An early Halloween: Bart vs. Satan and grease

Ah, the sweet memories of state fairs — bright lights, loud music, fast rides … and grease. Lots and lots of grease.
That’s what we see on “The Simpsons” (shown here), at 8 p.m. Sunday (Oct. 19) on Fox.
There are deep-fried pickles and deep-fried cheese steaks. There’s mac-n-cheese on a stick and fried butter sticks on a stick. There’s more.
What could go wrong? Plenty, since this is the annual “Treehouse of Horror.”
There have been 35 previous ones. (Last year’s is scheduled to rerun at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 26.) Most have a short intro and then three bizarre little tales. That’s usually right around Halloween, so the early date might be a surprise.
Hey, TV always has an odd calendar. Christmas movies have already started; next Tuesday, Oct. 21, NBC has the primetime start of the winter basketball season … before the summer baseball season ends.
So this week’s “Treehouse” is a bit earlier than usual … and a bit funnier … and a lot more satirical.
The first tale mocks our eating habits. There’s a desperate proposal to close the fair, as giant grease monsters emerge; even the “strategic grease reserve” is a threat.
The second (shown here), the weakest of the three, points to all the quality kids’ shows — including “Zoom,” “Electric Company” and “3-2-1 Contact” — that have ended. Meanwhile, Krusty’s “unfunny slapfest” continues.
And the third looks ahead to a world in which the only survivors are plastic — including plastic people.
All three are kind of scary — but so are vampire and werewolf tales. The “Treehouse” ones are funnier.