Simpsons fans feel SMRT after spotting obscure video game easter egg in Treehouse of Horror

May 2024 · 3 minute read

The Simpsons has long since cemented itself into pop culture’s history books, but that’s never prevented it from adding parodies of its contemporaries to its long list of jabs at American culture and society.

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And there’s perhaps no better example of this than the sitcom’s Treehouse of Horror segments, in which the creative team plunges our beloved yellow buffoons into satirized storylines ripped straight from some of the greats, including Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, David Cronenberg’s The Fly, Netflix’s crown jewel Stranger Things, and, apparently, the 1996 United States presidential election.

But the latest installment of Treehouse of Horror brought Death Note into the mix, complete with anime art stylings that the animation team no doubt had the time of their life with.

With Lisa in the role of Light Yagami, she quickly stumbles upon the “Death Tome,” a mysterious book that can kill anyone that gets their name written in the pages.

But one fan noticed something peculiar about the list of names that Lisa was collecting for her purge.

on treehouse of horror lisa simpson used the death note to kill everyone from fighting baseball for super famicom pic.twitter.com/ighaGFkcV8

— D🌑CFUTURE (@topherflorence) October 31, 2022

It appears as though the writing team ripped the names of some of these victims straight from MLBPA Baseball, a Japanese-developed baseball game released in the mid-90s for the Super Nintendo. The game’s rosters of American players, all of them with hilarious, hastily made-up names such as “Sleve McDichael” and “Bobson Dugnutt,” has been immortalized in meme form for some time now, and it seems like they’ve found another perennial home in Treehouse of Horror.

Twitter instantly fell in love with the revelation, with some posting full player lists and mourning Lisa’s victims, while others went a step further and pointed out just how well the names fit with a Death Note parody.

For those who haven't seen it: the glorious full player list. https://t.co/rkiQ1QIc9F

— ArchiveOnTheInternet (@ArcOnInternet) October 31, 2022

Bobson Dugnutt might be the best name ever:

No! Not Bobson!

— Filth, Horror, but not Glamour (@jeditanuki) October 31, 2022

That’s what the English names in actual Death Note are like too. Who could forget Knick Staek.

— 🐝🐝🐝 👻 (@Many_Bees) October 31, 2022

The authors admitted they did this so nobody's real name would end up in the manga (or written in the death note) by accident.

Then, people joked that this Famicom Baseball game had names that sounded like they came from Death Note – and the Simpsons bring the joke full circle.

— Madison;Notes (WTC Spoilers) 🏳️‍⚧️ (@Mads_in_Zero) October 31, 2022

The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror is currently streaming on Disney Plus.

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