The Simpsons: Season 11 (1999)

Some may quibble about The Simpsons' excellence from season to season but it is excellence just the same. Perhaps only Family Guy packs more humor and irreverence into a half-hour than the Simpsons can. Season 11 includes Episode 1: Beyond Blunderdome (Homer consults with Mel Gibson for the production of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington but it doesn't work out), 2: Brother's Little Helper (Bart is put on an experimental drug to control his destructive behavior but he grows paranoid and even more destructive--though for good reason: The MLB is spying on us), 3: Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner (Homer's love of food gets him hired as a food critic, however, after being told negative reviews are more believable, his newfound power puts his life in danger), 4: Treehouse of Horror X (Aliens Kang and Kodos introduce I Know What You Did-Iddly-Did [The Simpsons accidentally murder Ned Flanders], Desperately Xeeking Xena [Bart and Lisa become Stretch Dude and Clobber Girl and save Lucy Lawless as Xena from Comic Book Guy as The Collector], and Life's A Glitch, Then You Die [Homer's incompetence causes a global Y2K disaster and humanity must evacuate Earth], 5: E-I-E-I-(ANNOYED GRUNT) (Homer flees a duel with a southern colonel to farm-cultivate an addictive tomato-tobacco hybrid), 6: Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder (A washed-up husband and father, Homer earns a fling at fame by bowling a perfect game), 7: Eight Misbehavin' (Apu and Manjula have octuplets; overwhelmed, they sign a zoo contract that proves exploitive; Homer performs in their place with Butch Patrick and several cobras), 8: Take My Wife, Sleaze (Homer wins a motorcycle and forms a biker gang, which angers a real gang by the same name, which kidnaps Marge, who reforms the toughs before Homer rescues her), 9: Grift of the Magi (A toy company takes over management of the grade school and uses the students as test subjects for a pernicious new Christmas toy that must be destroyed), 10: Little Big Mom (Marge is hospitalized after a family ski trip and Bart and Homer prove too much for Lisa, who convinces them they have leprosy so they will clean up their act), 11: Faith Off (Bart comes to believe he has healing powers after a tent revival meeting and it's all downhill from there), 12: The Mansion Family (Mr. Burns goes for treatment at the Mayo Clinic while the Simpsons house-sit his mansion and sail his yacht into a nest of pirates), 13: Saddlesore Galactica (The family adopts an abused horse, give it a bad-boy image, and win races; the other jockeys kidnap and threaten Homer but the family prevails), 14: Alone Again, Natura-Diddly (Maude Flanders dies in a freak speedway accident involving the t-shirt bazooka crew; Ned grieves, goes on a few dates, and nearly gives up on God but is inspired by a Christian singer [voice of Shawn Colvin]), 15: Missionary: Impossible (Homer makes a fake $10,000 pledge so PBS will revive the British comedy Do Shut Up; promptly pursued for payment (or bodily harm), Homer is sent by Rev. Lovejoy to a tropical island as a missionary -- and it's all downhill from there), 16: Pygmoelian (After winning Bartender of the Year, Moe faces up to his ugly mug and undergoes plastic surgery, becomes a soap-opera star, but his plans go awry so he returns to bartending), 17: Bart to the Future (A Native American gives Bart a glimpse of his future in 30 years, when he is a slacker while Lisa is President of the United States), 18: Days of Wine and D'oh'ses (Barney the town drunk attends AA and sobers up, then flies a helicopter with Homer to rescue Bart and Lisa in the midst of a forest fire), 19: Kill the Alligator and Run (The family goes on a Florida vacation but flees the law after running over a famous giant alligator), 20: Last Tap Dance in Springfield (Lisa tries to learn tap-dancing -- with disastrous results -- while Bart and Milhouse go camping in the mall -- with disastrous results), 21: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge (Otto the bus driver calls off his wedding with Becky [voice of Parker Posey], who moves in with the Simpsons and nearly replaces the insanely -- and justifiably -- jealous Marge), 22: Behind the Laughter (In a VH1-style behind-the-scenes biography of the Simpsons' careers, Willie Nelson reunites the family after they have gone their separate ways). 5 stars.

Christmas with The Simpsons (1989)

The Simpsons are always funny but they have been funnier than these selected episodes. Even so, these are memorable segments to enjoy if you don't plan to watch every season in its turn. This first of two "Christmas-themed" discs includes: Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire (Season 1, Episode 1: Bart's antics burn up the family's Christmas budget and Homer's stingy boss gives no bonuses so the Simpsons confer their own gift in a rejected racetrack dog named Santa's Little Helper), Mr. Plow (Season 4, Episode 9: Homer destroys his car, buys a snowplow for no good reason, then becomes the snow-removal magnate and TV pitchman Mr. Plow), Miracle on Evergreen Terrace (Season 9, Episode 10: Bart's antics cause the conflagration of the family's Christmas tree and presents -- and it's all downhill from there), Grift of the Magi (Season 11, Episode 9: A toy company takes over the grade school and uses the students in product-development focus groups for its pernicious Ferbie-like gizmo), and She of Little Faith (Season 13, Episode 6: Lisa decides the family's Protestant congregation is too concerned with money and chooses Buddhism). 3.5 stars.

Simpsons Gone Wild (2004)

TV. The Treehouse of Horror collections are the only Simpsons theme sets that make sense to publish, in my opinion. Four-episode sets on a disc such as Simpsons Gone Wild have virtually nothing in common but the name Simpsons, so the dedicated fan would much rather see the release of full-season disc sets (with extras). Anyhoo, this disc contains Homer's Night Out (Season 1, Episode 10: Homer gains infamy with Marge and the whole town after Bart sneaks a photo of his stag-party shenanigans), Homer the Moe (Season 13, Episode 3: Homer and friends start drinking in his garage after Moe's bar gets a trendy makeover), Sunday Cruddy Sunday (Season 10, Episode 12: Homer and friends sneak into the Superbowl after learning their tickets are fake), The Mansion Family (Season 11, Episode 12: Mr. Burns goes for treatment at the Mayo Clinic while the Simpsons house-sit his mansion and sail his yacht into a nest of pirates), and a Krusty the Clown featurette. 3.5 stars.

The Simpsons: Season 1 (1989)

After 20 years, these first-run episodes remain memorable and The Simpsons endure as America's most lovable dysfunctional family. The humor is layered and irreverent yet values-driven. (Bart gets in trouble or Homer screws up but they learn a lesson.) Episode 1: Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire (Homer gets no Christmas bonus but manages to adopt the family dog), 2: Bart the Genius (Bart cheats on an IQ test and briefly attends the gifted children's school), 3: Homer's Odyssey (Fired from the nuclear plant for repeated safety violations, Homer launches a civic safety campaign before the plant rehires him), 4: There's No Disgrace Like Home (The Simpsons prove to be so dysfunctional, even during family therapy, they get "double money back" and buy a new TV to promote togetherness), 5: Bart the General (Bart enlists his classmates in a retaliatory battle and truce with the schoolyard bully), 6: Moaning Lisa (Fighting the blues, sax-loving Lisa finds inspiration in fading jazzman Bleeding Gums Murphy), 7: The Call of the Simpsons (An RV excursion goes horribly wrong and Homer is mistaken for Bigfoot), 8: The Telltale Head (Bart saws off the founding father's statue's head and talks down an angry mob of townspeople), 9: Life on the Fast Lane (A shiftless bowling instructor tries to seduce Marge but she chooses Homer), 10: Homer's Night Out (Homer gets into trouble at a coworker's stag party but wins Marge back with a sincere speech), 11: The Crepes of Wrath (After the exasperated principal enrolls him in a foreign-exchange program, Bart is enslaved by crooks but saves the French wine industry), 12: Krusty Gets Busted (Bart proves his TV idol, Krusty the Clown, is innocent of robbery, instead fingering Sideshow Bob), 13: Some Enchanted Evening (As Homer and Marge head for a motel to rejuvenate their marriage, the Babysitter Bandit begins to empty their house before the Simpson kids overpower her). 5 stars.

Starz Inside: The Pixar Story Continues (2008)

Richard Roeper presents a 6-min making-of introduction to Ratatouille that addresses how the artists developed the computer-animated film's physical humor, "what is cute," and even how colors show through wet clothes. He also presents a 6-min introduction to the production work and storyline of WALL-E. This 12-min short will remind you in rapid-fire form just how excellent both movies are! IW. 4 stars.

Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008)

Three successive to-be-continued episodes tell an extended and inventive Futurama story that includes human-alien sexual and emotional congress (tidily and speedily represented so preteens may miss it) and Bender's curmudgeonly love-hate relationship with humans and life. The Beast with a Billion Backs is a Shakespearean reference to sex ("the beast with two backs"). In essence, a gigantic tentacled space ganglion crosses an interdimensional rift and captures all humans (save Leela) a la Matrix, inducing them to a euphoric state of union. The situation gets changed -- followed by more euphoria -- followed by more change. Bender has several death wishes (for himself and others) and flirts with a robot conspiracy. Frye finally gets a girl (if briefly). Zapp finally gets some action (the weasel). Two characters are thought to be forever lost. Various scenes are reminiscent of Futurama's Robot Hell episode and The Simpson's The Itchy and Scratchy Show (for gore). Lots of stuff goes on as the plot shifts and turns, so it will be a rewarding and funny Futurama viewing (esp. for fans) even if the resolutions aren't particularly strong. My favorite is when the characters, not the plot, drive the developments and resolution -- if only in the disconnected ending when Bender explains "Love is greedy. I sure love you meat bags!" 3.5 stars.

Finding Rin Tin Tin (2007)

This movie does not feature Rin Tin Tin's distinctive bloodline. Rin Tin Tin's descendants have starred in all other movies but this movie was produced without the permission of the Rin Tin Tin bloodline's Texas breeder as described in a Houston Chronicle article dated October 7, 2008. 0 stars.