Alien with Dan Vebber
What with the grim specter of everything, Halloween just wasn’t enough to contain all the frights and chills! Simpsons writer Dan Vebber joins the podcast to extend the spooky season by walking us through his award-winning episode “Thanksgiving of Horror” (S31E8) and its parody of Ridley Scott’s sci-fi horror masterpiece, Alien (1979).
Also in this episode:
Why Martin Prince is the perfect stand-in for the android Ash
Alien’s connection to H.P. Lovecraft
Adam and Dan’s defense of Alien³
The story of Dan’s son’s first word… while watching Apocalypto
Next time, film critic and horror aficionado Dede Crimmins returns to reanimate Frankenstein (1931), and its double parody in “Treehouse of Horror II” (S3E7).
For more of Dan’s work, tune in to new episodes of The Simpsons Sundays at 8pm (EST) on Fox and the day after on Hulu.
For more Simpsons movie parody content, follow us at @simpsonsfilmpod on Instagram, TikTok, Threads, YouTube, and Letterboxd. Discover more great podcasts on the That Shelf Podcast Network.
Deep Dive with Dan: Thanksgiving of Horror
In our podcast episode, Dan Vebber helped us unpack his extended parody of Alien in the third segment of “Thanksgiving of Horror” (S31E8). While the characters don’t line up one to one and the monster has a very different vibe, the premise, cinematography, and a few key moments from “The Last Thanksgiving” are unmistakably riffing on this sci-fi classic.
Just like the opening of Alien, the segment opens with a montage of the ship waking up, ending with the hypersleep chambers opening and our cast of humans slowly emerging.
One of the most violent killing scenes in the episode plays out much like Brett’s death in Alien, with the monster silently descending out of an overhead vent, and much of the violence playing out in shadows on the face of an onlooker. However, in this case, Bart, Lisa, and Milhouse take the place of Jones the cat.
The most direct parody of Alien comes when Martin Prince betrays his fellow crew members, and reiterates part of the speech that Ash the android gives in this movie, saying, “I admire its purity.”
The segment ends with Bart and Lisa blowing the monster out of the airlock, just like Ripley does at the end of Alien.
As a nod to the climax of this movie’s sequel Aliens (1986), Bart also uses a yellow forklift that resembles the Power Loader to move the cranberry sauce monster’s can into the airlock.
Every Simpsons Reference to Alien
By our count, Alien has been directly referenced 6 times in the first 13 seasons of The Simpsons. The first reference appears in “Treehouse of Horror” (S2E3) from 1990, 11 years after the release of the movie.
Scene References
Deep Space Homer (S5E15): While preparing for his spaceflight, Homer watches an episode of The Itchy & Scratchy Show that includes a parody of this movie, where Itchy bursts out of Scratchy’s chest.
Sweet Seymour Skinner’s Baadasssss Song (S5E19): When Groundskeeper Willie tries to get Santa’s Little Helper out of the school vents, Skinner tracks his movements just like the crew do in this movie when Dallas hunts the xenomorph through the vents.
Treehouse of Horror IX (S10E4): Two distinct moments in this episode may be an homage to the facehugger from this movie. In the first segment, an evil toupee latches onto Bart’s face, while in the third segment, an alien Maggie attacks Jerry Springer’s face in a similar way. (unconfirmed)
Small References
New • Treehouse of Horror (S2E3): On the commentary for this episode, David Silverman notes that some of the corridors on Kang and Kodos’s spaceship were modeled after Alien. Upon closer inspection, we think the moment where Lisa runs around a corner is modeled after a similar shot where Brett and Parker have a walking conversation.
Boy-Scoutz ‘n the Hood (S5E8): One of the popular cabinets at Springfield’s arcade is called “Alien,” likely in reference to this movie. However, while there was a 1982 video game created for the original film, the first Alien arcade cabinet was created for its sequel Aliens in 1990.
Bonus: Other References to the Alien Franchise
Aliens
Bart the Murderer (S3E4) & It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge (S11E21): In both of these episodes, a character is seen playing the knife game “Five Finger Fillet.” While this game certainly predates the movie Aliens, they may have been inspired by the android Bishop’s famously fast version of it in this movie. (unconfirmed)
The Lastest Gun in the West (S13E12): When retired cowboy Buck McCoy saves the day, the bad guys he outwits have guns modeled after the M41A Pulse Rifle from this movie.
Alien 3
New • Treehouse of Horror VI (S7E6): The title of the final segment in this episode is a parody of Alien 3 (1992), particularly the way the “3” was styled in superscript in promotional material.
But this reference goes beyond a simple homage to become a typically Simpsonian math joke. While the movie misuses the superscript 3 just for style, The Simpsons actually use it properly to indicate “Homer cubed,” foreshadowing the transformation of Homer into a 3D character in this segment. Take that, David Fincher! (Just kidding, we love you.)
Bonus: Other Cultural References in Thanksgiving of Horror
During our conversation with Dan Vebber, he confirmed and debunked a number of other cultural references in his episode “Thanksgiving of Horror” (S31E8):
Segment 1: A-Gobble-Ypto
Debunked - Schindler’s List (1993): While there is a similar scene in this movie, the moment where the turkey family is paraded in front of a crowd of pilgrims and one of the children draws a finger over their throat is a reference to Apoclaypto (2006), the plot parody for this entire segment.
Segment 2: The Fourth Thursday After Tomorrow
Westworld (1973): When Homer’s face falls off to reveal a metal exoskeleton, this is loosely inspired by the way the android faces pop off in this movie.
Segment 3: The Last Thanksgiving/The First Blarg-sgiving
Dungeons & Dragons (TTRPG): The cranberry sauce monster is primarily inspired by the Gelatinous Cube, a monster from this classic TTRPG, and less so movie monsters from The Blob (1958, 1988), Pandorum (2009), or Life (2017).
Freaks (1932): The kids chanting and banging their cutlery around the table is a reference to a famous scene from this movie, where the carnival folk chant, “Gooba gabba, one of us.”
Star Trek: The Next Generation (TV, 1987-94): This segment includes numerous references to Star Trek, including starting the story with the captain’s log, the replicator machine, and the sound of the hatch opening when they throw the bags of seeds overboard.
Avatar (2009): When the family crash lands on the alien planet, the natives they encounter are loosely inspired by the Na’vi from this movie.
Matt Selman: The buttons on the replicator that say “Zip Zap Zorp” are a reference to a common phrase said by Simpsons showrunner Matt Selman instead of “etcetera.”
End Credits:
Disturbing Strokes (YouTube, 2009): The closing credits for this episode are a parody of the viral YouTube video “Disturbing Strokes,” which sets the opening credits of Diff'rent Strokes (1978-85) to the score from The Dorm That Dripped Blood (AKA Pranks, 1982).
Extra Credit
Looking for more like this or an interesting double feature? Here are our recommendations.
From Adam: Wreckage and Rage: Making ‘Alien³"'‘ (2003), The Martian (2015)
From Nate: Annihilation (2018), Scavenger’s Reign (TV, 2023), Live A Live (Video Game remake, 2022)
Further Reading & Viewing
Article: Sean Wilson, “How the Alien Scores Have Evolved Across the Franchise,“ Curzon, August 8, 2024.
Oral History: Ridley Scott, “The making of Alien's chestburster scene,“ The Guardian, October 13, 2009.
Exhibit: “Infinite Worlds of Science Fiction,“ Museum of Pop Culture (Seattle, WA), webpage accessed November 4, 2025, which includes models from this movie!
Encyclopedia Entry: “Alien,” AFI Movie Catalog of Feature Films, accessed November 2, 2025.
Much to Jerry Goldsmith’s chagrin, Ridley Scott reused part of Goldsmith’s score from Freud (1962), rather than the music cue he wrote especially for the air shaft scene in Alien (1979).
