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The Simpsons - The Complete Tenth Season

Devoted SIMPSONS fans need wait no further for Season 10 of the animated series presented here in its entirety. In its landmark tenth season the show showed no signs of slowing down. The Simpsons--ineffectual (but lovable) patriarch Homer voice-of-reason mother Marge rebellious son Bart brilliant daughter Lisa and quiet baby Maggie--live in the city of Springfield surrounded by both the regular cast of characters and the stellar guest stars fans have come to expect. Alec Baldwin Jerry Springer and Hank Azaria are just a few of many featured guests.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 024543460411 Manufacturer No: 2246041

The Simpsons - The Complete Ninth Season

The entire ninth season of the animated television show, The Simpsons.
Genre: Television
Rating: NR
Release Date: 19-DEC-2006
Media Type: DVD

Season 9 is an important one in The Simpsons' run because, to many fans, it represents the top of the rainbow. At this point, the show is still at the top of its game, flinging clever jokes and social satire with such ease, especially compared to later seasons, that it's hard not to see this as the peak of its run, leaving open the question of whether or not subsequent seasons measure up. Be that as it may, there's hardly any question that the writing this season is among the series' best. This is the season that brought us "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson," where Homer illegally parks his car in front of the World Trade Center, and heralds the introduction of Duff Man ("Oh Yeah!), "The Treehouse of Horror VIII," where Bart's body gets switched with that of a fly and Marge turns into a witch, and "The Trouble with Trillions," which finds Mr. Burns hiding a trillion dollar bill from the federal government. Apu gets plenty of face time in an excellent episode where he meets his bride ("The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons"), and the town's kids get their chance at some screen time when they all get stranded on an island together a la Lord of the Flies in "Das Bus" ("We'll be like Swiss Family Robinson, only with more cursing," proclaims Bart). Definitely the show is still going strong by this point, and the 25 episodes of this season should still delight fans who've stayed with it through the years, in addition to the hours of commentaries and special features that come standard with every season of The Simpsons. --Daniel Vancini

The Simpsons - The Complete Eighth Season

The entire eighth season of the animated television show, The Simpsons.
Genre: Television
Rating: NR
Release Date: 15-AUG-2006
Media Type: DVD

Most TV shows never make it eight seasons, but then The Simpsons is not most TV shows. At a point where other shows would generally become stale and repetitive, Matt Groening & Co. pull out the stops to come up with one of the most creative and hilarious seasons in the whole series. Cases in point for season eight (1996-1997) include "Treehouse of Horror VII," in which aliens Kang and Kodos make a bizarre run for President having taken on the appearances of Bill Clinton and Bob Dole; "Bart After Dark," in which Bart gets a job at The Maison Derriere (featuring one of their most popular songs, "The Spring in Springfield"); and one of the great all-time episodes, "The Simpsons Spin-off Showcase," a trilogy of Simpsons spin-offs that never made it to prime-time (the final segment--"The Simpson Family Smile-Time Variety Hour"--is about the best six minutes of parody in the entire Simpsons canon). Season eight also features some of the most notable guest appearances: Rodney Dangerfield as Mr. Burns's long lost son; Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny as Scully and Mulder from X-Files in "The Springfield Files;" "The Brother from Another Series" which brilliantly pairs up Kelsey Grammar as Sideshow Bob with his brother Cecil (David Hyde Pierce) in a parallel of their Frasier characters; and in a major casting coup, Johnny Cash shows up in the form of a red fox as Homer's spirit guide in "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer" (also known as "The Chili Pepper episode"). Other notable episodes include "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show," a fun wink to the audience from the writers about keeping the show fresh without ruining it, and the send up of Mary Poppins "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(annoyed grunt)cious," which has one of their most memorable endings when Shary Bobbins floats off under her umbrella ("So long Superman," Barney cries)... only to get sucked into a jet engine from a passing airplane. That's the thanks she gets for offering her help. Good to see that, eight seasons in, The Simpsons still don't need it. --Daniel Vancini

The Simpsons - The Complete Seventh Season

The entire seventh season of the animated television show, The Simpsons.
No Track Information Available
Media Type: DVD
Artist: SIMPSONS
Title: SEASON 7
Street Release Date: 12/13/2005
Domestic
Genre: TELEVISION

One of the hallmark seasons of The Simpsons, season 7 features some of the strongest episodes produced during the show's run. Considering that this is The Simpsons we're talking about here, that's saying a lot, but this collection deserves the accolades.

Broadcast in 1995, season seven features several signature episodes, including Part II of "Who Shot Mr. Burns," "Bart Sells His Soul," and "Two Bad Neighbors" where former President George Herbert Walker Bush moves into the neighborhood (an episode gamely playing on the former President's open dislike for the show). One of The Simpsons's most definitive episodes, "Treehouse of Horror VI" famously broke the third wall by using the then-groundbreaking CGI technology to render Homer first in a 3-D world, then in real life, (despite the evolution in his form, he naturally ends up in an erotic cake shop). As the producers openly note on the commentary, it was a big deal at the time, and super expensive, which is why they could only do a few minutes of footage in CGI (some fans will particularly enjoy the revealing commentary on this one, as the producers explain the many visual puns and math jokes appearing in the background of the 3-D world). It's a great example of how The Simpsons continued to play with its visual style and take creative risks years into its run. In fact, one of the best episodes on this collection, "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular" proves just how far the look and style of the show really came during that time. Hosted by actor Troy McClure (voiced by the late comic great Phil Hartman), it presents never-before-seen outtakes and original footage from the show's debut days on The Tracey Ullman Show, while taking a few self-referential digs at show creators Matt Groening, James Brooks, and Sam Simon. Other gems include "Homerpalooza" where Homer thanks guests The Smashing Pumpkins for their gloomy music because it has made his kids "stop wishing for a future I can't possibly provide," and "Bart the Fink" where Bart inadvertently gets Krusty the Klown busted for tax "avoision."

Along with the 25 episodes there are extensive commentaries, featurettes, and deleted scenes all of which add immense value to the set and will give die-hard fans another excuse to spend more hours in front of the TV. It's another benchmark collection from a show that, up to this point, doesn't seem to know its own limits. --Dan Vancini

Family Guy - Blue Harvest

The Force is strong with this episode of FAMILY GUY that devotes an entire hour to STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE. Seth McFarlane s spoof-happy animated sitcom casts the Griffin family and other Quahog residents as characters from George Lucas s sci-fi classic: patriarch Peter is Han Solo wife Lois is Princess Leia son Chris is Luke Skywalker family dog Brian is Chewbacca and baby Stewie continues his quest to kill Lois as the evil Darth Vader. From Mos Eisley to the Millennium Falcon no element of Lucas s beloved universe is safe from McFarlane s hilarious satire. FAMILY GUY PRESENTS BLUE HARVEST includes four minutes of new material and interviews with MacFarlane and the Jedi Master himself Lucas.System Requirements:Running Time: 48 mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 024543496861 Manufacturer No: 2249686

What better way to launch Family Guy's sixth season and commemorate Star Wars' 30th anniversary than with this double-length Very Special Episode, a full-scale, awesomely animated spoof that recasts George Lucas' saga with Family Guy's galaxy of characters: Chris (Seth Green) is Luke; Lois (Alex Borstein) is Princess Leia; Peter (Seth McFarlane) is Han Solo, but not, as expected, Jabba the Hut; Brian (Seth, again) is Chewbacca; Quagmire (and again, Seth) is C3PO; Cleveland is R2D2; Herbert, the creepy senior pedophile, is Obi-Wan (both voiced by Mike Henry); and, of course, Stewie (Seth, already) is Darth Vader ("My diapers have gone over to the dark side"). Poor Meg is reduced to a cameo as the hideous reptilian creature that haunts the garbage compactor. Blue Harvest is reverently faithful to A New Hope, while engaging in typical Family Guy pop-culture references (everything from those old Grey Poupon commercials to Doctor Who, Airplane, Dirty Dancing, and Deal or No Deal) and bizarre digressions (the iconic opening crawl detours into an appreciation of a "way naked" Angelina Jolie in Gia). Along for the wild ride are Judd Nelson, who contributes a voice cameo as John Bender for a Breakfast Club gag, Rush Limbaugh railing against futuristic affirmative action on Tatooine talk radio, and Beverly D'Angelo and Chevy Chase as the vacationing Griswolds observing the rebellion from their orbiting station wagon. A Star Wars spoof in 2007 isn't exactly uncharted territory. As Chris Griffin notes in this episode's final moments, Robot Chicken brilliantly did it months earlier (and let us not forget Mel Brooks' Spaceballs from 1987; or, on second thought...). But the Force is strong with Family Guy, and who could resist the opportunity to hear the Muzak playing in a Death Star elevator? --Donald Liebenson

Beyond Family Guy: Blue Harvest

The Family Guy Series

The Star Wars Store

More from Fox

Stills from Family Guy: Blue Harvest

The Simpsons - The Complete Sixth Season

The entire sixth season of the animated television show, The Simpsons.
Genre: Television
Rating: NR
Release Date: 15-AUG-2006
Media Type: DVD

The classic to clunker ratio is still extraordinarily high, though The Simpsons' sixth season could give some devoted viewers pause. The show that takes cheeky delight in mooning television convention gives us "Another Simpsons Clip Show" and its first season-ending cliffhanger, "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" And, as does Bart in "A Star Is Burns," we should all feel a little dirty at the "cheap cartoon crossover" appearance of Jay Sherman (Jon Lovitz), designed to give a boost to the ill-fated animated series The Critic. But this is just beard-stroking tongue-clucking regarding a season that delivered episodes that rank in the hallowed The Simpsons pantheon, among them, "Homer Badman," in which lust for a gummy Venus de Milo, peeled from the behind of an unwitting babysitter, makes Homer the object of feminist protest and tabloid TV fodder, and "Homer the Great," in which Homer is discovered to be the Chosen One to lead the secret society, "The Stonecutters" ("Who holds back the electric car/Who made Steve Guttenberg a star?/We do!"). Several episodes take their inspiration from classic films and books: Hitchcock's Rear Window ("Bart of Darkness"); Michael Crichton's Westworld and Jurassic Park ("Itchy and Scratchy Land"); and Stephen King and Ray Bradbury ("Treehouse of Horror V").

This season's roster of guest voices is also especially impressive, including Winona Ryder as "Lisa's Rival," Meryl Streep as Rev. Lovejoy's bad-seed daughter ("She's like a Milk Dud," a smitten Bart laments. "Sweet on the outside, poison on the inside"), the late Anne Bancroft in "Fear of Flying"; Patrick Stewart in "Homer the Great"; Mel Brooks and Susan Sarandon in "Homer vs. Patty and Selma," and Mandy Patinkin as Lisa's future fiancée in the surprisingly moving "Lisa's Wedding." There has, of late, been a feud a-brewin' between fans of The Simpsons and Family Guy. Which show is funnier? Has The Simpsons lost it? Is Family Guy a Simpsons-wannabe? Hey; Can't we all just laugh along? Best to just marvel at another exemplary Simpsons season that, to quote Homer in "Lisa's Rival," delivers it all: "The terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, the creamy middles." --Donald Liebenson

Pinocchio (Disney Gold Classic Collection)

This Disney masterpiece from 1940 will hold up forever precisely because it doesn't restrain or temper the most elemental emotions and themes germane to its story. Based on the Collodi tale about a wooden puppet who wants to become a real boy, Pinocchio is among the most magical, mythical, and frightening films to come from the studio in its long history. A number of scenes make permanent impressions on young minds (just ask Steven Spielberg, who quoted the film more than once in Close Encounters of the Third Kind), and the songs ("When You Wish upon a Star") can't be beat. --Tom Keogh

Disney's second full length movie after Snow White. Delightful, hand-drawn images.

The Simpsons - The Complete Fourth Season

The entire fourth season of the animated television show, The Simpsons.
Genre: Television
Rating: NR
Release Date: 16-AUG-2006
Media Type: DVD

By its fourth season, The Simpsons had come far enough where Lisa could make a self-referential joke about Dustin Hoffman and Michael Jackson's pseudonymous guest voice appearances in seasons 2 and 3, respectively. In this season, no less than Elizabeth Taylor (in two episodes), Bette Midler, and even the reclusive Johnny Carson blessed The Simpsons with their iconic presences. Awhile back, Entertainment Weekly ranked The Simpsons' Top 25 best episodes ever. Five gems from season 4 cracked the top 12, including the (debatable) choice for No. 1, "Last Exit to Springfield." Other episodes that loom large in the Simpsons legend are "Mr. Plow" (you know the jingle: "Call Mr. Plow / That's my name / That name again is Mr. Plow"), "Marge vs. the Monorail," featuring a Music Man-style extravaganza, and "A Streetcar Named Marge," the episode that outraged New Orleans residents, who heard their fair metropolis referred to as "a city that the damned call home."

The Simpsons smartly subverts traditional family sitcom convention, but anyone who thinks the show doesn't have a heart is advised to watch "I Love Lisa" and "New Kid on the Block," two fourth-season gems that absolutely nail the agony and ecstasy of unrequited crushes ("You won't be needing this," a heartbroken Bart fantasizes his babysitter saying while dropkicking his heart into a wastebasket in "New Kid"). While the Simpsons' celebrated ensemble gets all the glory, we must pause now to praise the peerless writing staff, among them, George Meyer, Al Jean, Jon Vitti, John Swartzwelder, David Silverman, and Conan O'Brien. One can only marvel in astonishment at the alchemy that went into creating, week after week, such essential episodes as "Kamp Krusty," "Streetcar," the profane and profound "Homer the Heretic," and "Lisa the Beauty Queen" (And that's just disc 1!). The animators, too, rose to the occasion, particularly in "Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie," with its dead-on, ultra-violent sinking of the seminal Disney cartoon, "Steamboat Willie." And another benchmark in The Simpsons' rise to the TV pantheon: Its very first clip show. What Homer says about donuts in "Monorail" holds true as well for The Simpsons itself: Is there anything this show can't do? --Donald Liebenson

The Simpsons - The Complete Fifth Season

The entire fifth season of the animated television show, The Simpsons.
No Track Information Available
Media Type: DVD
Artist: SIMPSONS
Title: SEASON 5
Street Release Date: 08/15/2006
Domestic
Genre: TELEVISION

Sixteen seasons (and counting) of pop culture-rocking brilliance, the first four of which have already been gloriously archived on DVD. But in the words of Krusty the Clown: What has The Simpsons done for me lately? Well, how about all 22 episodes of season 5, each accompanied by commentary, deleted scenes, and other encyclopedic extras that hopelessly devoted Simpsons fans crave, no, demand? Season 5 is perhaps not as classics-packed as the third and fourth seasons, but no self-respecting Simpsons fan should be without the episodes "Homer's Barbershop Quartet," featuring George Harrison, "Cape Feare," one of Sideshow Bob's (and guest voice Kelsey Grammer's) finest half-hours, "Rosebud," "Springfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)," and "Bart Gets Famous," with the Springfield-sweeping catchphrase "I didn't do it." Plus, the star power this season is impressive: Michelle Pfeiffer as Homer's comely, donut-loving co-worker in "The Last Temptation of Homer," Albert Brooks as a self-help guru who unleashes "Bart's Inner Child," Kathleen Turner as the creator of Malibu Stacy in "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy," and, as themselves, the Ramones ("Rosebud"), James Woods ("Homer and Apu"), Buzz Aldrin ("Deep Space Homer"), and even Robert Goulet ("Springfield").

But it is the writers and the core ensemble cast who exhibit, to quote "Deep Space Homer," "the right... What's that stuff?" Series milestones include the first appearance of yokel Cletus in "Bart Gets an Elephant," and Maggie's infant nemesis, The Baby with One Eyebrow in "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Badasssss Song," which also happens to be The Simpsons' 100th episode. Add in a very good "Treehouse of Horror" episode, (which outs Ned Flanders as the Devil and Marge as the head vampire), and one Emmy-nominated musical extravaganza ("Who Needs the Quick-E-Mart" from "Homer and Apu"), and you have a Simpsons season that's not just great, it's DVD-box-set great. --Donald Liebenson

Bedknobs and Broomsticks (30th Anniversary Edition)

When a mail-order apprentice witch (Angela Lansbury) is saddled with three sibling refugees from London during World War II, the outlook is grim. But the kids soon discover her secret and sign on for adventure in the name of England. With the aid of a magical bed, they track down her fraudulent headmaster (David Tomlinson) to find the spell that will aid the Allies. Fascinated that she has actually achieved results with his lessons, he joins forces. The quintet does battle with corrupt booksellers, animated-lion royalty, and, eventually, invading Germans. Songs include Lansbury's Oscar-nominated "The Age of Not Believing." This film is often compared to director Robert Stevenson's earlier effort, Mary Poppins, and for good reason. In addition to Tomlinson, the movies share a fondness for magic at the hands of a good woman, light romance with an understanding male, and wide-eyed children. Stevenson also graces both films with interaction between humans and animated animals. Disney is wise to play up that aspect on its box this time around as both the underwater ball and the subsequent island soccer match are the most visually interesting and appealing parts of the film. Adults may find the 1971-vintage mixing of actors and animation a bit creaky, but kids used to a variety of animation quality will find the action a hoot. Ages 4 and up. The movie has been recut several times but was restored to the original length of 139 minutes for its 30th anniversary in 2001. --Kimberly Heinrichs

An Academy Award(R) winner for Best Visual Effects (1971), BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS is a magical blend of live action and animation that makes it one of Disney's most enduring classics. This magical 30th anniversary edition version of the film is now yours to enjoy in digital splendor on this remastered, fully restored DVD! BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS is the enchanting story of an amateur witch who, along with three precocious orphans, flies into one fantastic adventure after another aboard a bewitched bed. The legendary Angela Lansbury is charming as the witch, and the inimitable David Tomlinson (MARY POPPINS) delights as the amusing professor whose help Lansbury and the children enlist in order to find an ancient incantation that will save the country from hostile invaders! This special edition BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS DVD includes many bonus features and is sure to be a film the entire family will want to watch again and again!