{alltv} 'The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror' is missing a few planks

Most of us have parties we go to just because we've always gone.

We all know that the occasion, once a seasonal highlight, is now more likely to be cozy at best and flat at worst. But old friends will be there, old habits are entrenched, and old hopes that magic can be recaptured linger. And even if the magic is irredeemably gone, attendance may still be better than your other evening options.

Which brings us to the 21st installment of The Simpsonspost-Halloween special Treehouse of Horror.

To say the special isn't what it once was is to state the obvious — and that's true even considering its ability to pull in guests like Hugh Laurie and Daniel Radcliffe. But while it may be down, that doesn't mean the show itself should be out. Indeed, in a lineup that includes the dismal Cleveland Show and the dismissible American Dad, the 22-year-old Simpsons doesn't even come close to being the Fox cartoon that has most worn out its welcome.

It is possible, however, it has worn out the Treehouse franchise. Tonight's three installments just seem to be reaching for jokes that aren't there, and falling in the attempt. Maybe we expect too much from The Simpsons, but we should be able to expect more than a running ship-bound sound-effect gag that is meant to be an aural double-entendre and instead seems smutty and heavy-handed. Compare it to a classic joke about sailors and women from the third Treehouse's King Kong parody — the kind of joke you actually had to think about to get — and you'll see what I mean.

The first of the three segments has Bart and Milhouse playing an old board game, Satan's Path. That immediately causes a host of other old board games to come to life, which is cute if, for some reason, you've always longed to see a spoof of Jumanjior see someone take Mouse Trap down a peg or two.

Things don't improve much in Laurie's segment, a Dead Calm-based story featuring the House star as a mysterious castaway. But they do look up a bit in Tweenlight, which casts Radcliffe as a young vampire with father issues.

As you'd hope from The Simpsons, the segments all boast a few clever moments that will make you smile if not laugh. But they're not scary, they're not particularly funny, and outside of some tepid Twilight jokes, they're no longer even trying to be real parodies of the original stories. And considering the satirical targets, that may be for the best. Granted, there's no expiration date on comedy, and movie lovers will no doubt appreciate the Clockwork Orange sight gag — but Jumanji? Dead Calm? Outside of the people who worked on them, who cares enough about those movies to want to see them spoofed?

Pick on someone your own size, Simpsons. You're bringing the party down.

The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror XXI
* * 1/2 out of four
Fox, Sunday, 8 ET/PT