Fox // 1998 // 524 Minutes // Not Rated
Reviewed by Appellate Judge Mac McEntire // August 29th, 2007
"Larry Flynt is right!"
-- Homer Simpson, agreeing with
something said by Professor Stephen Hawking
And The Simpsons hits the decade mark. This 10th season box set includes all 23 episodes from the 1998-1999 season, after producer Mike Scully had taken over show-runner duties from departing producers David Mirkin, Josh Oakley, and Bill Weinstein.
A lot of folks like to whine and bitch and moan and complain about how The Simpsons isn't "as funny as it used to be." And yet, if I were up to you and say something like "Max Power" or "Bi-Mon-Sci-Fi-Con" or "Super Bowl episode" or "Canyonaro" or "Simpsons Bible Stories" or "Knife goes in, guts come out," you'd probably smile and nod, wouldn't you?
Homer and Marge Simpson live in the quaint small town of Springfield with their three children, Bart, 10, Lisa, 8, and Maggie, 1. They have many adventures. For example:
* "Lard of the Dance"
Are kids growing up too fast these
days? That's the dilemma when a forward-thinking 'tween wannabe encourages Lisa
and the other girls to be ultra-hip. When they want to have their first school
dance, though, Lisa wonders if she and her classmates are too young for this
sort of thing. Meanwhile, grease is the word (and the scam) for Homer and
Bart.
Celebrity guest voice: Lisa Kudrow
Great moment: Homer's
eye-popping fight with Groundskeeper Willie.
* "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace"
Homer does the whole
mid-life crisis thing, worrying that he hasn't accomplished anything in his
life. His feelings worsen when he learns about Thomas Edison, who had made
numerous inventions by the time he was Homer's age. Homer decides to top Edison
by becoming an inventor himself, but the road to fame and fortune might also
include trashing the Edison Museum.
Celebrity guest voice: William
Daniels, reprising his role as K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider.
Great
moment: Homer's make-up gun is set on "whore."
* "Bart the Mother"
Neighborhood bully Nelson peer-pressures
Bart into shooting at a bird. Bart kills it, only to discover that it had some
eggs to take care of. Bart takes the eggs home and secretly cares for them. Once
they hatch, things get really interesting.
Celebrity guest voice: Phil
Hartman, in his final appearance on the show.
Great moment: Nelson says to
Marge, "Cram it, ma'am."
* "Treehouse of Horror IX"
It's the annual Halloween show,
featuring three tales of terror, bloody carnage, and alternate-reality high
jinks. In "Hell Toupee," Homer gets a hair transplant from a murderer,
and starts having murderous impulses of his own. In "Terror of Tiny
Toon," Bart and Lisa are transported into a typically violent Itchy and
Scratchy cartoon, as well as a few other notable programs. Finally, in
"Starship Poopers," Maggie's true father returns from outer space to
take her home with him. It's a problem that can only be solved by appearing on
The Jerry Springer Show.
Celebrity guest voices: It's a talk
show-themed Halloween, with appearances by Ed McMahon, Regis Philbin, Kathy Lee
Gifford, and Jerry Springer. Plus, there's a blink-and-you'll-miss-him cameo by
Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger.
Great moment: Kang and Marge in
"the alley."
* "When you Dish Upon a Star"
Homer discovers two
celebrities, Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger, have a secret hideaway home in
Springfield. He becomes their friend, enjoying the swanky celebrity high life.
But it's only a matter of time before the tabloid-obsessed populace of
Springfield learns Homer's secret.
Celebrity guest voices: Baldwin and
Basinger, along with director Ron Howard and producer Brian Frazer.
Great
moment: A celebrity-filled Winnebago chase that's like something out of The
Road Warrior.
* "D'oh-in' in the Wind"
While on an epic quest to remember
his own middle name, Homer meets two hippies who were former friends of his
mother. Homer decides to take on the hippie lifestyle, by "freaking
out" all the "squares."
Celebrity guest voices: George
Carlin and Martin Mull
Great moment: The entire town starts
hallucinating.
* "Lisa Gets an 'A'"
When Lisa is at home from school with a
cold, she spends more time playing one of Bart's video games then she does
studying. Not prepared for a test, she's tempted to cheat by buying the answers
from a fellow student. Homer, meanwhile, brings home a lobster for dinner, but
ends up too attached to the little fellow to cook him. It's now "Mr.
Pinchy," Homer's new best pal.
Great moment: Mr. Pinchy, when seen
from both Homer and Marge's separate perspectives.
* "Homer Simpson in: 'Kidney Trouble'"
When Grandpa's
bladder bursts after not being able to go to the bathroom on a long trip, Homer
offers to donate one of his kidneys. But pre-surgery doubts get to Homer, so he
runs at the last minute, ending up on the "Ship of Lost Souls."
Great moment: Homer goes to the ocean because, he says, "The sea forgives
all. Not like those mean old mountains. I hate them so much."
* "Mayored to the Mob"
Homer rescues Mayor Quimby's life
while at the bi-monthly science fiction convention, so Quimby hired Homer as his
new bodyguard. Bodyguarding isn't all honking at broads, though. It becomes
deadly when local gangster Fat Tony goes after the mayor.
Celebrity guest
voice: Mark Hamill.
Great moment: Guys and Dolls, now with Jedi
knights.
* "Viva Ned Flanders"
Ned Flanders, Homer's neighbor,
worries that he has become a boring and predictable person, so he asks Homer to
teach him how to have fun. The "Homer Simpson Program" involves a lot
of alcohol and a trip to Vegas. In the midst of their morning-after hangovers,
Homer and Ned learn they've done something they both might regret.
Celebrity guest voice: The Moody Blues.
Great moment: The Las Vegas
establishing shots have some of the season's best freeze-frame gags.
* "Wild Barts Can't be Broken"
A town-wide curfew frustrates
the kids of Springfield to no end. Inspired by the evil kids in the movie The
Bloodening, Bart and the others come up with a plan to take back the town
from the adults, by revealing all their parents' dirty secrets for all to
hear.
Celebrity guest voice: Cyndi Lauper
Great moment: When
Milhouse suggests using the Internet, Bart says, "No, we have to reach
people whose opinions actually matter."
* "Sunday Cruddy Sunday"
With the help of a gullible travel
agent, Homer rounds up a group of Springfieldians for a trip to the Super Bowl.
All doesn't go as planned, though, and our heroes get chased all over the
stadium by security, finally landing in "Super Bowl jail." Marge and
Lisa, meanwhile, discover the wonders of "Vincent Price's Egg
Magic."
Celebrity guest voices: Fred Willard, Dolly Parton, Troy
Aikman, Rosey Grier, John Madden, Dan Marino, Pat Summerall, and Fox Network
President Rupert Murdoch.
Great moment: "The Catholic Church -- We've
made a few changes."
* "Homer to the Max"
Homer is delighted when a cool action
hero on the new show Police Cops is also named "Homer Simpson."
Then, a week later, he's a laughing stock when the show is retooled to make
"TV Homer" a big fat idiot. In retaliation, Homer legally changes his
name to "Max Power," a decision that makes him a member of
Springfield's elite power players.
Celebrity guest voice: Ed Begley Jr.
Great moment: When asked "Do you like Thai?" Max Power responds,
"Thai good. You like shirt?"
* "I'm with Cupid"
When Apu goes out of his way to pledge
his love to his wife on Valentine's Day, Homer and the other men of Springfield
start to feel inadequate. They set out to learn what Apu's final and most
elaborate romantic gift is, and put a stop to it.
Celebrity guest voice:
Elton John
Great moment: Apu's delivery to the old sea captain.
* "Marge Simpson in: 'Screaming Yellow Honkers'"
Behind the
wheel of a brand-new F-series Canyonaro, Marge experiences her first taste of
road rage. Unfortunately, this lands her traffic school, where she's instructed
to control her anger. But that what might be what she needs to save her family
from rampaging rhinos.
Celebrity guest voice: Hank Williams Jr. returns to
sing the "Canyonaro" theme again.
Great moment: Hank Williams
Jr. returns to sing the "Canyonaro" theme again.
* "Make Room for Lisa"
Homer's selfishness leads to a
cellular phone tower installed in his daughter's bedroom. To make it up to her,
Homer spends the day with Lisa, with a spiritual awakening (of sorts) inside a
sensory depravation tank.
Great moment: Homer describes inner peace as,
"Tough on the ol' coconut."
* "Maximum Homerdrive"
To honor an "American hero"
who defeated him in a steak-eating contest, Homer becomes a truck driver,
bringing Bart along for the ride. But when they discover the secret of the
truckers' world, the ride might be cut short. Permanently.
Great moment:
Senor Ding-Dong!
* "Simpsons Bible Stories"
Similar to the Halloween
episodes, this one give biblical classics the Simpsons treatment. Homer
and Marge are recast as Adam and Eve, Milhouse and Lisa try to convince the
Pharaoh to let their people go, and Bart fills King David's sandals for a
rematch against Goliath.
Celebrity guest voice: None, unless you count
AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" on the soundtrack.
Great moment:
"I don't know Dav-ey."
* "Mom and Pop Art"
Homer's failed attempt at building a
backyard barbecue is accidentally mistaken for a work of sculpture, making Homer
the latest craze in the world of high art. It's hard to stay on the cutting
edge, though, and the pressure is on Homer to come up with something truly
amazing.
Celebrity guest voices: Isabella Rosselini, Jasper Johns.
Great moment: Homer's new Euro-trash buddies pay a visit to Moe's.
* "The Old Man and the 'C' Student"
Springfield comes this
close to hosting the Olympics, if wasn't for some last-minute antics from Bart.
For punishment, Bart has to volunteer at the old folks' home, where he sees the
opportunity to bring some excitement into their lives. A scheme to do so
involves Mr. Burns' yacht.
Celebrity guest voice: Jack La Lanne
Great moments: A Hard Day's Night revisited.
* "Monty Can't Buy Me Love"
After the townsfolk are smitten
with a charming adventurous millionaire, Mr. Burns decides he wants public
popularity. To do so, he goes overseas with Homer, Willie, and Professor Frink
to capture the one and only Loch Ness Monster.
Celebrity guest voice:
Michael McKean
Great moment: Conversing with the Scottish townsfolk.
* "They Saved Lisa's Brain"
A letter to the editor earns
Lisa a membership in Mensa with the rest of Springfield's geniuses. When the
group tries to improve life in town, their efforts start to get out of hand.
It's going to take a real voice of reason to save the day. While all this is
happening, Homer experiments with boudoir photography.
Celebrity guest
voice: Professor Stephen Hawking
Great moment: "Take that, East Saint
Louis!"
* "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo"
A seminar on penny pinching
results in a budget-conscious vacation to Japan. It's all about sumo wrestlers,
paper doors, origami, fish factories, wacky game shows, and more. In order to
get back home, the Simpson family must cross a bridge over a bubbling hot
volcano. Is this...the end? Nah, it's just the season finale.
Celebrity
guest voices: George Takei, Gedde Watanabe.
Great moment: "Knife goes
in, guts come out. Knife goes in, guts come out."
Returning again to the topic of Internet whining, it was only until recently that there were many disparaging opinions among bitter fans as to what year they felt the series had gone from brilliant to sucktastic. A lot of those discussions ended with the Season Nine DVDs came out. The extras there revealed how many of the longtime producers and writers left to pursue other projects. Many commentaries on the Season Nine set had someone saying, "This was the last episode I worked on." I, on the other hand, feel that new faces behind the scenes don't necessarily make the show worse. Different, yes, but not worse.
Instead of 23 great episodes, what we have in Season 10 is 23 episodes with great moments. Even if your initial reaction is, "This episode isn't one of the early classic ones," keep watching and you'll see or here something that'll crack you up, guaranteed. It could be a sharp witticism, a venomous critique on society, a huge piece of slapstick, a movie spoof, or, yes, something gross and lowbrow. The Simpsons know good comedy, and there's plenty of it here.
Another common online complaint is, "Why buy DVDs when the show is on TV seven days a week (if not more)?" Aside from not having to look at network promos on the bottom of the screen, it appears to me that these discs are an improvement over what's broadcast. Comparing these to a 2003 episode on my Tivo, the colors seem just slightly brighter on the DVDs. The less eye-stinging colors, such as the gray of Moe's hair, have a slight haze to it. On disc, though, Moe's hair is a more consistent, clean-looking shade of gray. The sound work continues to be nice, in 5.1 surround that is similarly clean and free of flaws.
The commentaries are another reason to pick up these discs instead of relying on syndication. Every single episode has one, with producers, writers, animators, voice actors, and the occasional guest star. These tracks are not only wildly funny, but they also reveal a lot of little details to look for, and they provide a solid look into the creative process that goes into each episode. Each commentary is a must-listen.
For other extras, creator Matt Groening offers a brief intro to the season, the deleted scenes with commentary provide some extra laughs, and others show the animation in a rougher form, such as animatics and storyboards. It's fascinating to see just how rough the early drawings are. In some, Homer doesn't look like Homer at all, and Bart is represented as a simple red rectangle, with details to be "filled in" later in the process. There are a bunch of commercials the characters have appeared in, including a few from Australia. This is followed by a foreign-language featurette and a compilation of Bart's prank calls to Moe. Finally, there's a very funny deleted scene from The Simpsons Movie.
There are a lot of laughs, and a lot of really big ones, in this season, but I'll admit there is something missing. On previous season DVD sets, the show's creators talked about the desire to do stories with heart, ones that, along with the comedy, had an emotional core to them. Not all of the episodes this season are like that, though. When the Simpsons go to Japan, there are non-stop laughs, but where is the emotional element to the story? What do the characters learn? How do they change? Even a ridiculous comedy cartoon like The Simpsons has to ask these questions. This time around, though, only the better episodes do.
Look, most everybody likes the show, right? And everybody likes to laugh, right? In The Simpsons: The Complete Tenth Season, you'll laugh and laugh a lot. Not guilty.
I'm a billionaire tyrant. Get out of my skybox!
Review content copyright © 2007 Mac McEntire; Site layout and review format copyright © 1998 - 2010 HipClick Designs LLC
Scales of Justice
Video: 90
Audio: 85
Extras: 90
Acting: 95
Story: 90
Judgment: 90
Perp Profile
Studio: Fox
Video Formats:
* Full Frame
Audio Formats:
* Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround (English)
* Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (French)
* Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (Spanish)
Subtitles:
* English
* Spanish
Running Time: 524 Minutes
Release Year: 1998
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Distinguishing Marks
* Special Introduction by Matt Groening
* Audio Commentaries on Every Episode
* Deleted Scenes with Commentary
* Multi-angle Animation Showcases
* Crank Calls
* Commercials
* A Glimpse Inside
* Original Sketches
* Special Language Feature
* A Sneak Peek from The Simpsons Movie DVD
Accomplices
* IMDb
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0096697/combined
* Official Site
http://www.thesimpsons.com/index.html
* The Simpsons Archive
http://www.snpp.com/
* Season One Review
http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/simpsons1.php
* Season Three Review
http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/simpsonsseason3.php
* Season Four Review
http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/simpsonsseason4.php
* Season Five Review
http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/simpsonsseason5.php
* Season Six Review
http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/simpsonsseason6.php
* Season Seven Review
http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/simpsonsseason7.php
* Season Eight Review
http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/simpsonsseason8.php
* Season Nine Review
http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/simpsonsseason9.php