DVD: Simpsons Season 15

I think by this point in the seasons DVD releases only the truly obsessed fans will still be buying, so of course I received it as a Christmas gift. While the series began to decline a few seasons back it still has its moments, and is generally funnier than Family Guy. 

As always this season’s ‘Treehouse of Horror’ installment stands out as one of the best episodes; this year finding Homer becoming the Grim Reaper, Professor Frink resurrecting his dad and Bart discovering a time stopping stopwatch. Each segment is full of gut wrenching laughs pulled from the bizarre scenarios. The Simpsons visit London, England this season, causing total chaos; this is one of favourite episodes of the set but mostly just because they’re in my country. The crew were able to pull in a whole host of British celebrities including Ian McKellan, J.K Rowling and Prime Minister of the time Tony Blair. ‘The President Wore Pearls’ is a parody of Evita, staring Lisa running for student body President being corrupted by her teachers as a musical. The songs are very clever and well used, the episode itself being very well constructed. Other highlights of the season include the best Christmas episode of the show so far, featuring Homer becoming the nicest man in town. ‘Fraudcast News’ features Mr Burns deciding to become a Rupert Murdock styled media owner to improve his image, Lisa starts her own newspaper becoming the only independent newspaper in town. As a journalism student I always love the show’s take on the media, finding this episode totally hilarious. This season also finds Homer becoming a superhero who throws pies in ‘Simple Simpson’, a fantastic Spider-man parody.

The season does have its share of bad episodes however. ‘Bart Mangled Banner’ centres around the family being seen as unpatriotic, being put in prison. Its story is quite idiotic and unfunny, taking bizarre turns. ‘Margical History Tour’, a three segment episode where Marge gives history lesson, isn’t quite as bad but is very sub par. It has its moments but doesn’t work as a whole. ‘The Fat and the Furriest’ sees Homer first want to kill a bear and then decide to befriend him but isn’t that funny and a little preachy. 

The Simpsons boxsets are renowned for their special features and while this season’s extras aren’t quite as impressive as the previous ones it still puts most shows to shame. Every episode has a audio commentary featuring cast and crew, providing anecdotes about the intense planning and production that goes in to every installment; they are the best part of buying the show on DVD. The series features two featurettes although the only notable one is ‘The Unusual Ones’, where directors and animators discuss the most bizarre sequences the show has produced over the first 15 seasons. ‘Living in the Moment’ is simply a slideshow of what the show has done in 2012, including the 500th episode celebrations.  

For the Simpsons nut-job (like me) this is a must have purchase. For you regular people its still funny enough to be worth a watch but maybe wait until its on sale.