Bart's teacher, Mrs. Krabappel, has become fed up with his lackadaisical scholastic habits. After bluffing his way through a book report and failing a geography exam, Krabappel gives Bart an ultimatum: Shape up or be retained in fourth grade.
In this trilogy of horror-themed Halloween stories, Bart and Lisa attempt to scare each other with tales of the macabre. In first,"Bad Dream House", the Simpsons inhabit a haunted home, which possesses their souls, and causes them to attempt to kill each other. But after spending enough time with the Simpsons, it is the house, which kill itself, vanishing into another dimension. In the second segment, "Hungry are the Damned", the Simpsons accuse the monsters of planning to eat them, but the offended aliens reveal they were only planning a sumptuous meal for the family...
A three-eyed fish is caught in the Springfield River downstream from the nuclear plant, leading to a government safety inspection. When Mr. Burns is told that the plant will be shut down, he gets drunk in his car with Homer. Homer remarks that if Burns were governor, he could make new laws to keep the plant open. Burns seizes on this remark and announces his candidacy. Afraid for his job, Homer pushes his family to campaign for Burns, but Marge is a staunch supporter of the incumbent, Mary Bailey. On the night before the election, Burns dines at the Simpson home as a ...
Overcome with jealousy at Ned Flanders's affluent lifestyle and affectionate family, Homer paints him as a snobbish jerk to the rest of his family and looks eagerly for an opportunity to show him up. He finds it in an upcoming miniature golf tournament, and enters Bart against Ned's son Todd.
On Thanksgiving, Bart learns about the meaning of the holiday when he runs away from home (after getting into a fight), then shares a turkey dinner with homeless people at a soup kitchen.
While skateboarding down the street, Bart is hit by a car driven by Mr. Burns. Homer turns down Mr. Burns' token offer of $100, and instead hires ambulance-chaser Lionel Hutz to bring an outrageous lawsuit.
After attending a co-worker's wedding, a depressed Selma begs Marge to help her find a man. Marge sets Homer to the task, and Homer is impressed by Principal Skinner. Homer invites Skinner to the Simpson home for dinner, but accidentally introduces him to Selma's twin, Patty.
After an uncontrollable Santa's Little Helper destroys several important Simpson possessions, Homer announces that he will be thrown out of the house unless he completes obedience training.
Lisa has a crush on her substitute teacher, who seemingly represents everything that Homer is not. Meanwhile, Bart decides to run for class president, and becomes the overwhelming favorite.
Homer can't decide which is more important: going through a counseling seminar to save his marriage, or skipping out to catch a legendary fish. Back at home, Bart and Lisa try to take advantage of Grandpa, who is their babysitter.
Bart saves Mr. Burns's life. But Homer becomes enraged when Mr. Burns doesn't return the favor by sending the Simpsons what he considers to be an appropriate "thank you" gift.