(S18E04) I always try to give the Simpsons Halloween specials the benefit of the doubt, because obviously when they first decided to do one for each season, starting with "Treehouse of Horror I" in season two, they probably weren't thinking they might have to keep coming up with three new vignettes every year for almost two decades, with no clear sign of stopping anytime soon.

So I cut the series a little bit of slack when it comes to these Halloween episodes, because sometimes you just run out of scary things to spoof and you end up creating something like "You Gotta Know When to Golem," about a mystical Jewish creature who becomes Bart's unwitting slave. But even though this was the least of the three stories this year, it did have some funny moments. I loved how the family created a bride for the Golem out of Play-Doh, and how the Golem turned from a silent killing machine to a neurotic freak that won't shut up the moment he's allowed to speak.

You knew they'd have to get around to it sooner or later. The final segment of the upcoming Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror" episode on November 5 will take a few not-so-subtle shots at the current conflict in Iraq as aliens Kang and Kodos (who are featured in every "Treehouse of Horror") attack Springfield before the humans can get their hands on "weapons of mass disintegration". The connection to the Iraq war is made obvious, and there's even a line at the end in which a character evokes the actual Iraq debacle. Executive producer Al Jean says the line may be too obvious and not make it into the episode. It'll be interesting to see how the show handles the segment, though I wonder why they didn't try to tackle this subject as a full "regular" episode, which I think they could have done fairly easily. Then again, they may still have plenty of time to do just that.