The Simpsons: Season Six DVD Review

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The big difference in Season Six from previous DVD releases is the Homer shaped case. It’s a great idea and I hope eventually I get a Comic Book Guy and Disco Stu head to put on my shelf. But the case itself is unfortunately thin and flimsy. I’ll have to handle it with delicate hands.

The menus still feature comedy clips, but this time they’re all themed in a police crime lineup. They’re tied to the episodes on each menu, like Bart in the wheelchair with a cast and Sideshow Bob wrapped in the flag. Individual episodes give you close-ups on the corresponding character. Very clever and awesome.

Mainly, this is another fabulous collection of fascinating commentaries, deleted scenes as funny as what ends up on the air, animatics for those interested in the process (I still don’t watch ‘em) and different little extras.

The “Confessions of Matt Groening” is just an intro. It sets up what’s included in the season but offers little insight. That’s all in the commentaries. He does take a dig at those other DVD sets where they only do one commentary. That’s cool.

“Springfield’s Most Wanted” is a John Walsh special about the mystery of “Who Shot Mr. Burns” done like a straight [i]America’s Most Wanted[/i] episode complete with real commentators. I can’t really imagine watching this even in anticipation of the cliffhanger conclusion, but since they went to the trouble of producing it, it’s nice to have it preserved on the DVD.

“The Simpsons Plane” shows an actual airplane painted with The Simpsons. I never knew about this, so it’s pretty wild. The commentary on it is hilarious.

James L. Brooks’s brief intro to the classic “Who Shot Mr. Burns?” episode is more interesting for the snippets of marketing materials shown than his little explanation of how the concept was pitched. The one-page promos for the 1-800 number on display here are priceless Simpsons history, more so than the overlong John Walsh special.