16A - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 7, 2005

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Courtesy of 20th Century Fox

"The two greatest words In the English language - De-fault."

'Simpsons' retains its magic

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By Punit Mattoo
Daily TV/New Media Editor

As "The Simpsons" enter its 16th sea-
son, questions about its relevance and
the quality have kept fans buzzing all

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over the internet.
Essentially the
first TV series
that inspired
online fanboys to
post their favor-
ite show quotes
and clips, "The
Simpsons" has

The Simpsons:
The Complete
Sixth Season
20th Century Fox

It's your future. It's a tool of the past. It's competition.

It's stress mana

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gement. It's knowledge.
It's an a 's a reprod in.

been replaced by edgier cartoons such
as "The Family Guy" and "South Park."
While most followers agree that the show
has been in the midst of a downslide and
are predicting an ugly demise, the exact
season when "The Simpsons" began its
downturn remains a hotly debated ques-
tion. The recently released four-disc
DVD set of season six helps defenders
argue that, at the time, the show was still
at its peak.
The season features some of the
more memorable "Simpsons" episodes
including "Homer the Great," in which
Homer discovers and joins a secret
society called the Stone Cutters only
to be recognized as "the chosen one."
Other standouts on the DVD include
an homage to "Rear Window" ("Bart
of Darkness") and the season's famous

cliffhanger finale "Who Shot Mr.
Burns?" Although original writers on
the show were branching out to other
projects during this season, the series'
scribes were able to creatively skewer the
tabloid journalism of shows like "Hard
Copy" and the overwhelming media
coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial. Of
course, the show's parent network Fox
wasn't immune from such barbs.
The tongue-in-cheek jokes toward
Fox's lack of tasteful programming
actually spilled over into network poli-
tics when the network forced the writers
to the always reviled cross promotion.
The inclusion of Jay Sherman from
Fox's then new and unfunny cartoon,
"The Critic," led creator Matt Groen-
ing to remove his name from the credits
and eventually the episode's DVD com-
mentary.
Jon Lovitz's appearance as Sherman
isn't the only guest appearance. In typi-
cal "Simpsons" fashion, a wide array of
stars shed their typical role for their time
in Springfield. The stars' characters and
performances range from the hilari-
ous (Patrick Stewart as the head of the
Stone Cutters, Springfield division) to
the bland and unnecessary (Larry King
as the mayoral debate mediator).
Each episode features commen-
tary from Matt Groening (except on
the aforementioned crossover) and a
plethora of writers and voices from
the show. Always informal, the com-
mentaries lack any real humor or the

usual anecdotes about the contributor's
experiences on the show. Instead, many
of the more technical aspects of the
series, including methods of animation,
as well as the director's reasons for cer-
tain shots are thoroughly explained,
providing a lengthy alternative to those
tired of the episodes shown thousands
of times in syndication.
Other alternatives to watching the
actual episode include original sto-
ryboards and crude animations from
which the final episode is drawn. Also
featured are deleted scenes which can
be played as part of the episode, making
their viewing much easier.
Both the picture and sound are trans-
lated excellently from television. Certain
scenes that feature quieter background
noises are noticeably more audible on
the DVD, revealing smaller jokes view-
ers might have missed before. The bright
colors of the Simpsons's universe stays
consistent and sharp between scenes,
and the episodes don't show their age.
Except for a flimsy, plastic case that
has left fans with broken covers and
caused an uproar, "The Simpsons: The
Complete Sixth Season's" collection of
timeless episodes and in-depth special
features makes it stand out as a must-
have for "Simpsons" fans and one of the
best DVDs in recent memory.

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Show: ****-
Picture/Sound: ****
Features: ****it

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Soccer Officals
Needed!


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Why Officiate Soccer???
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