge interrupt and discover that Bart is a vampire. Lisa claims that the only way to restore him is to kill the head vampire, Mr. Burns. The family returns to the Burns' mansion, where Homer drives a stake through Burns' heart. Unfortunately, despite Burns' death, Bart still remains a vampire. To make things worse, Lisa discovers that everyone in the Simpson family except for herself is a vampire, and that the true head vampire is inexplicably Marge, not Mr. Burns. With this revelation, the whole entire family swoops in on Lisa, only to stop and wish everyone a happy Halloween. Then, they all harmonize "Hark the Herald Angels Sing", parodying A Charlie Brown Christmas.

[Farmer John]

Das Bus is just ok, and "The Devil and Homer Simpson" might be the best Treehouse of Horror segment of all time.

[tragabigzanda]

Das Bus is just ok, and "The Devil and Homer Simpson" might be the best Treehouse of Horror segment of all time.

Amen, Farmer John

[LoathedVermin72]

"Das Bus", easily. TOH is no slouch, but as I've said before, DB might be my favorite episode ever.

[Simple Torture]