The Simpsons quickly became a very popular show after it debuted in 1989. It was many years later before I started watching the show but I quickly became hooked on the show. I picked up The Simpsons - The Complete Second Season DVD set not long after it was released.

The Simpsons was originally created by Matt Groening as short spots to fill in between sketches on The Tracey Ullman Show. I can remember seeing a few of those spots when I saw some reruns of that show. The animation was very crude and there really wasn’t much in the way of character development. The characters still became popular and they were given their own show which is still on the air now. The 400th episode was aired in May of 2007 and a feature movie will be out in July of 2007. Groening also created another animated show, Futurama, that began airing in 1999.

The main characters on The Simpsons were members of the Simpson family. The episodes showed different things from their lives, like Bart struggling to pass a test and Homer trying to become a baseball team mascot. They weren’t really a normal family and they, especially Homer and Bart, ended up in some unique or even bizarre situations. Bart and Homer were featured prominently in many of the episodes thought Marge and Lisa were more important in a few episodes. The show continued with having different self-contained plots for each episode. Most of the humor was provided by the situations the family members found themselves in. There were some gross type of jokes used, especially by Bart.

When The Simpsons began, Homer and Marge had been married for several years and had three children. Nothing from the early years of their relationship had been shared. One of the episodes in season two, The Way We Was changed that. The episode was the first time flashbacks were used to visit the past of the characters, something that would be done again in later seasons. The episode showed how Homer and Marge first met in high school. I believe this episode is now considered one of the classic episodes. Bart continued to cause trouble and Lisa remained a good student. The second season was also when the first Treehouse of Horror Halloween episode appeared. The episode included three scary stories.

Several of the returning characters, including Marge’s sisters Patty and Selma, turned up a bit more and received more development. Patty and Selma played large parts in the episode Principal Charming when Homer tried to set up Principal Skinner with Selma. Skinner fell for Patty instead. The episode did a lot to develop the two sisters and their relationship. Other characters were introduced for the first time who would go on to return throughout the series. It was interesting to see some of the earlier appearances of different characters.

The same group of actors returned to provide voices for the main characters in season two. Most of them provided voices for several characters, some which were in many episodes and others who were only around in a few. Julie Kavner only did the voices for Marge, her sisters Patty and Selma, and their mother. Yeardly Smith only did the voice of Lisa. I believe she is the only regular that only does the voice for one character. Several guest actors were used during the season for different characters. Danny DeVito turned up as Homer’s long lost brother. Jon Lovitz did voices for a few different characters. Phil Hartman did the voices for several characters who would return in later seasons as somewhat regular characters. There were similarities to the voices for a few of the characters without making them sound identical.

The animation for the episodes in this DVD set looked very much like it had for the first season set. It did seem like certain things had a cleaner and more polished look. I do believe that the animation was cleaned up a bit for the set since it looks to be better quality than when I’ve seen the episodes on television. The use of bright, vibrant colors was continued throughout the second season. The opening sequence was tweaked a bit from how it had appeared in the first season. The look of a few characters changed slightly from how they had looked in the first season. I believe all the characters showed off their final looks in this season. A couple of locations, like Moe’s Bar, had different looks too.

DVD Information

The Simpsons The Complete Second Season DVD set contains all twenty-two episodes of the second season on four discs. The set has the same sort of unfolding case that the first season had, so each disc is on its own panel. I like that much more than when one disc is slightly on top of another on the same panel. There was another message from Matt Groening on a panel again. In this message, he talked about the success of the characters and mentioned episodes that have remained his favorites through the years. The booklet included contained short summaries of the episode, listed the chapters for each episode, and shared the original air dates. There was a notation when someone appeared as a guest voice actor and when characters made first appearances.

A different graphic was used for the main menu on every disc. Before an episode could be picked, it was necessary to hit play a few times for an animation to play out. It was kind of annoying. Once the list of episodes was up, there was no option to play all the episodes, so I had to return to the main menu from the episode menu when an episode was finished to get to the next one. The set did include commentaries by Matt Groening on every episode. Other people connected to the show took part in commentaries for a few episodes. Certain things, like some of the Butterfinger commercials that featured Bart and when the characters presented at the Emmys were also included. A couple of music videos and interviews with Groening and producer James L. Brooks and a featurette on the making of an episode were also included. I did enjoy the featurette.

Episode List

Bart Gets an F
Simpson and Delilah
Treehouse of Horror
Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish
Dancin’ Homer
Dead Putting Society
Bart vs. Thanksgiving
Bart the Daredevil
Itchy & Scratchy & Marge
Bart Gets Hit by a Car
One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish
The Way We Was
Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment
Principal Charming
Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?
Bart’s Dog Gets an F
Brush with Greatness
Lisa’s Substitute
The War of the Simpsons
Three Men and a Comic Book
Blood Feud

The Simpsons Complete Second Season DVD set is a great set for fans of the show. The extras were interesting and worth seeing.

This review is part of elvisdo’s 2007 Canadiania Write-off. Phil Hartman, who provided voices for several minor characters, was originally from Ontario.

The Simpsons Reviews
The Simpsons - The Complete First Season ~ The Simpsons - The Complete Third Season ~ The Simpsons - The Complete Fourth Season ~ The Simpsons - Season 5 ~ The Simpsons - Season 6 ~ The Simpsons - Season 7 ~ The Simpsons - Season 8 ~ The Simpsons - Season 9 ~ The Simpsons - Season 10 ~ The Simpsons - Season 11 ~ The Simpsons - Season 12 ~ The Simpsons - Season 13 ~ The Simpsons - Season 14 ~ The Simpsons: The Complete Twentieth Season ~ The Simpsons Movie ~ The Simpsons Clue ~

Futurama Reviews
Futurama - Volume 1 ~ Futurama - Volume 2 ~ Futurama - Volume 3 ~ Futurama - Volume 4 ~ Futurama: Bender's Big Score ~ Futurama: The Beast With a Billion Backs ~ Futurama: Bender's Score ~ Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder ~

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD