Trio of Simpsons Albums
By Jouni Paakkinen (jouni@snpp.com) - August 17, 2007
      This summer and fall, music-loving Simpsons fans are treated with three new interesting CD titles.
      On September 18, the third soundtrack album featuring music from the television show gets released. The album, entitled "Testify, a Whole Lot More Original Music from the Television series", is a long-awaited follow-up to 1997's "Songs in the Key of Springfield" and 1999's "Go Simpsonic with the Simpsons". Like these previous two soundtrack albums from Rhino Records, "Testify" from Shout! Factory spotlights material created by award-winning composer Alf Clausen and his orchestra. Continuing from where "Go Simpsonic" left off, it offers a collection of the best songs from the last nine seasons of The Simpsons.
      In addition to all the familiar Simpsons voices, singing guest stars feature Jackson Browne, "Weird Al" Yankovic, David Byrne, Ricky Gervais, the B-52's and Kelsey Grammer as Sideshow Bob. A full track list and more details are available in the press release.
     The Simpsons Movie finally made it to the big screen on July 27, and just three days earlier, "The Simpsons: The Music" soundtrack CD was released. Somewhat surprisingly, the movie score was not composed by Emmy-awarded Alf Clausen, who is responsible for the TV show's music. The task was given to Hans Zimmer, who – among other awards – won an Oscar for The Lion King in 1995. The album features music from the veteran film composer's score of the movie. It has 15 tracks, including Zimmer's interpretation of the classic Simpsons theme song by Danny Elfman. You will also hear songs from "Spider Pig" to "Bart's Doodle". The last track, "Recklessly Impulsive" features a remix of the Simpsons theme music by Ryeland Allison.
      Also already available is a more unofficial, but at least equally as fun an album called "Four Finger Music: The Bluegrass Tribute to the Music Made Famous By the Simpsons". CMH Records has, as they say, put together this barn-burner of a tribute as a way of saying thanks to The Simpsons. Hit & Run Bluegrass mix razor-sharp humor and blistering pickin’ to create a one-of-a-kind album. Included are The Simpsons main title, "We Put the Spring in Springfield", The Monorail Song", "See My Vest" and ten other favourites from the show. You can listen to preview clips from these songs at CMH Records' web site.
      For information on previous Simpsons CD releases, see our Audio & Video Releases and Simpsons Discography pages.

Complete Tenth Season DVD Reviewed
By Wesley Mead (wesley@snpp.com) - August 12, 2007
      "The Complete Tenth Season" DVD set, featuring all 23 episodes from the series' tenth season (1998-1999), was released in the USA and Canada on August 7th, 2007. As ever, releases will follow in Europe, Australasia and Asia in the near future.
     Continuing the August and December schedule we have grown accustomed to since season five's DVD release back in 2005, Fox Home Entertainment deliver the complete season ten of our favourite family – the second Mike Scully-helmed year – spread across four discs 6:6:6:5 and presented alongside generous helpings of bonus material.
     Let's face it, folks; by season ten, the Simpsons wasn't hitting the comedy jackpot quite as often as it once had. While among the twenty-three episodes here there are several classics, there are also far too many mediocre efforts – and a fair few downright disppointments. The season kicks off on a high note in "Lard of the Dance", which sees worldly, streetwise new girl Alex Whitney prove a threat to the staid, innocent existence of Lisa and friends. It might deal with familiar territory ("Lisa's Rival", anyone?), but it doesn't feel like a retread, and is also home to a superbly realised subplot that sees Homer and Bart go into the grease business. Sadly, though, things don't remain quite so consistent throughout the season. The genuinely touching "Make Room For Lisa", a fine Lisa-Homer bonding episode, is countered by the jerkass Homer of "Kidney Trouble"; the hilarious "Wizard Of Evergreen Terrace", which sees Homer attempt to follow in the footsteps of Thomas Edison and become an inventor, is neutralised by the wasted opportunity of "When You Dish Upon A Star"", which comes across as nothing but a poor excuse to crowbar big-name guests Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger into an episode. Apu's attempts to win back wife Manjula after a fight in "I'm With Cupid" results in a standout Valentine episode, but the "Treehouse of Horror"-esque "Simpsons Bible Stories" is a poor excuse for an Easter one. The Star Wars- and The Bodyguard- referencing "Mayored to the Mob" is one of the finer "Homer gets a job" outings of later years, seeing him find employment as Mayor Quimby's bodyguard, but it's countered by the poorly-executed truck-driving plot of "Maximum Homerdrive".
     While there is the occasional down-to-earth, relateable plot (the excellent "Lisa Gets An 'A'" sees Lisa deal with the fallout of cheating on a test nicely), they are all too often sidelined in favour of the outlandish and wacky ("Monty Can't Buy Me Love" sees Burns go in search of the Loch Ness Monster, of all things) and characters (particulaly Homer) are often portrayed as comic exaggerations of themselves. That's not to say the show is no longer enjoyable – every episode here features at least something to laugh at – but things aren't as consistently enjoyable as in earlier years. Counter-intuitively, 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 the dodgy characterisation or overly zany storylines; though of course hardcore fans of the show will certainly find a fair amount to enjoy here too.      This season features the most guest stars yet: by this stage in the show's run, big names were clamoring to appear. Among those playing themselves are Stephen Hawking, Lisa Kudrow, Alec Baldwin, Kim Basinger, Ron Howard, Mark Hamill, The Moody Blues, Cyndi Lauper, Elton John, Jack LaLanne and Rupert Murdoch. Isabella Rossellini turns in a performance as art dealer Astrid Weller in "Mom and Pop Art"; Troy Aikman plays Wally Kogen in "Sunday Cruddy Sunday"; George Carlin and Martin Mull show up as hippies in "D'oh-in' In The Wind"; while Phil Hartman turns in his last performance before his death as Troy McClure in "Bart the Mother".
     Once again, and perhaps for the last time, consumers have a choice of packaging. They can choose either the Bart plastic 'head' – presumably the final 'head' box – or the standard box. I received the head box; included in the package are the four discs in separate disc trays that can be opened like a book (known as a digibook), thankfully entirely removable from the Bart head for easier and quicker access, as well as a very detailed booklet set out as a "Studio Tour" pamphlet, which details episodes, chapter stops and extra features (as well as featuring the standard introductory note from Matt Groening and the occasional amusing fake advertisement for places along the tour). The digibook is held together with hinges, which is fair enough, but I can't help wondering why they didn't stick with the strong tape they used for season six and seven. Disc art is intended to look like shots taken from a CCTV secuurity camera system.
     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 queuing to enter a jazz club, while jazz plays in the background. 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 23 episodes in the set, thankfully dispelling early rumours not every episode would have a commentary. As ever, a vast range of contributors are present. Matt Groening, creator of the show himself, is present on many; while showrunner Mike Scully turns up on every single one. Other regulars throughout the set include crew members Matt Selman, Ron Hauge, Jane O'Brien, Pete Michels, George Meyer, Dan Greaney, Mark Kirkland, David X. Cohen, Steven Dean Moore, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Larry Doyle, Tom Martin and Mike Anderson. Cast members Dan Castellaneta, Nancy Cartwright and Yeardley Smith each show up for one commentary, as does guest star Mark Hamill. The range of participants on any one track is smaller this time – each episode has between four and seven commentators. The commentary tracks are, as ever, simultaneously hilarious and informative, and often feature interesting behind-the-scenes anecdotes and stories that we would otherwise never know about, as well as detailing inspiration for parodies, plotlines and characters. We hear of the aftermath of insulting East St. Louis in "They Saved Lisa's Brain"; we learn Bruce Springsteen was originally wanted to feature in "When You Dish Upon A Star". We find out that writers can pitch in-character for every member of the Simpson cast except Bart and Lisa. We hear anecdotes about dates, jobs, and school. And we get to hear Mike Scully self-deprecatingly joke about him being the "idol of NoHomers.net". It's another stellar batch that more than warrants a complete re-watch of the season.
     Once again, the bonus material is certainly not limited to the commentary tracks. Kicking off the additional bonus features is the "A Line From Matt Groening" on disc 1, a three-minute reel of quick season ten clips over which Matt discusses the DVD set at a great pace, in the same vein as the similar featurettes on previous seasons.
     Deleted scenes are supplied again: 15 minutes of clips from 18 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 15-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 on the final disc. The commentary is worth a watch, offering reasons for why each was cut (although more than half of them were chopped due to time restrictions).
     On the "Art and Animation" front, there are two in-depth "Animation Showcases" for the episodes "Lard of the Dance" and "Homer to the Max" featuring multi-angle animation comparisons from different stages of the animation. They're fun enough, but 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 a very interesting 7-minute "Glimpse Inside" the production of the DVD menus; a rather useless 5-minute montage of prank calls to Moe; several amusing commercials from 1998-1999; a Special Language Feature enabling us to view "Sunday Cruddy Sunday" in different languages; a teaser animatic from the The Simpsons Movie DVD; and the occasional Easter Egg deleted scene. It's another solid batch, but ten seasons down the line we're still yearning for a substantial documentary or featurette. 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. The full-frame, NTSC presentation 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. French and Spanish DD2.0 soundtracks are also included, as are Spanish and English SDH subtitles. I extensively tested the English subtitles, which appeared accurate and true to the spoken word. On occasion, the subtitles "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. Unfortunately, the commentaries and extras are still not subtitled, a let-down for fans with hearing impairments; note that the UK R2 and AUS R4 release does feature subtitles on the bonus features.
     We've really hit the weaker years of the show's run now, and this is the first set I would suggest anyone except dedicated collectors think twice about purchasing: alongside the classics are some unfortunate clunkers. AV quality is great and the extras are solid, but I wouldn't deem this a must-buy.

The Simpsons - The Complete Tenth Season


EPISODES: B - Inconsistent - some great, some not-so-great
PRESENTATION: A - As solid as we've grown accustomed to
EXTRAS: A- - A nice, well-rounded batch, if lacking in originality by now
OVERALL: B+ - Worth considering, but not one the finest seasons available on DVD

     Future news concerning the DVDs, including the forthcoming Season 11 release, and any other compilation discs, will be added to our DVD News page.

Simpsons Movie is a Hit
By Jouni Paakkinen (jouni@snpp.com) - August 12, 2007
     As fans knew to expect, The Simpsons Movie is one of this summer's biggest blockbusters everywhere. In the opening weekend, it took the number 1 spot in the USA and grossed $71.9 million. The movie was #1 also in all major overseas markets. In Australia, Argentina, Columbia and Chile the Simpsons' premiere was the biggest industry opening day ever, and the biggest animated opening day ever in Belgium, Finland, Germany, New Zealand, Peru, Sweden, Uruguay and Venezuela. After two weeks, the estimated boxoffice total was $315.6 million worldwide.
     The possibility of a movie had been subject to various rumors for a very long time, but the more serious discussions started in 2001, when the cast signed a deal for three seasons with an option to two movies. According to the current showrunner Al Jean, work on the script started about November 2003.
     For several years, all the producers insisted that the movie could not be done as long as the show was still in production, simply because making a full season of Simpsons episodes kept everyone busy enough. However, all that quickly changed in June 2005, when Fox announced that a team of writers – all Simpsons veterans – had been chosen, and the movie was to be made simultaneously with the TV show. Later it was announced that David Silverman would direct the movie, a piece of news greeted with joy by the long-time fans of the show.
     No official word on a sequel has yet been let out, but let's face it, the only question is "when".

Complete Ninth Season DVD Reviewed
By Wesley Mead (wesley@snpp.com) - January 1, 2007
      "The Complete Ninth Season" DVD set, featuring all 25 episodes from the series' ninth season (1997-1998), was released in the USA and Canada on December 19, 2006. As ever, releases will follow in Europe, Australasia and Asia in the near future.
     A mere four months after season eight's release, Fox Home Entertainment bring us the complete season nine on DVD, 25 episodes from the first Mike Scully-helmed season (although we also get remainders from the Oakley-Weinstein, Jean-Reiss and Mirkin runs). The episodes are spread across four discs 6:7:7:5, presented in the best condition we're ever likely to see, and sit alongside the stellar selection of bonus materials we've come to expect from these DVD sets.
     Season 9 is arguably the first time since season one that the show wasn't hitting consistent home-runs. While plenty of classic episodes are present and correct in this collection, the odd weak link is beginning to surface – a sad hint at what is to come in subsequent seasons. Still, for this season at least, the greats still far outnumber the poorer episodes. Perhaps the finest episode of the season is the flashback episode "Lisa's Sax", which tells the tale of how Lisa got her first saxophone through that blend of humour and emotion that the Simpsons so employs so brilliantly. But many other fan favourites are also present: "Natural Born Kissers" sees Marge and Homer attempt to spice up their marriage in one of the series' more racy episodes; "Lisa the Skeptic" serves up a hefty dose of thought-provoking philosophy alongside the laughs; and the Simpsons' family unity is put to its' greatest test yet in "The Catridge Family". Homer attempts to climb a mountain; Moe falls in love; Marge gets a job as a realtor; the family visit a pre-9/11 New York; Bart ruins the family Christmas; Krusty becomes a stand-up comic; and U2 guest-star when Homer becomes Sanitation Commissioner in the landmark 200th episode. And we haven't even got to Apu's arranged marriage or Bart's newfound friendship with Ralph. This is, by and large, an excellent batch of episodes.
     But things aren't perfect. In his introduction to the set, Matt Groening cites "The Principal and the Pauper" as one of his all-time least favourite episodes; and it's not hard to see why. A character we've grown to love over eight seasons of the show is completely deconstructed for a few cheap laughs. It simply doesn't work, and is barely worth considering a part of the Simpson canon, let alone re-watching. Later, episodes such as "The Joy Of Sect" and "The Trouble With Trillions" hint at the outlandish plots and wacky characterisation the "Scully era" would bring (although, in the interests of impartiality, it's not as if the Scully era didn't bring a few gems with it along the way).
     As ever, plenty of guest stars crop up this season. U2 and Steve Martin feature in the aforementioned 200th episode "Trash of the Titans"; Martin Sheen appears as "the real" Principal Skinner; and Mike Judge has a cameo as King of the Hill's Hank Hill. Jan Hooks plays Apu's wife-to-be, Helen Hunt plays Moe's love interest, Brendan Fraser and Steven Weber appear as Powersauce advocates, while Fyvush Finkel, Joe Namath and an array of stand-up comedians (including Jay Leno) all appear as themselves. The late, great Phil Hartman also makes his last appearance as Lionel Hutz, and regular guest Marcia Wallace turns up too. There was certainly no downturn in either the calibre or the quantity of guest stars in the ninth season.
     Once again, consumers have a choice over which box style they wish to have with season 9, the Lisa plastic 'head' or the standard box, right off the bat by issuing both in stores and online. The downside is that there's no way to get both without buying two copies of the set, but to most fans this won't matter too much. I received the head box; included in the package are the four discs in separate disc trays that can be opened like a book design (known as a digibook), thankfully entirely removable from the Lisa head for easier and quicker access, as well as a very detailed booklet set out as a parody of Rolling Stone entitled "Rocking Stone", which details episodes, chapter stops and extra features. Last season I complained about the abysmal "cardboard strip" Fox used to hold the Digibook trays together - this time they have gone for far more effective hinges, though I can't help wondering why they didn't stick with the strong tape they used for season six and seven. Regardless, this is a step up from last time, and I can credit Fox with that, at least. Also included in the package are five 5"x5" postcards, which feature parodies of famous album covers such as Born In The U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen and Nevermind by Nirvana – a nice touch, which adds to this set's overarching theme of music well.
     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 queuing to enter a jazz club, while jazz plays in the background. 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, displaying 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 usual, the principal extra is the commentary on every one of the 25 episodes in the set, featuring a vast array of contributors. Matt Groening, creator of the show himself, is present on many; showrunners Mike Scully, Bill Oakley, Josh Weinstein, David Mirkin, Al Jean and Mike Reiss are also present on their respective epsiodes. Other regulars throughout the set include crew members Jim Reardon, Ken Keeler, David Cohen, George Meyer, Matt Selman, Mark Kirkland, Dominic Polcino, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Steven Dean Moore, Swinton O. Scott; and cast members Nancy Cartwright and Yeardley Smith. There are also other commentators who appear just on one or two episodes, such as the excellent Jay Leno, who participates on the commentary for "The Last Temptation of Krust". The elusive John Swartzwelder even shows up on the commentary for The Cartridge Family – although admittedly only via phone for a minute or so, but it's cool regardless. Each commentary track has anything from two ("Simpson Tide") to nine ("The Cartridge Family") participants. The commentary tracks are, as ever, simultaneously hilarious and informative, and often feature interesting behind-the-scenes anecdotes and stories that we would otherwise never know about, as well as detailing inspiration inspiration for parodies, plotlines and characters. Example tidbits include the revelation that the crew were more excited about "Mr. T" appearing than Tony Blair or any rock star; that Hank Azaria thought "Herman's Head" was not a very good show at all; and that thanks to the line "Get out of the way, I'm Hitler" in Bart Carny, Mark Kirkland didn't tell his family to watch it on TV. Every single one is a gem, and much insight is offered. You'd think they'd be running out of things to say, 200 episodes in, but the opposite is true – there are fewer quiet spots now than there were in the season 1 commentaries!
     As ever, though, Fox have been much more generous than merely including commentary on every episode – no, there are many more interesting bonuses to check out. Kicking off the additional bonus features is the "A Riff From Matt Groening" on disc 1, a short three-minute reel of quick season nine clips over which Matt discusses the DVD set a great pace, in the same vein as the similar featurettes on previous seasons (it's here we learn of his distaste for "The Principal and the Pauper".
     Once again, deleted scenes are supplied, though they are fewer in number this time: 15 minutes of clips from 15 episodes. All are entertaining, and are in the later stages of production – the only thing really missing is some voice cleanup and sound effects – except for the additional verse from "The Garbageman Can", which fans may have heard previously on the Go Simpsonic soundtrack. You can view them inserted into their respective episodes via a branching feature, or as a 15-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 on the final disc.
     Additionally, there are two in-depth "Animation Showcases" for the episodes "The Principal and the Pauper" and "Lisa the Simpson" featuring multi-angle animation comparisons from different stages of the animation. There are also original sketches, as well as several other animation-related bonuses such as the brilliant "A Bit From The Animators" on "All Singing, All Dancing" and "Lost our Lisa", in which show animators and staff commentate on part of the episode with the ability to freeze-frame, rewind, draw on the screen and the like. Between them, they make a very entertaining 20 minutes, but it's a shame we only get two compared to four last time – I'd prefer it if they included at least one a disc.
     Finally, we have a 3.5-minute featurette about U2's appearance on the show, commentated on by Yeardley Smith and Dan Castellaneta (where was he for the main commentaries?); a few commercials from 1997-1998; a Special Language Feature enabling us to view "Trash of the Titans" in different languages; and a teaser trailer for The Simpsons Movie which plays when you insert disc 1. It's a great batch, all told, but I can't help but yearn for a more substantial documentary or featurette – what we have is great, but it looks more on paper than it actually is. How's about a half-hour documentary on season 10, Fox? Or, for the following set, full 50 minutes of the BBC documentary, parts of which were included in the season 1 set?
     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 the later seasons, we're getting very close now. The full-frame, NTSC presentation 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. French and Spanish DD2.0 soundtracks are also included, as are Spanish and English SDH subtitles. I extensively tested the English subtitles, which appeared accurate and true to the spoken word. On occasion, the subtitles "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. Unfortunately, the commentaries and extras are still not subtitled, a let-down for fans with hearing impairments; note that the UK R2 release does feature subtitles on the bonus features.
     I said in my last review that season 8 was the last truly classic season, and it was. But, disregarding a couple of the very weakest episodes, this set is almost as worthy a purchase. The majority of the episodes remain gems, and Fox continue to present the show on DVD in an excellent fashion. Only the most casual viewer need stop collecting here.

The Simpsons - The Complete Ninth Season


EPISODES: A- - Another very strong batch, marred by the occasional weak link
PRESENTATION: A - Packaging, menus and AV quality are all as good as can be hoped
EXTRAS: A- - As ever, an impressive batch, but perhaps something new
OVERALL: A- - Weaker than its predecessors, certainly, but this DVD set is certainly still worthy of a purchase

     Future news concerning the DVDs, including the forthcoming Season 10 release, and any other compilation discs, will be added to our DVD News page.

New Year's Resolutions
Courtesy 20th Century Fox - January 1, 2007
      Fans might be interested in how Homer, Marge and many of their fellow Springfieldians vow to change their ways in 2007:

• Homer: I resolve to lose 15 € (10 pounds), and then gain it back by Valentine's Day.
• Marge: I resolve to finally learn how to make pancakes that don't stick to the pan. Bart helped me come up with that one.
• Krusty: In 2007, I promise not to keep using the same old jokes I've been telling since 1961.
• Chief Wiggum: In the coming year, I resolve to learn how to work the safety on my gun.
• Comic Book Guy: In 2007, I resolve to boldly go where I have never gone before – out on a date with a woman.
• Barney: I resolve to quit drinking... coffee. It leaves less room for beer.
• Ned Flanders: I resolve to be pious and kind and gentle and... yippee, skippee I already am! Happy 2007, everybody!