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Treehouse of Horror XV

episode of The Simpsons (S16 E1)

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 15, 2026
Entity authorityQ2583910 ↗
Source-derived summary

"Treehouse of Horror XV" is the first episode of the sixteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 7, 2004. In the fifteenth annual Treehouse of Horror, Ned Flanders' head injury gives him the power to predict others' deaths, Bart and Lisa play detective when a string of Victorian-era prostitutes are murdered by Jack the Ripper, and the Simpsons go on a fantastic voyage inside Mr. Burns' body to save Maggie. It was written by Bill Odenkirk and directed by David Silverman. Around 11.29 million Americans tuned in to watch the episode during its original broadcast. Airing on November 7, it is the latest date that a Treehouse of Horror has aired, (tied with "Treehouse of Horror XXI") but had to be held back a week due to Fox's contractual obligation to air the World Series.

Plot

Opening sequence

Kang and Kodos star in a fictional sitcom, entitled Keepin' it Kodos. In it, Kodos is preparing their boss' visit by cooking dinner: Homer on a baking tray (continually eating himself), Bart on a skillet, Marge and Maggie in pies and Lisa in a soup (with Bart seemingly being the only family member to be in pain). The boss gives the meal a delicious rating, but his stomach bursts, liberating Bart.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Treehouse of Horror XV” as episode of The Simpsons (S16 E1). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2004—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2004-11-07. The account is most persuasive where Treehouse, Horror and episode can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as episode of The Simpsons (S16 E1). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2583910. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2004.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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  2. Expand the search: follow Treehouse of Horror XV primary sources, Treehouse of Horror XV archive and Treehouse research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Treehouse of Horror XV” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.