8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's The Simpsons, need I say more?, August 19, 2006
This review is from: The Simpsons - The Complete Eighth Season (Collectible Maggie Head Pack) (DVD)
Well, as we all know, this is just another perfect season from the galaxy's greatest show. Complete with audio commentary, deleted scenes, an introduction from Matt Groening, and pretty much all the other features you can find on the last couple of seasons. I currently own every season available, and this is just as great.
You get plenty of hilarious and witty 1-liners, items from old episodes that you won't catch the first time you see them (see Homer's Phobia), Mr. Burns' son, a different Lisa, and many other things. I've worn the bottoms off the episodes You Only Move Twice, Burns Baby Burns, Bart After Dark, The Springfield Files, Mountain Of Madness, Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala (ANNOYED GRUNT) cious, Homer's Phobia, The Canine Mutiny, and Homer's Enemy. Of course, ALL of the episodes rule (though I feel some of them are kind of pointless)! This is a must of you're a Simpsons fan, especially if you're a purist like me.
"So settle back, hit 'play all', and watch contentedly as several hours of your life dance by in vivid, almost schorching colors." - Matt Groening.
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18 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Just another excellent season of Fox's animated first family, July 2, 2006
This review is from: The Simpsons - The Complete Eighth Season (Collectible Maggie Head Pack) (DVD)
The eighth season of the Simpsons displayed that creator Matt Groening and co. had not slowed down in terms of creativity and pop culture skewering. In this season, there is hilarity apelnty: Homer's new boss at the new Power Plant turns out to be a mega super villain ("You Only Move Twice"), and faces off against the Mike Tyson-spoofing champ ("The Homer They Fall"), Mr. Burns discovers his long lost teddy bear Bobo ("Burns, Baby Burns"), Bart gets a job at the local Burlesque House ("Bart After Dark"), Lisa gets a crush on bully Nelson ("Lisa's Date With Density"), Flanders suffers a breakdown ("Hurricane Neddy"), and Homer meets his inadvertant nemesis Frank Grimes ("Homer's Enemy"). Standouts of the season are the instant classics "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (AKA: The Mysterious Voyage of Homer)" in which Homer questions his life with Marge and searches for his true soulmate in this episode which is made all the better by a superb guest voice from Johnny Cash, and "The Springfield Files" where Homer believes that an alien is lurking in the woods of Springfield, which prompts a visit from FBI Agents Mulder and Scully (voiced by X-Files stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson). The "Treehouse of Horror" episode this season was a standout as well, as Bart learns of his evil twin brother, Lisa creates miniature life, and the presidential race between Bill Clinton and Bob Dole gets interupted by Kang and Kodos. All in all, season eight of the Simpsons is yet another superbly done collection of animated comedy with guest voices aplenty (including Willem Dafoe, John Waters, and Rodney Dangerfield), and like the previous seasons before it, managed to be hilarious without being vulgar, and more than memorable as well.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The last season where every episode is a gem, September 27, 2007
This review is from: The Simpsons - The Complete Eighth Season (Collectible Maggie Head Pack) (DVD)
The eighth season of the Simpsons is the last season that is great from top to bottom. Sure there are lots of great shows in later seasons, but there isn't a weak show in this entire year. Critics (and the show's writers) have pondered about why the show is not as good now as then, and I think the answer is that the writers have had to go further and further afield to come up with new things for the Simpsons to do. Some of the most recent shows are simply weird. What makes the eighth season so compelling is that it's just at the start of this branching-out process: there are some "weird" shows, but they don't stray too far off the beaten path in terms of pop-culture references, characterisations, etc. Thus, many more of the background characters are brought to the fore: we see here for the first time the burgeoning romance between Mrs. Krabappel and Principal Skinner, the divorce of the van Houtens, learn about Flander's parents ("lousy beatnicks!"), and meet the woman who is the voice of Itchy and Scratchy (and, incidentally, the Roadrunner). Most importantly for the evolution of the show, we have "The Simpsons Spinoff Showcase," a segment of which shows the Simpsons as a real family that plays The Simpsons family on TV, but who also have other interests (such as singing and dancing).
Of course, in this box set there are numerous little extras. The menus have a number of humourous little vignettes, but they are easily skippable to prevent frustration with menu navigation. Every episode has a commentary (as usual) but more of the guest stars and actors appear here. The best guest commentators turn out to be Dan Thomas, the voice of Rex Banner (although the commentary does become a bit of a love-in for SCTV), and John Waters, the voice of John "the Gay Man." Without giving an exhaustive list of episodes (which can be found elsewhere), it's difficult to cull the season down to the best episodes. But I'll give it a try; my favourites are:
You Only Move Twice: "For once in my life I'm good at my job! My team is way ahead of the weather machine and germ warfare divisions." Homer gets a job as a mid-level manager at a nuclear power plant in Cypress Creek. It turns out that it's run by a James Bond-esque supervillian intent on seizing the East Coast. My second-favourite all-time Simpsons episode (after "Last Exit to Springfield").
Bart After Dark: "I was only in there to ask directions about how to get out of there." In recovering a wayward model airplane, Bart accidently breaks a gargoyle on "the creepy house." When Homer orders Bart to work off the debt, Bart discovers the creepy house is actually a Burlesque house.
The Springfield Files: "This is the worst case we've ever investigated." A rare true "crossover" episode. Mulder and Scully from the X-Files are called in to investigate Homer's supposed sighting of an alien.
Supercalifragilisticexpiala(annoyed grunt)cious: "If you cut every corner it is really not so bad/ Everybody does it, even Mom and Dad/ If nobody sees it then nobody gets mad" Marge hires a nanny. An extended parody of (you guessed it!) Mary Poppins.
Brother From Another Series: "Hydrological and hydrodynamical engineer? Talk about running the gamut." Side Show Bob's brother (appropriately played by David Hyde Pierce) gives Bob a job and for once Bob tries to keep to the straight and narrow.
Homer vs. the 18th Ammendment. "Here's to alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all life's problems." The temperance movement (led by Helen Lovejoy and Maude Flanders) dicovers the prohibition law in Springfield is still on the books. Chief Wiggum is fired and replaced by Rex Banner (complete with fedora and tommy guns), while Homer becomes the city's lead bootlegger.
The Simpson's Spinoff Showcase: "New Orleans is not really a party town, chief." Troy McClure introduces us to three potential Simpsons spinoffs: Chief Wiggum and Principal Skinner as P.I.s in New Orleans, Moe in a supernatural sitcom with a haunted love tester, and a musical variety show like the Smothers Brothers or Carol Burnett show.
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