I’ve rented almost all the Simpsons DVD sets over the past 4 years. I’ve listened to commentary on a couple of them during the 2nd and 3rd seasons during a few episodes I have seen numerous times in syndication. How decent are the commentary tracks throughout the entire DVD series? Is it worthwhile to rent all the seasons for a second time and play the episodes with the commentary on?
I’ve done it. I enjoyed it.
I liked them. Both Simpsons and Futurama seem to put a lot of effort into making sure the commentary is good. You learn a lot of cool facts, it’s fun. Definitely not the waste of effort that I’ve seen on a lot of commentaries.
Slight hijack:
Werner Herzog’s director commentaries are always awesome.
I’ve watched through season nine with the commentaries and enjoyed it. The couple with Conan O’Brien are especially funny.
Yes. Easily among the best TV show DVD commentaries I’ve encountered.
Those are actually the only ones I don’t like, as they tend to be about Conan and not about the episode in question. Everybody’s having a huge amount of fun in those commentaries, but they’re the least informative.
The one where the commentary centers around an individual that I really did enjoy was the one with John Waters for “Homer’s Phobia.”
The commentaries on The Simpsons are probably some of the best DVD commentaries out there. They’re often informative and funny. (My all-time favorite is the infamous “Principal and the Pauper” episode, whose commentary mainly deals on the inspiration of the episode and the producers’ intent as well as commenting on the backlash they recieved from the fans.) Some of the commentaries are sort of gimmicky, but for some reason I enjoy them as well (in a different way)- there are a couple on one season where the producers’ two children are in the booth and make a few comments and questions, and another where comedian Dave Thomas plays a clueless winner of a “be on a Simpsons DVD commentary” contest and asks the producers incredibly stupid questions at various times in the commentary. The types of commentaries in terms of number of guests vary as well and each one has its own charm- sometimes the commentaries are big affairs with multiple commentators including voice actors, producers, writers, directors, and Matt Groening himself, other times they are small affairs with only one or two people. And there are a few hidden commentaries as well, many of which are fun to listen to as they give more information.
The only problem with Simpsons commentaries are they spoil me for when I’m watching other shows on DVD and they only have a few, if any, episodes with commentary. It’s really annoying when you’re watching an episode of, oh say, Lost and you’re “hmm… I wonder why they did that in that way” and it’s not one of the two episodes in that season they decided to comment on.
The Simpsons commentaries are very funny. You can tell they really enjoy their work and appreciate each others efforts. Matt Groening is especially interesting, because he tells us exactly what he likes and doesn’t like in a particular show.
All of the commentaries with Al Jean are great. Mike Scully was a horrible showrunner, and also a horrible commentator. Bringing his kids to the recording was neither cute nor funny. Oakley & Weinstein also do a great job, and you can really get a feel for what they wanted to do with the show in seasons 7&8, which made me appreciate those seasons much more.
Funniest commentary ever was for Dead Putting Society. Trust me. For a laugh, watch the commentary for the original pilot, where most of the staff runs out of the room screaming.
I’ve liked the commentaries quite well, among the best on DVD.
Also, another commentary I especially enjoyed was for The Last Temptation of Krust, which had Jay Leno on it. I was never a huge fan of his show (infact the episode sums his show up really well = making fun of typos in newspapers is what counts as comedy these days?) but I gained a TON of respect for him when I heard some of his stories about starting out in comedy, and also that he doesn’t keep a DIME of his Tonight Show money, and still does standup (which I’ve heard is way better when it’s not on NBC) to pay his bills.
Correction here: He does not give away his Tonight Show money. He just doesn’t spend it.
HA! See, I’ve always wondered why anyone would buy Simpsons DVDs because the reruns are always in constant rotation on so many channels…but I think you just sold me.
This is what I came in to say, almost verbatim. The commentaries on both series are a ton of fun to listen to, and occasionally they even provide cool info about what prompted a bit or a character or something.
One reason- besides the superb commentaries and other extras- is because the syndicated reruns have scenes removed for time purposes, which are often some of the most amusing gags. On the DVDs, you get the uncut versions.
Also, they’re not full of popups ads and a gigantic weather map on the right for a 'Winter Storm Warning!!!"
Ok, it all makes sense now 
I’ve heard that commentary a couple of times now, and I always thought the guy sounded really familiar, but also “wow, he knows nothing about the show for a contest winner”…now I’m laughing pretty hard at the gag 