The Simpsons: Complete Season 4 [DVD]

By its fourth series, The Simpsons had come far enough for Lisa to make a self-referential joke about Dustin Hoffman's and Michael Jackson's pseudonymous guest voice appearances in series 2 and 3, respectively. In this series, no less than Elizabeth Taylor (in two episodes), Bette Midler and even the reclusive Johnny Carson blessed The Simpsons with their iconic presences. Awhile back, US magazine Entertainment Weekly ranked the top 25 Simpsons episodes. Five gems from series 4 cracked the top 12, including the (debatable) choice for No. 1, "Last Exit to Springfield". Other episodes that loom large in the Simpsons legend are "Mr Plow" (you know the jingle: "Call Mr Plow / That's my name / That name again is Mr Plow"), "Marge vs. the Monorail", featuring a Music-Man-style extravaganza, and "A Streetcar Named Marge", the episode that outraged New Orleans residents, who heard their fair metropolis referred to as "a city that the damned call home".

The Simpsons smartly subverts traditional family sitcom convention, but anyone who thinks the show doesn't have a heart is advised to watch "I Love Lisa" and "New Kid on the Block", two fourth-series gems that absolutely nail the agony and ecstasy of unrequited crushes ("You won't be needing this", a heartbroken Bart fantasises his babysitter saying while dropkicking his heart into a wastebasket in "New Kid"). While the Simpsons' celebrated ensemble gets all the glory, we must pause now to praise the peerless writing staff, among them George Meyer, Al Jean, Jon Vitti, John Swartzwelder, David Silverman and Conan O'Brien. One can only marvel in astonishment at the alchemy that went into creating, week after week, such essential episodes as "Kamp Krusty", "Streetcar", the profane and profound "Homer the Heretic" and "Lisa the Beauty Queen" (and that's just disc 1!). The animators, too, rose to the occasion, particularly in "Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie", with its dead-on, ultra-violent sinking of the seminal Disney cartoon "Steamboat Willie". Another benchmark in The Simpsons' rise to the TV pantheon is its very first clip show. What Homer says about donuts in "Monorail" holds true as well for The Simpsons itself: is there anything this show can't do? --Donald Liebenson

Episodes:

• 1. Kamp Krusty
  
• 2. A Streetcar Named Marge
  
• 3. Homer The Heretic
  
• 4. Lisa The Beauty Queen
  
• 5. Tree House Of Horror III: The Simpson's Halloween Special III
  
• 6. Itchy And Scratchy: The Movie
  
• 7. Marge Gets A Job
  
• 8. New Kid On The Block
  
• 9. Mr. Plow
  
• 10. Lisa's First Word
  
• 11. Homer's Triple Bypass
  
• 12. Marge vs. The Monorail
  
• 13. Selma's Choice
  
• 14. Brother From The Same Planet
  
• 15. I Love Lisa
  
• 16. Duffless
  
• 17. Last Exit To Springfield
  
• 18. So It Has Come to This: The Simpsons Clip Show
  
• 19. The Front
  
• 20. Whacking Day
  
• 21. Marge In Chains
  
• 22. Krusty Gets Kancelled

• Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen 4:3
  
• Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1