Popular culture aficionados and entertainment critics alike have been saying for quite some time now that the last ten or twelve years of television has seen some of the worst shows in the medium’s history. The nineties were filled with more flashes in the pan than an Iron Chef marathon, and even the longer running shows seem to be forgettable tripe the further away they get in our collective rear view mirrors. It’s mindboggling to think a show like Mad About You ran the better part of the decade, isn…t it? What about Wings? Remember the sixty-eight Steven Bochco creations that weren’t NYPD Blue? In the last twenty years, there really are very few shows that will be remembered for decades to come, and even fewer sitcoms. You’ve got your B-listers like Frazier (snooze), Married With Children (good for about three years), Home Improvement and the fluffy Friends (which I still cannot see the redeeming quality in). There really are only three “immortals” in the last two decades of situation comedy on the small screen: The Cosby Show (pre-Rudy’s moustache), Seinfeld (pre-Susan’s death), and the top of the heap, The Simpsons. In fact, some (myself included) consider The Simpsons the best prime-time comedy of all time, besting even giants like All In the Family, Cheers or M*A*S*H. Blasphemy, you say?
Think about it this way: from the season we have here, the show’s third, from 1991, through the 2001 season, no show on television was as consistently funny as The Simpsons. Each episode was packed with two or three levels of jokes and allusions, maximizing rewatchability to a level that no show ever had, using everything from broad humor gags to obscure movie and literary references. Its animated nature meant that things could happen to characters that one couldn’t do to real-life actors, and that there was never any travel budget. Want to do The Simpsons in Tokyo, Australia, Africa, Los Angeles? Just draw a different background. That means The Simpsons had a bigger universe to work in. It also means that the characters never age, meaning there’s never any need to do a “cute infusion” like The Cosbys did. Bart will always be ten, Lisa will always be eight, and Maggie will never speak a line. All In The Family and The Cosby Show, even had to throw new pie-faced smiling little scamps into their later episodes in an effort to punch up the cute factor. Instead, this tactic just ratchets up the annoying factor and pronounces the show’s death-knell even more clearly. That’s never going to be an issue for Springfield’s first family. Their cartoon world also allows The Simpsons to be far less politically correct in their humor. What other show could have the main character beating up a former President? How many jabs at both the right AND left wings have you seen Friends make over its run? Somehow, in spite of being yellow-skinned, four-fingered doodles, even periphery Simpsons characters find a way to be fully three dimensional personalities (it’s not really a mystery…the writing staff has to be a Murderer’s Row lineup of brains and comedians). Musical numbers and guest spots on live-action shows either seem overly-contrived or thrown-together, and are always a nightmare (remember Cop Rock?). The Simpsons, the most musical show on television, finds a happy medium, every time. One simple, mathematical fact has to be the strongest evidence to this show’s long term brilliance. If one took away the fifty worst episodes of The Simpsons, it would leave over 250 shows that are funnier than everything else on TV. That’s TEN YEARS of comedic gold. No other show can make that claim, and that’s why this is the landmark show of the last 25 years, even with its weaker last two years.
Season Three of the show is almost universally considered the beginning of The Simpsons as we know them. The animation smooths out. Homer’s voice becomes more familiar. The show stops trying to have “cushy” endings about halfway through, getting more into the absurdity of family than trying to make them into a “TV family.” The show finds its footing on the set’s second disc, and starts the nearly decade-long comedic peak that was to follow. The discs contain the following episodes:
- Stark Raving Dad
- Mr. Lisa Goes To Washington
- When Flanders Failed
- Bart The Murderer
- Homer Defined
- Like Father Like Clown
- Treehouse Of Horror II
- Lisa’s Pony
- Saturdays Of Thunder
- Flaming Moe’s
- Burns Verkaufen Der Kraftwerk
- I Married Marge
- Radio Bart
- Lisa The Greek
- Homer Alone
- Bart The Lover
- Homer At The Bat
- Separate Vocations
- Dog Of Death
- Colonel Homer
- Black Widower
- The Otto Show
- Bart’s Friend Falls In Love
- Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?
Video
Season Three was the 1991 season, which is well before the animators took The Simpsons to all-digital animation, which means that the picture contains more analogue noise than subsequent seasons will. At times it actually works FOR the presentation, as it doesn’t fall victim to zig-zag edges and harsh framestops, like fully-digital animated Family Guy and Futurama can. Thankfully, this softness and minor flecking here or there are about the only thing wrongs with the fullscreen (of course) presentation of The Simpsons Complete Third Season. This is a significant step up in quality over the syndicated reruns of the same episodes. Colors are far more consistent and vibrant, not only in the skin tones (something that can fluctuate on syndicated re-runs), but in the neons and darker tones as well. This DVD is, as hoped, as good as Season Three has ever looked. All menus are animated, but the main menus feature an extra kick: whenever an option is selected, a different fate befalls the Simpsons, sitting on their couch. I watched these over a weekend, and didn’t see the same animation twice. As Bumblebee Man would see, viva la Fox DVD!
Audio
Even though Season Three wasn’t originally designed for a full surround mix (as current seasons have been), Fox offers a well-polished 5.1 mix as the main track for the discs. Let’s face it: no one expeted The Simpsons to be an audio virtuoso on DVD, and it certainly isn’t. Most of us are used to enjoying the show on television, in a mostly 2.0 environment, and frankly, that’s what the 5.1 track here sounds like. Most of the action is anchored in the center channel, but there are instances of localization in both the right and left channels, as well as numerous soundpans. What costs this track a high score is the lack of use of the rear stage, as well as the dead subwoofer channel. Had this been a 2.0 or 3.0 format, it would have been easier to score it higher, but putting itself in the 5.1 club makes it seem a little lackluster. Spanish and French tracks are also available (and worth listening to, especially if you’re familiar with these episodes), as are English closed captions.
Special Features
Thanks in no small part to the cooperation of the creators of The Simpsons, Fox has put together what might be the most impressive extras package on a television show DVD. The most impressive supplement is the commentary tracks. Every television set I’ve come into contact with has maybe one commentary a disc, if that…The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season has a commentary track on every single episode, and not one of them is blasé. They feature various cast and crew members in various numbers, from voice talent to directors to show runners to Groening himself. I was worried these might be the “hacked together” type of crap that usually comes with these large-cast tracks, but they’re actually all in the same room, interacting and commenting with each other. One theme runs throughout: their obvious closesness that’s developed over the last thirteen years. They’re all funny and easygoing tracks, definitely worth checking out for the big time Simpsons fan. High marks!
Depending on the episodes, the viewer will find various other supplements. Some have Matt Groening Storyboards for entire episodes, available with the episode audio (the best way to appreciate storyboarding). Others have working sketches, utilizing a Matrix-style interface, as a pencil icon will pop up on the bottom of the screen and take the viewer to a related drawing. Speaking of pop-ups, many episodes also have pop up Simpsons, which is a lot like the old “Pop Up Video” on VH1, giving the viewer little trivia snippets as the episode moves along. There’s a jukebox feature that gives the viewer direct access to the songs on the disc, as well as some audio outtakes that can be generally funny. Besides many of the episodes having television commercials (one with unseen footage), only one episode actually contains a supplement directly related to the episode: Brother Can You Spare Two Dimes? actually contains a baby translator feature. The quantity of extras might not look like much, but the abundance of entertaining commentary tracks alone puts The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season in a supplemental class by itself, which is right where everything about this show belongs.
Final Thoughts
A true Simpsons enthusiast doesn’t need any recommendation to go out and grab Season Three. Those who are looking for some serious bang-for-the-entertainment-buck will certainly not be disappointed with this set, as the excellent video, above-average audio and outstanding bonus features only bolster the fun factor on this watershed season of the best comedy on television. I can’t recommend The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season highly enough.
Special Features List
- 24 Commentary Tracks
- TV Spots
- Working Sketches
- Storyboards
- Jukebox
- “Pop Up Simpsons” Trivia
- Audio Outtakes
- Baby Translator
Screenshots
