When I first popped in The Simpsons, I have to say, I was somewhat disappointed. I was expecting a nice, crisp picture that utilized every bit of my HD setup's potential (after all, computer-assisted cartoons do seem to upscale really well, just look at South Park). Instead, I found myself watching the show in a standard ratio, realizing that the series has been using the same opening sequence for 20 years now and was somewhat deflated about my favorite show's move to the HD media. Had I watched the season live, I would have known that it goes to HD about half-way through, and when I put in the second disc of The Simpsons: The Complete Twentieth Season, I was elated to see all of my criticisms addressed (right down to a new, and updated, intro sequence). Don't get me wrong, there was nothing really to complain about for the season's first nine episodes. If anything, I ended up applauding them for being so good and funny without feeling the need to jump on the HD bandwagon. Needless to say, watching the last 12 shows made the deal even sweeter.
This season's antics includes everything from Marge getting a job at an erotic bakery, to Lisa finding a new love in crossword puzzles (to the point of succumbing to The Tetris Effect). Bart will, of course, go through his normal menacing; this time, he takes his pub-prank-calling globally as he finds a cell phone, as well as having to deal with falling for a goody-two-shoes girl that puts his friendship with Millhouse on the rocks. Maggie also has her own adventure when she is lost and turns up in a church. In this episode, "Gone Maggie Gone", Lisa has to solve a series of Da Vinci Code-like clues in order to find out why this unusual sect wants to keep the baby hidden away.
There is also a flashback episode where Homer and Marge are firmly in their pre-marital relationship and end up meeting a young Ned and Maud (it's good to see Maud again). The newly-wedded Christians do everything they can to keep the younger couple from spending any kind of real alone time together. The same episode also shows events that happened around the same cabin-location some years later when both Bart and Lisa were young. This episode, "Dangerous Curves," shows just how close the couple came to being separated. Another semi-flashback episode has Homer feeling disgruntled about his life when the student that won his high school senior class presidency election is considered one of the best people in Springfield. Naturally, Homer believes that losing that election put him on the path to mediocrity that he is currently on. With the help of some magic red sauce, the whole family is able to see what might have been.
Other hilarious episodes include Ned becoming the Simpsons' land lord when he buys their house because of a bank foreclosure, one where the family goes to Ireland as per Grandpa's bucket list and end up running an old pub. I also enjoyed "Mypods and Boomsticks" where Lisa gets an MP3 player from Mapple and suffers the costly consequences. Moe even gets some face time this season as he gets an Internet girlfriend who turns out to be a real doll... well, a little person anyway, and in "Waverly Hills 9-0-2-1-D'oh," the Simpsons rent a small apartment in prestigious Waverly Hills so the kids can go to a good school. Bart uses this as a chance to not only enhance his bad-boy reputation, but to make Lisa popular by claiming she knows teenage pop star Alaska Nebraska. Meanwhile, Homer has to stay in the 50 sq-ft apartment until the school board's inspector shows up to verify that they actually live there. This sends Homer and Marge into an odd re-starting of their relationship as they act like they've only just met, start going to parties together, and Homer eventually asks Marge to move in with him.
The Complete Twentieth Season also comes with the 19th installment of "Treehouse of Horrors," and while I didn't find it as good as the older ones (though nothing can really top V which included "The Shinning", "Time and Punishment" and "Nightmare Cafeteria"). This season's montage episode featured a spoof of Transformers, another on It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and a segment where Homer goes around killing celebrities so their likenesses can be used in advertisements. Of course, I've only mentioned a few of the season's 21 episodes. They are all fun and I found myself with a perpetual smile on my face for the entire season.
The one gripe I have about this release is the lack of special features. There is one short "sneak peek" at the upcoming 20th Anniversary Special, and that is it. While I understand that special is a full-on retrospective for the show, and it will be (most likely) included on the eventual Complete Twenty-First Season release, there still could be other things for this particular seasons. I would have loved to see interviews of the creators talking about coming up with the new intro sequence, or the new gags in said intro (besides the classic chalk-board and couch gags, there are now differences in a billboard and what Ralph says in each opening). Another good featurette would have been talking about the jump to HD. It just seems like there were a lot of opportunities to add special features to this release that were missed.
When I heard The Simpsons: The Complete Twentieth Season was not only coming out, but coming out in Blu-ray, I thought it was rather strange. After all, the last season to be released so far was The Complete Twelfth Season, and the jump could only mean that Fox wanted to start releasing the newer shows alongside the older ones and let the missing seasons play catch up, especially since those DVDs only come out once or twice a year. I also found it somewhat amusing to see the jump to Blu-ray because of a note Matt Groening put into the First Season's DVD that says "... you might be able to complete your Simpsons DVD collection just before the next format comes along," and well... I guess he was wrong. The long and short of it is, The Simpsons at Season 20 is just as good and funny as it was at Season 1, or 2, or 3 (or whatever your favorite one was before). The jump to HD makes it hundreds of times more visually and audibly more appealing, and the situations the Simpsons find themselves in continue to be outlandish and crazy. The Simpsons: The Complete Twentieth Season's Blu-ray release is a must-buy for any fan of the show, even if, like me, you've fallen out of the habit in the last few years.
