Simpsons, The: Season One (UK)

The Simpsons has been one of the best shows on TV for years. If you don`t know who this lot are or have never of the show at all then where have you been. It started in 1989 and from then on has got better and better. With DVD now beging to catch up to VHS in terms of units sold it was the right time for Fox to release them onto DVD. And they have done it in the right way as well. Season boxsets, none the special select episodes seen on VHS here.The boxset covers all 13 episodes in the first season spread across three discs and adds some special features.
So what it like? Well very good actually. Season one was not the best, the characters were very rough and still been developed by the people who voiced them. Homer is very true of this. However the jokes and wit are still there and as funny now as they were then. The reason the Simpsons is so good and has lasted as long as it has is because nearly everyone can conect with it in some way. The Story lines in the early episodes and seasons were a lot more real than some of the later ones and they are all the better for it my mind. This is not to say that the newer ones are poor they are not. I just like the early episodes better thats all.
The special features are also good and show what can be done with a little effort.Matt Groening Individual Episode Commentaries is the main highlight of the package and is very good and covers a lot of information about where ideas came from and that sort of thing. There are also animatics which show rough pencial drawings off what happens are great to look at. Their is also a small piece on the Simpsons taken from the BBC but is the one watch sort of thing. Their also scripts for a few episodes and drawings by Matt. Overall very good but I felt like I wanted more. However the commentry tracks are the best. It will be interesting to see if they can do it for all the episodes on every season. The Audio is also presented in 5.1 and is very nice. The surround speakers are not used that much but the sound is clear and that is the main thing, the title music also seems much better and has better bass. The picture is also very clean considering its source and age. It looks a bit rough is places but that is due to it been the very first season and not the disc.
Overall the Simpsons Season one boxset is great. All 13 episodes are here along with a great commentry track for each one by Matt Groening. The animation may be fairly pants when you compair them to the newer episodes but this season is still one of the best. The jokes and wit that make the show so great are on display here from the off. I just hope Fox decided to keep releasing the Simpsons in the Season Boxset form because if this is anything to go by we are in for some fun. Another reason to own this is because it is a little piece of TV history. It will be great to look back when Fox has got a few seasons out and see how much things have come on since season one. Top stuff.