| "Helter Shelter" | |
|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 14 Episode 5 |
| Directed by | Mark Kirkland |
| Written by | Brian Pollack Mert Rich |
| Production code | DABF21 |
| Original air date | December 1, 2002 |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
| Episode features | |
| Chalkboard gag | "Milhouse did not test cootie positive" |
| Couch gag | In a parody of the MacIntosh paint program, Kid Pix, a mouse cursor drags Homer from the left side of the couch to the right, changes the wall color from pink to green, and replaces Marge's boat painting with the Mona Lisa. |
| Commentary | Al Jean Dan Greaney Carolyn Omine Kevin Curran Mark Kirkland David Silverman J. Stewart Burns Allen Glazier Steven Dean Moore |
"Helter Shelter" is the fifth episode of the fourteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 1, 2002. In the episode, the Simpson family has to find temporary residence while their house is fumigated for termites. When they run out of options, they decide to become contestants on a reality show where families live in the manner that people did in 1895. The family is initially miserable, but slowly adapt to their new life, which causes the show to lose ratings. The producers decide to try to boost viewers by dumping the house in a river and forcing the family to survive in the wilderness. However, the Simpsons find a bunch of rejects from other reality shows and they attack the producers.