The Simpsons: Complete Third Season (1991-2)
Film:
DVD:

Created by Matt Groening
Starring the Voices of Dan Castanella, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer

Features:

• All twenty-four third season episodes
  
• Running audio commentary on every single last freaking episode by creator Groening, executive producer James L. Brooks and so many different writers, actors and directors (varying from episode to episode) that we'd crash our server if we listed them all
  
• Pop-up Trivia bits on "Colonel Homer"
  
• Five language choices on "Treehouse of Horror II" (English, Spanish, French, Polish and Czech)
  
• Butterfinger commercials
  
• Bart's Thanksgiving Day Parade Appearance
  
• Storyboards by Groening
  
• Interactive Sketches
  
• 13 Song Simpsons Jukebox
  

Released by 20th Century Fox
Rating: NR
Region: 1
Anamorphic: N/A; episodes appear in their original 1.33:1 format.

My Advice: Own it.

The further adventures of Matt Groening's lucky creations, The Simpsons, which by this writing have become the longest running primetime cartoon in the history of television. And it's hard to believe that this set first aired over a decade ago. Now, while the series still hadn't hit its complete stride (where later in its run it went from being fairly funny to being preternaturally so), you still get the idea that at least from a setup standpoint, it had solidified. What I mean is that the vocal cast was now trucking along and the writers had figured out how to layer things a little better so the episodes were better structured.

The DVD set is massive when it comes to features, as we've come to expect from Fox/Groening releases. For one thing, you could be watching this thing for days simply because each episode comes with its own commentary, featuring Groening and executive producer James L. Brooks, along with a cavalcade of writers, actors and directors. Amusement comes from the normal wisecracks one would expect from such a roster, although listening to these people watching the shows again after sometimes not having seen them since they aired is always interesting. Every commentary has something to offer, and they're never completely dry--how they could be with these crowds is truly beyond me.

The episode "Colonel Homer" comes with pop-up trivia, which is cute and at times funny, though it's not as informative as perhaps you might like. So too, of minor amusement, is the ability to listen to the "Treehouse of Horror II" episode in Polish. There is also a series of Butterfinger commercials starring Bart, and a small snippet of the giant Bart balloon from a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade; sadly, this comes complete with cheesy remarks from the commentators, so be warned.

Some episodes come complete with storyboards by Groening as well as sketches from the episodes that are accessible when you see a pencil come up on the screen--just hit enter on your remote and you've got it. Lastly, a jukebox feature will take you to thirteen songs from the various episodes.

A brief note about the menus--and normally menus impress me about as much as, say, a block of American cheese does. But these feature the family sitting on their couch, and when you hit an option you get a number of different reactions--my personal favorite being the billiards variation. You'll just have to wait and see it for yourself.

Like I stated above, we haven't hit the best run of the show yet--not to say that these are bad episodes, not in the least. But the show just hasn't gotten to the point of the laughfest we know today. Still, a fan of the show will want to check out this set for the features, if nothing else. It truly is a goldmine.