Ned Faced a Personal Tragedy in The Simpsons - Season 11
Written: Dec 20 '08 (Updated Sep 03 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Another entertaining season of the show on DVD.
Cons: Worst DVD case ever.
The Bottom Line: The Simpsons - Season 11 is another great DVD set for fans of the show though it has a horrible case.
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| dragonfire88's Full Review: Simpsons - Season 11 |
I remember all the publicity when The Simpsons first started to air. I didn't get FOX at that point, so I wasn't able to watch the show at that point. Even after I had the station, it was still several more years before I started to watch the show. I am almost positive that I started to watch the new episodes during the eleventh season. I have been picking up the DVD sets for the seasons as they have been released. I got The Simpsons - Season 11 a few months ago when it was released.
Matt Groening created the characters of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie Simpson. They were first featured in short sequences that filled in between segments on The Tracey Ullman Show. The animation was rather crude, but the basis of the characters was there. The characters ended up becoming so popular that the decision was made to feature them in a half hour cartoon, The Simpsons, in 1989. The show has been on ever since, with the 400th episode airing in May of 2007 and a full length movie, The Simpsons Movie, coming out on July 27, 2007. In 1999, Futurama, another animated show created by Groening began to air on Fox. Unfortunately, the network didn't treat that show well and bounced it around the schedule before ultimately cancelling it.
Most of the episodes of The Simpsons have focused on the Simpsons family, with Bart and Homer receiving a bit more attention than the others. It seemed like most of the time, Homer would screw up something that then went off into the main plot of the episodes. I still find his bumbling antics entertaining and funny, but I know that some people don't feel the same way. For me, Homer just wouldn't be Homer if he wasn't screwing up in some way. Attention was also given to Marge and Lisa, with each of them being the main focus of one or two episodes.
Other relatives, like Grandpa or Marge's sisters did turn up briefly without them being the main focus of any of the episodes. By the eleventh season, the show had a large group of supporting characters, some of which who turned up at least briefly in many episodes while others only showed up once in a while. A few of the episodes focused in one some of the various supporting characters. Eight Misbehavin' was about Apu and his wife having eight babies thanks to fertility medication. Ned had to deal with the unexpected - and bizarre - death of Maude in Alone Again, Natura-Diddly. Moe decided to have plastic surgery which changed his life in Pygmoelian. Barney decided to stop drinking in Days of Wine and D'Oh'Ses and took up a new career.
All the episodes in The Simpsons - Season 11 had plots that stood alone and there were no two part episodes in the season. Many of the episodes seemed to start off about one thing before switching over to something totally different that ended up being the main focus of the episode. That has happened in earlier seasons of the show as well. A few things that had happened in a prior season were mentioned in some episodes, so anyone who hasn't seen the earlier episodes might miss those references. A few things that happened during this season, like Maude's death, will be mentioned again in later seasons.
The eleventh season of The Simpsons continued the tradition of having a special Halloween episode. Treehouse of Horror X featured three stories that were connected to Halloween in some way. The family thought they killed Ned in I Know What You Diddily-Iddly-Did. Superheroes and Comic Book Guy's obsession with them and keeping collectibles in mint condition played a part in Desperately Xeeking Xena. Bart and Lisa even appeared as superheroes. The final story, Life's a Glitch, Then You Die dealt with Y2K. There was a Christmas episode, Grift of the Magi, that had the students of Springfield Elementary being used for market research for a new toy. Bart to the Future showed a possible future for the Simpson family in which Lisa had become president and Bart was a slacker. The last episode of the season, Behind the Laughter, was a bit different. It was done like an episode of Behind the Music, showing how the Simpson family had become famous and then had to deal with all sorts of problems. I thought it was an interesting and entertaining episode.
The Simpson family wasn't normal or typical, so they ended up in a lot of unique or even odd situations. Many of those odd things happen because of something Homer did or tried to do. All those situations did add humor to the episodes. Some slapstick type of humor was also used, usually through Homer's bumbling. He frequently did things that caused himself to be hurt in some way. I thought those things still worked to add humor, but some people might be getting a little tired of that still happening. Certain things that were done for humor were sillier in nature, but that didn't bother me and I thought those things still worked well. Some people might find the humor to be too silly. Parents may have some concerns about their children watching the show since things that were a bit more adult in nature did pop up every so often.
The same group of voice actors continued to provide voices for the main characters as well as several of the returning supporting characters. Most of the voice actors did voices for multiple characters. Yeardly Smith only did the voice for Lisa and Julie Kavner only did the voice for Marge most of the time. She would also do the voices for Marge's sisters Patty and Selma and their mother the few times they turned up. Several of the episodes in the eleventh season also featured guest voice stars, something that had been done in the first ten seasons. The guest voice actors for the eleventh season included Mel Gibson, Mark McGwire, Ed Asner, Tom Arnold, Dick Clark, Lucy Lawless, The B-52's, Ron Howard, Penn & Teller, Pat O'Brian, Nancy O'Dell, Jan Hooks, Gary Marshall, Butch Patrick, John Goodman, Jay North, Henry Winkler, Clarence Clemons, Gary Coleman, Joe Mantegna, Tim Robbins, Don Cheadle, Britney Spears, Shawn Colvin, Betty White, Diedrich Bader, Joe C., Kid Rock, Charlie Rose, Parker Posey, Stephen Hawking, Jim Forbes, and Willie Nelson.
DVD Information
The Simpsons - Season 11 has all twenty-two episodes on four discs. Once again there were two case options, one with a Krusty head shape on the front and the other just a regular case with a picture of Krusty. I pre-ordered my copy and ended up with the Krusty head case. Since it his head does stick out from the box, it is harder to fit on the shelf with my other DVD sets. The inside part of this DVD case is horrible and I really think it is the worst DVD case ever. There is a cardboard like thing that unfolds to show a large picture on both sides of the various Simpsons characters at a carnival. I actually liked the illustration. My problem is with how the discs are stored. There are little pockets on one side of the unfolded cardboard thing where the discs slide into. The first time I opened the set, I had a hard time finding the little slits for the pockets and I actually thought I had gotten a defective case and was missing the discs. It was very hard for me to even get the discs out of the pockets because there really wasn't enough room for me to reach in and pull them out. It said on the back of the case that it was more environmentally friendly, probably because there were none of the plastic things to hold the discs, but I really hate this case.
The carnival theme from the case carried into the booklet that came with the set. The various illustrations throughout the booklet featured the characters in carnival settings. There was another message from Matt Groening where he talked about a few different things connected to the eleventh season. One page of the booklet listed the main cast and which episodes were on which disc. Another page listed out which episodes had commentaries. That page also had an icon key for the different icons that would appear throughout the booklet which identified the different types of extras associated with the episodes. The rest of the booklet had short plot summaries for each episode, as well as providing the original air dates and identifying any guest voice actors. If there were any extras tied to a specific episode, the little icons were on the bottom of the episode page. Most of the extras consisted of the commentaries and some deleted scenes.
Episode List
Beyond Blunderdome
Brother's Little Helper
Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner
Treehouse of Horror X
E-I-E-I - (Annoyed Grunt)
Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder
Eight Misbehavin'
Take My Wife, Sleaze
Grift of the Magi
Little Big Mom
Faith Off
The Mansion Family
Saddlesore Galactica
Alone Again, Natura-Diddily
Missionary: Impossible
Pygmoelian
Bart to the Future
Days of Wine and D'Oh'Ses
Kill the Alligator and Run
Last Tap Dance in Springfield
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge
Behind the Laughter
I really enjoyed the episodes in The Simpsons - Season 11 and am glad I have the set as part of my collection even though I hate the case. Fans of the series may also enjoy the set, though I do know that some people weren't as happy with this season of the show.
Simpsons Reviews
The Simpsons - The Complete First Season ~ The Simpsons - The Complete Second Season ~ The Simpsons - The Complete Third Season ~ The Simpsons - The Complete Fourth Season ~ The Simpsons - Season 5 ~ The Simpsons - Season 6 ~ The Simpsons - Season 7 ~ The Simpsons - Season 8 ~The Simpsons - Season 9 ~ The Simpsons - Season 10 ~ The Simpsons - Season 12 ~ The Simpsons Movie ~ The Simpsons Clue ~
Futurama Reviews
Futurama - Volume 1 ~ Futurama - Volume 2 ~ Futurama - Volume 3 ~ Futurama - Volume 4 ~ Futurama: Bender's Big Score ~ Futurama: The Beast With a Billion Backs ~ Futurama: Bender's Game ~ Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder ~
Recommended:
Yes
Viewing Format: DVD
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