After getting past Professor Frink's somewhat lame DVR joke (hasn't The Simpsons done these already?), "Treehouse of Horror XXI" opened with a great Office parody intro and we knew we were in for a treat.

Like the twenty Halloween specials that proceeded it, the episode was divided into three separate parodies between the commercial breaks.

The first segment, "War and Pieces," was a slightly untimely parody of the 1995 movie, Jumanji.  Timeliness aside, the story was actually a pretty entertaining lampooning some of our favorite childhood board games.  Any show gets bonus points for making fun of Mouse Trap.

Unfortunately, the second segment, "Master and Cadaver," which featured Hugh Laurie as a guest voice, was lost on me.  I've never seen the source material the story was based on, and the jokes, outside of the sexual innuendos, just weren't that good.

Luckily, the third story, and by far the most hyped of the three, "Tweenlight," was incredibly solid after the first two average outings.  It's really a shame The Simpsons can't break their Treehouse formula, because an entire half hour of Twilight could have been funny.

Full disclosure: I've only seen/read the first Twilight movie and book.  So, to me, the short adventure was a great parody of the movie and the vampire craze in general.  Sure, it wasn't a detailed parody, but the jokes were there.

Milhouse turning into a poodle.  Otto not only nearly hitting Lisa with the bus, and, again, with a Segway.  Homer killing the vampires with his cholesterol.  Good stuff all around.

It was definitely not the best Treehouse episode, but it had us laughing and gave us a Kang/Kodos cameo.  What more could we ask for a week after Halloween.

Now for our favorite of The Simpsons quotes from the outing:

Milhouse: Satan's path?
Bart: It's gotta be good if Satan put his name on it. | permalink

Monopoly Guy: There was a bank error in my favor and I'm spending it all on Oriental Avenue prostitutes. | permalink

Sideshow Mel: At least the cup is lined with felt.
Moe: Hey Mr. Positive, shut the hell up. | permalink

Otto: Why is there a steering wheel in my bedroom? | permalink

Edmund: You have beautiful eyes.
Lisa: They're just dots in circles. | permalink

Dracula: His blood! It's full of cholesterol!
Homer: And not the good kind. | permalink

Eric Hochberger is the programmer of TV Fanatic, so please forgive his mediocre writing. His programming is far better. Follow him on Twitter and/or email him. Just don't request threaded comments. They're coming.