The Simpsons: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Season 2
Simpsons-Mania Begins To Run Wild.
It's October 11th 1990.
You've just finished a game of Double Dragon on your Game Boy and are listening to your new LL Cool J album when, suddenly, you look at the clock.
Oh no! You run downstairs, turn on your comically small CRT television set and are relieved to see that you haven't missed it.
A brand new season of The Simpsons.
After one hell of a debut year, The Simpsons returned to TV as a sophomore. It knew a bit more about the campus and was a lot closer to figuring itself out.
It wasn't quite the cool senior we all know and respect, but it was getting there.
With a new season came new challenges. They had nine more episodes to fill and they also had to deal with the pressure of being one of the most popular TV shows in the country. No one had seen anything like The Simpsons when its first season hit the screens. Now they had to follow it up.
Luckily, that's exactly what they did, and Season 2 is home to some of the most iconic Simpsons episodes and moments of all time.
However, as with the first season of the show, what you think you know about this season is just the tip of the iceberg.
10. Enter The Treehouse
On 25th October 1990, viewers were treated to a very different episode of The Simpsons.
Real life through a yellow-lens was replaced with three flights of fearful fancy as the very first Hallowe'en special of the show spooked up the airwaves.
The episode - simply entitled "Treehouse of Horror" - is well-known to fans of the show, but its origins may not be.
The special was inspired by EC Comics, best known for their Tales From The Crypt series. The idea of this homage was described by current-showrunner, Al Jean, as "really original and kind of shocking for a cartoon on network television", which is funny when you look at what cartoons produce for their regular episodes these days.
"Treehouse of Horror" is full of brilliant little tidbits.
Aliens, Kang and Kodos, take their names from characters in Star Trek.
James Earl Jones (who you'll remember from the Season One list was almost the voice of Sideshow Bob) narrated "The Raven" segment and provided the voice for one of the aliens.
Alf Clausen, the man responsible for most of the music you will recognise from The Simpsons, worked on the show for the very first time in this episode.
This is a fascinating episode from a historical standpoint and the segments still hold up thirty years after they first aired.