The Simpsons: Gone Wild

Alrighty then, what do we have here? Another random assortment of episodes that FOX churns out to make a quick buck inbetween the box sets. If they really want to make more money, then they should release the box sets faster! I love the Simpsons, and the box sets are always done well. While I wait patiently for the 5th season, they churn out this dud. FOX, what are you doing? Now, the Halloween and Xmas DVDs were bad in the sense that we would eventually get them, but at least they were good episodes. Here's the roster for "Simpsons Gone Wild":

Homer's Night Out (Season 1)

Kwik Synopsis: At a bachelor party, Bart snaps a photo of Homer dancing with an exotic dancer, and must make it up to Marge.

It's a pretty bad sign when a season one episode is the best one on the set. We already HAVE this on our first season collections. We don't need it again. It's a pretty good episode, but still a little weird to watch now, as the characters, and animation, have changed so much.

Homer the Moe (Season 13)

Kwik Synopsis: Moe goes back to bartending school to rekindle his love of getting people loaded. Homer tends the bar while he's gone, and when Moe returns, Homer starts his own bar.

This one is alright. The first act was pretty funny. Then the jokes start to get tired and cruel, i.e.: Homer forcing Lisa to cut lemons that he doesn't need at his bar. Then at the end, it turns into a hunting episode for a turkey and... whatever. It doesn't make sense. There's a few funny bits, but not nearly enough. R.E.M. guest-stars by the way.

Sunday Cruddy Sunday (Season 10)

Kwik Synopsis: Homer forms a group to go to the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, Marge and Lisa paint eggs.

Wow. Just wow. This may well be the worst episode ever. The first act had about two funny things. Then pretty much nothing else. And this plot had potential. You've got Homer's group comprised of pretty much every single secondary character, but none of them were in character, they were just all a part of the mindless mob. Then, you have pointless guest star after guest star. Troy Aikmen, Rosey Grier, John Madden, Dan Marino, Rupert Murdoch, Dolly Parton, and Pat Summerall. You'd think they'd be used, but they aren't. Especially Dolly, who uses some kind of makeup thing to sear a hole through prison bars. Umm... right. While this mindless Super Bowl plot goes on, Marge and Lisa have a wonderful adventure of their own. They paint eggs. That's it. Then they call Vincent Price for a refund. Price, at the end, saying, "Quiet, Jody, you're not helping" was probably the funniest thing in the episode. This was just one big pointless piece of garbage. But wait, there's more!

The Mansion Family (Season 11)

Kwik Synopsis: While Mr. Burns goes to the mayo clinic, the Simpsons tend after his mansion.

Here's another episode that starts out well, but then goes nuts and collapses. Britney Spears appears... pointlessly. The Simpsons at the mansion was funny. Burns at the clinic was funny. But once Homer has a party in international waters on Burns' yacht and they're boarded by pirates, the entire episode goes down the tubes.

The only extra is a featurette of Krusty's greatest moments, similar to Burns and Kang and Kodos' on the other sets. The only real reason you should get this DVD is if you are a completist, if you must have every single Simpsons item. If not, skip it. If you must have more Simpsons, buy the other two mini-sets. If you have those, then why don't you go watch something else? Or go outside? That's a grand idea.

I think I am in league with several other reviewers (but it's hard to tell for sure with some of the ALL CAP rants, and awful spelling!) I love The Simpsons, and so far I own all four of the season box sets, with season 5 pre-ordered. Someone gave me "Gone Wild" for a present, and always willing to watch The Simpsons I popped it in. The DVD starts off with an episode already available on Season 1? I don't understand why they would include something that has already been released onto another dvd? The other 4 episodes found on this collection are not available in the season box sets...yet, but to be honest, I would much rather wait and get the entire season complete than purchase one show on this disk, another show on another disk etc. Only if you are a die-hard fan of the show and cannot wait for Fox to slowly dole out the remaining seasons would I recommend this dvd.

Let me first say that I am a diehard Simpsons fan and have been watching the show since their premiere back in 1989. Every day, I never miss a single episode because it is very original and captures the atmosphere to the ways of everday society in a funny way. I've bought Seasons 2, 3, & 4 and am patiently waiting for Season 5. Unfortunately, it seems that FOX just wants to get more and more of our money by selling THESE! Who wants to watch just RANDOM episodes from numerous different seasons (which is a total mess) when we could get more of the SEASONS already?! FOX, GIVE US THE SEASON BOXED SETS!!!

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 26 reviews  2.8 out of 5 stars