Stars: The Simpsons, Dan Castellanata, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright

Director: Brad Bird

Summary: This collection presents the original 13 episodes from the first season of THE SIMPSONS, including such classics as Krusty Gets Busted, featuring the first appearance by Sideshow Bob; There's No Disgrace Like Home, in which Homer tries to get the family to shape up via electroshock therapy; and Life on the Fast Lane, in which Marge is tempted by a bowling instructor named Jacques. This set also features the original Simpsons shorts seen on The Tracey Ullman show, a never-before-seen lost episode, and more.

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From practically the first episode, broadcast in 1989, The Simpsons impacted on planet TV like a giant multi-coloured meteor. With a claim to being the defining pop cultural phenomenon of the 1990s--hip, fast, sharp and primary--there was nothing even in rock & roll to match this. The Simpsons is possibly the greatest sitcom ever made. Although the animation was initially primitive, never before had cartoon characters been so well drawn. There had been loveable middle-aged layabouts on TV before, but Homer Simpson successfully stole their crown and out-slobbed them all in every department ("The guys at the plant are gonna have a field day with this," he grumbles in "Call of The Simpsons" as he watches scientists on a TV news item who can't decide whether he is incredibly dense or a brilliant beast). However, in this first series he isn't quite yet the bloated man-child he would become in later series; instead he's a growling patriarch with a Walter Matthau-type voice. His sensible half Marge's croak, meanwhile, has yet to settle down, while the vast cast of minor Springfield characters have yet to find their place. Bart, however, was a smash from the start: dumb as Homer but spiky-haired and resourceful, he sets out his manifesto in "Bart the Genius"; while "Moaning Lisa" spotlights his over-achieving sister and is a good early example of the series' clever handling of melancholy bass notes.

Throughout its life there's always been confusion as to whether The Simpsons is a show for kids or adults, but with allusions in these first 13 episodes to Kubrick, Diane Arbus, Citizen Kane and (in a very satisfyingly anti-French episode) Manon des Sources, it should already have been clear that this was a programme for all ages and all IQs from 0 to 200. Dysfunctional they may have been, but the Simpsons stuck together, and audiences stuck with them into the 21st century. --David Stubbs

On the DVD: The packaging is good but the 13 episodes are spread very thinly here, with just five each on discs one and two . The commentary track is intermittently interesting though a tad repetitive, as creator David Groening is joined by various other members of the team. The third disc has some neat extra stuff, including outtakes, the original Tracey Ullman Show shorts and a five-minute BBC documentary, but is again fairly brief. The menu interfaces are pretty clunky, annoyingly forcing you to watch endless copyright warnings after each episode and with no facility to "play all". The content is wonderful, of course, but three discs looks like overkill. --Mark Walker

Aspect Ratio:	1.33 Full Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Original Scripts, Audio Commentary By Matt Groening And James L Brooks, Outtakes From An Unaired Version, The Making Of The Simpsons, Early Sketches Still Gallery, Five Foreign Language Clips, Magazine Covers And Stills, Easter Eggs
Subtitles:	Spanish
Year:	1989
Release Date:	September 24, 2001
Runtime:	334 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	20146 D V D
Keywords:	Animated, First, Comedy, Box, General, Series, Three, Set, Animation, Tv, Simpsons, Complete, Discs
Genre:	Comedy