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The Simpsons DVD boxsets

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File:TheSimpsonsDVDSets2.jpg

The Simpsons DVD season sets have been released since 2001 in different regions all over the world. They have been released with Region 1 (North America), Region 2 (Europe) and Region 4 (Australia, Mexico and Latin America) encoding.

The first five box sets all have outer packaging based around a memorable couch gag from the show. Starting with season six, the production changed to plastic packages in the shape of the head of one of the Simpson family members. The standard packaging for seasons six onward have not followed the couch gag format, but instead have featured an image with the family member whose head is used for the limited edition packaging in the foreground.

Couch Gag Boxes

Seasons One through Eight of The Simpsons on DVD Starting with the First Season and ending with the Fifth Season of The Simpsons, boxes have been produced with the memorable couch gag of the season on them. This theme was carried over throughout the entire box, DVD's, and inner packaging.

  • Season 1- No Gag Gag and Spinning Vortex Gag
  • Season 2- Heads On Wrong Bodies Gag
  • Season 3- Couch tips Back Through Wall Gag
  • Season 4- Springfield Citizens Invading The Couch Gag
  • Season 5- Extra Long Circus Gag

The Complete First Season

This is the first Simpsons box set, released on September 25, 2001 (R1). It contains all thirteen episodes from the first season, remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1. Although the video quality is generally of a high standard, it is from a broadcast tape and not an original film print, as the show was edited on video. The outer packaging is of the family sitting on the couch with no gag (used a couple of times in Season 1), whereas the inner packaging and the discs feature the family spinning in a vortex.

Episodes

Every episode contains an additional commentary audio track with Matt Groening and usually one or two writers and director of the episode. Season one is on three discs:

File:Simpsons season 1.jpg
File:Simpsons s1.png

Bonus features

"Bart the Genius"
"Bart the General"
"Moaning Lisa"
"Some Enchanted Evening"

Easter eggs

These can be played by finding "easter eggs", or hidden menu options in the DVD

  • Bart T-shirt controversy clip from ABC News (accessed by highlighting Bart's T-shirt in the "Extra Features" menu)
  • Still gallery of magazine covers printed during the 1989-1990 season (accessed by highlighting the comic book Bart is holding in the "Art of The Simpsons" menu)

Regional differences

  • In the Region 2 and Region 4 releases, the episode "Moaning Lisa" is on Disc 2 and the episodes "The Crepes of Wrath" and "Krusty Gets Busted" are on Disc 3. There is also no commentary on the "Some Enchanted Evening" deleted scenes.
  • Packaging - The Region 2 version has The Simpsons' logo written in yellow rather than the red of Region 1. The spine also features the whole bodies of Bart and Lisa rather than just their heads.

The Complete Second Season

This box set was released on August 6, 2002 (R1). It was the second box set to be released, coming about a year after the first season. The packaging is based on the couch gag where the family come in with their heads on the wrong bodies. Each disc's picture features a Simpson's body with only the head cut out of it, due to the disc losing space for it (on purpose). The picture behind each disc, when you take the disc off of its centered holder in the package, shows the Simpson sitting at a table with three other Springfield residents. Before each disc loads to its main menu, it shows the four Springfield residents from the disc's picture behind it (in the package), and their heads are not on the right bodies. You have to click on the hand in the center three times before the heads are on the right bodies, and the main menu will also appear at that time. The main menu for each disc has each preceding episode below each other.

Episodes

All episodes contain commentaries with Matt Groening, writers Al Jean and Mike Reiss, and various directors. Season two is on four discs:

File:Simpsons season 2.jpg
File:Simpsons s2.png

Bonus features

"Do the Bartman"
"Deep, Deep Trouble"
"Bart Gets an F"
"Bart vs. Thanksgiving"
  • Numerous drawings and sketches

Easter eggs

  • Thank you message to David Silverman for providing early sketches and drawings (accessed by highlighting Blinky in the "Language Selection" menu of "Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish")
  • Four bizarre drawings of Bart's head (accessed by highlighting the torn quilt that Santa's Little Helper is chewing on in the "Language Selection" menu of "Bart's Dog Gets an F")
  • Gag drawing of Grampa (accessed by highlighting Grampa's fez in the root menu of "Old Money")
  • Model design sheet for Mr. Burns (accessed by highlighting the picture frame in the "Language Selection" menu of "Brush with Greatness")
  • Odd drawing of Bart, Milhouse and Martin (accessed by highlighting the baseball card Comic Book Guy is holding in the "Language Selection" menu of "Three Men and a Comic Book")
  • Acting poses of Homer for the "Living in a World of Make Believe" sequence (accessed by highlighting the statue's eyes in the "Language Selection" menu of "Blood Feud")

The Complete Third Season

This box set was released on August 26, 2003 (R1). It contains all 24 episodes from season three plus additional bonus material. The packaging theme is based on the couch gag where the couch tips back and the family fall through the back wall. This was the first box set to have a "Play All" feature, which enabled the viewer to watch all episodes on one disc sequentially, without having to browse through menus. The main menu features the Simpsons sitting on their couch, but every other menu has all yellow letters/characters with a completely black background. Each preceding selection for each of those menus are below each other, save for the general selections ("back to main menu", "back to episode menu", "resume episode", etc.), which are in a horizontal line formation at the bottom of each menu.

Episodes

Season three is on four discs:

File:Simpsons s3.png

Bonus features

Easter eggs

The following episodes contain a fifth audio track with an alternate single person commentary. It can be accessed by either entering "10" on the remote on the "Special Features" menu of each episode or by switching to audio track five with the DVD player's remote while playing the episode:

  • "Stark Raving Dad" with Mike Reiss
  • "Lisa's Pony" with Mike Reiss
  • "Bart the Lover" with Al Jean
  • "Separate Vocations" with Al Jean

Audio outtakes that can be accessed from the main menu of disc three by entering "84763" (the price that appears on the cash register during the opening sequence of The Simpsons) and waiting for the menu to reload after each number. If that doesn't work, try hitting the "enter" button after each number. I.E. - 8 "enter" 4 "enter" 7 "enter" 6 "enter" 3 "enter".

Thirteen random drawings by the animators can be seen by entering 7, 4, 2 and pressing enter after each number on the remote in the "Special Features" menu of disc four.

The Complete Fourth Season

This box set was released on June 15, 2004 in North America. It contains all 22 episodes from season four in addition to numerous bonus features. The packaging theme this time is of all the citizens of Springfield invading the couch gag (and the rest of the box). This set is noted to have an improved menu system over Seasons 1-3. All menus have a random animation that will play when a menu option is selected, but this animation can now be skipped by pressing the "next chapter" button on the DVD player's remote.

Episodes

File:Simpsons s4.png

Season four is on four discs:

Bonus features

Easter eggs

  • A bonus audio commentary with Conan O'Brien on "Marge vs. the Monorail" can be accessed by either entering "150" on the remote in the episode's "Extras" menu and clicking on the microphone or by switching to the fifth audio track while playing the episode.
  • Hidden sketches of Homer can be accessed by entering "240" on the remote in the "Extras" menu of "Homer's Triple Bypass" and clicking on the pencil that appears.
  • Hidden sketches of Krusty can be accessed by entering "35" on the remote in the "Extras" menu of "Krusty Gets Kancelled" and clicking on the pencil that appears.

The Complete Fifth Season

This box set was released on December 21, 2004 in North America, only six months after Season 4. It was released in the UK and Ireland on March 21, 2005 and March 23, 2005 in Australia. It contains all 22 episodes from season five, and has the memorable extra-long circus couch gag as its main packaging theme. It's main menu format features a picture at the top half of the page based on an episode it contains, with various things happening in it. The bottom half of the page contains each episode with a "play" button next to it, and a "plus" button that goes to the episode's menu. Each episode's menu is exactly the same way. It is sometimes packaged with a "Includes the 100th Episode!" sticker.

Episodes

File:Simpsons s5.png

Season Five is on four discs:

Bonus features

  • Commercials
  • Animation Showcases
  • Special Language Feature
  • A Look Back with James L. Brooks
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Commentary on all Episodes

Easter eggs

  • You can highlight certain objects on each of the main menus to see some extra animation.
  • The menu for "Deep Space Homer" contains a hidden outtake of James Taylor recording the version of "Fire and Rain" that appears in the episode.
  • On Disc 4, on the "Art and Animations" menu, you can higlight the 100 episode banner to hear a secret commentary on the animatic. (Can also be accessed by using the 'Audio' button on the animatic.)

Head/Theme Boxes

Starting with the Sixth Season of The Simpsons, boxes in the shape of the family member's heads have the new box style in limited edition. Due to consumer complaints, themes boxes have also been released with an image of the family member whose head is used for the limited edition packaging in the foreground.

  • Season 6- Homer's Head/Who Shot Mr. Burns? Theme
  • Season 7- Marge's Head/Newspaper Theme
  • Season 8- Maggie's Head/Picture Album Theme

The Complete Sixth Season

This box set was released on August 16, 2005 in North America, September 28, 2005 in Australia and October 17 2005 in the UK and Ireland. It contains all 25 episodes from season six. The couch gag packaging was discontinued as of this season, instead having separate themes for each box set. The recurring style of the booklet that came with each box set was also discontinued, instead being incorporated into the theme of the box. The Sixth Season's overall theme is "Who Shot Mr. Burns?", the only ever Simpsons cliffhanger, whilst the booklet theme is that of a police investigation file. The menus continue the format from The Complete Fifth Season. The 'window' in the outer box that shows the inner casing was carried on from the couch gag sets to the regular-shaped box sets for the Sixth throuth Tenth Seasons. For the Sixth Season the window is Homer's eye through the magnifying glass, which shows through to a picture of Homer's face.

Episodes

File:Simpsons s6 limited.png
File:Simpsons s6.png

Bonus features

  • Commentary on all episodes
  • Deleted scenes
  • Springfield's Most Wanted TV special
  • Commercials
  • The Simpsons Promotional Plane footage
  • Animation Showcases
  • Special Language Featurette

Easter eggs

  • On all episode menus, you can highlight the episode number after you watched at least one second of the episode. Usually it will just continue, but on "Treehouse of Horror V," you will see an eye peek through the logo that says "Season Six Disc One." Also, on "Who Shot Mr. Burns (part one)" some gun shots will appear through the menu.
  • A drawing of the Simpsons' house made out of squirrels (a cut scene from "Treehouse of Horror V") can be accessed by highlighting the 'Play All Deleted Scenes With Commentary' option from the Extras menu of Disc 4, pressing Right, and selecting the pencil icon.
  • If you watch the episode "Fear of Flying" with the audio commentary, after the episode is complete there will be a short memorial for guest star Anne Bancroft, who passed away just before the boxset was released, by show runner and executive producer David Mirkin.

Box controversy

File:Simpsons-season6-note.PNG
Simpsons Season 6 Flyer Inside "Homer Head" DVD Box

The new design model for Season 6 has created controversy among Simpsons DVD collectors. Most do not have a problem with the box itself, the problem stems from the fact that a sense of uniformity in the DVD collection is now lost.

A flyer included in the set directs purchasers to a website which allows those disaffected with the "Homer's Head" design to receive (for $2.95 US or $4.95 CA shipping) a box for the season which will be uniform. The website (and flyer inside the DVD set) is vaguely and humorously insulting to consumers who are "afraid of change" and are "anal retentive who want their DVD boxes to line up on the shelf."

It was announced on August 25 2005 that the UK release on October 17 2005 would have two covers - the Homer head would be limited edition and only 50,000 would be released. The alternate cover art was speculated to also be the USA alternative cover art. Copies of the alternative box began arriving to the USA in late September 2005, and it was indeed the black 'Homer magnifying glass' box. However, there have still been complaints - the fact that it doesn't have a couch gag, that the 'Homer head' innards must be placed inside, thus it is different from past sets, the fact that the box falls apart easily and that, overall, it is not an "old-style just-like-before box" as the flyer quoted.

The Complete Seventh Season

The Complete Seventh Season was released on December 13, 2005 in North America and January 27, 2006 in Ireland on January 30, 2006 in the UK and in Australia on March 29, 2006. The set was released in two different covers: a Marge head to match the Homer head of Season 6, and also a regular-shaped box. The menus continue the same format from the Complete Fifth and Sixth Seasons, and the overall theme (menus, packaging etc.) is that of a movie premiere - (possibly to do with the 138th episode celebration), and the booklet's theme was a newspaper. Unlike season 6, you cannot get both of the box designs unless you buy one of each at full price. The 'window' for this box is Marge's eye in the camera viewfinder, which leads through to a picture of Marge similar to the cover of the head-shaped box. The episodes on the DVD set are:

Episodes

File:Simpsons s7 limited.png
File:Simpsons s7.png

Bonus features

  • Introduction by Matt Groening
  • Commentaries on all episodes
  • Deleted Scenes for 15 of the episodes
  • Featurette - "Homer in the 3rd Dimension"
  • Featurette - "Paul and Linda's Lentil Soup"
  • Illustrated commentaries
  • Art and animation features

Audio outtakes by Kelsey Grammer were also mentioned in the official press release, however these are not featured on the set.

Easter eggs

  • By watching Team Homer with commentary, a special message from David Mirkin about his show-running job ending will appear at the end.

The Complete Eighth Season

The Complete Eighth Season was released in the U.S. on August 15 2006, and is expected to be released in the UK on October 2 2006, and in Australia on September 27 2006. The set was released in two different forms: a Maggie-shaped head to match the Homer and Marge shaped heads of the previous two sets and also a standard rectangular shaped box. Like The Complete Seventh Season, both box set versions are available for sale separately. The theme of the standard packaging and inside the Maggie shaped head is picture albums and photos, a theme which continues in the booklet, which is styled like a scrapbook. The back has a film reel with pictures of Santa's Little Helper and Snowball II. The menus again continue the format first used in the Fifth Season DVD. The window on the package front is inside the top picture of the photo book Maggie is holding, showing her first tooth as well as her mouth that is on the packaging inside.

Episodes

File:Simpsons s8 limited.png
File:Simpsons s8.png

Easter eggs

On the episode menus for one or two episodes on each disc, if a red button is seen on the video projecter, select it and you will get a secret deleted scene from that episode. These epsiodes are:

Bonus features

  • The Simpsons House Featurette with James L. Brooks about The Simpsons house built in Las Vegas.
  • Animation Showcase: "In Marge We Trust" - Act III, "The Secret War of Lisa Simpson" - Act I, and "Treehouse of Horror VII" - Act III
  • Illustrated Commentary: "Homer vs. The Eighteenth Amendment", "Lisa's Date With Density", "The Secret War of Lisa Simpson", and "Treehouse of Horror VII" - Act III
  • Deleted Scenes Gallery with optional commentary by Al Jean, Mike Reiss, Josh Weinstein, and Steven Dean Moore
  • Promotional spots featuring Matt Groening
  • Sketch Gallery
  • A special language feature of "Homer's Enemy" in four different languages

Commentaries

List of Commentators
Ep. MG JW BO DXC KK GM DS MK MBA DC YS Others
1 X X X X X X Dan Greaney
2 X X X X X –
3 X X X X X X X –
4 X X X X X Ian Maxtone-Graham
5 X X X X Richard Appel, Dominic Polcino
6 X X X Steve Tompkins, Steven Dean Moore
7 X X X Mike Scully, Nancy Cartwright, Susie Dietter, Alex Rocco
8 X X Steve Young, Bob Anderson
9 X X X Jim Reardon
10 X X Al Jean, Mike Reiss, Reid Harrison, Steven Dean Moore
11 X X Chuck Sheetz
12 X X X X X Jim Denton "contest winner" (portrayed by Dave Thomas)
13 X X Al Jean, Mike Reiss, Chuck Sheetz
14 X X X X Steven Dean Moore, Alex Rocco
15 X X X X Ron Hauge, Steve Tompkins, John Waters
16 X X X Pete Michels, Kelsey Grammer
17 X X X X Jim Reardon
18 X X X X Dave Thomas, Bob Anderson
19 X X X Rachel Pulido, Susie Dietter
20 X X Dominic Polcino
21 X X X X X X X –
22 X X X X Donick Cary, Steven Dean Moore, Alex Rocco
23 X X Hank Azaria, Jim Reardon
24 X X X X X Dan Greaney
25 X X X X Dan Greaney

MG: Matt Groening, JW: Josh Weinstein, BO: Bill Oakley, DXC: David X. Cohen, KK: Ken Keeler, GM: George Meyer, DS: David Silverman, MK: Mark Kirkland, MBA: Mike B. Anderson, DC: Dan Castellaneta, YS: Yeardley Smith

Future complete seasons

File:Simpsons dvds 6-10.jpg

Fox Home Entertainment has stated that seasons 6-10 would use the new "Simpson head" packages. In July 2005, the above photo of the season sets appeared on the Internet. Since the photo, season 8, pictured as Lisa, was changed to Maggie. Assuming that the DVDs continue to be released at a rate of two seasons per year, and that new episodes continue to be commissioned by Fox, the DVD releases will catch up to the airing season in around 2014.

External links

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