The madcap antics of Springfield’s first family continue when the Emmy® award-winning series created by Matt Groening returns to DVD. Arriving on August 15th from Fox Home Entertainment, “The Simpsons” The Complete Eighth Season showcases all 25 episodes from the critically-acclaimed eighth season, as well as a host of bonus materials including audio commentaries from Groening and “The Simpsons” Executive Producers, Writers and Directors, as well as animatics and storyboards with optional audio commentary, a special featurette, deleted scenes, a sketch gallery and much more. As a special bonus for fans and collectors, Fox Home Entertainment will release the “The Simpsons” The Complete Eighth Season in two unique packaging options – a special Limited Edition Maggie Simpson box, as well as a collectible, illustrated gatefold digipak.Most TV shows never make it eight seasons, but then The Simpsons is not most TV shows. At a point where other shows would generally become stale and repetitive, Matt Groening & Co. pull out the stops to come up with one of the most creative and hilarious seasons in the whole series. Cases in point for season eight (1996-1997) include “Treehouse of Horror VII,” in which aliens Kang and Kodos make a bizarre run for President having taken on the appearances of Bill Clinton and Bob Dole; “Bart After Dark,” in which Bart gets a job at The Maison Derriere (featuring one of their most popular songs, “The Spring in Springfield”); and one of the great all-time episodes, “The Simpsons Spin-off Showcase,” a trilogy of Simpsons spin-offs that never made it to prime-time (the final segment–”The Simpson Family Smile-Time Variety Hour”–is about the best six minutes of parody in the entire Simpsons canon). Season eight also features some of the most notable guest appearances: Rodney Dangerfield as Mr. Burns’s long lost son; Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny as Scully and Mulder from X-Files in “The Springfield Files;” “The Brother from Another Series” which brilliantly pairs up Kelsey Grammar as Sideshow Bob with his brother Cecil (David Hyde Pierce) in a parallel of their Frasier characters; and in a major casting coup, Johnny Cash shows up in the form of a red fox as Homer’s spirit guide in “El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer” (also known as “The Chili Pepper episode”). Other notable episodes include “The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show,” a fun wink to the audience from the writers about keeping the show fresh without ruining it, and the send up of Mary Poppins “Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(annoyed grunt)cious,” which has one of their most memorable endings when Shary Bobbins floats off under her umbrella (“So long Superman,” Barney cries)… only to get sucked into a jet engine from a passing airplane. That’s the thanks she gets for offering her help. Good to see that, eight seasons in, The Simpsons still don’t need it. –Daniel Vancini

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