Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3112 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-09-24
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Formats: Box set, Full Screen, PAL
• Original language: Albanian, Arabic, English, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Turkish
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 334 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
From practically the first episode, broadcast in 1989, The Simpsons impacted on planet TV like a giant multi-coloured meteor. With a claim to being the defining pop cultural phenomenon of the 1990s--hip, fast, sharp and primary--there was nothing even in rock & roll to match this. The Simpsons is possibly the greatest sitcom ever made. Although the animation was initially primitive, never before had cartoon characters been so well drawn. There had been loveable middle-aged layabouts on TV before, but Homer Simpson successfully stole their crown and out-slobbed them all in every department ("The guys at the plant are gonna have a field day with this," he grumbles in "Call of The Simpsons" as he watches scientists on a TV news item who can't decide whether he is incredibly dense or a brilliant beast). However, in this first series he isn't quite yet the bloated man-child he would become in later series; instead he's a growling patriarch with a Walter Matthau-type voice. His sensible half Marge's croak, meanwhile, has yet to settle down, while the vast cast of minor Springfield characters have yet to find their place. Bart, however, was a smash from the start: dumb as Homer but spiky-haired and resourceful, he sets out his manifesto in "Bart the Genius"; while "Moaning Lisa" spotlights his over-achieving sister and is a good early example of the series' clever handling of melancholy bass notes.

Throughout its life there's always been confusion as to whether The Simpsons is a show for kids or adults, but with allusions in these first 13 episodes to Kubrick, Diane Arbus, Citizen Kane and (in a very satisfyingly anti-French episode) Manon des Sources, it should already have been clear that this was a programme for all ages and all IQs from 0 to 200. Dysfunctional they may have been, but the Simpsons stuck together, and audiences stuck with them into the 21st century. --David Stubbs

On the DVD: The packaging is good but the 13 episodes are spread very thinly here, with just five each on discs one and two . The commentary track is intermittently interesting though a tad repetitive, as creator David Groening is joined by various other members of the team. The third disc has some neat extra stuff, including outtakes, the original Tracey Ullman Show shorts and a five-minute BBC documentary, but is again fairly brief. The menu interfaces are pretty clunky, annoyingly forcing you to watch endless copyright warnings after each episode and with no facility to "play all". The content is wonderful, of course, but three discs looks like overkill. --Mark Walker

DVD Description
DVD Special Features:

All 13 episodes
Ratio 1.33:1
Dolby 5.1 Surround
Subtitles: Spanish

Disc 1:
Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire
Bart the Genius
Homer's Odyssey
There's No Disgrace Like Home
Bart the General
Moaning Lisa
Bonus Features: Original scripts featuring notes by Matt Groening for "Bart the Genius", "Bart the General" and "Moaning Lisa". All episodes are accompanied by commentary.

Disc 2:
Call of the Simpsons
The Telltale Head
Life on the Fast Lane
Homer's Night Out
The Crepes of Wrath
Krusty Gets Busted
Bonus Features: All episodes are accompanied by commentary

Disc 3:
Some Enchanted Evening Bonus Features: Original script notes by Matt Groening
Outtakes from un-aired version of an episode
Animatic of an episode with commentary by Matt Groening and David Silverman
The Making of The Simpsons "America's First Family"
Easter Egg ABC News Special on a reported controversy
"Tracey Ullman Show" First ever Simpsons to air on Tracey Ullman Show
Five Foreign Language Clips
Early Sketches Stills Gallery
Magazine Covers

Synopsis
This collection presents the original 13 episodes from the first season of THE SIMPSONS, including such classics as Krusty Gets Busted, featuring the first appearance by Sideshow Bob; There's No Disgrace Like Home, in which Homer tries to get the family to shape up via electroshock therapy; and Life on the Fast Lane, in which Marge is tempted by a bowling instructor named Jacques. This set also features the original Simpsons shorts seen on The Tracey Ullman show, a never-before-seen lost episode, and more.

Customer Reviews

The beginning of the best TV series ever!!!
Much like the Godfather and Star Wars trilogies as soon as I realised the genius of the DVD format I wanted to now when we were gonna get our hands on some Simpsons- now here it is.

The good news is that we get an entire series spread over three discs with substantial extras. The bad news is that - even though it's still good- Series One of The Simpsons fares pretty badly against the subsequent series of The Simpsons. The animation is not brilliant, the voices have not been honed and some of the episodes are just plain weak- true all these factors do start to be ironed out, but because of the ordering of the episodes some of the later episodes are actually the weaker ones.

All this is excuseable of course- it is The Simpsons we're talking about, not some BBC One sitcom starring Dennis Waterman as a retired Fireman (it's probably in the pipeline). Some of the episodes are genius- Bart The General, Life on the Fast Lane, Crepes of Wrath to name three in particular. We start to see the beginnings of what made The Simpsons the best television programme ever- the quirky characters, the richness and comedy value of the 'backup' cast.

Of course you cant make an omelette without breaking eggs so we have to see some 'alternative' colours for characters hair/skin and hear some mildly irritating voices coming out of the mouths of charcters whose voices will develop (this is particularly in Homer and his 'Walter Matthau' voice).

As stated earlier the extras are substantial. We get scripts, deleted scenes, a short from The Tracy Ullman Show and commentaries on all episodes. A couple of quibbles here- the commentaries: the box boasts Matt Groening commentary on every episode- if he's there on some of them he's really, really quiet. Also some of the comentaries are repetitive- it's claimed at least twice that "this is the first appearance of Apu isn't it?" when to be honest the first time he appears it goes unmentioned. But there is enough there to make the comentaries worthwhile. Again the sennse that as The Simpsons became more complex as a programme with time the commentaries on later series will have more to offer. Final quibble- the documentary is just a painfully short segment (six minutes)of one broadcast on BBC2 last year, a little more could surely have been offered.

So - buy it buy it now. It's not fantastic but it's good enough. Besides, from here on in every series is an essential purchase- and your shelf will look as though there's something missing without the first series wont it? So, don't think-just get it.

The Simpsons- In the beginning....
The Simpsons started out in the Tracy Ullman Show on the 19th April 1987, as shorts, and then, worked it's way up, to become as full length episodes, (First one in the 17th December 1989,) and now won multiple Emmys, was voted by TIME magazine,"the best TV show of the 20th century", broke two records of the longest prime-time show, and most guest celebrities, 280, and is loved by people of all ages!
All of this, is simply thanks to the First Season. The First Season DVD, has the whole 13 full-length episodes, with a variety of subtitles, commentary by Matt Groening and others, on each episode, with a few outakes, a descriptive featurette, early sketches by Matt Groening, and including ,not just the first ever episode, but also the first time ever The Simpsons were introduced in the first ever short, "Goodnight Simpsons", and original scripts from some episodes on the breathtaking 3-disc DVD collection, with a neat booklet, with a summary on each and every episode, including the writers, the director, the scene selection, total running time, first airing date, and who was introduced in every single episode!!!!
Whoever says, the special features aren't worth it, they should bite their tongue, or they obviuosly try not to brag about it, as any person, collector or not, big fan or not. You won't be dissapointed with The Simpsons First Season DVD Collection.

Relive the magic of The Simpsons' first season - with extras
I was one of those fans who watched The Simpsons from the very start; back in those days, even at college, all we had were rabbit ears to pick up the less than clear local Fox station - some folks back then, in 1989, still did not even have a local Fox station. Things have changed a whole lot since the thirteen-episode first season of this classic comedy, but in many ways The Simpsons has not. As I write this, the show's still going strong and building upon the work done all those years ago. While there was a bit of experimentation back in the early days, the characters emerged fully formed from the very first show. It's quite a treat to be able to watch these first thirteen episodes in order again and to reflect back upon the controversy and instant impact this animated show immediately made on popular culture.

I was amazed at how vibrant and familiar these first shows seemed; it seems like only yesterday that I was introduced to Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie, and all the denizens of Springfield. Every episode here is a classic. Watching There's No Disgrace Like Home, the third episode, I was unexpectedly taken back to the very beginning of Simpsons mania as I watched the Simpsons repeatedly administer shocks to themselves to the consternation of family therapist Marvin Monroe. And who could forget the terrible ordeal Bart endured at the hands of two French cretins (or little Adil Hoxha, foreign exchange student from Albania - a legend in the lore of Simpsons trivia) in The Crepes of Wrath. In terms of pure hilarity, look no farther than Homer's Night Out, in which Homer becomes the swingingest swinger in town and elicits a plea for help in the ladies' department from none other than Mr. Skinner himself. The first memorable guest performers also lended their special magic to the show early on: Penny Marshall as the baby-sitting bandit in Some Enchanted Evening, Kelsey Grammer as Sideshow Bob in Krusty Gets Busted, and Albert Brooks as the RV salesman in Call of the Simpsons and Jacque, Marge's French admirer and bowling instructor in Life On the Fast Lane. I could write a paragraph about every single episode, as each one is a classic.

The commentary for each episode is fabulous, as a whole gaggle of the geniuses who brought the show to life come together to laugh at the best bits, talk about the show's genesis and evolution during this experimental first season, and provide fans with all kinds of trivia and juicy tidbits about the whole Simpsons phenomenon. You can clearly see the show develop with each passing episode, particularly in terms of the level of detail in the animation and, to some degree, the voices. With the help of the commentaries, you get a whole new perspective on Homer and the gang. One can't help but be impressed by the way each character was developed early on, the chemistry that quickly emerged between all the characters, and the way in which serious issues were explored in such a comedic manner. Gosh, you had Marge and Homer's marriage on the rocks in a couple of episodes, Bart's deportation to France for his excessive shenanigans at school, the capture of Bart and Lisa by a wanted criminal, the framing and imprisonment of Krusty, the problem of illiteracy, etc. This show really had it all, right from the very start.

I don't know why I waited so long to add The Simpsons Season One to my DVD collection, but I can't wait to get all of the seasons on DVD. After 15+ years, it's easy to take this show for granted, but this Season One DVD with all of its extras has reawakened my old passion for this incredible television show. Speaking of extras, you get a look here at the first animated version of the show, and it's just as horrible as Matt Groening and the other Simpsons bigwigs said it was. You have to see it to believe it. After seeing that, you realize more than ever how lucky we are to have The Simpsons in our lives.