Plot: What’s it about?
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, “The Simpson’s” has been my favorite show on television for the past twenty years. I’ve spent countless hours in front of the TV watching episode after episode time and again and am still amazed at how it can make me laugh. I’ve seen most episode so many times that I can pretty much recite the dialogue, even with the “D’Oh!” in the correct place. How about that? There’s been no shortage of celebrity guests or cultural relevance in each and every episode of “The Simpson’s”. Former (and current) presidents, media icons, movie stars, pretty much anyone who’s anyone has either been a part of or has been the brunt of a joke on the show. With “The Simpson’s” now entering its twenty second season, it shows no signs of slowing down and as Fox slowly releases these on Blu-ray, we get to see our favorite yellow family looking their absolute visual best.
This thirteenth season, which is the 2001-02 season, had some memorable episodes and one that I always remember is “The Blunder Years” in which Homer is hypnotized and forced to remember a tragic event from his past. It’s somewhat of a take off on “Stand By Me” and features the late Paul Newman as one of the celebrity voices (on a bottle of salad dressing, to boot). Homer becomes a better person through actually listening to Marge in “Jaws Wired Shut” as he sees her in a new light and isn’t quite the obnoxious fellow that he usually is. Bart finds love (again) this time with Rainer Wolfcastle’s daughter, Greta (voiced by Reese Witherspoon) in “The Bart Wants What it Wants” and the sensitive subject of medical marijuana is tackled when Homer is prescribed some of the wacky weed. As you might imagine, Otto shows up in this episode. This thirteenth season of “The Simpson’s” isn’t without some more dull episodes, but as a true fan of the show, every episode is good in some regard. Let’s face it, if you’re reading this review then you’re a fan and there’s probably nothing I can say or do that will deter you from buying this new season. As for me, it’s every season has a permanent place on my shelf.
Video: How does it look?
While the newer episodes of “The Simpson’s” are now being shown in 1.77:1, these “earlier” episodes are still shown in the original 1.33:1 full-frame ratio. I watch these reruns pretty much every day and the first thing that really struck me was the color. It’s much more rich and robust than the somewhat pale over the air broadcasts. As any animated title, it does look better than a live action movie and we lose the artifacting and can focus on the pristine quality of the prints used. I didn’t have a Blu-ray of this season to compare it to, but I did compare it to one of the standard DVD seasons. Colors are about the same, but there does appear to be some sharpness associated with the Blu-ray that does give it the edge.
Audio: How does it sound?
The audio has been bumped up to a DTS HD Master Audio mix and its odd hearing such robust sound from a cartoon. The episodes I watch on TV are usually of sub par quality, though so long as I can hear the dialogue that’s all I really need. Surrounds are used here and it does give the show a bit of depth. Episodes like “Treehouse of Horror” do sound exceptionally good, though let’s face it ? those watching “The Simpson’s” for the audio quality alone are people you don’t want to associate with! Only kidding. Again, it’s a step up from the reruns that you’ll see on TV, and about on par with the other seasons on DVD.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Season twenty was widely criticized, as the first season on Blu-ray, for not really having a lot of extras. It seemed that Fox just threw it out there to test the waters. Thankfully, this season has a plethora of extras, right on par with the other “Simpson’s” seasons. We start off with commentaries on every episode and creator Matt Groening really does some informative commentaries. He gives us his honest opinion, why he likes or dislikes a particular episode and who better than the man himself to give us his .02. We get a “used car speech” of sorts with his token, which is basically just a run down of the guest stars and things to expect over the course of the season. There are some deleted and alternate scenes (yes, they have these on animated shows too) as well as a series of featurettes. To be honest, the featurettes don’t give us a whole lot. I can’t imagine watching “Ralphisms”, which is just a bunch of Ralphie’s one-liners throughout the course of the season, but I’m sure there is some advantage to having that on the disc as opposed to not. We get some sketch galleries, commercials as well as some hidden easter eggs and a little about the menus (which were video game inspired this time around).
