List of The Simpsons home video releases

The Simpsons is an American animated television sitcom created by Matt Groening for Fox. It is a satirical depiction of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its eponymous family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. The show is set in the fictional town of Springfield, and lampoons American culture, society, and television, as well as many aspects of the human condition.[1] The family was conceived by Groening shortly before a pitch for a series of animated shorts with producer James L. Brooks. Groening created a dysfunctional family and named the characters after members of his own family, substituting Bart for his own name. The shorts became a part of the Fox series The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987.[1][2] After a three-season run, the sketch was developed into a half-hour prime-time show that was an early hit for Fox.[3]

Throughout the years, many episodes of the show have been released on VHS, DVD and Blu-ray. When the first season DVD was released in 2001, it quickly became the best-selling television DVD set in history, although it was later overtaken by the first season of Chappelle's Show.[4] The first twenty seasons are available on DVD in Regions 1, 2, and 4, with the twentieth season released on DVD and Blu-ray in 2010 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the series. But, only the first seventeen seasons were released in Region 3.[5] The Simpsons Movie, a feature-length film, was released in theaters worldwide on July 27, 2007, and was later available on DVD and Blu-ray worldwide on December 3, 2007 and on December 18, 2007 in the U.S.[6]

On April 8, 2015, show runner Al Jean announced that there would be no more DVD or Blu-ray releases, shifting focus to digital distribution.[7] Two years later, following fan protest, season 18 was released on December 5, 2017 on DVD with the possibility of further seasons if sales were strong enough.[8][9][10] Two years later, season 19 was released on DVD on December 3, 2019.[11] Also on December 3, 2019, a limited-edition DVD collection consisting of seasons 1-20, limited to 1,000 units, was released.[12]

  1. ^ a b The Simpsons: America's First Family (television documentary). BBC. 2000. Later released on the 2001 DVD The Simpsons – The Complete First Season by 20th Century Fox.
  2. ^ Groening, Matt (February 14, 2003). "Fresh Air". NPR (Interview). Interviewed by Bianculli, David. Philadelphia: WHYY. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
  3. ^ Gerard, Jeremy (February 21, 1990). "Bad Language, Hurt Feelings and Success". The New York Times. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
  4. ^ Lambert, David (September 19, 2004). "Chappelle's Show—S1 DVD Passes The Simpsons As #1 All-Time TV-DVD; Celebrates by Announcing Season 2!". TVshowsonDVD.com. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved July 3, 2006.
  5. ^ "YESASIA: The Simpsons (DVD) (The Seventeenth Season) (Taiwan Version) DVD - Deltamac (Taiwan) Co. Ltd (TW) - Anime in Chinese - Free Shipping". www.yesasia.com. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
  6. ^ "Mmmm... Movie! The Simpsons Movie". Comingsoon.net. September 25, 2007. Archived from the original on October 6, 2012. Retrieved September 26, 2007.
  7. ^ "Fox to End 'The Simpsons' Seasonal DVD Production". The Hollywood Reporter. April 9, 2015.
  8. ^ "The Simpsons: Season 18 finally being released on DVD". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 26 July 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  9. ^ Animation on FOX (23 July 2017). "THE SIMPSONS Panel at Comic-Con 2017 – Season 28 – THE SIMPSONS". Archived from the original on September 1, 2019. Retrieved July 23, 2019 – via YouTube.
  10. ^ Michael Schneider (22 July 2017). "The Simpsons Will Return to DVD after a Three-Year Hiatus, After Fans Demand It". Indiewire. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  11. ^ "The Simpsons' Will Finally Release Season 19 on DVD, Helping Out Purist Collectors". Variety. 20 July 2019. Archived from the original on July 21, 2019. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  12. ^ @20thHomeEnt (8 October 2019). "Hundreds of classic SIMPSONS EPISODES, one awesome collectible set. @TheSimpsons: The Complete Seasons 1-20 Limited Edition comes to DVD 12/3" (Tweet). Retrieved 15 April 2022 – via Twitter.