dragonfire88's Full Review: Simpsons - The Complete Third Season
I didn’t start watching The Simpsons in 1989 when it first started airing because I didn't get FOX at that time where I lived. It wasn't until years later that I started watching the show and I quickly became hooked on the show. I picked up The Simpsons - The Complete Season on DVD not long after it was first released.
The Simpsons was created by Matt Groening. It was first seen filling in between sketches on The Tracey Ullman Show. The animation was rough and there really much character development because the spots were so short but the characters still became popular enough that they were given their own show. The show aired its 400th episode in May of 2007 and a major movie that has been in the works for years will be released in July of 2007. Groening also created another animated show, Futurama, that began airing in 1999.
The immediate members of the Simpsons family - Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie - are the main characters in the show and most of the episodes revolved around them. The Simpsons really weren’t a typical normal family, and they ended up in some unique situations which were shared throughout the show. Those unique situations provided a lot of the humor for the show. Most of the characters said or did things that were funny with Homer and Bart being responsible for most of the laughs. Certain things that were done for laughs, usually by Bart, were a bit gross.
Some other members of the family like Homer’s father and Marge’s sisters Patty and Selma were also featured in some episodes without them being really important characters. Selma and the infrequent returning character of Side Show Bob were featured more in the episode Black Widower. Most of the episodes continued to be self-contained, but Black Widower did bring up things that had happened the last time Side Show Bob was featured. Ned received more attention in the episode When Flanders Failed that was mostly focused on him opening a store that only sold left-handed versions of items.
Like Father, Like Clown shared some background information about Krusty the clown. Moe played a big part in Flaming Moe’s which also featured the guest voices of Aerosmith. Otto the bus driver had a turn in the spotlight in The Otto Show. Bart’s best friend Milhouse was the main focus of the episode Bart’s Friend Falls in Love. Principal Skinner briefly talked about being in Vietnam in one episode. I think that was the first time that bit of his past was brought up. I really liked how several of the episodes did focus on some of the more supporting characters.
The third season included the second Treehouse of Horror Halloween episode, which has become a yearly tradition for the show. This episode was the first time that spooky names were used in the opening and closing credits. The episode featured three scary stories that fit in with the Halloween theme. I don’t remember ever seeing this Treehouse of Horror episode before I watched it on the DVD set. This season also featured another flashback episode related to Homer and Marge’s relationship. I Married Marge showed their wedding, living with her sisters while adjusting to married life, and the birth of Bart. The episode is also the first time that Smithers first name was shared. I really liked seeing more from the earlier stages of Homer and Marge’s relationship.
I think my favorite episode in the season was Black Widower. Selma had started exchanging letters with Side Show Bob while he was still in prison and they fell in love. After he was released, he and Selma became engaged. Bart was convinced that Side Show Bob was still bad and up to something even though everyone else seemed to believe that he’d changed while in prison. The relationship was oddly disturbing and entertaining at the same time. There’s just something about Side Show Bob that I like and I’ve enjoyed every episode that he’s been in. Kelsey Grammer’s voice fits the character perfectly. I’d like it if he turned up more often.
The same main group of voice actors continued to provide voices for the main characters as well as several of the minor supporting characters. As far as I know, Yeardly Smith, who does the voice for Lisa, is the only regular cast member who doesn’t voice multiple characters. Julie Kavner only does the voices for Marge, Patty, Selma, and their mother the few times she has shown up. Marcia Wallace, who was identified as a guest actor in the DVD material, usually only provided the voice of Bart’s teacher Edna Krabappel.
Phil Hartman continued to provide the voices of several characters, Lionel Hutz and Troy McClure being the most well known. Danny DeVito and Kelsey Grammer were back when their characters returned for one episode each. Several other guest stars provided voices for characters including the members of Aerosmith and Spinal Tap, Neil Patrick Harris, Jon Lovitz, Sting, and Beverly D’Angelo as well as several others. All the voices fit the characters very well. I did think that Chief Wiggum’s voice sounded a bit different the few times he turned up.
The animation had the same look as the animation from the first and second seasons. I’m thinking that the animation was cleaned up for the DVD set because the episodes had a more polished look than I remember them having when I have seen the reruns of the episodes on television. Bright, vibrant colors were used in all of the episodes. The opening sequence remained the same as it had been in the second season. The only changes were for what Bart was writing on the chalkboard and how the family was shown at the very end. Those two things are changed for every episode.
DVD Information
The Simpsons - The Complete Third Season DVD set contains all twenty-four episodes from the third season on four discs. The set has the same unfolding type of case the first two seasons have had with each disc one its own panel. Each disc has a different graphic of a character from the show on it. There was another message from Matt Groening. In this one, he talked about his frustration with how the syndicated episodes are cut up so much to make room for additional commercials. He also briefly talked about some of the episodes and pointed out that several of them dealt with love in some way. A short booklet included brief summaries of each episode. The original air dates were given and it was noted when a guest actor provided a voice for a character.
The main menu on each disc had an animated backdrop featuring the family sitting on their couch. There was an option to play all the episodes from the main menu, something that wasn’t included in the first two DVD sets. There was also the option of going to the episode list and playing them one at a time. The episode list and menus for each episode were very plain and had no animation. There were some special features included as well. Matt Groening and some of the other people involved with the show continued to provide commentaries for every episode. There was also pop up bonus trivia, audio outtakes from the cast and guest stars, Butterfinger commercials that featured characters, Bart’s Thanksgiving Day Parade appearance, storyboards, some scene specific interactive sketches and something called Simpsons jukebox that featured thirteen songs.
Episode List
Stark Raving Dad Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington When Flanders Failed Bart the Murderer Homer Defined Like Father, Like Clown Treehouse of Horror II Lisa’s Pony Saturdays of Thunder Flaming Moe’s Burns Verkaufen Der Kraftwerk I Married Marge Radio Bart Lisa the Geek Homer Alone Bart the Lover Homer at the Bat Separate Vocations Dog of Death Colonel Homer Black Widower The Otto Show Bart’s Friend Falls in Love Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?
The Simpsons - The Complete Third Season continued to be very entertaining. The set really doesn’t offer much in the way of extras, but the set is still worth having, especially for fans of the show.
This review is part of elvisdo’s 2007 Canadiania Write-off. Phil Hartman, who provided voices for several smaller characters, was originally from Ontario.
Welcome to Season Three of The Simpsons on DVD -- twenty-four jam-packed episodes of malicious cartoon frivolity that helped make 1991 and 1992 such e...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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