The Simpsons: The Sixteenth Season Blu-ray Review

Language: English (DTS 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Dubbed: English, French, Spanish

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Number of discs: 3

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Release Date: December 3, 2013

Run Time: 527 minutes

 

 

        The weirdest part about the delayed release of past seasons of “The Simpsons” is the gap in relevance for many of the pop-culture jokes and cameos. It’s somewhat like television time capsule, but not always in the most pleasant sense. This may be the longest running animated series on television, but you can feel the desperation in some of these episodes as the writers struggle to stay relevant in a world of “South Park” and “Family Guy.”

 

        The sixteenth season has moments which are sincerely funny, others which are very obviously done merely for shock value and to push the adult humor further than before, and then there are bits which are just bad. Fortunately, there are less of the bad jokes and more of the edgy humor, but not enough of it has the charm that “The Simpsons” once had. Some of the episodes almost feel like recycled material, redone with dirtier double-entendre jokes inserted.

 

        As with past seasons, the first episode included is the Treehouse of Horror Halloween special followed by the other twenty episodes of season sixteen. There’s the episode where Bart raps, one where he takes up the Playboy lifestyle and another where Ned has two webcam college students living in his home. Every chance to make this show more adult is taken, though this doesn’t always ensure more laughs. The better episodes seem to be the ones which don’t try quite so hard.

 

        The special features are as extensive as expected from a “Simpsons” Blu-ray release. All twenty-one season sixteen episodes are included in this three disc set, complete with the usual extensive episode-by-episode booklet insert. There are even bonus episodes included in the special features, along with audio commentaries on every episode, deleted scenes a Multi-Angle Animation Showcase and more. The features outweigh the material actually broadcast, making this yet another must have for fans of the show, conveniently released before Christmas. Happy shopping, everyone!

       

Entertainment Value: 8/10

Quality of Filmmaking: 7/10

Historical Significance: 6/10

Disc Features: 10/10