The Simpsons: The Nineteenth Season

The Simpsons fans just can’t catch a break. If it’s not the Disney+ handling of the series, which doesn’t give the original aspect ratio option for the first nineteen seasons of the show, cutting off and obscuring jokes, stretching out the picture to an unnatural level with no way to remedy the problem, it’s the extraordinary long wait to own them on DVD, for seemingly no real rhyme or reason.

The first season was released in 2001 on DVD, with one of the most horrific packaging ever to exist, shaped like the characters to ensure you’d never be able to normally display it on a shelf with the rest of your collection. The rest of the seasons trickled out over the years, skipping the 11^th through 19^th seasons, to capitalize on their 20^th anniversary in 2010, and now nine years later catching up to fill in the missing seasons, still 11 seasons shy, gone through two different upgraded mediums, chugging at a snail’s pace.

Matt Groening seems to have a sense of humor about it, with a nice opening commentary to the disc where he makes fun of the fact it’s taken so long. Humor aside, my biggest concern with the timing of this and Disney+ is that unfortunately sales won’t do as well as they once did, effectively ruining the chances for any additional physical media releases of this show, especially the fact they are in high definition streaming, and only available in DVD format.

Here’s a breakdown on the show and what episodes you’re going to get:

Disc 1:

1. He Loves to Fly and He D’Ohs – Marge hires a life coach to turn Homer around after he becomes convinced he’s nothing but a loser.
2. The Homer of Seville – Homer becomes an opera star, only to find himself the target of an obsessed fan.
3. Midnight Towboy – Homer makes enemies when he starts his own tow truck business; Marge hires outside help to make Maggie more independent.
4. I Don’t Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Marge fears for her safety after breaking her promise to a bank robber about visiting him in jail.
5. Treehouse of Horror XVIII – In three horrific tales of Halloween terror: Homer and Marge attempt to eliminate one another after discovering their secrete identities; Bart and Lisa aid Kodos the space alien, unaware of his true intentions; Flanders uses the seven deadly sins to punish Bart and his prankster friends.

Disc 2:

6. Little Orphan Millie – When his parents are lost and presumed dead, Milhouse becomes cooler than Bart; Homer finds himself in hot water when he can’t remember the color of Marge’s eyes.
7. Husbands and Knives – After Marge launches a gym for “regular women” and becomes a successful businessperson, Homer decides to have his stomach stapled so she’ll find him more attractive.
8. Funeral for a Fiend – After another of his attempts to kill the Simpsons is foiled, Sideshow Bob is put on trial. During the proceedings, Bart accidentally kills his old nemesis.
9. Eternal Moonshine of the Simpsons Mind – Homer wakes up from a blackout only to discover that Marge and the kids have left him. Using a variety of methods, he probes his memory to unravel the mystery.
10. E Pluribus Wiggum – When Springfield becomes the first city in the nation to hold a presidential primary, voters turn to the one person they can trust: Ralph Wiggum.

Disc 3:

11. That 90’s Show – Marge and Homer recount how Marge almost fell in love with a college professor during the 1990s.
12. Love, Springfieldian Style – When Homer and Marge become trapped in a tunnel of love, three Valentine’s Day stories unfold: Bonnie and Clyde steal each other’s hearts; a take-off on “Lady and the Tramp” depicts Homer as a deadbeat dog; punk rockers Lisa and Nelson become hooked on sweets.
13. The Debarted – Bart befriends a new kid at school, unaware that he’s a snitch; after his car is damaged in an accident, Homer ends up with a fancy loaner.
14. Dial “N” for Nerder – Bart and Lisa think they killed Martin Prince; Marge enlists the help of a reality TV show after Homer cheats on his diet.
15. Smoke on the Daughter – Lisa becomes addicted to secondhand smoke when she joins a ballet academy; Homer befriends raccoons who stole his beef jerky.

Disc 4:

16. Papa Don’t Leech – Marge and Homer aid country singer Lurleen Lumpkin by reuniting her with her deadbeat father.
17. Apocalypse Cow – Bart is overjoyed when the calf he’s raising is judged Best in Show – until he realizes the animal is going to be slaughtered.
18. Any Given Sundance – Lisa’s documentary about life with the Simpsons is accepted into Sundance, but Lisa’s initial elation turns to horror when festival-goers begin humiliating her dysfunctional family.
19. Mono Leaves-A – When Homer’s mother returns to Springfield, she asks Homer for forgiveness.
20. All About Lisa – Krusty hires Lisa to be his intern, but she’s so good at the job, she ends up replacing him as host of his show; Bart and Homer discover the world of coin collecting.

Revisiting the 19^th season you can really see the evolution of the show and how drastically different it is now, in large part due to Family Guy and its heavy use of cutaways. Although I do like Family Guy, The Simpsons had a unique way of portraying humor, a lot more subtle during this time, with narratives that are plays on films and televisions shows, that seems a lot smarter, and way more hit or miss.

Though it seems they’ve learned their lesson about the abnormally shaped packaging, I still very much dislike this new set. The box itself has a flap that opens with Velcro, inside containing a message from Matt Groening and some beautiful artwork from animator Bill Plympton who also did the illustrations for the menus, the packaging and included booklet, as well as numerous couch gags that have equaled more than any guest director in the show’s history. However, to open the set and get the DVD sleeves out, you have to open the top, squeezing/folding in the flap to allow it to slip out. A very poor design indeed, the flap leaves a big crease in the top which will undoubtedly wear out over time. The included DVD sleeve is filled with illustrations, which is very nice, however, is one of those cardboard slip cases where the discs are forced inside a small slit, causing scratches that will wear out the discs over time as well. It really is a frustrating case.

If you can get past the difficulties in actually getting out the discs, it’s a great set to have for those who have been avid collectors since 2001. With commentary recorded for each episode, it’s a nice bonus feature for fans who have waiting this long to get their hands on season 19.