Don't boo "The Simpsons"' latest "Treehouse of Horror"

It can be difficult sometimes to discern whether newer episodes of "The Simpsons" aren't as inspired as they once were or whether we've become so accustomed to the show's sensibility that we take the genius for granted. So: Ho hum, another OK "Simpsons" episode.

It's the 19th annual "Treehouse of Horror," and it begins with the most frightening scenario yet: Homer on voting day, trying to vote for Obama but the Diebold machine keeps registering his vote as being for McCain. "This doesn't happen in America!" Homer exasperatedly expostulates. "Maybe in Ohio, but not in America!"

The first two stories parody "Transformers" and "Mad Men" (well, at least its opening title sequence - the rest of the story concerns Homer killing celebrities so ad agencies can use their images without paying for them and then the celebrities return to earth to exact revenge). The best installment is the last, riffing on the Peanuts classic "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." It boasts many homages to the old Peanuts cartoons (they even got the rights to Vince Guaraldi's beloved music) - and the giant kid-eating jack-o-lantern.

Here's a retrospective of past gore-fests; it winds up being an ad for a DVD set, but there are still a couple of laughs in here.

Oh, and Fox is shutting down "King of the Hill" after more than 250 episodes. But then, when I was at the table read for the 200th episode, Kathy Najimy told me it had been cancelled then, as well. So who knows?

- "The Simpsons:" 8 p.m. Sunday, Fox (Channel 11).