The Simpsons - The Complete Fourth Season

If you're a true Simpsons fan, I think you'll agree with me in saying that this was one of the Finest seasons in the show's ongoing history. And Hey, its only taken 4 years for it to grace the DVD format...about time! But enough procrastinating, here are the goods, 22 episodes in all with a truckload of extras (like all Simpsons Boxsets) So here are the episodes and what happens in them if you need a little reminder. Enjoy!Kamp Krusty - After making a deal with Homer to get good grades in school, Bart and Lisa go away to Kamp Krusty, "The Krustiest Place on Earth!" While they're initially excited about their summer, they soon learn that Kamp Krusty is a run-down prison run by the tyrannical Mr. Black and his C.I.T. henchmen, Dolph, Kearney and Jimbo Jones.A Streetcar Named Marge - Marge is cast in the role of Blanche DuBois in Oh! Streetcar, the musical version of A Streetcar Named Desire directed by the flamboyant Llewellyn Sinclair at the Springfield Community Center.Homer the Heretic - One Sunday morning, Homer decides that he'd rather sleep late than go to church. Marge is disappointed, but doesn't argue with him. While home alone, Homer dances in his underwear, drinks waffle batter and loafs around watching TV.Lisa the Beauty Queen - To help Lisa get over her insecurities about her looks, Homer enters her into the Little Miss Springfield Pageant.Treehouse of Horror III - In this year's scarifying special, the Simpsons gather for a Halloween party and exchange ghost stories.Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie - Every kid in the world waits with bated breath for the Itchy & Scratchy movie, but Bart is the only one who's not allowed to see it.Marge Gets A Job - When the Simpsons' house begins sliding off its foundation, Marge is forced to get a job to help make ends meet. Where else can she turn other than The Springfield Nuclear Power Plant?!The New Kid on the Block - Evergreen Terrace welcomes two new neighbors, Ruth Powers and her lovely teenage daughter, Laura. Bart falls hard for Laura, but she thinks of him as just a little friend.Mr. Plow - At the auto show, Homer impulsively buys a snow plow and starts a business as Mr. Plow. An incredibly snowy winter sets the business rolling, making Homer a success and earning him the key to the city from Mayor Quimby.Lisa's First Word - While trying to get Maggie to say her first words, Marge tells Bart and Lisa about what they were like as babies.Homer's Triple Bypass - In a series of terrifying X-ray shots of Homer's chest, we see that his heart is dangerously clogged with plaque and doughnut residue and that he is in need of a triple bypass operation.Marge Vs. The Monorail - Mr. Burns is forced to pay a $3 million fine for illegally dumping toxic waste under trees in the park. At a town meeting where Springfield's citizens discuss how to best use the new fund. All agree on a Monorail.Selma's Choice - Aunt Selma realizes that she might wind up dying all alone and thinks that having a baby can relieve her loneliness. She takes Bart and Lisa to Duff Gardens to test if she can handle Parenthood.Brother from the Same Planet - When Homer leaves Bart waiting in the pouring rain after soccer practice, he must earn back his son's love. Bart expresses his anger by going to a Big Brother program and claiming to be an abandoned child so he can get a new "father".I Love Lisa - Trying to be nice to Ralph Wiggum, Lisa gives him a Valentine's Day card. Ralph misinterprets the gesture and thinks that Lisa is in love with him.Duffless - Lisa conducts a secret experiment for the Springfield Elementary School science fair to see who's smarter, Bart or a hamster. Meanwhile, Homer is forced to swear off beer after being arrested on a D.U.I.Last Exit to Springfield - Homer finds himself filling in for the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant's union leader when it comes time to negotiate their new contract with Mr. Burns.So It's Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show - Bart's April Fools' prank backfires and lands Homer in the hospital in a coma. At Homer's bedside, The Simpson family reminisces about all of the good times they've had over the years.The Front - Convinced they can write better Itchy & Scratchy scripts than the writers who currently work on the cartoon, Bart and Lisa set out to write their own shows.Whacking Day - Everyone in Springfield is excited for Whacking Day, but as the holiday approaches, Lisa condemns it as violent.Marge in Chains - Marge gets busted for shoplifting at the Kwik-E-Mart and is sentenced to thirty days in prison.Krusty Gets Kancelled - After the most successful advertising campaign Springfield has ever seen, The Krusty the Clown show gets bumped in the ratings by Arthur Crandall, a droll ventriloquist, and Gabbo, his excitable dummy. Krusty puts together a huge TV Special to rival Gabbo after word his show would be cancelled.EXTRAS - We can be guaranteed the Commentaries on each episode, Featurettes, Early Drawings, Animatics, TV Specials and so forth. Forget about the Extras though, that's just the glazing on the Donut so to speak. What you want this set for is the......EPISODES. This is a definite MUST HAVE. Some of the greatest episodes ever created are in this box set. Do what Homer would do and act on impulse by pre ordering this baby ASAP. You will not regret it!Mmm, DVD!

Season Four of the Simpsons is where the show truly came into its own. The animation had matured from the awkward early seasons into something close to the style it's had ever since. The characters were now fully formed. The first writers had left for greener pastures, but they'd added Conan O'Brian -- who would be one of their best writers before late night TV took him away. The show was still fresh original and slyly satirical. These days it seems to want to either play it too safe or skate too obviously on the edge. In these years, they had the balance just right. I debated (a little) about buying the first few seasons. This one was a no question purchase.What I love about these episodes is that the writers paint in the corners, so to speak, milking every joke they can. Homer's friends bring him a get well card with "Danger! DO NOT REMOVE!" on the back. When Bart mentions the father-son picnic, Homer laughs "You don't have a son." A hilarious two-minute spoof of COPS. Even a serious moment has to be leavened with humor. Homer lays down the law with Bart -- just as Snake passes by with a stolen VCR and realized to his horror that it is a Betamax.The writers also excel at turning what could be sappy melodramatic moments into funny touching ones. Good writers can find humor in Bart and Lisa at "Kamp Krusty" (my personal favorite episode) or Homer founding a new religion (Homer the Heretic). But who would have thought Homer having a heart attack would be hilarious? Or that his hospital-bed speech to Bart and Lisa could be both funny and touching?Perhaps I'm a little biased. I'm about the same age as most of the writers on the show at this time, so the pop culture jokes hit home with me. (I bet you no one born after 1976 understands the Krusty Olympic Burger joke). But I still think the appeal should be universal.So why buy the DVD's, you ask? After all, the show is in syndication constantly. Well, the picture and sound are great. The shows are frequently cut in syndication, losing the most random - and frequently funniest - jokes. The extra aren't amazing, but I do love the commentaries. It's funny and interesting to hear the writers talk about how the show was put together, the fights they had with sensors, the humor that O'Brian added, the humanity that Jim Brooks added. I do wish they'd included cast commentaries as in season three, but having O'Brian and Jon Lovitz drop in for the occasional comment makes up for that.This is a must-buy for Simpsons fans, especially the younger ones who may not have seen the series in it early years, when it was -- without question -- the funniest and most daring show on TV.