Complete Eleventh Season Reviewed
By Wesley Mead (wesley@snpp.com) - October 13, 2008
      "The Complete Eleventh Season" DVD set, featuring all 22 episodes from the series' eleventh season (1999 – 2000), is now available in the USA, Canada and the UK, and will be released across other R2 and R4 territories in the coming weeks.
     After a disconcerting 14-month wait, broaching the regular August and December schedule we had previously grown accustomed to since season five's DVD release back in 2005, Fox Home Entertainment finally deliver the complete season eleven of our favourite family – the third Mike Scully-helmed year – spread across four discs 5:6:6:5 and presented alongside generous helpings of bonus material.
     Quite why there was such a delay in the delivery of this season remains a mystery. While it was perhaps reasonable to expect last year's release of "The Simpsons Movie" to supplant any planned season release, the further ten month wait for this set is rather more inexplicable. The commentaries appear to have been recorded around a year ago, so it wasn't them holding up things; whereas the appalling packaging (more on that later) suggests quality control wasn't the problem. Whatever the reason, let's hope releases pick up the pace again soon - we'll never catch up to broadcast airings if they don't go back to releasing at least two season sets a year.
     But there's no doubt the wait for this set has been rather more subdued than those in years past. This is in no small part due to the overall decline in quality of the episodes presented here. Season 11 is perhaps the weakest year of The Simpsons to date: overly zany plots and poor characterisation plague the season, more often than not suffocating the occasional decent joke with insane, flitting, fleeting storylines and the greatest exhibition of "jerkass Homer" to date. There is the occasional gem – "Behind the Laughter" is a pitch-perfect satire of VH1's "Behind the Music" series; "Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder" delivers some genuinely heartwarming moments; and "E-I-E-I-D'oh!" delivers a genuinely amusing plot in the legendary concoction of Tomacco. Other episodes have high notes too: Homer's re-imagining of "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington" in "Beyond Blunderdome" and Bart's short-lived term as a faith healer in "Faith Off" are particularly noteworthy. There's undoubtedly some good moments throughout the 22 episodes here.
     Elsewhere, unfortunately, problems arise. The wholeheartedly disappointing "Kill The Alligator and Run" takes us down tangential plotline after tangential plotline without delivering even a hint of the biting satire of sharp wit that made earlier seasons so enjoyable. Incredulous third-act twists in "Little Big Mom", "Brother's Little Helper" and the infamous "Saddlesore Galactica" stretch the show's credibility beyond all reason. Maude Flanders is killed off without even a hint of the emotion Bleeding Gums Murphy was afforded in season six. "Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner?" and "Take My Wife, Sleaze" complete Homer's transformation from loveable oaf to irredeemable bastard. There are laughs to be had, certainly, but anyone with any investment in these characters will be too distracted by the absurd plots and characterisation concerns. As I said about season 10, it is perhaps casual fans who will get the most out of the episodes presented here: your average viewer is unlikely to take note of such problems. But for those who have been tuning into every episode and buying all the merchandise, enjoyment will be rather more sporadic.
     Special guest stars feature in more episodes than ever before, often to the point of going wasted ("Grift of the Magi" has four special guests – it's simply impossible to do them all justice in 22 minutes). Among those playing themselves are Mel Gibson, Mark McGwire, Lucy Lawless, Penn & Teller, Butch Patrick, John Goodman, Jay North, Henry Winkler, Gary Coleman, Clarence Clemons, Tim Robbins, Elwood Edwards, Britney Spears, Don Cheadle, Shawn Colvin, NRBQ, Betty White, Diedrich Bader, Kid Rock, Robert Evans, Parker Posey and Willie Nelson. Additionally, Marcia Wallace, Frank Welker and Joe Mantegna reprise their regular special guest roles. And that's not even an exhaustive list. Whew.
     Contrary to original plans, consumers in all regions once again have a choice of packaging for this season; "standard" or "Krusty plastic head". (Some reports suggest the Krusty head has the regular packaging underneath the plastic, but this has apparently not been universal). The plastic head is not as heavily stylised as previous sets - it's thinner and weaker. But real complaints lie with the internal packaging of the set. On the positive side, it's thinner than previous sets – good when shelf space is a concern – and there's some nice original artwork. On the negative side, it's just about the worst packaging I've ever seen for a DVD set, and I've seen a lot of DVD sets. Whatever Fox were going for here, they have failed. Fold out the digipak-style cardboard booklet that comes inside the DVDs and you may immediately wonder "where the hell are my DVDs?" There's no disc trays, not even any obvious disc holders. Nope, the discs are hidden entirely under the cardboard panels, in the thinnest of slots, making access without either scratching the disc or breaking the cardboard impossible. I could live with discs that are half-visible, like the recent R1 Futurama movie releases. Perhaps slightly more prone to scratching than regular disc holders, but at least you can get to the disc relatively easily. But Fox didn't even afford us that opportunity. The only hint as to where the discs sit are faint semi-circle indentations in the cardboard. It's a genuinely ridiculous concept, and it wouldn't surprise me if it was a deal-breaker for fans wary of continuing their Simpsons DVD collection beyond season 10. There's also a booklet, glossly and well-illustrated as usual, albeit lacking the unifying theme booklets for seasons 6 to 10 had. The digipak art is based on funfair attractions; while the disc art is based on a House Of Mirrors.
     The menu system remains the same as it has been since season five – they must be happy with it; I know I am, as right now they are both easily navigable and beautifully designed. The top half of the screen contains a animated screen featuring a variety of Simpson characters revelant to the episodes on that particular disc standing outside funfair attractions. The bottom half of the screen lists the episodes along with the lovely "Play All" option, and an "Extras" button. Each episode has two small buttons next to it: choosing the first, a triangle similar to a Play button, will play the episode; the other, with a "+" mark, will open a sub-menu, also themed, of which there can be several in a row, featuring scene, language, subtitle, commentary and deleted scenes options. There is a chapter stop after the opening of the show for quick skipping, as well as at several other points throughout each episode.
     As usual, the principal extra is the commentary on every one of the 22 episodes in the set. A fair range of contributors are present, though things seem slightly less varied this season. Showrunner Mike Scully turns up on every single one; though the once-regular Matt Groening, show creator, is present on just two, sadly. Other regulars throughout the set include crew members Matt Selman, Ron Hauge, George Meyer, Dan Greaney, Mark Kirkland, Steven Dean Moore, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Tim Long, Donick Cary, Pete Michels, Julie Thacker, Nancy Kruse, Neil Affleck, Larry Doyle and Carolyn Omine. A smattering of other crew members pop up for an episode or two, while on-air talent is represented by cast members Dan Castellaneta (three episodes), Yeardley Smith (one), and guest star Diedrich Bader (one). Each episode has between four and eight commentators. The tracks are, as ever, often hilarious and often informative, sharing interesting anecdotes a-plenty along the way (how Dan Castellenata writes with his wife without breaking into argument; how Bachman-Turner Overdrive recorded their parts separately due to tense inter-band relations; how "Days of Wine and D'oh'ses" was originally pitched at the same time as "Duffless" and was thus overlooked until seven years later). Mike Scully remains a fine anchor; naturally he defends the episodes to what is, in my mind, an unrealistic extent; but he jocularly acknowledges fan criticism of "Saddlesore Galactica" and "Kill the Alligator and Run" in particular, and comes across as a general good sport. But genuinely everyone contributes: from the animation staff, who continue to offer unparalleled insight into the ins and outs of putting the show to screen; to the writers and directors, who provide multitudes of interesting stories of how plotlines developed over time. My one qualm remains the relative lack of participation from cast members.
     Once again, the bonus material is certainly not limited to the commentary tracks. Kicking off the additional bonus features is the "In Line With Matt Groening" on disc 1, a three-minute reel of quick season eleven clips over which Matt discusses the DVD set at a great pace, in the same vein as the similar featurettes on previous seasons (although this time he sounds somewhat sarcastic about the quality of the season.. or am I just reading too much into his tone..?).
     Deleted scenes are supplied again: 18 minutes of clips from 20 episodes. All are entertaining, and are in the later stages of production – the only thing missing from most is some voice cleanup and sound effects. You can view them inserted into their respective episodes via a branching feature, or as a 18-minute reel (in which the scenes are preceded by 10 seconds or so of animation actually used in the episode, to give the scenes context) with optional commentary by Mike Scully on the final disc. The commentary is worth a watch, offering reasons for why each was cut (although as ever, most were chopped due to time restrictions).
     On the "Art and Animation" front, there are two in-depth "Animation Showcases" for the episodes "Beyond Blunderdome" and "The Mansion Family" featuring multi-angle animation comparisons from different stages of the animation process. They're fun enough, but as I said last time, a bit more variety at this stage in the DVD run couldn't hurt. There's also a sketch gallery. Sadly, there are no "A Bit From The Animators" segments this time – my favourite of the animation-themed features on past sets.
     There's also an interesting, but far too short, 5-minute "A Star on Hollywood Boulevard" featurette; a rather useless 4-minute montage of "The Many Faces of Krusty"; some original sketches; a Special Language Feature enabling us to view "Beyond Blunderdome" in different languages; and the occasional Easter Egg (including a video used for the Simpsons theme park ride - a great inclusion). It's another solid batch, but as I continue to point out, eleven seasons down the line we're still yearning for a substantial documentary or featurette. It's telling that every review, I only have to change the smallest parts of the text of this section. There's only so many Animation Showcases one can maintain interest in.
     The audio-video quality on this set is again excellent – it's continuing to improve with each successive season, and whilst we're still not quite up to the impressive digital quality we'll be expecting with season 14 onwards, we're getting very close indeed. The full-frame presentation (NTSC in R1, PAL in R2 and R4) is bright, sharp and fully detailed; it's only marred by the limitation of the source material. There is minimal grain and shimmering, and colours are vivid. The DD5.1 remaster is again excellent, and whilst largely front-focused, directional effects sometimes do make their way to the back, and the overall clarity makes for an improved listening experience. Dialogue and music alike come through clearly, if not quite as loud as you might hope. On the R1 set, French and Spanish DD2.0 soundtracks are also included, as are Spanish and English SDH subtitles. On the R2 UK set, there are no alternative audio options, but Dutch, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish and English SDH subtitles are available. (Obviously, local European releases will feature other language and subtitle options, depending on the native language). I extensively tested the English subtitles, which appeared accurate and true to the spoken word. The R1 subtitles continue to "drop out" for about 5 seconds, and then quickly catch up – I believe it is to do with the deleted scenes branching option, which also prevents manual switching of subtitles during the episode. This problem is not present on the R2 set. Unfortunately, the commentaries and extras are still not subtitled on R1, a let-down for fans with hearing impairments; but the UK R2 and AUS R4 release do feature subtitles on the bonus features, including commentaries.
     So, a weak run of episodes, continually diwndling bonus material, and shockingly bad packaging. There's no two ways about it: this season is not a must-buy in the same way earlier sets were. A handful of great episodes, alongside the continued provision of commentaries on every episode, may prove mitigating factors; but ultimately this one is for the die-hard collectors only.

The Simpsons - The Complete Eleventh Season


EPISODES: C - Some highlights, but far more lowlights
PRESENTATION: C - Great AV quality is cancelled out by unforgivable packaging
EXTRAS: B - A fair batch, as ever, but ingenuity and originality is needed
OVERALL: C+ - Fans will buy it anyway, but this season set is not "must-have"

     Future news concerning the DVDs, including the forthcoming Season 12 release, and any other compilation discs, will be added to our DVD News page.

A Look Back on Two Decades of The Simpsons
By Wesley Mead (wesley@snpp.com) - September 25, 2008
     Finnish fans of The Simpsons get a treat this week, as a new book about our favourite family is published. "Simpsonit - Keltaisen perheen kaksi vuosikymmentä" ("The Simpsons: Two Decades of the Yellow Family"), by The Simpsons Archive's own Jouni Paakkinen, hits the shelves of Finland's bookstores Thursday, September 25. But while that date's now upon us, the book – a 263-page account of the show's history and production – has been a long time coming.
     Indeed, Paakkinen has been hoping to publish a Simpsons book for many years now. "I was in contact with Mark Pinsky in 2000 – 2001 when he wrote The Gospel According to The Simpsons and being able to observe how Mark created his book, it made me think that it'd be great to do one some day too", Jouni notes. "Ever since I got my first publishing contract in 2003, I thought I was one step closer to this dream. However, as Finland is such a small market area for books and hardly any books about foreign TV shows have ever been made here, I wasn't sure how to sell my idea. But when The Simpsons Movie was the #1 movie of 2007 in Finland, everyone realized how big the show really was over here. In the fall of 2007 I was offered a chance to do this book."
     Since then, Jouni has been spending all of his free time on the book: "I spent nights, weekends, and most of my many holidays on it. I loved doing it and would've gladly continued it even further, but I guess you have to put a limit and a deadline somewhere!" As quite the expert in all things Simpsonian – "I had probably 90% of the material in my head when I started writing, I knew what I wanted to include" - Jouni's time was spent mostly fact-checking and digging out the most interesting anecdotes: "I've maintained SNPP's news page for over a decade and even before that I've wanted to know everything that there is to know about the show and things 'behind the scenes'. But I still needed to check much of the material, to make sure that I remembered it correctly, and to see if I could find anything new about each topic. I also needed to place everything precisely on the timeline."
     The final version of the book clocks in at 263 pages, "covering the history of the show, from its inception to present. I do discuss some episodes of special importance of each season, but the main focus is on the show's production and various events and occurences around The Simpsons over the past two decades. Also discussed are various merchandising issues, fans on the Internet, viewer feedback, animated shows that followed The Simpsons, etc." The book is also home to a lot of information that casual viewers are unlikely to have gleaned from official literature: "if you don't read all the articles you get your hands on or visit fan forums day-to-day, it's difficult to get a full picture, just some glimpses here and there. In this book all these little pieces have been put together, which hopefully makes it easier to see how things are connected and how it all came together."
     Aside from Jouni's book, the show has prompted a number of unofficial fan publications about the show, from episode guides to academic papers and analyses of the show's place within the pop culture lexicon. It's rare to find a show that garners such attention. Jouni has a clear understanding of just why that might be: "the show's longevity and the number of topics covered on it makes it easy to find references to various areas of life, whether it's religion, psychology, science or philosophy. The show is realistic, especially in its early seasons, which makes it a mirror of our society and its events. And the show's importance in popular culture – the way it references everything and how it has been referenced to - makes it a very fruitful soil for an author." So how much of a role did the website you're reading right now play in the completion of the book? "Naturally it was an important and very familiar source for me. In addition to the information it carries in itself, it also helps to track down other sources of information available elsewhere – magazines, newspapers, etc. However, despite my close personal connection to the site, the book is not by any means based on it, or endorsed by it. The approach and the contents are completely different and independent."
     As of now, the book is only available in the Finnish language. But translations to other languages, including English, may be on the horizon: "I didn't write the book for Finns only. Actually, everything revolves pretty closely around the USA, for obvious reasons! I did try to include a Finnish viewpoint whenever it seemed appropriate - for instance, Bonnie Pietila's Finnish origins were naturally discussed at length – but events from all around the world are included. We're only now starting to look into the possibility of translation. I very much hope that it gets translated in English at least, because it would make it accessible for so many people, regardless of their native tongue. But at the same time, I know the competition is stiff and getting a book originally written in a foreign language published in an English-speaking country is very difficult. I can only hope that my long-time dedication to the show makes a difference and that some publishing house would see this as an interesting opportunity." I'm sure I speak for all English-speaking readers when I say I share Jouni's hope on that front!

Simpsonit - Keltaisen perheen kaksi vuosikymmentä
By Jouni Paakkinen
Atena Kustannus Oy (2008)
ISBN 978-951-796-537-8

Press Release (In English)

An Emmy to The Simpsons
By Don Del Grande (ddelgran@snpp.com) - September 14, 2008
      The Simpsons has won the 2007-08 Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program Less Than One Hour, for the episode "Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind."
      The show did not fare as well in its only other nomination, as Alf Clausen lost the Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (for "Treehouse of Horror XVIII") award to Pushing Daisies's Jim Dooley.
      Other animation Emmys went to South Park's "Imaginationland" episodes (Animated Program One Hour or Longer) and to Camp Lazlo (a new Special Class Short-Format (15 minutes or less) Animation category).
      These awards were announced at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony on September 13, and a heavily-edited two-hour version will air on E! on September 20.

Two Emmy Nominations for The Simpsons
By Don Del Grande (ddelgran@snpp.com) - July 20, 2008
      The Simpsons received two nominations for the 2008 – 2009 Primetime Emmy Awards; one for the show itself, for the episode "Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind", and one for music composer Alf Clausen, for composing the background music to "Treehouse of Horror XVIII". These are the 45th and 46th nominations the show has received, including the 17th for animated programming and the 20th for the show for Clausen.
      The show's competition in the Animated Program Less Than One Hour category is:

• Creature Comforts America ("Don't Choke to Death, Please")
• King of the Hill ("Death Picks Cotton")
• Robot Chicken (the Robot Chicken Star Wars episode)
• SpongeBob SquarePants ("Inmates of Summer / Two Faces of Squidward")