Season 14 DVD & Blu-ray (release date: December 6, 2011)

[Alex_Of_Darkness]

Funny reference

But I like it

[Financial Panther]

I'm still proud of my newbie thread being mentioned on the commentary of my favorite season 13 episode though.

What thread was that?

[lionelhutz123]

http://www.nohomers.net/showthread.p...son-19-pennies

wow, I was a different kind of boarder in the beginning...

[The Wiggs]

Which commentary was that mentioned on?

[lionelhutz123]

Poppas Got A Brand New Badge

[jbauer]

I'm guessing writing screenplays for Marvel superhero films is really keeping Don Payne busy. He didn't make it to a single commentary.

Great to have Marc Wilmore and Brian Kelley, as well as Michael Price and good old J. Stewart Burns. Obviously, Wilmore did a season 10 track explaining the whole 'mayor' gag, and anyone who's heard Futurama commentaries is aware of Kelley and Burns by now.

I'm eager to listen to Dan Greaney's often uncredited writing partner, Allen Glazier. Like Deb Lacusta and Billy Kimball, he co-writes Simpsons episodes, but never really gets a producer credit.

I can't believe Lauren MacMullan missed the commentary for the best episode she's ever directed in her career!

[Jouni]

Wesley Mead's review of the season 14 DVD:

http://www.snpp.com/news.html#dvd14review

[CousinMerl]

^ Solid review; still looking forward to picking this up.

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

Poppas Got A Brand New Badge

No I have a slight urge to get off my fat ass and put disc 4 of s13 in.

[Comicshow MolemanBob]

No I have a slight urge to get off my fat ass and put disc 4 of s13 in.

I suggest you re-watch Toy Story 2 instead

[YellowFever]

Okay, love this set but definitely getting the Blu-ray as soon as it comes out, hoping it's Region Free like S13 was (not gonna even touch S20 with a bargepole). Most of these episodes I haven't seen in like 5 years or more so I was quite surprised how good some of them were. I must say though, I don't know if it's just me but I much prefer the cel-animation rather than the digitally-colored, I don't know what it is but it's almost like the colors of the digitally animated episodes are muted, and I had to turn my set up to full color and the sharpness down to get it right, maybe the Blu-ray will improve on it? Other than that I really have enjoyed this set a lot more than I thought and I just can't understand how it took over a year to put together! Seriously? 8 hours of commentary and a bunch of featurettes compiling clips from old THOH's. I mean I know it's quite difficult to get everyone together for commentaries because they have such a workload but seriously, couldn't they try doing 2 sets a year, is it so hard?!!

[BeSharp]

couldn't they try doing 2 sets a year, is it so hard?!!

Totally agree.. At this rate, we'll have the complete collection (25 series for arguments sake) in 11 years!

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

couldn't they try doing 2 sets a year, is it so hard?!!

Apparently.

[The Governor]

Totally agree.. At this rate, we'll have the complete collection (25 series for arguments sake) in 11 years!

At this point, the 25th Season will be on Blu Ray and Ultra-HD discs. DVDs will be a thing of the past.

[The Wiggs]

http://bluray.ign.com/articles/121/1211105p1.html

Some of the features on the set, nothing real special.

[Charlie]

The Australian blu-ray is the same as what was released in all regions for Season 13 and 20 - a plastic blu-ray case with a cardboard slip cover. No special fold-out box like with the DVD. I'm assuming it'll be the same in other regions; just thought I'd say after the speculation the blu-ray may have a proper box this time around.

[Charlie]

Some pics of the blu-ray (disregard the big blue "M" on the front and back of the slipcover - that's the Australian rating; and also disregard the stupid sticker stating it's 3 discs [horrible habit being undertaken on R4 DVDs and Blu-rays], they won't be on the R1 release). Sorry about the quality, they were taken on my phone.

Discs 1 and 2 have the exact same art as in the DVD. Disc 3 is basically the art from DVD discs 3 and 4 edited together.

Of course, we miss out on the amazing art included with the DVD set, instead there's a picture of Kang and Kodos as topiary bushes. The only headstone is "Season 13".

Some nitpicks - something small but nice about the S13 blu-ray was the actual "Blu-ray Disc" banner was purple and blended in with the rest of the cover. Unlike the cover seen in the press release, the S14 blu-ray has a horrible blue bar at the top of the slipcase like other blu-ray box sets (considering it has a standard blu-ray case with the blue bar on top inside the slipcover, no idea why they did this). Also, the back of the slip cover has a very tacky "ultimate high definition experience" banner across the top. Sorry Fox, I didn't realise it was 2007 when people had to be told blu-ray was a high definition format.

Not sure if it was in the press release or not, but the discs are split into 7-7-6 episode lots:

Disc 1 - THOH 13-Special Edna
Disc 2 - The Dad Who Knew Too Little-C.E.D'oh
Disc 3 - Scuse Me While I Miss The Sky-Moe Baby Blues

[YellowFever]

Excellent pics Charlie! Definitely getting this set, got 13 and 20 on Blu too! Can I just ask:

- What numbers are the two bonus THOH's on there?
- What are the main menus like?
- and how's the picture quality? Is there a noticeable difference between the cel-animated and computer colored episodes? (The Great Louse Detective on are the computer-colored)

Thanks!

[Charlie]

- They are THOH V (Season 6) and VI (Season 7). Haven't watched them yet but will report back on if they look better than the DVD versions.
- Will post menu pics soon!
- The picture quality is pretty decent. The digitally coloured eps definitely look better than the hand-painted, but the hand-painted ones are passable. About the same quality as the S13 blu-ray. The biggest difference, though, is noticeable when they show clips from old episodes. The clip from Homer's Enemy shown in Great Louse Detective, for example, is washed out, the colours look muted, and there are strange lines through the picture. The actual S14 material, though, looks great.

[The Wiggs]

Definitely going for the DVD

[Charlie]

Just finished watching the episodes. The two bonus THOH episodes look pretty much the same as on the DVD - maybe a bit clearer due to the higher resolution allowed by Blu-ray, but nothing spectacular. The S14 episodes themselves - they look stellar in places, but in the end this is DVD quality, maybe slightly better at the most. It's most noticeable on Scuse Me While I Miss The Sky, where a lot of the gradients used to colour the sky suffer from major banding (where the gradient appears as various stripes of colour as opposed to a fade between colours - this should not be happening on a high definition transfer), and I noticed some compression in the planetarium scenes. Kind of disappointing, but the picture is still vibrant and clear.

The episodes themselves: I forgot how great this season was. There are a few duds, particularly concerning the S13 holdovers and maybe one or two of the digital episodes (Dude Where's My Ranch especially), but overall it's refreshing and a further step up from Season 13. It's a shame that this season and S15 are basically the pinnacle of the Jean era - Season 14 is where the show felt like it could possibly return to form and is, in my opinion, the closest thing to a post-Season 8 "classic" season.

[Ryan]

Haha they really put episodes from the classic era on the blu-ray? That's adorable.

[YellowFever]

- They are THOH V (Season 6) and VI (Season 7).

Probably my two favorites! Nice that they put them on there (even know I've already got them)

The biggest difference, though, is noticeable when they show clips from old episodes. The clip from Homer's Enemy shown in Great Louse Detective, for example, is washed out, the colours look muted, and there are strange lines through the picture. The actual S14 material, though, looks great.

I did notice that on the 13 and 20 Blu's, in Gump Roast and How The Test Was Won, hopefully when they do bring out Seasons 1-12 (my DVD's are incredibly battered and worn - especially 6 :P) they'll put some more effort in? But I'm glad the S14 eps look good, even know I have the DVD I'm definitely getting the Blu for this just so it'll match the rest of my future collection (assuming the UK doesn't get the DVD and not Blu-ray before the US again)

Season 14 is where the show felt like it could possibly return to form and is, in my opinion, the closest thing to a post-Season 8 "classic" season.

I was quite surprised at how great it was as well! I had forgotten how many great episodes were in it, definitely my favorite 'post-classic' season (thus far).

[Alex_Of_Darkness]

The season 14 in blue ray looks good

[Solid Snake]

The clip from Homer's Enemy shown in Great Louse Detective, for example, is washed out, the colours look muted, and there are strange lines through the picture.

That's not just the Blu-Ray. But it's like that on the DVD as well. The difference really noticeable.

[Charlie]

I remember there was a huge difference in quality when it showed that clip even in the TV broadcast, but it just seems so much worse on the transfer they've used for this home video release?

Btw for anyone interested, disregard what I said about the two bonus THOHs being the same as what was on DVD. I just watched THOH V all the way through, and the upgrade in picture quality is really noticeable. Outlines are always sharp and colours are always constant, while on the DVD many of the earlier seasons are fairly inconsistent in this regard. Very happy they went through the hassle to give us a new transfer for these two episodes as opposed to just throwing the SD versions on there, considering they are treated as bonus features.

[YellowFever]

Btw for anyone interested, disregard what I said about the two bonus THOHs being the same as what was on DVD. I just watched THOH V all the way through, and the upgrade in picture quality is really noticeable. Outlines are always sharp and colours are always constant, while on the DVD many of the earlier seasons are fairly inconsistent in this regard. Very happy they went through the hassle to give us a new transfer for these two episodes as opposed to just throwing the SD versions on there, considering they are treated as bonus features.

I must say 'Phew!'. I am delighted that they have gone to the effort to do this, I have compared 'Blame it on Lisa' from a compilation DVD to my S13 Blu-ray and the quality difference was HUGE in my eyes, and so after treating myself to the Blu-ray and then going back to watch the older seasons on DVD I could suddenly see all the inconsistencies and the muted colors and the strange digital artifacts and the banding, and that rainbowy effect on the lines (which were fuzzy and not always clear).

I must say I cannot wait to sample these for myself. Hopefully this might mean they are planning on releasing the first twelve seasons on Blu-ray as well. I would most definitely buy them, but I'd hope they'd change the covers to match 11, 12, 13 and 14 style. I'm really one for consistency here and I'd like to own all the seasons in the same packaging, with the same cover format etc etc. Can't wait to get this anyway!

[Charlie]

Just realised something with the commentaries. Not sure if it was this way on Season 13 too, but every commentary on this set starts with Al Jean saying "Welcome to The Simpsons Complete Fourteenth Season, I'm Al Jean", after which everyone else says only their name. I can't remember it being this way on any other season, but it's such a nice change to get straight into the episode as opposed to spending five minutes with everyone making it a competition of who can come up with the funniest job title to say after their name.

[Jesse Pinkman]

are the commentaries any good this season? any that stand out as particularly interesting?

[Oh, that's raspberry!]

Just realised something with the commentaries. Not sure if it was this way on Season 13 too, but every commentary on this set starts with Al Jean saying "Welcome to The Simpsons Complete Fourteenth Season, I'm Al Jean", after which everyone else says only their name. I can't remember it being this way on any other season, but it's such a nice change to get straight into the episode as opposed to spending five minutes with everyone making it a competition of who can come up with the funniest job title to say after their name.

Well considering far too many Scully commentaries start with his "fun facts" or him blatantly asking people if they remember anything about the episode, I've always preferred Jean's anyway at least to this point. Anyway, we're officially a month away from release here on the east coast!