Product Description

The 13 episodes on The Simpsons - The Complete First Season are: "Some Enchanted Evening," "Bart the Genius," "Homer’s Odyssey," "There’s No Disgrace Like Home," "Bart the General," "Moaning Lisa," "The Telltale Head," "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire," "Call of the Simpsons," "Homer’s Night Out," "Life in the Fast Lane," "Krusty Gets Busted," and "The Crepes of Wrath."

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2846 in DVD
• Brand: SIMPSONS, THE: SEASON 1 (DVD MOVIE)
• Released on: 2001-09-25
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Animated, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 3
• Dimensions: .60 pounds
• Running time: 394 minutes

Amazon.com
America's first family of dysfunction, the Simpsons, appear in all their depraved glory in this wonderful DVD compilation of their show's premiere season. Fans accustomed to the slick appearance of the later episodes will be delighted by the rougher nature of these earlier episodes, when the characters weren't as well defined (Homer isn't quite as dumb as he is in later seasons) and the animation was still evolving. This only adds to the charm of these 13 episodes, which begin with "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire," the December 1989 Christmas special in which a down-and-out Simpson family adopt Santa's Little Helper. Throughout the season, familiar faces are introduced, as we catch first glimpses of Smithers, Mr. Burns, the Flanderses, and Patty and Selma. Highlights of the season include "The Crepes of Wrath," in which Bart is sent to France as an exchange student ("Don't mess up France the way you messed up your room"); "Bart the Genius," in which Bart ends up in a school for the gifted; and "Krusty Gets Busted," in which Bart's lifelong animosity with Sideshow Bob begins. --Jenny Brown

DVD features
This set is chock-full of extras (mostly on the third disc), although not all are up to high standards set by the series itself. The menu is less than enticing; however, the original scripts--complete with side notes and margin drawings--will be intriguing to diehard fans. The original skit from The Tracey Ullman Show, "Goodnight Simpsons," is a must-watch, and it's impressive to see how much the Simpsons have changed. Of course, Matt Groening's (and some of the show's producers') commentary is fascinating, as he picks apart the animation in an unaired version of "Some Enchanted Evening." Also included is "The Making of The Simpsons"; foreign-language clips (hear what Homer sounds like in French); and Albert Brooks's audio outtakes from "Life on the Fast Lane," which is simply hilarious. --Jenny Brown

Customer Reviews

Where it all began...
Ok, so this isn't actually where the Simpsons had their beginning. Anyone who really knows about them will know that they were first introduced to America on the Tracy Ulman show. They were so successful however, that they soon had their own cartoon.
For the record I'll say that I never saw the Tracy Ulman shorts. But I was there from the very first season to now, and while I'll freely admit that much of the clasic humor is gone from the series I still very much enjoy watching it. That said I will probably collect Simpsons seasons until they're no longer produced.
The first season, though the quality isn't nearly as good as in later seasons, still has some classic gems. The very first episode that I remember watching with my family was Bart the General, where Bart leads a group of downtrodden kids in a war against local bully Nelson Munts. Other notables include Moaning Lisa, which saw the first appearance of Bleeding Gums Murphy, Bart the Genius, wherein Bart fakes his way through an aptitude test and finds himself in the gifted class, and of course Call of the Simpsons, which is probably one of my favorite episodes of this season. And of course we must not forget Babysitter Bandit, Crepes of Wrath (Bart's infamous trip to France), and Krusty gets Busted, first appearance of Sideshow Bob.
All in all this is an excellent season despite its shortcomings. It wasn't the first season I saw on DVD but it was the first one I ever bought. And I'll probably continue to buy each season as it becomes available.

Classic Simpsons
I start my review this way because The Simpsons is approching Season 20 as I write this review. And only in the last several years has the show started to show serious signs of age!I am 28 now and this is a Simpson season I fondly remember one of my fathers' co-workers dubbing off of cable for us because we didn't have it;it was on right before "Married With Children" at the time if I recall. I cannot watch this season without images of "Don't Have A Cow Man" T-Shirts and even McDonalds offering a line of Simpson dolls;for a time they were as big a marketing item as The Beatles were in the 60's. It's funny how irreverant,witty,anti-authoritarian figures such as The Beatles and The Simpsons could have any capitalist angles but they did. But these 13 shows have a lot of special meaning to me. In this season Bart cheats on a test and ends up branded a genious,Marge has a near affair with a hursuit bowling teacher,Lisa jams her blues away with local jazzman Bleeding Gums Murphy (am I the only Simpson fan out there who liked this character?) and the entire family give each other electroshock treatment. Of course being when this is this season sometimes seems like the Bart Simpson show;Bart goes to France,Bart fights a bully,Bart outsmarts the babysitter bandit,Bart reveals Sideshow Bob had framed Krusty The Clown,etc. But before Homer became the breakout character Bart was the star vehicle. But that doesn't matter.Neither does the difference in the animation;the main characters have very rubbery movements,a lot of the backround characters are either horrible mutants or just look like blobs with faces in the crowd scenes. Not only that but Bart isn't as full of clever quips as he would be later,Homer talks more like Walter Matheau then he would later on and Ned Flanders hasn't yet become a religious fanatic;he was just the Simpsons yuppie neighbor at this point. But as a later Simpsons episode pointed out sometimes TV show change after a pilot or first season;some characters are baught upfront or pushed into the backround and sometimes you can change them almost entirely. Interestingly enough this would be the last of The Simpsons I'd see for another five years;I caught seasons 2 and on through network syndication. I have since diligantly purchased the DVD sets and will continue to do so but still this stands out as really one of my favorite Simpson seasons.

The Simpsons Complete First Edition Coll Ed
This was to be a gift - I returned my order and the replacement order to Amazon because neither had the book with the set. I obtained this product from another source and received everything Amazon's picture shows - including the BOOK. The person to whom this was a gift is an avid Simpsons fan and the book was important to her.