Note on characters: from here on in I’ll be differentiating the characters in the story.
Tier1 (or T1) character(s) is or are the one(s) the story is most focused on, the star(s), so to speak. Usually this will be either Homer or Bart, or possibly both. It could also be Lisa, occasionally it might be Mr. Burns, Krusty, Skinner etc. Either way, the one(s) the story concentrates on, the one(s) without whom the story would not be possible.
Tier 2 will be the supporting characters, usually the rest of the Simpsons family. To qualify as a T2 the character(s) must be in more than one scene and have more than one speaking part. Thus, here, Marge is related to a T4 position while Lisa and Maggie are relegated to T5, as the latter only appear in one scene, and don’t speak, and Marge, though in more than one scene, is in a painting and so obviously does not speak.
Tier 3 characters are those who are in one or more scenes and have one speaking part
Tier 4 characters are those who are in one or more scenes but have no speaking part
Tier 5 characters are those who are in one scene only and do not have a speaking part.
Treehouse of Horror episode: 1
Year: 1990
Season: 2
Segment: 3 of 3
Segment title: “The Raven”
Writer(s): Sam Simon / Edgar Allan Poe
Characters:
T1: Homer, Bart (in the form of the raven)
T4: Lisa and Maggie
T5: Marge
Homage to? Duh.
Basic premise: If you know the poem, you know the story. If you don’t, go read it. You won’t be disappointed.
Best quotes: None really, as it’s pretty verbatim. The only ones that stand out are Bart’s comments to Lisa (who is relating the poem in the treehouse) such as when she says Poe opens the door and Bart mutters “This better be good!” only to hear her recite “darkness there; nothing more” and he retorts with “Do you know what would have been better than nothing, Lisa?
Something!”
There’s also Homer’s slightly changed “Take thy beak from out my heart and take thy form from off my door - why you little-!”
Other than that, nothing to report.
Type of ending: Very downbeat (hey, this
is Poe, after all!
Synopsis: Really? The story is based entirely - verbatim, other than Lisa’s introduction to it - on Edgar Allan Poe’s seminal work of the same name, featuring Homer in the role of Poe, who sits in a room mourning for the loss of his wife (Marge, shown in a picture, her hair so tall it needs an extra frame) and who thinks he hears something outside. It turns out to be a raven, who sits on a bust above his door and won’t leave. He fancies the bird caws “nevermore!” and I think you’re meant to believe this is the soul of his wife come back to haunt him, or something. Those who have studied the poem can explain it far better than I. But it’s chilling in its own way, and related very well. Other than that though, it’s exactly as written.
There are a few good touches. Bart making the raven say “Eat my shorts” before Lisa angrily corrects him, the chase around the study, the raven dropping books by Poe on Homer, and the mellifluous voice of James Earl Jones narrating, but otherwise there’s not much here to get excited about.
Rating: B (I can’t in fairness rate it too high; it’s well done but nothing original about it really)
Score
Story: 3
Laughs: 1
Originality: 1
Ending: 5
Longevity: 5
Total: 15