February 19, 2005

DVD Brief Look: The Simpsons Seasons 1-5

Over the span of one week I have watched each of the five currently available seasons. I was actually surprised by what I found. First off, I didn't watch them in the usual order, I started watching Season 5 which just came out a few weeks back and I just kept going in reverse order. To my surprise, I found the episodes actually getting worse!

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Before you start jumping all over me, I don't mean drastically worse or anything, perhaps it would be better if I just said that I enjoyed the latter seasons more than the earlier ones. I found that I preferred it when the focus shifted from being predominantly Bart-centric to being predominantly Homer-centric.

Anyway, back to the sets. Each set has tons of extra material, it makes it worth the wait, although I would love to have the sets come out at a faster pace. Waiting for each set seems like an eternity.

When you watch each season in such close proximity to each other, it is easy to see the changes. As I worked my way backwards through the seasons, you could notice the animation becoming more primitive, and the transfers less crisp. Season 5 looks the best, and is possibly my favorite season thus far.

Each set includes animatics and documentaries, and even old commercials. The best feature is that each and every episode has a commentary track with various members of the production team, writers, directors, voice talent. Everyone gets involved in the process, and they aren't shy when criticizing themselves.

I highly recommend each and every season of The Simpsons that has come out so far.

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