The Simpsons: The Twelfth Season

Just a quick note about the packaging:

If you aren't sure whether to go with Comic Book Guy "limited" packaging or standard, (and I've notice some retailers, perhaps anticipating the unpopularity of the bulky "limited" packaging, are selling it at a considerable discount over the standard packaging) here's a little secret:

The "limited edition" packaging is little more than a 3-D molded Comic Book Guy face attached with rubber-cement to the front of the standard edition packaging. That's right--the standard packaging artwork is right there underneath Comic Book Guy's fat face! You can EASILY peel the Comic Book Guy face off the front of the box without damaging either, and you now have the standard DVD packaging, which will fit on your DVD shelf, as well as a Comic Book Guy face that you can display or toss in the trash.

By this point the series had settled into a too-comfortable format that this season exemplifies.
1. Hilarious first act that is soon left behind by the actual plot.
2. So-so second act that introduces the gratuitous guest voice and expands on the plot.
3. Hit or miss third act that either veers completely away from the general plot or takes the premise to an absurd level. Depending on the execution and one's personal tastes, this makes the episode either decent or awful.

Individual episodes deviate from this at times, but for the most part they stick fairly religiously to it. Did I say the guest voices are gratuitous? The stories should not be notable mainly because of the guest voice. This season leads off with The Who episode (which the commentary reveals doesn't feature the entire group, even as it existed then), a symbol of what's to come.

That said, I still give this 4 stars because of the mostly great first acts, which this period of the show elevates to an art form. The best ones have almost nothing to do with the direction of the rest of the episode but are loaded with great gags, like the trip to the Festival of Books in "Insane Clown Poppy."

Some of the third acts are brilliant, too, like The Prisoner homage in "The Computer Wore Menace Shoes," or the mob family gathering Homer & Krusty invade in "Insane Clown Poppy."

What's largely missing is the emotional core that was so memorable in the first several seasons. By this point many of the writers, directors, and producers who created and cared about these characters have all have long since moved on to other things. The commentaries make pretty clear that the 12th season staff just like making Homer appear as dumb and depraved as possible. "Homer vs. Dignity" is a particular low point featuring Homer doing baby talk in a diaper and getting raped by a panda. When genuine emotional substance is called for, such as Krusty trying to establish a relationship with his previously unknown daughter in "Insane Clown Poppy," no feeling comes through at all. (Compare it to "Like Father, Like Clown," where Krusty reconciles with his dad, or the end of "Lisa's Substitute" when Homer gets Lisa to laugh with him again.) In this specific case, part of the problem is Drew Barrymore's generic voice work completely fails to convey the emotion that's animated for her. In general, though, it reveals that the producers generally seemed to coast through the year.

Still, there are some highlight episodes, like "Trilogy of Error," and "HOMR," and the annual "Treehouse of Horror" is a little better than some previous years' Halloween eps. Even the lesser episodes have great moments. The animators' commentaries are interesting as they discuss and illustrate on screen certain aspects of drawing the show. The Comic Book Guy's highlight reel is fun to watch. There is still plenty to enjoy, even if you maybe won't enjoy it quite as often as the earlier seasons.

I know I am not alone when it comes to the way season 11 and probably season 12 will be packaged. In those almost immpossible sleeves the discs are crammed into. Once out of that tight fitting slot, just use some of those two sided sleeves or envelopes you get at office depot.They fit back in between the accordian type booklet just fine. It's a quick low cost solution to the problem. Just thought i'd share that with everybody.