What would a summer be without another DVD box set release of The Simpsons? This is going to be a special year for Simpsons releases with two of the series’ all-star seasons due for release; season nine should land (if Fox keeps to their usual schedule) around Christmas and season eight lands this week, just in time to get you through those last lazy, dog-dangling days of summer. For fans of the series, a quality DVD release has become an expectation rather than a hope and, once again, Fox does not disappoint.

THE SEASON
Season Eight. If it was possible for The Simpsons to peak even further, you can trace the series’ new heights of awesome to this ’96-’97 season. There are so many flat-out classic episodes included here; it’s hard to know where to turn first. How about the one where the Simpson family moves upstate to Cypress Creek where Homer takes a new job working for Hank Scorpio (voiced by Albert Brooks), a mellow megalomaniac of Bond-ian proportions? And who can forget the time when Springfield, in the wake of a particularly rowdy St. Patrick’s Day parade, enforces an age-old law banning alcohol consumption within the town’s borders? Homer, who proudly proclaims that alcohol is his way of life and that he intends to keep it, opens up a homespun bootlegging operation under the moniker of the Beer Baron. Speaking of Homer, few will forget the time when the lovable oaf found himself an enemy in the form of co-worker Frank Grimes. Poor Grimey. He may have been uptight but he certainly didn’t deserve to meet the end that he did. Perhaps best of all is the “Mountains of Madness” episode, in which Homer and Mr. Burns, paired off during a plant-wide outing meant to instill teamwork among the employees, end up trapped in a log cabin beneath a snowy avalanche. It’s here we learn that Burns, with all of his money and power, may not be a match for Homer and his political powers. Ah yes, the grand old days of The Simpsons when ideas were still completely fresh and the writers didn’t feel compelled to constantly crack jokes about the show’s very longevity. As long as Fox doesn’t wuss out and exclude the fantastic Homer vs. the City of New York episode (which prominently features the World Trade Center) from it’s upcoming season nine release, this is shaping up to be a very good year for Simpsons releases indeed.

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS
The production values really haven’t improved with each successive release so much, as they seem to have plateaued. At a certain point (around the season four or five mark), the episodes started looking and sounding as good as they were going to get – which is pretty damn good. The animations are smooth and the bright colors of the Simpsons’ yellow-skinned world practically pop off of the screen. The English audio track is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound with stereo mixes also available in French and Spanish (as well as English and Spanish subtitles).

PACKAGING AND LAYOUT
While the outer packaging is more of the same – you have the option of getting a special edition version, housed in a crummy plastic head package (it’s Maggie this time) or a regular edition which features the same general packaging format as all of the previous full-season Simpsons DVD releases. The color this time is a metallic green and the cover art on the cardboard sleeve features an image of Maggie perusing the family photo album while Homer takes a picture of the rest of the family in the background. The inner packaging is a two-fold cardboard affair with all four discs housed in their own plastic trays in the center fold. The insert, designed to look like a photo album, is housed in a sleeve on the right fold and contains detailed episode descriptions and bonus content lists (denoted by colorful little icons, one for each “type” of bonus feature). The DVD menus also use what has become the standard format, with a list of episodes appearing at the bottom of the screen and an animated image of characters within those episodes appearing at the top. Each episode has its own sub-menu where you can access episode-specific bonus content. In addition, where applicable, each disc also has its own general bonus features sub-menu.

SPECIAL FEATURES
As always, the bonus content adds considerable value to this release. There are a lot of standard favorites repeated in this set: Each episode has its own audio commentary, many of which include series creator Matt Groening himself (as well as a fair share of producers, writers, actors and directors). It might be cool in future releases to see some sort of fan-led commentary (can anyone say DVD tie-in contest?), but more of the same works just fine for this Simpsons fan. Deleted scenes are also in effect once again, with only four of the season’s 25 episodes offering no additional content. As always, the deleted footage can be accessed within each individual episode (press “Enter” on your DVD remote when little scissors appear on the screen) or on the fourth disc as an 18-minute long montage (with an optional commentary track). The always welcome “Special Language Feature” returns, this time on the Homer’s Enemy episode with Czech, Japanese, German and Parisian French language tracks all available. Also returning is the “Animation Showcase” feature, which offers viewers the chance to see an episode in rough form, either as storyboards or animatics (available on Treehouse of Horror VIII and In Marge We Trust). One of the newer recurring features is “A Bit From the Animators,” a sort of animated commentary in which some of the players involved with a given episode take you through it, writing on the screen and pausing when necessary. The featured episodes are Treehouse of Horror VIII, Lisa’s Date With Density, Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment and The Secret War of Lisa Simpson. On top of all of this, you also get a couple of other random bits of bonus content:

• A Few Promos – Two of them actually, both featuring Groening as he draws a Simpsons character’s head (Bart in one, Homer in the other) right onto the screen.
• “The Simpsons House” Featurette – Some long-time fans may remember a contest in which the lucky winner would receive a real-life replica of the Simpsons home, built just outside of Las Vegas, NV. This short featurette takes viewers on a tour through the wacky, colorful house. No, Flanders doesn’t live next door and former president George Bush Sr. (later replaced by former prez Gerald Ford) doesn’t live across the street. But the house is still hella cool with its many pastel colors and Simpsons-fied doodads.

FINAL THOUGHTS
You know the drill, folks. Run, don’t walk. This release, yet another awesome season of Simpsons episodes, has the added bonus of featuring more than a few of the series’ most memorable ones. Considering that you can spend up to $100 on an HBO full-season release and get half the content (when you factor in bonus materials), the $40 or less price tag you’ll find on this set is more than a bargain. It’s a downright steal. If you’re still reading this, you’re taking too long (or you’ve wisely pre-ordered the release).

DVD Season Score: A
DVD Audio/Video Score: A
DVD Packaging and Layout Score: A (the NON-head version)
DVD Special Features Score: A
Overall Score: A