aforementioned censor Fox Censor being stabbed to death, was pitched by David Mirkin and had a difficult time getting through the real-life censors. They had issues with the size of the knife and the sound effects used. Originally, the TV-rating was supposed to stab Censor with a dagger, but Fox objected because it was too gruesome and was changed to a cutlass. The censors also objected to an unaired scene where Homer does his naked church dance on an altar. The scene was reanimated so that Homer was dancing naked in the front row. This episode was the only Treehouse of Horror episode that was directed by Mark Kirkland. It was also the last episode Brad Bird worked on; he left the show to direct The Iron Giant at Warner Bros. Animation. "Easy-Bake Coven" was storyboarded by Kirkland and the backgrounds were designed by Lance Wilder. Although Kang and Kodos make brief appearances in every Treehouse of Horror episode, their brief appearance in this one was nearly cut. David X. Cohen managed to persuade the producers to leave the scene in. Cultural references As with the majority of the Treehouse of Horror episodes, numerous cultural references are made throughout the episode. "The HΩmega Man" is an extended homage to film The Omega Man, which was one of Mike Scully's favorite movies as a child. In the same segment, Homer runs over Johnny and Edgar Winter while fleeing the mutants pursuing him, mistaking them as mutants as the Winter brothers are both albino. Homer doesn't seem to "get" Gary Larson's calendar. In the movie theater Homer watches a David Spade/Chris Farley comedy, just six and a half weeks after the episode aired Farley died of a drug overdose at age 33. The title "Fly vs. Fly" is a reference to the Mad magazine comic strip "Spy vs. Spy", while the segment itself is based on the film The Fly, with elements from the remake by David Cronenberg, primarily the telepod design. In "Easy-Bake Coven", the animators referenced the film The Crucible for many of their designs, and Edna Krabappel is wearing a Scarlet A, which is a reference to the novel The Scarlet Letter. "Easy Bake Coven" makes a reference the TV show Bewitched; when Patty and Selma refer to Homer as "Derwood", Marge corrects them, "His name is Homer." In Bewitched, Samantha's mother Endora often referred to Darrin as "Derwood"