The Simpsons: The Complete Eighth Season
DVD Reviews | Aug 13th, 2006

Starring Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer
Written By:
Directed By:
Studio: 20th Century Fox
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Best. Season. Ever! I say that for every Simpsons DVD set don’t I? This season of the Simpsons has some of the best cartoons from the series on it and some of my personal favorites. Every episode is funny & great and will make you scream out “DOH!” if you don’t get this when it comes out in August.
Like most Simpsons seasons, it starts off with the Treehouse of Terror and this episode is one of the more memorable episodes because Homer gets abducted by Kang & Kodos, and they also get Clinton and Dole. Those one eyed aliens take over the bodies of the president hopefuls and run against each other. Season 8 contains lots of classic episodes and fan favorites like when Albert Brooks portrays an easy-going super villain Hank Scorpio, Homer becomes a boxer and goes up against Drederick Tatum, Mr Burns ends up having a son that looks & sounds a like like Rodney Dangerfield, Bart works at a Burlesques house, we say hello and goodbye to Frank Grimes, Lisa dates bully Nelson, Flanders goes cuckoo and enters himself into a mental hospital, Mulder & Scully pay Springfield a visit after Homer spots an alien, Homer brings Bart to a gay Steel Mill and lots more! Just from listing those storylines from those episodes, you can tell that this is by far one of the best seasons of the Simpsons.
My two favorite Simpsons episodes are in this season. The “You Only Move Twice” and “Homer’s Phobia” episodes. I just think they had some of the funniest and well written episodes of the series. “You Only Move Twice” has so many classic moments like Homer stopping James Bond from escaping, and then he ends up getting shot…several times. Then seeing Bart’s antics finally catch up with him and being stuck in the “special” class, and then Lisa getting attacked by squirrels and being allergic to the forest. Plus Hank Scorpio was such a likable character, even though he wanted to kill us all with a bunch of rockets. Just everything about it made it a perfect Simpsons episode. And in the end, Homer gets to own a football team, but it’s the Denver Broncos haha. The other favorite is “Homer’s Phobia,” with guest star John Waters. The character is a laid-back, free-willing homosexual who wears Hawaiian shirts and Homer doesn’t like that, especially since Bart starts raising some red flags. Homer takes matters into his own hands and tries to de-gay him. One of the funniest Simpsons moments happens when Homer takes Bart to a manly man work environment..a steel mill. Homer didn’t know the place was nothing but homosexuals and he freaked out and ran out of the place, with C&C Music Factory playing. Classic TV! As an added bonus, John Waters appears on the audio commentary for the episode. He said he thought the script was great, and the only thing he worried about was being turned into a Richard Simmons type. But back to the overall season, it just seemed like one good episode after another. It took me about a weekend to watch all of them because I just kept wanting to watch more. I loved the mountain one where Homer and Burns team up for the company excursion, and liked Homer the Beer Baron vs. that Government guy. I crack up every time I see that episode because they put a cat on a catapult and sling it over the town. Ahh good old animal cruelty, gotta love it! Its the little things that make this show one of the best sitcoms ever. Sadly, the show has been on a decline but maybe seeing them all on DVD will make me appreciate them more.
With the last few Simpsons DVD sets, there has been some of the funniest menu screens on a DVD and this season doesn’t disappoint either! Plus you can choose which set you want, a Maggie Simpsons head or a normal/better version of the DVD. Also, there’s a ton of extras for fans to watch after they see all the episodes. Though, if you’re like me, you would have seen all of these episodes already and could just go right to the commentary. There’s audio commentaries on every episode, some deleted scenes, galleries, stuff on some animation and lots more! The Simpsons box sets never disappoint with extras.
Overall, this season is one of the best with lots of classic episodes for fans to enjoy. The end of the season starts to tail off and not as strong as the beginning. The episodes look great on DVD, with only a few occasional spots where it looks blurry. But anything is better than TV! If you own the previous Simpsons box sets, than you should definitely add this one to your collection as well! “We work hard, we play hard!”
Features:
Special Introduction from Matt Groening
Audio Commentaries on every episode with Creator Matt Groening, Executive Producers Bill Oakley, Josh Weinstein and David Mirken, joined by Writers, Actors and Directors
“Homer In The Third Dimension” Featurette
Multi-Angle Animation Showcases
Animators’ Illustrated Commentaries
Original Sketches
Deleted Scenes
Special Language Feature
And Much More!
Audio:
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1
SPANISH: Dolby Digital Surround
FRENCH: Dolby Digital Surround
Video:
Standard 1.33:1 Color
Subtitles:
English, Spanish
Favorite Scenes: You Only Move Twice, Bart After Dark, Hurricane Neddy, Springfield Files, Mountain of Madness, Homer’s Phobia, Homer vs the 18th Amendment, Homer’s Enemy.
Rating: NR
Running Time: 571 minutes
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating: