The Simpsons - Season 10 (1998) (4-Disc Set)

The Simpsons' Decline Continues On Season 10

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Aug 30, 2007

Pros: Every episode has full commentary. There are plenty of other extras.

Cons: The episodes themselves are up and down. Some are good, others, not.

America's favorite dysfunctional family now has their own movie. It's simply called, 'The Simpsons Movie.' Thankfully for true long-time fans of that movie, series creator Matt Groening and company have made a visible attempt to bring... The Simpsons out of the slump that began with their 9th season on television. The slump in question is one that continued into the show's 10th season. There was a visisble effort there, as well, to start bringing the show back to its old state. But unilke the previous eight seasons, Season 9 and 10 simply dind't hit on whatever made Seasons 1-8 so funny. Perhaps it was that the first eight season directly had issues to tackle. Perhaps it was just the staff of writers was better. Either way, Season 10 continued to show that slow decline of The Simpsons, despite a few pretty good episodes, including what was one of the funniest of the annual Treehouse of Horror episodes. In the ninth installment of the annual Treehouse of Horror episodes, Homer gets the hair of Springfield's most well known criminal, Snake, after Snake is executed on a live television show hosted by Ed Mcmahon. Homer is then posesed by the hairdo. The second short in this episode is a direct take off of a really poor movie made by John Ritter some years before, called 'Remote Control.' The third and final short in this year's TOH has the family going on the infamous Jerry Springer show after Homer discovers that Maggie's real dad is a slimy green octopus-like alien. Fans even get to hear Maggie talk for what is only the second time in the show's history. One of the other truly memorable episodes from Season 10 was 'D'oh-in' In The Wind.' In this episode, Homer befriends a pair of hippies who knew his mother on a more than professional level, and who reveal another part of the mystery of Homer's mother, and of his own childhood. Audiences find out that the "J" in Homer J. Simpson, actually stands simply for Jay. What ensues after he begins to know the old hippies is what makes for one of the best episodes in the history of The Simpsons. Another of the standout episodes this season is 'Wild Barts Can't Be Broken.' After Homer and his buddies get horribly drunk at a celebration for the local baseball team, The Isotopes, they drive to Springfield Elementary and tear up the entire school, inside and out. Being the fool that he is, Chief Wiggum automatically blames it on Springfield's youth, leading to one of the many musical numbers in the show's history. There is also a funny spoof of the horror classic, 'Children of The Corn' in the movie that leads to the whole story of this episode. The movie is called 'The Bloodening.' So yet another pop culture reference that long time fans will enjoy. The last of the real standout episodes from this season was a Valentine's Day themed episode called 'I'm With Cupid', in which local store owner Apu earns the ire of Springfield's fellow men when he spends the entire week of Valentine's Day wooing his wife. Eventually it leads to a conflict between Homer and a sky writing pilot hired by Apu that leads to a happy ending for the rest of Springfield's couples. Those three episodes, along with having commentary on every episode, some hidden easter eggs, deleted scenes, and other bonus fgeatures are the only saving graces of season 10. Regardless of the quality of this season, true, long-time fans of The Simpsons know they will still buy it and, maybe even find a few laughs on other episodes, as well. Read more Less