Product Description

The entire fourth season of the animated television show, The Simpsons.
Genre: Television
Rating: NR
Release Date: 16-AUG-2006
Media Type: DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #937 in DVD
• Brand: SIMPSONS
• Released on: 2004-06-15
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, Animated, NTSC
• Original language: English, French, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 506 minutes

Amazon.com
By its fourth season, The Simpsons had come far enough where Lisa could make a self-referential joke about Dustin Hoffman and Michael Jackson's pseudonymous guest voice appearances in seasons 2 and 3, respectively. In this season, no less than Elizabeth Taylor (in two episodes), Bette Midler, and even the reclusive Johnny Carson blessed The Simpsons with their iconic presences. Awhile back, Entertainment Weekly ranked The Simpsons' Top 25 best episodes ever. Five gems from season 4 cracked the top 12, including the (debatable) choice for No. 1, "Last Exit to Springfield." Other episodes that loom large in the Simpsons legend are "Mr. Plow" (you know the jingle: "Call Mr. Plow / That's my name / That name again is Mr. Plow"), "Marge vs. the Monorail," featuring a Music Man-style extravaganza, and "A Streetcar Named Marge," the episode that outraged New Orleans residents, who heard their fair metropolis referred to as "a city that the damned call home."

The Simpsons smartly subverts traditional family sitcom convention, but anyone who thinks the show doesn't have a heart is advised to watch "I Love Lisa" and "New Kid on the Block," two fourth-season gems that absolutely nail the agony and ecstasy of unrequited crushes ("You won't be needing this," a heartbroken Bart fantasizes his babysitter saying while dropkicking his heart into a wastebasket in "New Kid"). While the Simpsons' celebrated ensemble gets all the glory, we must pause now to praise the peerless writing staff, among them, George Meyer, Al Jean, Jon Vitti, John Swartzwelder, David Silverman, and Conan O'Brien. One can only marvel in astonishment at the alchemy that went into creating, week after week, such essential episodes as "Kamp Krusty," "Streetcar," the profane and profound "Homer the Heretic," and "Lisa the Beauty Queen" (And that's just disc 1!). The animators, too, rose to the occasion, particularly in "Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie," with its dead-on, ultra-violent sinking of the seminal Disney cartoon, "Steamboat Willie." And another benchmark in The Simpsons' rise to the TV pantheon: Its very first clip show. What Homer says about donuts in "Monorail" holds true as well for The Simpsons itself: Is there anything this show can't do? --Donald Liebenson

Customer Reviews

I will not defame New Orleans.
I tend to agree with a lot of people that this season is definitely one of the best. I won't say the best because there were episodes from season 3 that I liked better, but I'm proud to say that I own the first four seasons and, when it finally does arrive, season 5 as well. Season 4 features some of the funniest episodes I've seen in recent years. While I don't believe like many people that the new Simpsons sucks, I do agree that it's lost some of its steam. There are still episodes that have me laughing almost as much as the older ones do. Camp Krusty, which spawned the horrible Game Boy game Bart Simpson: Escape from Camp Deadly, is one worth watching over and over. Other favorites of mine are A Streetcar Named Marge, The Itchy and Scratchy Movie, Homer's Tripple Bypass, Mr. Plow and, my absolute favorite, Duffless. I can vividly remember sitting in my bedroom in our house in San Clemente, California on the night this episode first aired, trying not to laugh too much as I made a half-hearted attempt to do my homework. Not that I succeeded. Another favorite, aside from the Treehouse of Horror, is Homer the Heretic, which I also remember watching the night it first aired. None of the episodes in this season had me laughing quite as much as, say, Homer at the Bat, Radio Bart or Bart the Lover, but they're still well worth watching over and over again.About my only complaint with this season, and that of a few others I understand, is that the menu setup isn't very user friendly. That and the little animation that plays before your selection is even loaded can get annoying. Still, it's well worth buying this set, especially if you're a loyal fan like myself.

One of the best seasons from one of TV's best shows
This contains some of the best episodes from this great show. It really is The Simpsons at its best - strongly recommended.

Episodes GREAT, DVD format NOT SO GREAT
Do not get me wrong, I am a HUGE Simpsons fan! I have seasons 1 through 9 and I still laugh at the jokes. This season has one of the best lisa episodes in the whole series, "I Love Lisa." It also has such classics as the season opening, "Kamp Krusty" and the season finale, "Krusty gets Kancelled." With so many more episodes I can not complain on any level about the storytelling or the acting or the animation.

The only problem I have with the dvd is the menu format for the DVD. It certainly seems that the season 4 dvds are the black sheep of all the seasons. The menu set up is not very simpsonesque. This is the only criticism that I have for the dvd. Otherwise, Enjoy the season! oh also, with buying this simpsons dvd, as with any others, listen to the commentaries. It has some great insight for the show's running.