Treehouse of Horror XI - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

"Treehouse of Horror XI" is the first episode of The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

' twelfth season

The Simpsons (season 12)

The Simpsons 12th season began on Wednesday, November 1, 2000 with "Treehouse of Horror XI".The season contains four hold over episodes from the season 11 production line. The show runner for the twelfth production was Mike Scully. The season features three episodes that were produced for the...

and the 249th overall, and the eleventh Halloween episode. The episode features "G-G-Ghost D-D-Dad", "Scary Tales Can Come True" and "Night of the Dolphin" and was written by Rob LaZebnik

Rob LaZebnik

Rob LaZebnik is a television writer. He graduated from David H. Hickman High School in Columbia, Missouri and Harvard University. He currently works as a co-executive producer on The Simpsons and is credited with having written five episodes: "Treehouse of Horror XI" , "Homer vs...

(story by Mike Scully

Mike Scully

Mike Scully is an American television writer and producer. He is known for his work as executive producer and showrunner of the animated sitcom The Simpsons from 1997 to 2001. Scully grew up in West Springfield, Massachusetts and long had an interest in writing. He was an underachiever at school...

), John Frink

John Frink

John Frink is an American television writer and producer. He has written several episodes of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons, many of which he co-wrote with his former writing partner Don Payne. Frink and Payne started their career in television writing for the short-lived sitcom Hope...

and Don Payne and Carolyn Omine

Carolyn Omine

Carolyn Omine is an American television writer. She has written for Full House, The Parent 'Hood and The Simpsons. She was credited as an executive producer by the Simpsons' 17th season, although this changed to a producer in the 18th....

and directed by Matthew Nastuk

Matthew Nastuk

Matthew Nastuk is an animation director on The Simpsons. He started directing during the tenth season, and has since directed over a dozen episodes and continues to direct today.-Season Ten:...

.

This year's installment sees Homer as a wandering spirit who must do one good deed before going to Heaven ("G-G-Ghost D-D-Dad"), Bart and Lisa as genre-savvy peasant children who end up lost in a fairy tale forest in "Scary Tales Can Come True," and Springfield's population at war with sea mammals in "Night of the Dolphin."

The episode first aired on November 1, 2000, beginning a practice of the show's Halloween

Halloween

Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...

episodes debuting after the holiday itself due to Fox

Fox Broadcasting Company

Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...

's late-October prime time schedule being pre-empted by the network's coverage of the World Series

World Series

The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...