madcougar

I can't completely disagree with you, but the halloween episodes during those seasons are far, far superior to this year's - and I would consider most of them classics. The 12 stories between seasons 6 and 9 are: The Devil and Homer Simpson; Terror at 5½ Feet; Bart Simpson's Dracula; The Shinning; Time and Punishment; Nightmare Cafeteria; Attack of the 50 Foot Eyesores; Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace; Homer3 (Homer Cubed); The Thing and I; The Genesis Tub; and Citizen Kang.

For me the weakest of these was Terror at 5 1/2 Feet, which was still better than anything in the last TOH.

PhantomStranger

Aisha Tyler mentioned on the Tom Green Show how she loved it when they Simpsonized her Lana Kane character from Archer.

Count Dooku

No episode this week so I figured I would just post this little news item here rather than starting a new thread.

Goodfellas Actor Sues The Simpsons for Using His Likeness

http://www.people.com/article/goodfe...-sues-simpsons

Actor Frank Sivero, who played Goodfellas character Frankie Carbone, has filed a $250 million lawsuit against Fox Television Studios for basing one of The Simpsons's mob characters on his likeness.

The Valeyard

Based on the comments here, I watched the Halloween special last night. Dreadful episode. The Clockwork Orange segment was painful to watch.

Thanks, guys.

madcougar

EW ranks them all. As I said, the majority of the stories from seasons 6-9 top the list.

http://popwatch.ew.com/2014/10/18/si...orror-ranking/

My Other Self

This was the best Halloween special in quite some time, but obviously anything now will pale in comparison to the Golden Era ones. This was still pretty good, although I didn't care for the middle segment (probably because I've never seen A Clockwork Orange).

Still pretty enjoyable overall.

PhantomStranger

You haven't watched much of the past fifteen years, have you? We are grading on a curve for new episodes.

The Valeyard

^ I had no idea there was a new curve! No. I've only watched off and on since Season 12 and that's usually only the premiere episodes and the occasional Halloween Special.

Definitely better than this year's premiere.

Count Dooku

Fox Gets $250M ‘Simpsons’ Lawsuit From ‘Goodfellas’ Actor Tossed

Almost 10 months after Frank Sivero sued Fox for $250 million over claims that The Simpsons stole the Frankie Carbone character he portrayed in Goodfellas, the case was dismissed. In a hearing Thursday morning in L.A. Superior Court, Judge Rita Miller issued a tentative ruling to toss the actor’s complaint, first filed last October.

Sivero said the cartoon mobster was clearly based on his character from the 1990 Scorsese-directed drama because James L. Brooks essentially told him so. The 12-page filing alleged that producer Brooks was “highly aware of who Sivero was, the fact that he created the role of Frankie Carbone, and that The Simpsons character Louie would be based on this character.” The defendant has said “instead of being ‘based on’ plaintiff, ‘Louie’ clearly is a parody of Hollywood depictions of mobsters and an amalgamation of various mobsters from Goodfellas.”

The judge was quick to solidify her call that Sivero wasn’t the basis for The Simpsons‘ mobster, because the cartoon character doesn’t look enough like him to merit a continuation of the matter. “Even if Mr. Sivero's face was on this, as long as it is parody you can’t win.” The Golden State’s anti-SLAPP law puts the weight on a plaintiff challenging a First Amendment protected freedom of speech work to show they will likely win. The judge obviously thought that was not the case in this case.

PhantomStranger

Parodies have strong legal protection, that isn't surprising.