Even for the diehard Simpsons fan, Season 1 was kind of tough to get through. The animation was crude, the characters were a bit off, the voices weren't quite right, and the color schemes were all off. Thankfully that show we all love continued, and Season Two's first episode aired on October 11, 1990. Last seasons 13 episodes certainly did well enough to prompt them to make a whopping 22 this season. The first half of the season seems to help develop Bart in his role in the family. They are dedicated to showing how intelligent he is, feuds he has, and problems he causes within the family. The rest of the season brushes up the viewer on the rest of the family and the antics surrounding them. Also making their two dimensional debut as part of The Simpsons entourage are the Capital City Goofball, Kent Brockman, Dr. Julius Hibbert, Roger Myers, Lionel Hutz, Artie Ziff, the Asian restaurant owner Akira, Groundskeeper Willie, Homer's brother Herb Powell, Professor Frink, Ralph Wiggum, Radioactive Man, Fallout Boy, and the classic, Jeff Albertson... What's the matter the name doesn't ring a bell? Well clearly you aren't as big of a fan as you though you were because that is the real name of Comic Book Guy. Just a little Simpsons trivia to keep you on your toes. :)

Other characters are introduced and numerous guest stars are featured on the show. For only it's second season the show certainly drew some big names for guest stars such as the late great Phil Hartman, Danny DeVito, James Earl Jones and believe it or not, Beatle Ringo Starr.

Special guest voices for this season include: Harry Fierstein, James Earl Jones, Tony Bennett, Tom Poston, Alex Rocco, Phil Hartman (who became more or less a regular on the show with the amount of characters he came to voice), Larry King, George Takei, Sab Shimono, Jon Lovitz, Danny DeVito, Tracey Ulman, Audrey Meadows, Ringo Starr, Sam Etic, Cloris Leachman, and Daniel Stern.

Overall
The DVD set itself is more interactive. For example when you put each DVD in there are four characters with four incorrect heads on each body. You have to press enter three times to move the heads to the correct body and "unlock" the disc, all the while seeing the amusing appearance of various characters heads on different bodies. Just a little chuckle. Also there is more animation and a previewing sound clip when you enter into some episodes individual screen. The interactivity isn't a necessity but it just is a little more engaging than the previous season which was a bit dry in that department. For the fans who notice detail, you'll see that this season is much more like the Simpsons we have grown accustomed to. The color schemes are all back to normal (like Millhouse's hair, Smithers appearance, and Chief Wiggum's uniform color). Also, the intro is the same one that airs today without the extra scenes that the first season had in its intro.

Even more pioneering is the introduction of the Treehouse Of Horrors Halloween special. Little did we know back then that the introduction of this would prove to be a staple of the show as it has reoccurred every year since its inception, which was this season. Halloween characters Kang and Kodos also make their debuts during this season in the "Hungry Are The Damned" portion of the Treehouse Of Horrors episode.

Season Specs:

This season is made up of four discs including the following episodes:

Disc 1:
1. Bart Gets An F
2. Simpson and Delilah
3. Treehouse of Horror
4. Two Cars In Every Garage And Three Eyes On Every Fish
5. Dancin' Homer
6. Dead Putting Society

Disc 2:
7. Bart Vs. Thanksgiving
8. Bart The Daredevil
9. Itchy & Scratchy & Marge
10. Bart Gets Hit By A Car
11. One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish
12. The Way We Was

Disc 3:
13. Homer Vs. Lisa and The 8th Commandment
14. Principal Charming
15. Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?
16. Bart's Dog Gets An F
17. Old Money
18. Brush With Greatness

Disc 4:
19. Lisa's Substitute
20. The War Of The Simpsons
21. Three Men and A Comic Book
22. Blood Feud

Run time for each episode varies from 22-23 minutes long and of course is interruption free. Each episode has a nice little feature which lets fanatics like me skip straight to certain scenes to hear quotes or watch segments that I particularly enjoy, which is six chapter selections for each episode (with the exception of the third episode of the season, Treehouse Of Horror, which only has 5 chapters). Based upon the length of the episode, roughly every 3-4 minutes can be segmented and skipped over for your viewing pleasure.

Language Selections
English 5.1 Surround
English Dolby Surround
French Dolby Surround
Also included are subtitles in English and Spanish if desired.

Special Features:
Audio commentary by Matt Groening, James L. Brooks, Al Jean, Mike Reiss and David Silverman are available on every episode. Although that may seem a bit much, and sometimes it is, it is still funny on occasion and gives the viewer a rare insight into the thoughts of these animation pioneers and what they think of certain episodes. Also, unlike Season One which had special features on each disc, this season saved all of them for just the last disc, disc 4.

-American Music Awards - January 28, 1991 which has a small cameo by Bart who opened the show briefly and also came out to present an award for best Soul R&B single. And for those of you who are dying to know who it was, M.C. Hammer was the winner that year.
-Deep Deep Trouble music video, written by Groening and DJ Jazzy Jeff, is a hip-hop song rapped by Bart about a day in his life and all the different ways he can get in trouble. A little cheesy but its all animated and done in the character voices which is kind of fun.
-Do The Bartman Music Video (directors cut) is another somewhat cheesy music video talking about the mischief Bart gets into, this is animated as well with cast voices but it is set in Springfield Elementary as a play that turns into a music video.
-Three Butterfinger TV Commercials aired from 1990-1991.
-David Silverman gives commentary on the creation of an episode (script, storyboard, animation, sound, etc.) which, although an animation genius, is a bit dry when talking about the process of how an episode is done. Interesting overall though to see how things are put together behind one of my favorite shows.
-Emmy Awards September 16, 1990 shows a pretty unique for the time animation of The Simpsons at the awards show, walking down the aisle and getting on stage to give the nominations for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series. It's actually a fun animation scene where the characters intro all the nominees and announce the winner, Ted Danson.
-Interview with Matt Groening and James L. Brooks gives another insight into how the show was started, coming from one minute skits on The Tracey Ullman Show and developing into a full length, fully animated cartoon. The interviews themselves are a little dated, they were used to promote Season Two of the show, but the information is still relevant and hasn't changed.
-Art Of The Simpsons contains storyboards from the episodes Bart Gets An F, and Bart Vs. Thanksgiving. In addition to that it has early sketches and drawings one can cycle through and various magazine covers that the family was featured on in the early 1990's.
-Foreign Language Clips are simply short snips of the show in French, German, Hungarian, Portuguese, and Spanish.

And as always inside the fold out season case is a small booklet describing each of the episodes, original air dates, running time, and a brief synopsis of what each episode entails. It also shows where each of the chapters are in each episode you which is a handy amenity.

For more of a breakdown of the show and some of the individual main characters, check out my review of:
The Simpsons Television Show

If you liked this you may also like:
The Simpsons - Season 1

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Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age