Oh my! It's the entire first season of The Simpsons!

BEWARE! This is a long, long, long review of The Simpsons First Season on DVD. Read this at your own risk.

It is hard to deny the impact that The Simpsons have left on the world today. After 14 years, the show still is one of the most watched shows in the world today. It is almost impossible not to laugh at the pure stupidity of a person like Homer Simpson and we always want to know the next prank Bart pulls off on Principal Skinner or Moe. Or God knows what creator Matt Groening will make fun of next. Whatever the next gag is, there will always be plenty of anticipation behind it.

For those of you who do not know who the Simpsons are (I'm sure most of you do know who they are), they are the epitome of the typical American dysfunctional family and they reside in the suburb of Springfield (it never has been determined which Springfield in the U.S. it is though). First, we have Homer, the incredibly dumb but loveable father of the family. Then, we have Marge, the somewhat clueless but dependable mother of the family. Then there is Bart, the 10-year old, 4th grade troublemaker of a son or the son from hell. Lisa, the 7 year-old daughter, is next and has the distinction of being the only intelligent person in the Simpsons family. Last but not least, there is Maggie, the baby of the family. Then there are the family pets: a dog, Santa's Little Helper, and a cat, Snowball 2 (their first cat, Snowball, got run over by a car).

Most of you are now probably wondering how The Simpsons actually got started. You will be able to find all that and more on The Simpsons - The Complete First Season, which contains every episode of the first season. This contains 3 DVDs, each with different episodes of the first season and scattered with various special features. But more on that later.

The first DVD of this package gives us the very first episodes of The Simpsons to make it on network television (at least I think so; please correct me if I am wrong). This DVD provides us with the following episodes:

Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire
Bart the Genius
Homer's Odyssey
There's No Disgrace Like Home
Bart the General

These first five episodes of The Simpsons greatly contrast to the current episodes of the Simpsons. Dan Castellanetta's voice for Homer seems a lot more controlled than it is now, while Julie Kavner's voice for Marge seems raspier than it is now. Also, the animation in most of these episodes are still rather primitive. But despite these slight differences, the humor is still there and it is great to be introduced to some of the characters in this DVD. Some of the episodes on this DVD do not have the Simpsons intro and the intro still does not contain any sounds (i.e. the sound of Homer screaming when the car is about to hit him). Also, the intro endings are very, very similar and do not vary as much as they do now (and certainly not as spontaneous). Oh, and Nancy Cartwright's voice for Bart and most of the school children plus Yeardley Smith's distinctive voice for Lisa are practically the same here as they are now.

In Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire (or the first Simpsons Christmas special), we first meet Marge's twin sisters, Patty and Selma, Santa's Little Helper joins the family and the Flanders are introduced to us. Also, the hatred between Homer and Marge's sisters and the Flanders is immediately shown in this episode, while Homer and Bart's strained relationship is also established when Bart refuses to sing carols properly. This episode is what I like a "warm-up" episode for what was to come afterwards. The humor is relatively subdued and good-natured in this episode. We do, as usual, feel sorry for Homer for having a hard time providing the family with a good Christmas. After realizing that he is not getting any Christmas bonus from the factory, he has to scrounge for money and does this by being Santa Claus. But as usual, Bart comes to spoil the day. Also, during the school carol concert at the beginning of this episode, we immediately see why Principal Skinner and Bart do not get along.

The next episode, Bart the Genius, further emphasizes how unpleasant the relationship is with Bart and Skinner. This is a great episode though, because Bart's class has to do an IQ test and while his teacher, Ms. Krabappel, is not looking, he swaps his paper with Martin's completed paper. This results in Bart being sent to genius school and it is funny seeing nerds making fun of Bart, the "cool boy" (it usually is the other way around). Seeing Bart cause an explosion in the school is one of the highlights of this episode, as well as using the word "kwyjibo" (which, according to Bart, is a "big, fat, balding ape with a low paying-job") in a family Scrabble game.

Homer's Odyssey is funny in the sense that we get to find out how Homer gets his job as the nuclear plant's safety instructor. We are also first introduced to Mr. Burns, Homer's 104-year old boss and Smithers, the boss' loyal, dependable servant. This is more of a fan's episode, since we are introduced to many of the more common characters on The Simpsons.

There's No Disgrace Like Home is a great episode with the Simpsons family being sent to Marvin Monroe, the family therapist who we do not see any more. This episode is also the episode where we learn that the Simpsons are the true dysfunctional family in Springfield. This is shown by the children watching the ultra-violent but absolutely hilarious (yet lame at the same time) Itchy and Scratchy cartoon, where Itchy, the mouse, finds different, sadistic ways to kill Scratchy, the cat. Also, the family ruin Homer's attempt to look civilized and normal in front of Mr. Burns during a company picnic. It is funny seeing Marge get drunk and tipsy, while it is funny seeing Bart and Lisa wreaking havoc. I find it funny that it is Homer of all people that attempts to set the family right, since in latter seasons, he proves to be the most dysfunctional member of the family. Also, the bar fight between Homer and Barney, his drinking buddy, is also pretty funny. This episode also starts off the series of prank calls Bart makes to Moe's Tavern (Moe being the man in charge of the local bar in Springfield; does the name I.P. Freely ring a bell?).

The final episode on this DVD, Bart the General, introduces us to Nelson, the school bully who loves to laugh at other people's misfortunes. It never ceases to make me laugh when Bart has to resort to using army tactics in an attempt to take down Nelson and his 2nd grade friends. The episodes on this DVD is a must-have for any fan, since these episodes basically introduce us to most of the people in Springfield.

This first DVD does not contain much in terms of special features, but there is an audio commentary from the producers and directors of each individual episode (which are informative and tell you what really goes on behind-the-scenes), a variety of subtitles and the original scripts for the episodes, Bart the Genius and Bart the General. These are interesting to read just to see how the script for these episodes have been constantly modified before the episodes finally got on air.

Now onto DVD number 2. This DVD contains the following episodes:

Moaning Lisa
The Call of The Simpsons
The Telltale Head
Life on the Fast Lane
Homer's Night Out

The animation in these episodes are more up-to-date in these episodes, but are still rather primitive compared to now. The voices are still rather different from what they are now and the intros are also much less random as they are now. However, they do start to implement sounds during the intro, which are changed further in future seasons (as is the animation for these intros).

The DVD starts off with Moaning Lisa where Lisa is depressed for most of the episode. To me, this is where the storylines become more developed and not merely storylines where we find quirks in the Simpsons family. Here, we have Lisa trying to let her feelings be known and this is done through playing the blues on the saxophone, which naturally introduces us to her saxophone-playing mentor, Bleeding Gums Murphy. But do not worry, this still is a very funny episode. I will always remember this episode for the video boxing rivalry between Homer and Bart, where Homer has been beaten 48 times in a row against Bart. Homer's nightmare of the boxing video game also made me laugh really hard. This episode, and all the other episodes on these DVDs, are still far from vulgar when compared to more recent episodes.

Next, we have Call of the Simpsons where Homer becomes jealous when Ned Flanders (yes, his overly religious neighborito; Harry Shearer's voice for him is still as nasal as ever) buys a new mobile home. Homer, not wanting to be bettered by Flanders (the logic here is that Homer can get one, despite the fact Flanders only earns $27 a week more than he does), attempts to buy one, but ends up purchasing a cheap, run-down mobile home. The uselessness of this vehicle is truly proven when the family go on a trip, but are trapped in the woods when the car breaks down. Here we see Homer and Bart attempting to survive the natural elements and not for the first time, we see Homer and Bart getting into trouble. Homer is mistaken for Bigfoot and this sets off a hilarious chain of events such as the fact that when Marge tells them that Homer is her husband, we see a front page of a tabloid with the headline "I married Bigfoot". Its even funnier to see what Homer does to become Bigfoot.

The Telltale Head is the first real episode where we are introduced to other characters in the Simpsons such as Jimbo Jones, Krusty the Clown, Reverend Lovejoy and Apu, the shopkeeper of Kwik-E-Mart. Here, we have Bart attempting to be cool by hanging around with Jimbo Jones and his gang. But Bart is not cool when he does not remove the head of the statue of Jebediah Springfield and not wanting to look uncool, Bart removes the head, much to the dismay of the Springfield public. I love the scene where Bart and Lisa are in Sunday School where the Sunday School loses her sanity after all the kids in the class cannot stop asking questions of who should go into heaven (this includes animals like apes and Lisa's beloved pet, Snowball).

The next episode, Life on the Fast Lane, shows Homer forgetting his wife's birthday and getting into trouble for it. Buying a bowling ball with his name on it for his wife certainly does not please Marge, who decides to start bowling and becomes romantically linked with Jacques, a sleazy French bowling instructor. Not all too funny, but it has its moments.

The last episode on this disc, Homer's Night Out, is a great episode where Bart gets a spy camera and uses the camera to take a picture of Homer dancing with a stripper during a bachelor party for a friend at the plant. Homer becomes the laughing stock of the entire neighborhood when everyone sees the picture of him with the stripper. One of the funniest scenes is when Mr. Burns asks Homer for tips on how to pick up ladies after Mr. Burns finds out about the picture.

Like the other DVD, this contains audio commentaries from producers and directors of the individual episodes, the original script of Moaning Lisa and subtitles in various languages.

Last but not least, we have the last and 3rd disc of this DVD-set, which contains the following episodes.

The Crepes of Wrath
Krusty Gets Busted
Some Enchanted Evening

The animation progresses even further here and after looking at the first DVD of this set, you can really see how the animation improves. Also, the voices become closer to how the voices actually sound now. However, the introductions still differ from what they are now and are still not too spontaneous.

Anyway, the first episode on this DVD, The Crepes of Wrath, begins with Bart getting into trouble yet again by initiating a cherry bomb inside the school toilets and to me, this is one of the funniest moments of the Simpsons during its first season. This is made even worse by the fact that when Bart sets the bomb off, Principal Skinner's mother is using the toilet, which enrages Skinner and he decides to tell Marge and Homer that Bart should be put on the exchange program so he can change his ways. This results in Bart being sent to France where he is sent to do hard labor in a French vineyard, while the Simpsons get an exchange student from Albania named Adil. However, as perfect as Adil may seem, he is actually a spy for the Albanian government.

The next episode, Krusty Gets Busted, is the pivotal episode of the first season. Krusty the Clown is formally introduced into the Simpsons fold for the first time, along with his sidekick, Sideshow Bob. In this episode, Krusty is framed for robbery and because he ends up in jail, Sideshow Bob has to run the show. Bart has the looming suspicion that Krusty never did commit the crime and this episode just shows how much of a Krusty fan Bart really is. This episode shows the true nature of Krusty and Sideshow Bob's relationship and Bart and Sideshow Bob's hatred towards one another. This features the voice of Kelsey Grammer, who suits the character of Bob perfectly.

The final episode of the first season, Some Enchanted Evening, begins with Marge feeling distant from Homer and in an attempt to patch up their relationship, the two go out on a date. However, the babysitter they hire for the children turns out to be the famous Babysitter Bandit and of course, the kids have to find a way to stop themselves from becoming her next victims. But the ending of this episode further reiterates Homer's stupidity as he does something ridiculously stupid. Hence, he is given the title of "local boob".

The final DVD is the one DVD that contains most of the special features other than the audio commentaries for every episode, subtitles and original scripts (in this DVD, it is for Some Enchanted Evening). One of the more interesting features is the very first Simpsons episode on the Tracey Ullman show. This is entitled Goodnight Simpsons. The animation on this episode is not polished and look more like sketches than actual animations. However, this is funny, considering the parents give their children nightmares with their stories. Also, their is early sketches by Matt Groening. These include the original drawings for the very first episode, the original sketches of Martin Prince (the school nerd) and Principal Skinner. It is funny that the original drawings for both these characters contrast greatly from the final sketches of these characters (Skinner looks older, has glasses and is balding in the original picture, while Martin has the badly combed hair and the thick glasses). Along with these sketches are Matt Groening's original comic strip that caught the eye of James L. Brooks, the executive producer of the series. There are also outtakes from an un-aired version of Some Enchanted Evening. This is basically what the initial episode looked like before it was cut into its actual 22 minutes, and from this episode, it is interesting to find out what does not make the final episode that does air on TV. I also love the outtakes from Life on the Fast Lane. Albert Brooks (who plays Jacques in this episode) is hilarious here, by saying random things that do not even happen in the episode. There is also foreign language clips from the beginning of Life in the Fast Lane that could not help me from laughing. The Japanese and Spanish clips of this scene are particularly funny. I guess these were funny to me, because I am already used to hearing the Simpsons in English and hearing it in another language just sounds so strange (particularly the voices for the characters). There is also a short animatic feature for Bart the General, which shows Matt Groening talking about how the animation develops for various scenes, using scenes from this episode as examples of how these develop from literal black-and-white pencil sketches to fully animated scenes. And last but not least, there is a quick 5-minute clip that tells us how the Simpsons came about. A great collection of special features and a must-have for any Simpsons fan!

This is a great DVD and I highly recommend it for any Simpsons fan out there. Although this may not feature some of the more prominent Simpsons characters such as Comic Book Man, Bumble Bee Man, Ralph Wiggum, Chief Wiggum (who only makes a few cameo appearances) and most of Hank Azaria's other characters (Azaria only made guest appearances before becoming a member of the Simpsons voiceover family), it is still good for a Simpsons fan to possess, since this shows you where it all started.

Thanks for reading this rather long review.