Television Review: THE SIMPSONS Season 16

THE SIMPSONS is certainly America’s most relatable on-air family, but are they still America’s sweethearts? As a diehard fan of the show, I can admit that the show has certainly lost some lustre in the last few seasons, but they still manage to churn out a few perfect gems every once in a while. However, their 16th season, which was aired in 2004-2005, and is now available to own, is still one of the better seasons by far. (And it’s got plenty of glavin!) THE SIMPSONS have won an incredible 123 awards over 25 years and have been nominated an astonishing 286 times! There is a reason why despite a falling viewership, THE SIMPSONS continues to be renewed year after year.

Before I even get to the episodes themselves, the Season 16 Blu-ray/DVD may just feature the best menus screen ever! The menu in of itself feels like one of their famous couch gags, with Professor Frink, who is also the featured character on the cover, conducting experiments with items that pertain to that disk’s episode reel. Fox really went all out on this season’s extras and fans will be very pleased, from the deleted scenes to the awesome animated menu, to the particularly amazing season, Season 16 truly is one of the best ‘non-classic’ (after season 10) seasons of THE SIMPSONS.

And then there are the episodes, including one of the greats, “Homer and Ned’s Hail Mary Pass”. This is not the episode where Homer takes everyone to the Super Bowl, but rather where Homer becomes a master of clownery and teaches sport legends how to show boat! Not only is this episode hysterical it features a ton of guest stars, such as LeBron James, Michelle Kwan, Yao Ming and Warren Sapp. Even Tom Brady is in on the fun! As Simpsons fans, we all know what kind of shenanigans Homer can get into, but his techniques being taught to actual professionals certainly have some high-larious pay-offs! Oh, good glavin!

Another absolutely brilliant episode is “Home Away From Homer”, when Ned realizes that he has to start making some extra “D’oh” and decides to rent one of the bedrooms upstairs to some co-eds. What he doesn’t realize though is that these co-eds are making sexy slumber party videos and the whole town, even Sideshow Mel, is poking fun at good ol’ stupid Flanders! When Flanders becomes informed of the indecent exposure going on in his ho-diddly-ome-stead, he decides to move to the town that created his favourite nick-knacks. The episode embodies what Flanders stands for and how pre-diddly-ictable he truly is.

However, no Frink covered season would be complete without a great Frink-aheadron episode! “Future Drama” is another classic Simpson episode where Bart and Lisa fall into good ol’ Frink’s house and see their futures. This is not the first time the Simpsons have done this, but this futuristic flash forward is a load of fun that shows what trouble Bart and Lisa can get into! As for Professor Frink’s future, well it’s a little grim.

THE SIMPSONS Season 16 continues to provides plenty of laughs and tons of entertainment. There are also a couple of bonus episodes from other seasons on each disk that have a lot of glavin-ous fun, which reminds fans how much they are appreciated by the creators! For any “Simpsonite”, Season 16 is a must have for the collection and a truly scientific blast!