The Simpsons: The Fifteenth Season contains 22 episodes spread over 4 discs. These episodes were originally broadcast between 02 November 2003 and 23 May 2004.

Highlights in this collection include:

The Regina Monologues: While not an overly funny episode, it sees the Simpson family arriving in London where they meet Tony Blair, J.K. Rowling and Ian McKellen.

The Fat and the Furriest: When Homer is nearly killed by a bear at the local dump, he is ridiculed for being a wimp - so he sets off to prove he's not scared of anything.

I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot: To win Bart's respect, Homer sets about building him the best robot for the local Robot Wars competition. However, when he realises it's more complicated than he thought, he decides to make a robot suit and secretly take on all the other robots.

Smart and Smarter: Lisa becomes jealous of Maggie when it looks like her baby sister may be a child genius.

My Big Fat Geek Wedding: Skinner and Edna are planning to marry, but it soon becomes obvious to Edna that Skinner is getting cold feet. They decide to not go through with the wedding and, on the rebound, Edna starts dating Comic Book Guy.

Simple Simpson: Homer becomes the mysterious masked vigilante Pie Man. To evil doers there is only one course of action; a pie to the face. But he gets more than he bargained for when Mr Burns hires him as a personal hitman.

The Way We Weren't: Homer admits to Marge that she was not his first kiss, but it soon transpires that all these years the mysterious girl he fell in love with while a young man was Marge all along.

Notable guest stars include: Jerry Lewis, Jennifer Garner, Glenn Close, Michael Moore, Tony Blair, J.K. Rowling, Ian McKellen, Charles Napier, Jackie Mason, Mr. T, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Tom Clancy, Simon Cowell, Jon Lovitz, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matt Groening and Nichelle Nichols.

Extras include audio commentaries on every episode; deleted scenes on various episodes; two Sketch Galleries; The Unusual Ones (17 min, 12 sec feature that looks back at 15 years of The Simpsons and explores some of the inspiration that pays homage to other animation and art); Living in the Moment (2 min photo gallery of some of the recent landmark moments - like the 500th episode); Animation Showcase (a look at a segment of an episode where you can view the animatic/storyboards/finished episode); and The Commercials (1 min, 04 sec Ritz and Visa Mastercard TV ads).

I was a little disappointed with the packaging of this box set. Basically you get a concertinaed cardboard sleeve with pockets for the discs which is then housed inside another cardboard box. It looks and feels very cheap and certainly doesn't offer very much protection.

When The Simpsons first exploded onto our TV screens it was fun, fresh and hilarious... But since then we've been spoilt by more edgy shows like South Park and Family Guy. The Simpsons, by comparison seems very tame and not very funny. I think, possibly, the main reason why this show isn't aging very well is because it refuses to move with the times. Maybe a little more edginess needs to creep into the scripts, or slightly more risque humour.

While it's true that success of The Simpsons is the main reason that more adult cartoon shows are around today, I can't help thinking that Bart and Co., jumped the shark many many moons ago. Still, this is a show that will raise the odd chuckle and plenty of smiles for the whole family - just don't expect to be rolling on the floor.

7

Darren Rea