Has it been 14 months since the last DVD set for the Simpsons? According to my site and calendars, yes. I guess the recent WGA strike also covered commentaries (unless a union member can clarify). It was a rough Summer without a season to re-watch, review and rediscover. I was suffering from withdrawal so badly, I started seeking out surrogates to the “addiction” such as King of the Hill (an excellent show in its own right) but thankfully, I never had to sink as low as Family Guy, Squidbillies or South Park.
The 11th season continues the Mike Scully run. For better or for worse, Scully is usually the executive producer blamed for the show’s complete transformation from animated sitcom to cartoon. By the Spring of 2000, I never gave it much thought because Fox finally had the perfect Sunday evening of network television. Upon re-viewing these 22 episodes, it’s more obvious that The Simpsons began to resemble South Park more than its earlier incarnation. Easy examples would be the jockeys’ secret in “Saddlesore Galactica,” the ending to “Missionary Impossible,” and the overall execution of “Grift of the Magi.” I don’t mean this as a criticism, it just wasn’t so obvious eight years ago. Scully and his crew still succeed with me yet I think this put the show on a riskier path because the writers are forced to top the previous season’s outrageousness. Other highlights from 1999-2000 are a story written by Dan Castellaneta and Deb Lacusta, a rare script from George Meyer, the death of Maude Flanders, Apu’s children, The Behind the Music parody, a peek into Bart’s possible future and at least one jab at the Internet-based critics.
Fox got cheap on this set. All the discs are kept in a rather flimsy foldout. It emphasizes the Krusty Karnival theme well but getting the individual DVDs out was a struggle. For a program that kept Murdoch’s sleazy network in business, he could pony up a tad more on the packaging. The features are rather thin too. Outside of a little feature on the show receiving its star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, nothing else caught my interest.
Groening’s presence on the commentaries is reduced to TWO shows which is a shame, he can be one of the more interesting people in the booth since he poses questions I feel many fans would like to ask. Scully compensates by telling the stories regarding the involvement of guests Mel Gibson, Don Cheadle, Shawn Colvin, Lucy Lawless, Tim Robbins, Betty White and Gary Coleman. He does explain that he tried to get Shirley Temple-Black for “Last Tap Dance in Springfield” but she declined. Sitcom legend Garry Marshall, comedy/voice actor Diedrich Bader and the botanist who actually developed tomaco drop by to contribute on their episodes. My favorite commentary is for “Bart to the Future” because everyone in the booth had an anecdote about someone they know who behaves like the deadbeat version of Bart. Sadly, I think we all know this person. Still it didn’t stop Entertainment Weekly from branding it the worst episode of the franchise (in a 2003 issue).
Is it worth buying? Absolutely. I readily admit my bias as a long-time fan and ignorance of the show’s antics since 2003 (when we stopped receiving local channels on our TV). However, I think The Simpsons hadn’t become a complete caricature of itself yet (unlike the movie). As I always like to remind myself and others, time passing can improve certain episodes because I remember how much I disliked “The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson” the first time it aired. Years later, it became a minor favorite due the jokes I missed then. The cracks had become more visible by Season 11 but this set demonstrates that the show continued to be enjoyable unlike many others which got this far.