Treehouse of Horror XIX

"Treehouse of Horror XIX"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.	424
Directed by	Bob Anderson
Written by	Matt Warburton
Showrunner(s)	Al Jean
Production code	KABF16
Original air date	November 2, 2008
Season 20 episodes September 28, 2008 – May 17, 2009 "Sex, Pies, and Idiot Scrapes" "Lost Verizon" "Double, Double, Boy in Trouble" "Treehouse of Horror XIX" "Dangerous Curves" "Homer and Lisa Exchange Cross Words" "MyPods and Boomsticks" "The Burns and the Bees" "Lisa the Drama Queen" "Take My Life, Please" "How the Test Was Won" "No Loan Again, Naturally" "Gone Maggie Gone" "In the Name of the Grandfather" "Wedding for Disaster" "Eeny Teeny Maya Moe" "The Good, the Sad, and the Drugly" "Father Knows Worst" "Waverly Hills, 9-0-2-1-D'oh" "Four Great Women and a Manicure" "Coming to Homerica"
Seasons
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"Treehouse of Horror XIX" is the fourth episode of the twentieth season of The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 2, 2008. This is the nineteenth Treehouse of Horror episode, and, like the other "Treehouse of Horror" episodes, contains three self-contained segments: in "Untitled Robot Parody", Transformer robots run amok in Springfield; in "How to Get Ahead in Dead-Vertising", Homer is hired by ad agents to kill celebrities so their images can be used for free; and in a Simpsons-style parody of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (called "It's The Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse"), Milhouse summons a demon pumpkin who goes berserk when it sees humans carving its brethren into jack-o-lanterns as part of Halloween tradition. It was written by Matt Warburton and directed by Bob Anderson.

A total of 12.48 million viewers tuned in to watch during its first airing, more than any other episode since "The Wife Aquatic". The episode received mixed reviews from critics, who generally regarded "It's the Grand Pumpkin, Milhouse" as the best segment. Shortly after airing, the episode was criticized by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) because a character (Nelson Muntz) casually uses the adjective "gay" to insult The Grand Pumpkin.

In the opening scene, Homer tries to vote for Democratic Senator Barack Obama in the 2008 American presidential election. However, the voting machine is rigged to turn his vote into one for Republican Senator John McCain. After six attempts to vote Homer heads out to report the mishap ("This machine is RIGGED! MUST TELL PRESIDENT MCCAIN!") but the machine sucks him in and kills him to hide the truth, then shoots his body out of the voting booth. Jasper sticks a patriotic-themed "I voted" sticker on Homer's forehead.