Blu-Ray Review: ‘The Simpsons: The Thirteenth Season’ Returns Series to Top Form

Printer-friendly versionE-mail page to friendPDF version

CHICAGO – Long past the point when most thought it would be canceled, “The Simpsons” moved into its thirteenth season in the fall of 2001, not quite as clever or culturally relevant as at its peak but still funnier than a lot of television of its time. The first season of “The Simpsons” on Blu-ray with the same caliber of special features as the majority of releases for the most influential cartoon of all time returns the series to the must-buy form it lost with the disappointing “The Simpsons: The Complete Twentieth Season.”

Blu-Ray Rating: 4.0/5.0

As I wrote about the twentieth season release of “The Simpsons,” the first in HD, “What great special features are included on the 20th season? Nothing. That’s right, a series that set the bar for special features has gone bare bones. Sure, there’s a sneak peek at the Morgan Spurlock documentary special that just aired but that’s it and it’s incredibly brief.”

Thank God someone got the memo and the season releases of Matt Groening’s brilliant creation have gone back to the original form, which includes entertaining commentary tracks, deleted scenes, and much more. With the increase in video quality and the return to interesting bonus material, “The Simpsons” fans should just pretend that the lackluster season twenty release never happened. This is the first Simpson family release on Blu-ray.

The Simpsons: The Thirteenth Season was released on Blu-ray and DVD on August 24th, 2010.
Photo credit: Fox Home Video

As for the quality of season thirteen, the writers of “The Simpsons” surely weren’t at the absolute top of their game by this time. Fans of the show may disagree on when “The Simpsons” started to dip in quality but no one would stretch that window all the way to the 13th season (I’m probably being generous when I go with season nine). Having said that, the show was certainly better in 2001 and 2002 then it is now and still provided enough laughs to warrant a season purchase, especially one this weighed down with excellent special features.

Highlights include Homer’s adventures with marijuana in “Weekend at Burnsie’s,” his attempts to open his own bar in “Homer the Moe,” and a Harry Potter spoof in “Treehouse of Horror XII.” Celebrity guests include Pierce Brosnan, Matthew Perry, R.E.M., Paul Newman, Richard Gere, Ben Stiller, Reese Witherspoon, Alec Baldwin, Phish, and U2. Is it the best season you can buy? Nope. But if you have the other twelve, don’t stop now.

One of the reasons that the season sets for “The Simpsons” have won numerous awards has always been the extensive special features. This set is no different with audio commentary on all episodes, deleted scenes, animation showcaes, “A Token From Matt Groening,” “Ralphisms,” “Special Language Feature,” “The People Ball,” “The 13th Crewman,” “Blame It On The Monkeys,” “The Games,” “The Sweet Life of Ralph,” commercials, and a sketch gallery.

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com