The Simpsons: The Complete Tenth Season DVD Collector's Edition

[kid_presentable]

I'd rather be called a "jerk" than say "Hey, I purchased Season 10 and I hate almost all the episodes!".

I don't care if you buy season 10 or hate every single episode therein. I just think it's rude to essentially tell someone they are stupid because they like something that you don't.

[Cerpin Taxt]

Who cares? His favorite movie is TLOTR: Fellowship. Is he even a valid human?

[Charlie]

I don't think that list of commentary participants is entirely accurate.

For one, Rich Appel is listed on an episode he isn't even involved with. And Tim Long is not named in any of the commentaries either, even though he wrote Simpsons Bible Stories.

Doesn't mean a thing. George Meyer is on most commentaries when he didn't write any of the episodes.

[kid_presentable]

I don't think that list of commentary participants is entirely accurate.

For one, Rich Appel is listed on an episode he isn't even involved with. And Tim Long is not named in any of the commentaries either, even though he wrote Simpsons Bible Stories.

Not to mention that John Swartzwelder hasn't appeared on any of the 59 commentaries he could have been on (Yes I'm aware Mike Scully called him during The Cartridge Family, so we'll say hasn't "willingly" appeared).

[Bob Snooters]

Woo! S10 is right around the corner. I plan to buy it and the 11th and the 12th and well all of them!

[Simpson Purist]

Doesn't mean a thing. George Meyer is on most commentaries when he didn't write any of the episodes.

True, but some consider Meyer to be the "unofficial" showrunner of the past 10 seasons or so of The Simpsons, and he definitely contributes a lot of stuff despite not having a lot of writing credits. That said, most of the commentary sessions are recording in episode groups and there's bound to be some leftover people, or maybe they just like to be there (i.e. Josh Weinstein's kids)

[Postmaster]

I think I might just want this actually, there's a lot of good or decent episodes amongst them, and I'm quite fascinated to hear some of these commentaries.
And somehow it just feels like it's the last real series of the simpsons, before it got really shit, before the 2 year showrunner rule was broken.

[bigstu554]

I'm actually looking forward to this release. Most of the episodes here are actually pretty good...Screaming Yellow Honkers being the exception.

[jbauer]

Doesn't mean a thing. George Meyer is on most commentaries when he didn't write any of the episodes.

But he's still a co-executive producer on these episodes, even if he isn't a credited writer.

Rich Appel's last episode as a Simpsons producer was the Alec Baldwin / Kim Basinger episode, produced in season 9 and held for season 10.

The other commentary is from an actual season 10 episode, where Rich doesn't have any involvement at all, not even as a producer. He was already busy running King of the Hill at that point. That's why I don't understand. It would be the same as bringing in Jon Vitti to a season 10 commentary.

[Charlie]

But he's still a co-executive producer on these episodes, even if he isn't a credited writer.

Rich Appel's last episode as a Simpsons producer was the Alec Baldwin / Kim Basinger episode, produced in season 9 and held for season 10.

The other commentary is from an actual season 10 episode, where Rich doesn't have any involvement at all, not even as a producer. He was already busy running King of the Hill at that point. That's why I don't understand. It would be the same as bringing in Jon Vitti to a season 10 commentary.

Rich Appel still contributed stuff to Season 10 (even if it is just the holdovers), so of course it makes sense.

[Galalimit]

I really hope there's a tribute to Phil Hartman on this one. Along with the deleted scene from THOH 9 that had Troy McClure in it.

[MegaSvensk]

I pre-ordered this from Axelmusic today.
The episodes aren't that bad and the commentary tracks should be interesting so I think it's worth purchasing it.

Hopefully they'll ship it before the release date like they did with season 9.

[AngryDad33]

I preorderd Season 10 on Amazon today(Bart Head).

[Cerpin Taxt]

I'm just going to pick it up at Target, except I have to work next Tuesday, which reaaaaaly pisses me off, overall.

[Ramier Wolfcastle]

One more week folks! I'll probably be buying it August 11, as that's tax-free weekend for us Massachusetts-ians. Unless I can't get it for $30 or less that day.

[Anthony DiFrancesco]

I totally agree here, I'm getting it so I have the whole collection when they're all released. Even if they have considerably decreased in quality since season 9 (or even 8 in some peoples' opinions) I'm still going to buy every season. I still think they're hilarious.

Can't wait for this season. Although us Brits will have a much longer wait.

same here... same here. I think I'll buy Simpsons seasons 1-15. I'll think about 16- infinety.

[megaxca]

I have not seen season 10 in the longest while. I hope it's more enjoyable than people here claim. By the way, I liked season 9 but I thought it was a little weak compared with seasons 2-8.

[arlen_texas]

I got a copy and I haven't seen this mentioned elsewhere (apologies if I missed it), but the "Catholic Church" line is intact in "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday."

While I wouldn't put anybody down for liking season 10, I do think it was a mediocre season, and I've been disappointed so far that the commentaries don't really help explain why. I don't mean that Scully should agree with me about the quality of season 10; as far as he's concerned it was a good season. But I've listened to a handful of his commentaries and I can't get a handle on what exactly he was going for in most episodes. Oakley and Weinstein will usually explain some kind of overarching concept or reason for doing an episode, whether it's exploring a character or stretching the boundaries of the show. A lot of the Scully commentaries seem to have him and the writers talk about the basic plot idea (what if Homer did XYZ) and then they laugh at all the jokes.

It strikes me that that's part of the problem with this period of the show, that the episodes didn't really have any point to them and would just sort of take generically wacky story ideas and then let George Meyer fill them full of jokes. (I sometimes wonder if Meyer didn't have too much power over the show in this period -- his style of humor took over the show so completely that the jokes kind of run together.) But I would have liked to hear Scully try to explain his approach to the show and how it differed from O&W's. Even if I don't agree with the approach, I'd like to have a better understanding of how he changed the show and why.

[kid_presentable]

I got a copy and I haven't seen this mentioned elsewhere (apologies if I missed it), but the "Catholic Church" line is intact in "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday."

While I wouldn't put anybody down for liking season 10, I do think it was a mediocre season, and I've been disappointed so far that the commentaries don't really help explain why. I don't mean that Scully should agree with me about the quality of season 10; as far as he's concerned it was a good season. But I've listened to a handful of his commentaries and I can't get a handle on what exactly he was going for in most episodes. Oakley and Weinstein will usually explain some kind of overarching concept or reason for doing an episode, whether it's exploring a character or stretching the boundaries of the show. A lot of the Scully commentaries seem to have him and the writers talk about the basic plot idea (what if Homer did XYZ) and then they laugh at all the jokes.

It strikes me that that's part of the problem with this period of the show, that the episodes didn't really have any point to them and would just sort of take generically wacky story ideas and then let George Meyer fill them full of jokes. (I sometimes wonder if Meyer didn't have too much power over the show in this period -- his style of humor took over the show so completely that the jokes kind of run together.) But I would have liked to hear Scully try to explain his approach to the show and how it differed from O&W's. Even if I don't agree with the approach, I'd like to have a better understanding of how he changed the show and why.

Maybe he'll do a hidden commentary like O&W and kind of give a big summary of his time as E.P. I'm sure that wouldn't happen until season 12 or 13 though.

[Sprungfeld]

I'm greatly looking forward to this DVD, just like I do for all the Simpsons season box sets. As for the quality of the season I didn't think it was that bad, but it wasn't great either. After watching the James L. Brooks interview on Tavis Smiley, something that struck me was when he said that for a while the writers had nothing to write about. They felt as if they ran out of ideas and perhaps that is why a lot of the seasons from season 10 through 15-16 are deemed as inferior to the others. He also said that somehow that feeling went away and that they found a new drive to start creating episodes which would probably explain why the last 2-3 seasons have been slightly better.

Back to the DVD. I always look forward to hearing the commentaries and watching the extras that are included, and hopefully we get some easter eggs like we did in the past (I'm not talking about the little light on the projector, but the hidden things like highlighting Bart's shirt on the Season 1 set and last Seasons special commentary with Oakly and Weinstein). I do agree that more insight to the episode is better, rather than hearing the writers/actors/producers laugh at all the jokes. I think they should laugh every now and then, but try to let the viewers know exactly why certain episodes or jokes were created since it's always great to have that type of knowledge. I hope the Simpsons DVD will follow this, and let us know how the movie came to be in detail, but I'll save my ideas on that for the Simpsons DVD thread.

[Snack Related Mishap]

After watching the James L. Brooks interview on Tavis Smiley, something that struck me was when he said that for a while the writers had nothing to write about. They felt as if they ran out of ideas and perhaps that is why a lot of the seasons from season 10 through 15-16 are deemed as inferior to the others. He also said that somehow that feeling went away and that they found a new drive to start creating episodes which would probably explain why the last 2-3 seasons have been slightly better.

Really? I mean you are entitled to your opinion, but if anything, I think the last 2 seasons have been the worst, and 10-16 are the ones that are slightly better.

[Bartoman22]

Really? I mean you are entitled to your opinion, but if anything, I think the last 2 seasons have been the worst, and 10-16 are the ones that are slightly better.

You cant say their the worst because you have some good ones like 24 minutes. I gotta admit you kent always say what ya want was pretty bad.

[kid_presentable]

You cant say their the worst because you have some good ones like 24 minutes. I gotta admit you kent always say what ya want was pretty bad.

He can say whatever he wants. In my opinion two really good episodes like 24 Minutes and Springfield Up are not enough to save the show from having one of the worst years ever. In my opinion it is the worst season of the Simpsons ever made. I guess my point is, don't tell people they can't have a different opinion than you.

[arlen_texas]

By the way, Rich Appel is on the "Homer to the Max" commentary. It has the same participants as the "When You Dish Upon a Star" commentary, so he just stuck around for the next commentary even though he wasn't involved in the episode.

Maybe he'll do a hidden commentary like O&W and kind of give a big summary of his time as E.P. I'm sure that wouldn't happen until season 12 or 13 though.

Maybe, but even before that commentary Oakley and Weinstein -- and to a lesser extent the other showrunners -- often mentioned what they were trying for with a particular episode or what their overall conception was for the show. Mirkin laughs at his own jokes a lot, but he also makes it clear that he has certain themes he explores with the show (all authority figures are stupid; "screw the audience" jokes, etc). I still haven't figured out, after two seasons' worth of commentaries, what Scully thought he was trying to do with the show. Which may be a clue as to why the show seemed so aimless in this period.

Also, I've kind of been spoiled by O&W in another way: they often acknowledge fan reaction to an episode and, if an episode is controversial or unpopular with fans, they deal with it head-on. I get the impression that Scully isn't acknowledging that his handling of the show is controversial. Which is fair enough, because the rabid Simpsons fanbase is a small portion of the overall audience and there's no real reason he has to pay particular attention to that segment of the audience. But Jean, Reiss, O&W and even Mirkin seemed a little more interested in what The Fans (tm) think.

Don't get me wrong: I don't think Scully should agree with fans who think season 10 was bad. He should disagree. But I'd be interested to hear him directly defend some season 10 episodes against their critics the way Ken Keeler tried to make the case for "The Principal and the Pauper."

[Simpson Purist]

Well the Scully commentaries should get very interesting once we get into seasons 11 & 12. If those episodes turn into laughfests, yeah then we can tell Scully really loves them.

[poochied-d]

frankly, I think it's unfair to judge scully's commentary's by testing if he thinks the stuff he was being paid to make funny was funny, I think we should judge weather or not he adnolages the fact that we hate them and then tell us what the fuck he was smokin at the time.



"We were eating rotisseri chicken"

[Charlie]

You cant say their the worst because you have some good ones like 24 minutes. I gotta admit you kent always say what ya want was pretty bad.

Dude, I think 21 bad episodes severely outweighs one good episode.

[Mr_Scorpion]

I'm curious to hear the commentary for Monty Can't Buy Me Love. That episode, to me represented the moment when The Simpsons went from "wackier than it was before" to "completely batshit insane." I'll be disappointed if they don't make some reference to the huge leap in zaniness, positive or otherwise.

[arlen_texas]

I just listened to "When You Dish Upon a Star" and Scully makes a brief, offhand comment about how he's unpopular on the internet (something to the effect of: "I was the last one to get on the internet, and now I'm despised on it").

They also talk about the infamous "Homer can't read" joke in that episode, and they say that there was a big argument in the writer's room about it; Scully says that he had misgivings about violating Homer's character like that, but left it in because he and all the other writers found the joke so funny. Even though "Dish" was produced in season 9, that may be another clue as to what plagued the show from season 10-12; the unwillingness to kill a joke the writers like, even if a) It's totally out of character for the show, and b) It's really not all that funny when it turns up on screen.

[Bartoman22]

He can say whatever he wants. In my opinion two really good episodes like 24 Minutes and Springfield Up are not enough to save the show from having one of the worst years ever. In my opinion it is the worst season of the Simpsons ever made. I guess my point is, don't tell people they can't have a different opinion than you.

Well that is true.