Customer Reviews

The Simpsons - The Complete Eighth Season

5 star:		(84)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Season 8 may be the last above average season of The Simpsons. It would not be long after this season when I stopped enjoying The Simpsons as much. Their story lines became increasingly over-the-top and the shows were often to intent on focusing on the celebrity of the week. This season starts to go in that direction with some way-out episodes, but is not quite there yet. Season 7 is my favorite but Season 8 has many gems including "The Homer They Fall," "Burns, Baby Burns," "Lisa's Date with Density," "Hurricane Neddy," "Homer Vs. The Eighteenth Amendment," and "In Marge We Trust."

"Treehouse of Horror VII": (a) The Thing and I: Bart finds out he has an evil Siamese brother Hugo; (b) The Genesis Tub: Lisa conducts experiments with her fallen baby tooth and creates a mini society. When she is zapped into miniature size, she warns the little society against the "Dark One" (Bart); (c) Kang and Kodos come to earth posed as Bob Dole and Bill Clinton. Of course, with the two-party system, one of them has to win.
"You Only Move Twice": Homer begins working for Hank Scorpio who is a pleasant and fun boss despite his plans for global terrorism and extortion.
"The Homer They Fall": Homer becomes a boxer with Moe as his manager. All goes well until he has to fight Drederick Tatum. Great Mike Tyson and Don King characters.
"Burn, Baby Burns": Mr. Burns finds out he has a long-lost son (voiced by Rodney Dangerfield) who becomes bosom buds with Homer. Love the line: "This place is emptier than a Scottish pay toilet."
"Bart After Dark": After Bart damages property at an spooky old house, Homer forces Bart to work at the house which turns out to be a burlesque house.
"A Milhouse Divided": Milhouse's parents get divorced and his dad decides to becomes a [bad] singer.

"Lisa's Date with Density": Lisa develops a crush on bully Nelson Muntz and thinks she can change him. I love the scene where Nelson throws a rock at a window and tries to tell Lisa the cops are chasing him and he needs a hideout only to have Homer open the window to tell him Lisa's room is the next window over. I also love the auto-dialer sub-story.
"Hurricane Neddy": One of my all-time favorites. Ned Flanders's house is the only one destroyed in a hurricane and he begins to question his faith. In a flashback, we find out how he started saying doodily, diddily, as a why to hold in rage.
"The Mysterious Voyage of Homer": This is a weird one. Homer eats a bad pepper at a chili cook-off and hallucinates about a coyote who urges Homer to find his soul mate.
"The Springfield Files:" X-Files take-off.
"The Twisted World of Marge Simpson": After being booted out of the Investorettes club for being too conservative, Marge buys a pretzel franchise but keeps hitting stumbling blocks to success. Homer decides to recruit the services of Fat Tony.
"Mountain of Madness": This one is also a little odd. During a survival retreat for the nuclear power plant, Mr. Burns and Homer are snowed-into a cabin and eventually start hallucinating.

"Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala("doh!")cious": The Simpsons need a nanny and hire Mary Pop..,uh,...Shary Bobbins.
"The Itchy and Scratchy and Poochie Show": Homer becomes the voice of a new cartoon character who doesn't go over very well.
"Homer's Phobia": Homer meets a funny guy who runs a collectible shop "Cockamamies" (gotta love that name) named John and is shocked when he discovers John, uh, prefers the company of men. Worst of all, Homer thinks John is influencing Bart.
"Brother From Another Series": (Great title). Sideshow Bob is released from prison and joins forces with his brother Cecil (voiced by David Hyde Pierce, of course, Sideshow Bob is voiced by Kelsey Grammer--get the title?). Could Bob actually be the good guy in this episode???
"My Sister, My Sitter": Lisa becomes Bart's baby sitter and Lisa is afraid she's killed her brother after knocking him down the stairs. This one is a little over-the-top.

"Homer Vs. The Eighteenth Amendment": One of my all-time favorites! Prohibition starts up again in Springfield and Homer assists Moe in creating a speakeasy. Can Homer out-fox Rex Banner?
"Grade School Confidential": Principal Skinner and Mrs. Krabappel start a romance and create controversy at Springfield Elementary. The Skinner is a virgin thing was a little much.
"The Canine Mutiny": Bart gets hold of a fake credit card and buys all kinds of stuff including a pedigree collie, Laddie. When repo-men come to collect the stuff, Bart gives them Santa's Little Helper instead of Laddie and soon regrets the decision.
"The Old Man and the Lisa": Mr. Burns, who's recently lost his fortune, joins forces with Lisa to create a recycling plant. Of course, Mr. Burns could never turn this plant into an evil operation...yeah, right! I love Moe's line about the "Little Lisa" logo: "Ah, isn't that cute. It makes Little Debbie look like a pile of puke."
"In Marge We Trust": Marge becomes the "Listen Lady" and burned-out Mr. Lovejoy is worried she has become more popular than him with his flock.
"Homer's Enemy": Frank Grimes is the new employee at the nuclear power plant and, unlike everyone else, he doesn't accept Homer's incompetence. A very dark episode.
"The Simpsons Spin-off Showcase": A 1970s-style variety show take-off of The Brady Bunch. Just as Jan refused to participate, Lisa is replaced by an actress who looks just like her...yeah, right!
"The Secret War of Lisa Simpson": Bart is forced to enlist in military school and, impressed by the discipline which seems odd since Lisa is such a free thinker that one would not think she'd be attracted to the unquestioning soldier's life, she decides to join, too. And all the boys accept her...uh, no.

I looked forward to buying the next released season of The Simpsons on DVD every year, however, getting season eight this year is going to be a bittersweet occasion. Of course, I add yet another solid gold season of The Simpsons to my collection, but this in turn will result in the end of my Simpsons collection. Yes, like many other reviewers of this DVD set on Amazon, I share the same sentiment that this is the last season worth buying. From season 9 and onward, the show grew progressively worse in the long run, and lost what made it worth watching in the first place.

Basically, this is the last season of The Simpsons that retained its witty sense of humor, and didn't resort to outlandish storylines and throwing in celebrity guest stars week after week. Episodes like "You Only Move Twice" (I love the 007 scene), "A Milhouse Divided", "The Twisted World Of Marge Simpson", Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(ANNOYED GRUNT)cious", "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show", "Homer's Phobia", and the classic "Homer's Enemy" exudes the shows last ounces of genius from script to screen. The storylines of these episodes are enjoyable, and captivating from start to finish. The witty humor of the past seasons is well retained in season eight with many side splitting moments of hillarity to prove it. In addition, season eight showcases further development of favorite characters, as well as the introduction of unforgettable new favorites like Frank Grimes and Poochie.

Truly, Season 8 is indeed the end of an era of what was the most brilliantly inventive series on television. Fortunately, it will live infinitely on DVD to be respected and enjoyed by core fans and casual viewers alike.

Episodes of The Simpsons in season 8 were still remarkably fresh, funny and for the most part full of that razor-edged dark humor prevalent in anything developed by "Life In Hell" cartoonist Matt Groening. In episodes like "Homer's Enemy," "The Simpsons Spin-off Showcase," "A Milhouse Divided" and many more you'll see why The Simpsons in its eighth season was the funniest satire on the sad state of the human condition to be found anywhere. Most of these episodes are extremely joke-dense and hilarious; it will take several viewings to catch all the humor packed into each 22-minute episode and with many a "freeze frame" gag in some of them (jokes that can only be clearly seen by freezing the picture) you'll be reaching for the remote occasionally to be sure you get every laugh available out of this set.

This set is 550 minutes long and includes all 25 episodes from season 8. It will be offered in a standard box and in a collectible "Maggie head" package. As usual, extra features are numerous and include commentary tracks, extra footage, deleted scenes, illustrated commentary, animation showcases, promotional spots featuring Matt Groening, and more.

Here is a complete list of episodes:

Treehouse of Horror VII
You Only Move Twice
The Homer They Fall
Burns, Baby Burns
Bart After Dark
A Milhouse Divided
Lisa's Date With Density
Hurricane Neddy
El Viaje de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer)"
The Springfield Files
The Twisted World of Marge Simpson
Mountain of Madness
Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala (Annoyed Grunt) cious
The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show
Homer's Phobia
Brother From Another Series
My Sister, My Sitter
Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment
Grade School Confidential
The Canine Mutiny
The Old Man and Lisa
In Marge We Trust
Homer's Enemy
The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase
The Secret War of Lisa Simpson

Keep in mind that a bad Simpsons episode is still better than 99% of the other shows on TV. This season has some instant classics, including my favorite Simpsons episode with Sherry Bobbins, who is NOT Mary Poppins but original like Ricky Rouse and Monald Muck.

It also feature one of my favorite little bits where Homer, trying to prevent Bart from going gay, takes his son to a gay steel meal. Everytime I hear "We work hard, we play hard" I remember this scene and laugh for 20 minutes.

Where do I end? Homer becomes the Beer Baron, Super Villian for Scorpio, a Boxer, Poochie, and befrinds Frank Grimes. Marge starts a pretzel chain and becomes the listen lady. Principal Skinner and Mrs Krabapple fall in love. Chief Wiggum and Moe get their own shows, and everybody except Lisa gets a family-hour show. Bart works at a naughty house and gets his own credit card. The Van Houtens get a divorce. Burns' son return. Lisa goes to an all-boy military school, helps Burns get his money back, and becomes the town babysiter. Ned's house is destroyed by a hurricane. And still more!

Whoever says this year is a down year doesn't know the Simpsons. In the words of comic book guy, that would be the worst ... review ... ever. The only bad part is having to wait.

All those saying that this is the last great season: time to put the crack pipe down. The very first episode of season 9, "Homer v. NY," is on the short list of Greatest Ever. When confronted with a choice between (ick) Mt. Dew and Crab Juice, Homer chooses.... duh, crab juice. The range of seasons from 6-10 was probably the peak of the show. We watch the Simpsons for one reason: laughs. If you were traumatized by the Van Houten's divorce, you're probably taking it a little too seriously. The whole point of the show is that it reflects real life, and even the tragic elements, with humor. Also, I have a hard time following how a couple of 45 second cameos can supposedly ruin a previously great series. Think about "Homer at the Bat," also on the short list of greatest ever. That episode was MADE by the cameos. The 6-10 range is great because the jokes come faster than in previous seasons, and the writing is still sharp. I will admit there was a decline around seasons 12-13. I suspect a lot of those reviewers who say that this is the last good/great season gave up on it around then and haven't been watching lately. It is coming back in a big way to reward us true believers. The difference may well be Bill Odenkirk, whom any Mr. SHow fan will recognize has funny genes (He also wrote for the show in which his brother starred). Personally, back in the 12-14 range, there were isolated episodes, sometimes even 3 or 4 in a row, which had me close to giving up on the show. But even in the worst Simpsons season there would be a show that would pop up to restore my faith for another week. Lastly, I can't seem to wrap my mind around how it is that this Family Guy discussion keeps cropping up. FG is not and will never be in the same league as the SImpsons. The difference: While the SImpsons may have some "wacky" plotlines, they have plotlines. Not just a string of jokes. If you think "more scatalogical" means "more funny," then Family Guy is for you. If you think that assessment exposes me as a prude, you're way off. WHen I want scatological, I'll turn to South Park. It is bawdier, sharper, smarter, and A LOT funnier than FG, including (like the SImpsons) biting social commentary. It is very topical, and far exceeds both Fox shows in terms of currency. In the interest of full disclosure, I first turned against FG when I saw them blatantly plagiarize the Simpsons. It's happened more than once, but the particularly egregious example which comes to mind is when the family went to the dog track, and the dog (a la Santa's Little Helper) ran out into the race and mated with one of the participants. I know I shouldn't have been surprised, since the whole family dynamic was basically taken from the Simpsons, only the characters have much less depth. Anywho... What was I reviewing? Oh yeah, Simpsons Season 8. What are you waiting for? Buy it right this minute, or regret it for the remainder of your cursed days. Hold on... Pat Robertson just announced on 700 club that if 1 million copies of the Simpsons are sold in the next month, God will spare America from a natural disaster or a terrorist attack or something; I wasn't really listening...

Justin M was dead on. Before fall '96 I was a huge Simpsons fan. I could not miss an episode. The shows from '92 to '96 were the best thing on TV. Then something happened. The shows became, well, less smart. Within less than one year, I had gone from not being able to miss an episode to not being able to watch at all. The shows became painful reminders of what The Simpsons used to be. The movie this summer was the same. A painful reminder. I always wondered if some key writers left after '96. The hilarious timing and brilliant parody simply went away. The funny thing to me is how many people keep watching and don't even notice any difference at all.

The 8th season of The Simpsons is one that I have been waiting to release for quite some time. Yesterday, I ran right out and bought it on the first day of its release and it was worth all the aggravation on my lunch hour to get it. Some of the best episodes are in this season, like the one with the insanity peppers..."Find your soulmate, Homer." Or the one where Ned Flander's house gets destroyed by the hurricane. Or the one where Marge gets the pretzel franchise. Or when Homer thinks he's seen an alien but it's really Mr. Burns hopped up on ether. All of them are fabulous. There are about 20 minutes of deleted scenes included in this season, which I believe is the most they've ever included so far. They also have a nice featurette about the real Simpsons house they built in Nevada. Very cool stuff. If you call yourself a fan of the show, you'd better go get this one quick. I got mine at Target and they're releasing it for $29.99 which is an outstanding price. Honestly, I'd pay any amount for it even if it meant depleting my bank account. It's SO worth it! And FOX, if you're reading this, please oh please release the seasons faster than this!

Is there a better TV cartoon out there than the Simpsons? Perhaps the better question would be is there a better TV show than the Simpsons. Consistently well-written with a wide variety of characters and stories that transcend the merely sit-comic, the Simpsons is arguably one of the best TV shows ever. The shame of it is that when it comes to awards, the Simpsons is not allowed to compete with live action shows, which actually may be just as well for the competition. In around 18 years, it probably could have won a Best Comedy Emmy a dozen or more times if not for a general anti-cartoon bias. The Season Eight collection - another five star set - would have one of those winners. Among the 25 episodes, some of my favorites include:

You Only Move Twice: Homer gets a new job with evil genius Hank Scorpio. Scorpio may want to conquer the world, but he's a great boss. Ironically, this new perfect life doesn't agree with the rest of the family. This is a perfect parody of James Bond films, twisted to make the bad guy seem like the hero; in the end, Scorpio outdoes folks like Goldfinger and Blofeld in villainy

El Viaje Misterioso De Nuestro Jomer: Homer goes on a psychedelic trip after eating a Guatemalan insanity pepper. This hallucinogenic journey leads Homer to search for his soul mate, culminating in near-disaster at a lighthouse.

Homer's Phobia: When a new gay acquaintance becomes a role model for Bart, Homer panics (especially when Bart chooses a pink snowball over a cupcake). His efforts to "straighten" out his son include a hunting trip and some interesting revelations about the steel industry.

Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment: Homer becomes a bootlegger after booze is banned. This episode shows Homer at his smartest, with a scheme so cunning even Marge approves.

The Old Man and Lisa: When the evil Montgomery Burns goes broke, he turns to Lisa. She helps him, but learns that Burns is so naturally sinister, even his attempts at benevolence are destructive. This episode includes some delightful references to the old sit-com That Girl and the classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

In Marge We Trust: This one is great not so much for the "A" story as the "B" story involving a Japanese detergent called Mr. Sparkle which has a logo resembling Homer.

Homer's Enemy: This is probably the most darkly humorous episode ever. New power plant employee Frank Grimes is a hard worker who has struggled his entire life; he naturally resents Homer's success through pure laziness. His anger will eventually fester into a plot for revenge.

The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase: This episode offers three previews of alleged spin-offs, all of which are wonderful genre parodies, including spoofs on crime dramas, situation comedies and variety shows.

And these are only a fraction of the episodes, all of which are great. In addition, there are wonderful commentaries on all the episodes (including some interesting guest commentators), plenty of deleted scenes and a little bit of behind-the-scenes stuff. Even if you catch these episodes on regular TV (where they are often edited for syndication), it's better to watch them on DVD.

I want to start this review by making it clear that i'm a huge simpsons nerd and some of my complaints with this season are very specific and, lets be honest, a little unreasonable. But I'd bet if you're considering paying money to watch a tv show thats on tv for an hour strait 6 days a week, that you might be a pretty big fan too.

Yes, this season contains some heavy hitters like "you only move twice"(hank scorpio etc) and "homer vs the 18th amendment"(the beer baron et all) but there's also some filler episodes like "my sister my sitter" which winds up being mostly depressing and not so much funny. others, like the chili-pepper cook off episode start strong, but fizzle by act three. Season 8 is by no means the beginning of the end, its just hard to follow 4 years of brilliance.

This won't matter to most people, but the commentary on this season is extra-weak. I know its my fault for listening to simpson-commentary, but there are a couple episodes where someone brought their effing kids. they're constantly asking questions like "why does he look like that" and "why did that happen" which, after a moment of awkward silence are answered begrudgingly by groening and others with "um...because its funny." Everyone just seems a little less interested in watching the show and talking about them, and it winds up being contagious.

having made these minor complaints, i should mention how this show in its 8th season is better than 90% of tv shows in their 1st. This is still pretty great stuff, and there's a lot of good writing and nice animation in here. it just seems like they didn't push as hard here.

The Simpsons fans are pretty much required to spend time debating when the show "jumped the shark" or if it did at all. For my money, the humor is still very intelligent and the show is still worth watching even in this late day.

However, season 8 is the peak of the glorious Simpsons mountain. From season 3 to here it was all uphill. Simply amazing television.

After this season, its majesty fell a few notches (though the 9th season was pretty darn good as well).

This season contains the Lisa dentist episode ("The Big Book of British Teeth"), Hank Scorpio terrorist episode ("That's over in the hamock district, of course"), Ned's beatnick parents episode ("We haven't tried anything and we're all out of ideas!") and so many other classics.

Buy it, you won't be dissapointed.