The Simpsons: The Complete First Season
by Brad Bird, David Silverman, Gregg Vanzo, Kent Butterworth, Milton Gray
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Dan Castellaneta, Harry Shearer, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley SmithDirector: Brad Bird, David Silverman, Gregg Vanzo, Kent Butterworth, Milton Gray
Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Animated, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 394 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-09-25
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox
Product features:
- Condition: New
- Format: DVD
Movie Reviews of The Simpsons: The Complete First Season
Movie Review: Timeless And Essential; The Best 'Cartoon' Series Ever
Summary: 5 Stars
The Simpsons needs absolutely no introduction, and after 16 years on the air, it's pretty hard to talk about it in a review without heaping on the superlatives. Everybody in the world knows what The Simpsons is, and just how it has defined popular culture since its debut. Most critics agree that this is, by a large margin, the greatest TV series ever created. I'm not sure if I quite agree with this, but over time this may be the case. You have to understand that, even though I have been familiar with the show for as long as I can remember, it is only recently that I have taken a serious interest in it, which has culminated in the purhcase of The Complete First Season of The Simpsons on DVD.
The Simpsons is great for a number of reasons. One of these is that it works on so many levels. The dumbest person in your family can appreciate it for its humour in the literal sense, but also the most intelligent person in your family can appreciate it for the use of irony, satire and various other comedic devices that make it such an intelligent programme. Creator Matt Groening said that with the first season on The Simpsons, he had no idea what he was doing. This may have been the case, but he was definitely doing something right. This season contains only 13 episodes which the FOX network commissioned with a budget of $10 million. This was a risk at the time back in late 1989, but it has since paid off; the profit FOX has made from this phenomenon is now estimated at inexcess of a cool $1 billion.
The first episode of Season 1 is "Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire," which is a brilliant introduction to the family at Christmas. Homer failure as a department store Santa Claus, Bart's costly tatoo removal and a bad day at the dog track leave the family disheartened. Things look up when Homer brings home Santa's Little Helper and the family realise the true meaning of Christmas. "Bart The Genius" sees Bart switching I.Q. exams with Marten Prince, which results in a placement at a school for geniuses. His conscience soon gets the better of him, though, and Bart confesses all. "Homer's Odyssey" is a great episode where Citizen Homer is fired from his job and is caught in a web of nuclear hazards and public safety campaigns. "There's No Disgrace Like Home" is a true classic which sees Homer attempt to fix the major problems within his family after the realisation that his family is the worst in town. A visit to Dr. Marvin Monroe's facility is the hilarious high point.
"Bart The General" is an amazing episode which sees Bart form his own army to get back at Nelson, who beats him up after school for attempting to protect Lisa! In "Moaning Lisa," we see Lisa slip into her childhood depression! How can she be happy with so much suffering in the world? She finds comfort in her saxaphone, and a chance encounter with bluesy be-bop 'Bleeding Gums' Murphy. In "Call Of The Simpsons," the family take a trip into the woodland after Homer buys an RV in an attempt to compete with his annoying neighbour Ned Flanders. Of course, he crashes the RV over the edge of the cliff, which forces the family to survive in nature, amongst eagles, grizzly bears and Bigfoot! "The Telltale Head" sees Bart desperate to fit in with a bunch of rebellious teenagers that he is prepared to go to any lengths. This results in him cutting off the head of the local town's statue, Jebediah Springfield! "Life On The Fast Lane" is a great episode that sees Marge annoyed at Homer's lack of compassion towards her on her birthday. She turns to bowling in an attempt to try and make some use of the stupid bowling ball that Homer bought for her (or himself). She meets a man who tears her marriage apart - temporarily - before she is reunited with Homer.
"Homer's Night Out" is a classic in which Homer is caught on camera with an exotic dancer doing a bellydancer. Marge is unfuriated and forces Homer to teach Bart a lesson about women and their role as strong individuals in contemporary society. "The Crepes Of Wrath" sees Bart's bad behaviour reach fever pitch. In an attempt to control this, Principal Skinner sends Bart to France in exchange for an Albanian student. Bart leanrs how much his family means to him after his Hellish time. "Krusty Gets Busted" is a brilliant episode which sees the funny clown framed for robbery. The final episode of the season is the hilarious "Some Enchanted Evening," which sees Homer desperate to impress Marge after she is dissatisfied by his treatment of her. They go for a romantic meal and hire a babysitter for the children. Little do they know that their children are in the deadly hands of the notorious Babysitter Bandit!
This season sees the introduction of many well-loved characters, such as Marge's sisters, Patty and Selma, Ned Flanders and his diddly family, Montgomery Burns and his extremely heterosexual(!) sidekick Smithers, the legends that are Itchy and Scratchy, Grandpa Simpson, Reverend Lovejoy and his wife Helen, Krusty The Clown, Sideshow Bob and many others! This season also spawned many popular catchphrases such as "Ay carumba!" and the classic "D'oh!"
The hilarity of The Simpsons lies in its genius to turn traditional, Middle American values and flip them on their head. It shows America as the country it really is, without any sense of guilt or remorse, and because of this we love it. It is a bold, original, honest show that is totally one of a kind. Nothing like this will ever exist again, and the syndication of the show will literally run for decades and decades. We see ourselves in these characters because we are familiar with their ways of thinking. The Simpsons is so embedded in our public consciousness that I don't even have to go into as much detail about the characters of the show, it's premise or its creation as I would with any other show. All you need to know is that this DVD is essential, but be warned, once you buy this you've got at least another 17 to buy!
Summary of The Simpsons: The Complete First Season
The 13 episodes on The Simpsons - The Complete First Season are: "Some Enchanted Evening," "Bart the Genius," "Homer?s Odyssey," "There?s No Disgrace Like Home," "Bart the General," "Moaning Lisa," "The Telltale Head," "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire," "Call of the Simpsons," "Homer?s Night Out," "Life in the Fast Lane," "Krusty Gets Busted," and "The Crepes of Wrath."America's first family of dysfunction, the Simpsons, appear in all their depraved glory in this wonderful DVD compilation of their show's premiere season. Fans accustomed to the slick appearance of the later episodes will be delighted by the rougher nature of these earlier episodes, when the characters weren't as well defined (Homer isn't quite as dumb as he is in later seasons) and the animation was still evolving. This only adds to the charm of these 13 episodes, which begin with "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire," the December 1989 Christmas special in which a down-and-out Simpson family adopt Santa's Little Helper. Throughout the season, familiar faces are introduced, as we catch first glimpses of Smithers, Mr. Burns, the Flanderses, and Patty and Selma. Highlights of the season include "The Crepes of Wrath," in which Bart is sent to France as an exchange student ("Don't mess up France the way you messed up your room"); "Bart the Genius," in which Bart ends up in a school for the gifted; and "Krusty Gets Busted," in which Bart's lifelong animosity with Sideshow Bob begins. --Jenny Brown
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