Thursday, August 03, 2006
Homer's Highlights and a Caged Cage
by Thomas Allen Heald
When "The Simpsons" made its debut on KOTA back in 1989, (Before KEVN dropped NBC to become a full-fledged Fox station), about the only "Simpsons" merchandise to be found was a single T-shirt at K-mart. Since then, they've appeared everything from chess sets and collector plates to Australian "Duff Beer" theological guide "The Gospel According to The Simpsons: The Spiritual Life of the World's Most Animated Family."
"The Simpsons: The Complete Eighth Season" (available in regular packaging or plastic "Maggie-head," August 29) is a time machine for fans back to 1997 and among the joys of its four discs are two of the sharpest stories in the show's 380+ episode history.
Albert Brooks becomes Homer's boss in James Bond parody "You Only Move Twice" while Hank Azaria voices Frank Grimes, the tormented plant employee who considers himself to be "Homer's Enemy."
As usual, it's a season of big ideas (community moral standards, divorce, mental illness, drug use, homosexuality, credit card debt, environmentalism and recycling, women in the military, and the Eighteenth amendment, investing) and small (school-age crushes, boxing, Mary Poppins, and the television series phenomenon known as "Jumping the Shark.) Johnny Cash, Leonard Nimoy, Gillian Anderson, David Duchovny, Rodney Dangerfield, Jack Lemmon, Joe Mantegna, Tim Conway, John Waters, and Willem Dafoe find themselves a very mellow yellow mood as the series gained steam not even halfway through its current run.
by Thomas Allen Heald
When "The Simpsons" made its debut on KOTA back in 1989, (Before KEVN dropped NBC to become a full-fledged Fox station), about the only "Simpsons" merchandise to be found was a single T-shirt at K-mart. Since then, they've appeared everything from chess sets and collector plates to Australian "Duff Beer" theological guide "The Gospel According to The Simpsons: The Spiritual Life of the World's Most Animated Family."
"The Simpsons: The Complete Eighth Season" (available in regular packaging or plastic "Maggie-head," August 29) is a time machine for fans back to 1997 and among the joys of its four discs are two of the sharpest stories in the show's 380+ episode history.
Albert Brooks becomes Homer's boss in James Bond parody "You Only Move Twice" while Hank Azaria voices Frank Grimes, the tormented plant employee who considers himself to be "Homer's Enemy."
As usual, it's a season of big ideas (community moral standards, divorce, mental illness, drug use, homosexuality, credit card debt, environmentalism and recycling, women in the military, and the Eighteenth amendment, investing) and small (school-age crushes, boxing, Mary Poppins, and the television series phenomenon known as "Jumping the Shark.) Johnny Cash, Leonard Nimoy, Gillian Anderson, David Duchovny, Rodney Dangerfield, Jack Lemmon, Joe Mantegna, Tim Conway, John Waters, and Willem Dafoe find themselves a very mellow yellow mood as the series gained steam not even halfway through its current run.
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