Case Number 22993

The Simpsons: The Fourteenth Season

Fox // 2002 // 482 Minutes // Not Rated
Reviewed by Judge Victor Valdivia (Retired) // December 22nd, 2011

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Editor's Note

The Charge

"Public transportation is for jerks and lesbians!"—HomerSimpson

Opening Statement

As always, Homer tells it like it is. Well, no, not really, but at least heis amusing, which is enough. This isn'tThe Simpsons at its peak, but itdoes have enough entertaining moments to be worth watching.

Facts of the Case

The Simpsons: The Fourteenth Season has twenty-two episodes compiledon four discs:

Disc One
• "Treehouse of HorrorXIII"—Three Halloween tales including a horde of Homer clones, Billythe Kid leading an army of resurrected outlaws, and aIsland of Lost Souls parody.

• "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation"—The familysends Homer to a rock 'n' roll fantasy camp. Guest voices: Mick Jagger, KeithRichards, Lenny Kravitz, Tom Petty, Brian Setzer, Elvis Costello.

• "Bart Vs. Lisa Vs. the Third Grade"—Lisa ispromoted from the second to the third grade at the same time that Bart isdemoted from the fourth to the third grade, leading to rivalry when they end upin the same classroom. Guest voice: Tony Bennett.

• "Large Marge"—Marge goes to get some minorcosmetic surgery and ends up with breast implants that lead her to a lucrativecareer as a showmodel. Guest voices: The Baha Men, Jan Hooks (Saturday Night Live), Adam West and Burt Ward (Batman: The Movie).

• "Helter Shelter"—When the family's home isplagued by termites, they're forced to take up residence in a reality show housethat's patterned after life in the 1890s. Guest voices: Larry Holmes, DavidLander (Laverne and Shirley).

Disc Two
• "The Great LouseDetective"—When Homer starts receiving mysterious attempts on hislife, he's forced to turn to Sideshow Bob for help in tracking down his enemy.Guest voice: Kelsey Grammer (Frasier).

• "Special Edna"—Bart nominates Miss Krabappelfor Teacher of the Year, but Principal Skinner fears that her newfound successwill take her away from the school. Guest voice: Little Richard.

• "The Dad Who Knew Too Little"—When Homerrealizes that he knows almost nothing about Lisa, he hires a private detectiveto find out what she likes and dislikes. Guest voice: Elliot Gould (M*A*S*H).

• "The Strong Arms of the Ma"—Marge takes upbodybuilding after being accosted by a mugger. Guest voice: Pamela Reed(Major Dad).

• "Pray Anything"—When Homer sues the FirstSpringfield Church after being injured in its parking lot, he ends up owning theentire building. Guest voices: Ken Burns (The Civil War), WNBA player LisaLeslie.

• "Barting Over"—Bart sues to be emancipated asan adult after learning that Homer used him as a child actor and then squanderedall of his earnings. Guest voices: Tony Hawk, Blink-182.

Disc Three
• "I'm Spelling As Fast As ICan"—Lisa wins her school spelling bee and is entered into thenational spelling championship, but is shocked to learn that the sport is notwhat it seems. Guest voice: George Plimpton.

• "A Star is Born Again"—Ned Flanders finallylands a date with a beautiful customer in his left-handed shop, but is surprisedwhen he learns that she's a world-famous movie star. Guest voices: Marisa Tomei(My Cousin Vinny), Helen Fielding(author ofBridget Jones' Diary), director James Brooks (Terms of Endearment).

• "Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington"—WhenSpringfield's airport changes its flight routes to go over the family's home,the Simpsons urge Krusty the Clown to run for Congress to help them. Guestvoice: Joe Mantegna (CriminalMinds).

• "C.E.D'oh"—Homer attends a motivational classand is inspired to push for a promotion, but ends up outmaneuvering Mr. Burnsfor control of the nuclear power plant.

• "'Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky"—A documentaryfilmmaker visits Springfield Elementary to make a film about education and Lisadecides to demonstrate her commitment to science by launching a campaign to banlight pollution. Guest voices: Eric Idle (Monty Python's Flying Circus), JoeMantegna.

• "Three Gays of the Condo"—Homer is so hurt whenhe learns that Marge once wanted to dump him that he moves out and finds anapartment with two gay roommates. Guest voices: "Weird Al" Yankovic,Scott Thompson (The Kids in theHall), Ben Schatz.

Disc Four
• "Dude, Where's MyRanch?"—The family spends a vacation at a dude ranch, where Lisalearns how jealous she can be, and Bart and Homer take on the task of destroyinga sizable beaver dam. Guest voices: David Byrne, Jonathan Taylor Thomas (HomeImprovement), Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings).

• "Old Yeller-Belly"—When Santa's Little Helperbecomes a successful animal actor in commercials, his original owner comes backto take control of his money and career. Guest voice: Stacy Keach (The NewMike Hammer).

• "Brake My Wife, Please"—When Homer's drivinglicense is revoked, he takes up walking everywhere, until Marge hits him withher car and he realizes that she may have some hidden resentments against him.Guest voices: Jackson Browne, Steve Buscemi (Fargo), Jane Kaczmarek (Malcolm inthe Middle).

• "The Bart of War"—When Bart and Milhouse breakinto Flanders' house and cause some damage, they are separated and forced toparticipate in separate youth volunteer groups who end up warring with eachother.

• "Moe Baby Blues"—After Moe saves Maggie's life,the two strike up an unusual friendship but are forced to separate after Homerand Marge feel that he's become too affectionate. Guest voice: Joe Mantegna.

The Evidence

The common wisdom onThe Simpsons is that once you get past the show'sfirst eight or so seasons, the show's quality drops off steeply. That's notentirely true, but it is true that those seasons were generally fairlyconsistent, ranging from good to great. After that, the series became moreinconsistent, and only rarely hit the peaks it did during that period. This hasled some old-schoolSimpsons fans to proclaim that the show should havejust ended there, rather than (supposedly) soil its legacy.

Well, yes and no. It's true that even the best episodes here don't quiterank with the best of the series' classic seasons, but that doesn't mean thatthey're not worth watching anyways. "Moe Baby Blues" gives some muchneeded humanity to Moe, easily one of the series' most scabrous characters."I'm Spelling As Fast As I Can" is one of the better Homer/Lisaepisodes, particularly when Homer inspires Lisa to be honest no matter how muchit costs her. Even though these are episodes that echo earlier ones in theirstories and themes, they still make for entertaining viewing.

Also worth noting that is that even though the humor may not be asgroundbreaking as it was in earlier seasons, that's not to say that it's nolonger funny. At its peak, the show's unique mixture of highbrow and lowbrowpaved the way for shows such asSouthPark,Beavis andButt-Head,The Office, andFamily Guy. This isn't quite as innovative,but there are still some laugh-out-loud moments here and there. The"Treehouse of Horror" episode is amongst the best for the series,especially theIsland of LostSouls parody. "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation" has sometrenchant swipes at corporate rock culture, as well as the artists' publicimages; you'll never look at Keith Richards and storm windows the same wayagain. "A Star is Born Again" has one of Ned Flanders' finest moments:the scene where he desperately tries to find a biblical justification forconsummating his relationship with his new girlfriend. There are enough funnyscenes like this to justify buying this set for fans, even if it isn't the showat its remarkable peak.

As for this DVD set, it ranks with the otherSimpsons DVD setstechnically. If anything, it's actually a bit superior. This was the firstseason that the show jettisoned regular paint-and-cel animation and embraceddigital coloring, so the visual quality is exceptionally sharp. You'lldefinitely notice the difference when scenes from earlier seasons appear incontrast. The Dolby surround mix is excellent as well. The extras are also adecent lot, although not as full as earlier DVD releases. There are commentarieson every episode, and although creator Matt Groening only appears on a handfulof them, there are also appearances by cast members and guest stars (such asByrne, Mantegna, and Hawk) that make them worth a listen. The remaining extrasare not as exciting, consisting mostly of montages from earlier seasons and someanimation and art galleries.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

To be sure, there are some real clinkers this season. Both "LargeMarge" and "Strong Arm of the Ma" prove that writing goodepisodes about Marge seem to be out of the question by this point. Similarly,"'Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky" suffers from the flaw that many ofthe post-Season-Eight episodes have: the beginning sequence is long andelaborate but has nothing to do with the actual plot of the episode. This isespecially disappointing because Eric Idle's character is an interesting comiccreation but he essentially disappears after the first act. By normal TVstandards these are not unwatchable, but bySimpsons standards, these arethe episodes you probably won't watch over and over again.

Closing Statement

If you keep your expectations reasonably low—that this isn't in thesame league as the show's best seasons—you'll find some laughs andentertaining episodes here. It's about a third good-to-great, a thirdacceptable, and a third mediocre-to-forgettable. That's a decent ratio, andthough it's not the place to start for newcomers, it's still worth getting ifyou've already collected the previous season. Plus, the cover has Kodos! (or isit Kang?) What else do you need?

The Verdict

Not guilty.

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Did we giveThe Simpsons: The Fourteenth Season afair trial?yes /no

What's "fair"? Whether positive or negative, our reviews should be unbiased, informative, and critique the material on its own merits.

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Scales of Justice

Video:	90
Audio:	90
Extras:	85
Acting:	90
Story:	80
Judgment:	80

Perp Profile

Studio:Fox
Video Formats:
• Full Frame
Audio Formats:
• Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround (English)
• Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (French)
• Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (Spanish)
Subtitles:
• English
• Spanish
Running Time: 482 Minutes
Release Year: 2002
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Genres:
• Animation
• Comedy
• Television

Distinguishing Marks

• Episode Commentaries
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes
• Image Galleries

Accomplices

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