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Get
down to Springfield for the ninth season of The
Simpsons;
Homer's acting as diligently as ever as he purchases a gun
to help protect the family, takes on the City of New York
in a legal battle and decides that he's the right man to run
for Sanitation Commissioner. Packed with more extra's than
you could fit in a Krusty Burger...
The
ninth season of The Simpsons is not as funny as I was
expecting. Wait! Before you start sending hate mail to Sci-fi-online
Towers, let me clarify that a little. I was always a huge
fan of the show, and still am, because it was at the cutting
edge of comedy. It played equally well to children and adults.
Sadly this season is very much hit or miss with the episodes,
and there seems to be a few too many duff episodes
The
first episode, The City of New York Vs Homer Simpson,
will probably never show again on American TV as it has Homer
parking his car between the Twin Towers in New York City and
then running between the two looking for a toilet. To be honest
it's not that funny an episode anyway.
Highlights
of this collection include:
The
Principal and the Pauper: This is an interesting episode
as we discover that Principle Skinner is not who he has been
claiming to be all these years. He stole the identity of a
friend he served with in the army. The real Skinner spent
hours talking about his home in Springfield and, when he went
missing in action, the man we now know as Skinner stole his
identity as his own home life was unbearable.
Treehouse
of Horror VIII: The usual mix of short spooky Halloween
tales pays homage to The
Omega Man; The
Fly; and examines the origins of the Halloween
holiday rituals - like trick or treat.
Lisa
the Sceptic: On an archaeological dig, on the site of
a new hypermarket, Lisa discovers the skeleton of what appears
to be an angel. The residents of Springfield go angel crazy
and Lisa tries to prove to them that angels don't exist.
This
Little Wiggy: Marge makes Bart befriend Ralph Wiggum.
This is quite an interesting tale - mainly because the under
used Ralph plays a much bigger role than normal - which sees
Bart learning the benefits of being friends with the Police
Chief's son.
Girly
Edition: Lisa and Bart end up being part of the local
Kids News reporting team, when the network ditches
Krusty's show in favour of a news show by children for children.
Homer also buys a helper monkey, trained to help the disabled,
to allow him to be able to slob around more than usual. This
episode features the only Itchy and Scratchy cartoon
in this season.
Natural
Born Kissers: A bit of a risqué episode that tackles
Homer and Marge's marriage problems. It's not long before
they realise that the risk of being caught in the act does
the trick. There's possibly a little too much screen time
devoted to the two of them running around naked... but this
is still a great episode. According to the audio commentary,
this was also the first episode to receive a 15 certificate
in Australia.
The
worst episode, without a doubt, is All Singing, All Dancing.
This is just a lame excuse for a clips show featuring some
of the songs from other episodes. However, the writers try
and pass it off as a mickey take when they cleverly (?!) point
out that they hate it when long running shows do cheesy clip
episodes. While it may be great to revisit some of these old
songs, there are some new ones written for this episode and
they stink! No, seriously, a ten-year-old could have written
funnier lines.
This
is followed closely (for naffness) by the truly awful Das
Bus. It's not that this idea is really bad - some of the
jokes are actually quite good. It's just that this just reworks
the Kamp Krusty episode from Season
Four, which was itself a homage to Lord
of the Flies. I mean! C'mon guys. You weren't even trying
were you? This also recycled the old gag with the comic store
guy using a slow dial-up connection to download an Internet
porno picture of Star Trek: Voyager's Captain Janeway.
Extras
include an introduction by creator Matt Groening; audio commentaries
on all episodes; deleted scenes; TV commercials; Easter Eggs;
movie trailer... and loads of other bits and pieces that you'll
probably watch once - if at all.
The
movie trailer is worrying! Seriously, if that's the level
of comedy they are aiming at... this is one movie to avoid.
To be honest, it probably wasn't the best clip to whet our
appetite with, but at least they made an attempt to provide
some extra value content.
Season
Nine is a bit of a let down really. Yes, it's still worth
getting - it's The Simpsons for goodnes sake - but
there are certainly more misses than hits in this collection.
Darren
Rea
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