Dan CastellanetaThe Simpsons - The Complete Third Season

Got this as a gift fr my son he loved it

The third season of "The Simpson's" defines the beginning of the show's peak, and is arguably the best season ever. The animation is finally at the level we are now familiar with, the voices have pretty much settled into their permanent tones, and the effective use of celebrity voices becomes a highlight of the show. Perhaps most importantly though, season three sees Homer become the centerpiece of the show, as Bart's shtick had become rather tired by this time. As a result, the show's humor takes on a more adult edge, and the possible selection of story lines expands to include the nuclear power plant, Moe's, and other "grown-up" locales. Moreover, after being freed from being the show's centerpiece, Bart takes on a more interesting, varied personality.All that said, what is really important is whether or not the episodes make you laugh, and without fail season three delivers. As much as I love "The Simpsons" there are always one or two stinkers in every season, but fortunately, this collection is the exception that proves the rule. From top to bottom there isn't a single episode in season three that I would skip over. At the same time, these episodes are for some reason rarely seen in syndication, so seeing them here uncut makes them all the more enjoyable; sort of like reuniting with a long lost friend.In fact, I can't recall having ever seen the "Bart the Murderer" episode in syndication, and I had actually forgotten that it even existed. Likewise, "Flaming Moe's" my all-time favorite episode, and perhaps the most bitingly satirical episode ever, shows up once in a blue moon. The same can be said for "Black Widower" which reintroduces a much more polished Sideshow Bob, "I Married Marge", the first of many fantastic "flashback" episodes and "Bart the Lover" which features some great lines from Homer and the best end credits graphic ever.I could go on, but any fan of "The Simpsons" will know and love these episodes as well, if not better, than I do. I will say, though, that these DVD's are a step above the first two seasons. Instead of the ugly, clunky menus, there is a streamlined interface, which includes the much requested option to play all of the episodes on the disc back to back. At the same time the color is rejuvenated, as one would expect from the prior releases, but perhaps somewhat surprising is how good these discs sound. The first two seasons always sounded a little off to me in 5.1 surround, but season three sounds fantastic; the producers deserve a lot of credit for taking full advantage of the available technology. Likewise, the addition of commentary for every episode speaks to the dedication to these releases, even if it is unlikely I'll ever listen to all twenty-four of them.In the end, if you are a fan of "The Simpsons", nothing I say here is going to make it more likely that you'll buy this set. Like me, you're compelled to for the sake of owning the episodes, even after the lackluster production values of the first two seasons. However, I can reassure you that this set defines a new standard for Simpson's collections, and the additional features are worth every penny. Conversely, if you're a casual fan, but thinking about buying one of the seasons, start with this one. If it isn't the best season ever, it is certainly in the top three, and the layout and extras on these discs are light years ahead of the previous two collections.Enjoy!

I'm the type of Simpsons viewer who pre-orders the DVD sets as soon as they're available and then watches the release date on the calendar until the glorious day comes. This time around, I was particularly excited, as some of the best episodes ever come from season 3.For the first two seasons, I went to my local mall DVD/video store, put down my deposit and then took another trip the day it came out. I did this so that I would get it the day it was released and not have to wait an extra few days for it to arrive in the mail. This time, I pre-ordered it from Amazon and was pleasantly surprised to see that it didn't cost me any more (with super-saver shipping) and it inexplicably came in the mail the day after it was available in stores! So I was really happy with this arrangement.I was also really happy with the DVDs themselves. I always watch them first with the creator/director/producer/whatever commentary on first. With the first two seasons, I honestly never got around to watching the episodes without the commentary because the quality of the show had not reached its peak and the episodes come off as boring and pointless to watch, as they're shown in syndication all the time. This is not true with the third season. The episodes are a pleasure to watch in their own right, particularly ones that aren't shown in syndication as much, like "I Married Marge" and "I Love Lisa."Also, the commentary on season 3 is much more interesting, as I think the show's powers-that-be have finally gotten the commentary thing down. A new addition to the third season is commentary by Julie Kavner, Dan Castellanetta, and Nancy Cartwright, who sometimes break into their respective characters' voices (my favorite is Nancy Cartwright's "My water broke, man!" in Bart's voice), which is really interesting and cool. Their presence also let you in on little bits of trivia such as which exchanges between characters are ad-libs and which regular or guest star does the voice of the minor characters. They're also very honest in critiquing more recent episodes (in reference to the third season, someone says, "this was when the show was good") and explain some of the more obscure references, which is nice as well.The little extras can be cute. The Butterfinger commercials are a little unnecessary (we've all seen them a million times or more) but the footage of the Bart balloon at the Macy's parade is really funny, reminiscent of the footage of the Simpsons' "appearances" at the Grammys from the second season DVDs.So, now I'm eagerly awaiting the release of the legendary fourth season. If this pattern holds, they'll continue to improve and I will happily shell out the $40 every eight months or so for each increment of my personal archive of this generation's best television show.

If your a true Simpsons fan you must own all of these season's. A die hard fan wants it all even if season's 1 & 2 aren't as funny as the rest, they are history and in a few years they will be hard to find. So own them now or forever hold you piece.Season three is when they started to have some flare in their episodes. My favorite from the 3rd season has to be Flaming Moe's. I am not going to describe all the episodes because just about every last person on this site has already done that.