Fourth Season Comes To DVD
By Wesley Mead (wesley@snpp.com) - June 4, 2004
     After a long wait, fans of The Simpsons have finally been blessed with the fourth season of the show on DVD. The first three seasons have sold millions of copies between them, making The Simpsons the most popular TV show on DVD of all-time.
     "The Complete Fourth Season" DVD set, featuring all 22 episodes from the series' fourth season (1992-1993), will be released in the USA and Canada on June 15th, and in the UK on August 2nd.
     The set is packed with bonus features, as fans will have come to expect from the previous three seasons. The arguably most important feature will take you as long to get through as the episodes themselves – the commentaries on every episode from creator Matt Groening, plus different staff and cast members on every episode. But that's by no means all there is to look forward to.
     Other bonus features planned for the set are guaranteed to be of interest to hardcore fans. A featurette entitled "Bush Vs. Simpson", previously listed for the third season DVD but removed later, should provide some insight into the controversy surrounding comments by George Bush, Sr. on how America should be less like the Simpsons; whereas "The Cajun Controversy" looks set to inform the viewers of the controversy surrounding the offensive remarks made about New Orleans in "A Streetcar Named Marge".
     More features listed include deleted scenes, a feature bizarrely not included on any of the previous DVD sets, and ones that most fans will be gagging for; various animation-related features on many episodes, including storyboards and animatics; and an intoduction to the DVD by Matt Groening himself.
     The recommended retail price of "The Complete Fourth Season" will be $49.98 in the USA and $69.98 in Canada. The 22 episodes will be spread across the four discs, and presented in 1.33:1 full frame with DD 5.1 sound in English, as well as DD 2.0 sound in French and Spanish, and English and Spanish subtitles (R1 edition).
     Complete disc contents follow.

Disc 1

EPISODES:
"Kamp Krusty"
"A Streetcar Named Marge"
"Homer The Heretic"
"Lisa The Beauty Queen"
EXTRAS:
Commentary on all episodes
Optional audio feature on "Kamp Krusty"
"A Word From Matt Groening" introduction
"The Cajun Controversy" featurette
"Bush Vs. Simpson" featurette
Promotional syndication reel
Animation showcase

Disc 2

EPISODES:
"Treehouse Of Horror III"
"Itchy and Scratchy: The Movie"
"Marge Gets A Job"
"New Kid On The Block"
"Mr Plow"
"Lisa's First Word"
EXTRAS:
Commentary on all episodes
Animation showcase

Disc 3

EPISODES:
"Homer's Triple Bypass"
"Marge Vs. The Monorail"
"Selma's Choice"
"Brother The Same Planet"
"I Love Lisa"
"Duffless"
EXTRAS:
Commentary on all episodes
Deleted scenes for "Homer's Triple Bypass"
Easter Egg hidden commentaries
Animation Showcase

Disc 4

EPISODES:
"Last Exit To Springfield"
"So It's Come To This: A Simpsons Clip Show"
"The Front"
"Whacking Day"
"Marge In Chains"
"Krusty Gets Kancelled"
EXTRAS:
Commentary on all episodes
Deleted scenes for "The Front"
Easter Egg hidden sketches
Animation showcase

     The "Animation Showcase" on each disc is said to consist of a variety of sketches, storyboards, animatics, commercials and more.
     Future news concerning the DVDs will be added to our DVD News page.

The Simpsons Strike Again
By Nicolás Di Candia (nicolas@snpp.com) - April 2, 2004 - Updated April 19
     The six leading voice actors behind The Simpsons have again fallen into dispute with Fox over contract renewals, Variety reported yesterday.
     The actors, who together voice over 50 characters on the series, did not appear for two table readings last month according to Variety's source, delaying the start of production on the series' 16th season.
     This is the second time that a salary dispute has lasted beyond the onset of production, with the first occurring in 1998 prior to season 10. At that time, Fox took steps to replace the actors by hiring casting agents in six different cities -- and reportedly received little support from the voice acting community abroad. An agreement was ultimately reached in which the actors received $50,000 for each episode of the tenth season, with $10,000-per-episode increases for each subsequent one through the twelfth. Three years later, the actors again entered into contractual negotiations for 3 more seasons (the latter of which, season 15, still has five episodes yet to air in the U.S.). While those negotiations were comparatively more expeditious, they nonetheless spawned the creation of a 13th season clip show to meet broadcasting deadlines.
     This time around, Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Harry Shearer, and Hank Azaria are each reportedly asking $360,000 per episode, an increase of $235,000 from their individual $125,000 per episode earnings during season 15. In contrast with these figures, USA Today reports that Fox earns $2.5 billion from the series each year.
     During the initial 1998 dispute, Harry Shearer wrote on alt.tv.simpsons: "It's tough to equate any of the money talk in TV with the real world, but it's equally tough to read Fox execs bragging about the astronomical profitability of the show with the greedy stance they've taken toward the cast."
     Initial reports of this most recent dispute broke on April Fool's Day. When asked by The Simpsons Archive whether they were true, a source close to the actors confirmed it, but hinted that Fox's use of the word "strike" was more symptomatic of PR than all-out mutiny. "Their contracts expired in November," the source said. "In Fox talk, that becomes a strike."
     A long dispute like the first in 1998 might shorten the upcoming 16th season. If the negotiations were to fail, it would probably mean the end of the show; although the actors have already agreed to provide the voices for future Simpsons feature films. This makes it unlikely that Fox would want to replace them this time. There's also the fact that a sudden introduction of 50 replacement voices would likely alienate the series' long-time fans significantly.

     Update (April 19, 2004) - USA Today reports that the sixteenth season will begin in November following post-season baseball coverage, and that Fox may only have enough unaired season 15 hold-over episodes to broadcast the series from then until January should the voice actors' salary dispute continue.
     Without a speedy resolution, USA Today reports that Fox's options would include replacing the voice actors, cancelling the series entirely, or most likely, temporarily filling The Simpsons' 8 PM Sunday timeslot with episodes of That '70s Show or American Idol.
     As a result of the dispute in general, the sixteenth season will assuredly be shorter than the usual 22 episodes.

     Update (May 1, 2004) - The cast has signed a new multiyear contract. Terms of the new deal were not announced. Each cast member was seeking about $360,000 US per episode, or $8 million for the 22-episode, 2004-2005 season. The actors previously earned $125,000 per episode.

Matt Groening to Guest Star
By Jouni Paakkinen (jouni@snpp.com) - March 25, 2004
     Following on the heels of series Executive Producer James L. Brooks' cameo appearance on The Simpsons last season, Simpsons creator Matt Groening will make a guest apperance on the show on April 19.
     In the episode "My Big Fat Geek Wedding," Comic Book Guy and Edna Krabappel are set to meet Groening at a comic book convention where he is signing autographs.
     Groening, who created the Simpsons characters in 1986 and recently celebrated his 50th birthday on February 15, has had several previous sight-only appearances, including an audience member at the Emmys in "The Front," as a pedestrian in "22 Short Films About Springfield," a courtroom sketch artist in "The Boy Who Knew Too Much," and one of the Comic Book Guy's captives in the 11th season's Halloween episode.
The most obvious references to him included the couch gag of "Blame it on the Lisa", where the Simpsons were portrayed as his puppets, and in episode 3F31, where Groening was depicted as a radical right-winger.
     It has also been said that Groening provided Maggie's pacifier sucking sound in the original Tracey Ullman Show shorts -- if you really want us to be thorough.

Dear Abby Snookered
By Andrew A. Gill (andrew@snpp.com) - March 13, 2004