The Art of Ruining a DVD Collection (The Simpsons)

you remember where's waldo right well over the years i've been playing my own little version of the game whenever i stumble across a photo that has someone's dvd collection in it i'm on the lookout for something not a man in striped clothing but this hunk of plastic it's the original season 6 dvd release of the simpsons surrounded by the other season's cardboard boxes this plastic case sticks out like a sore thumb i would know it's been in my peripheral vision for over a decade sure it's mildly annoying in a collection but i'm not gonna buy a cardboard box replacement the same can not be said for all this packaging sucks maybe it's time that 20th century fox entered the 21st century i like my homer head jeff okay if this all sounds like it's some dumb drama from 2005 well it is but just bear with me i found something i wasn't supposed to this story's got a little of everything from corporations being extremely passive-aggressive to accidentally leaking customers personal information welcome to what might just be one of the most obscure simpsons controversies ever the curious case of homer's head let's speed through this obligatory history paragraph the simpsons was created by cartoonist matt greening in 1987. it first aired his 30-second shorts on the fox variety program the tracy allman show fans loved it so the network green lit a full series 2 years later fast forward 31 seasons and fill in the blank the simpsons would get frequent vhs home releases throughout its first decade of existence there were dozens of these things but each tape wouldn't have more than two to three episodes on them mostly a technical limitation there were box sets that included multiple tapes but you get the gist it just wasn't all that convenient to watch the simpsons on your own time that would change with the switch to dvd in september 2001 when 20th century fox home entertainment would release the complete first season of the simpsons on dvd meanwhile networks were getting ready to premiere season 13. despite this 12 season gap the season 1 dvd became the best-selling television show dvd ever dethroned only by chappelle show three years later and man did these simpsons dvds earn their great sales their content rich with special features like commentaries from producers directors and creator matt greening never before seen outtakes behind the scenes footage foreign clips [Music] plus much much more of the show that defined a generation suffice to say the first five seasons pleased fans and fox alike it's now july 2005 and there's an announcement of a season six dvd release oh i wonder what color they'll choose for the box we already have white silver aqua purple blue red the possibilities are let me just people did not like this it's not that homer's head is a bad design it's fun and in spirit of the show rather most criticism wound up being the lack of the case's strength the outer shell was made of a flimsy plastic comparable to a 7-eleven soda cup i can attest i need a piece of scotch tape to keep the case shut and fox was well aware of these problems before any were even sold packaged inside of homer's head was this slip of paper with a phone number printed on it you could call it for information on how to get your plastic case replaced with a cardboard box more in line with seasons one through five one problem the number they printed was incorrect for some time the 800 should have been 888 but if you figured this out and called the correct number you'd be greeted by a homer voice clip they didn't hire dan castellaneta homer was voiced by a sound alike the number is no longer in service and i can't find any recordings online but i don't think we're missing out on any great simpson's lost media after homer convinces you that this isn't a scam he would refer you to the official website here you could get your replacement cardboard box through what they called the simpsons season 6 alternative packaging program the program stopped around april 2011 and fox stopped renewing the domain name soon thereafter it's now a japanese postpartum website fortunately there are archives of the original website available and it's full of mostly playful banter you're greeted with welcome complainers click the button to receive a very derivative old style nothing new just like before box and one of the requirements for the cardboard box is a dislike for storing your digital media inside a hollowed out human head it's funny stuff and on brand but some dialogue on the website did not sit well with paying customers vocalizing their valid feedback an example of this is a different requirement being a solemn promise to stop your whining or this drop down menu where you need to choose why you want to receive a box the reasons are quote anal retentive lonely will sell new box to collector nerds for huge profit just like free stuff and big baby i'd probably have gone with anal retentive anyway i was exploring the archives poking around the page sources i noticed a few fun things like this image of homer in the corner being named homie just like marge's nickname for him cute but then i found something i really wasn't supposed to we're talking web security 101 stuff i found the full names and addresses of people who requested the cardboard box yeah i reported my findings to the necessary parties and hopes of them removing the offending files 15 years later though is too little too late let's just say when you filled out the redemption form it appears to have generated a printable version that was saved to a publicly accessible folder on the website even worse the website's robots.txt file was configured incorrectly this meant that some search engines and archivers undeniably preserve the contents of that folder i mean how else would i be looking at an archive of this stuff so if you used the online season 6 redemption form there's a chance your information's been floating around out there sorry to break the news to you 15 years late in brighter news later in 2005 the seventh season of the simpsons released on dvd and did fox listen to its fans yes by now the uk was already selling cardboard season six boxes in retail stores and in the us if you wanted a special edition season seven plastic marge head to match your plastic homer had retailers would give you the option between either the cardboard or the plastic that's why in all these photos season 6 is the odd one out after marge there was maggie with season 8 lisa with season 9 and bart with season 10. starting with season 11 we get a hybrid cardboard plastic krusty the clown specialty box the default cardboard boxes took a noticeable downgrading quality starting here you have to slide the dvds into these sleeves instead of plastic containers i don't really like it season 12 gives us comic book guy 13 is horrifying ralph wiggum 14 is kang or kodos i can never really tell 15 is otto 16 professor frank and season 17 is sideshow bob season 20 got a special release date early in 2010 to celebrate the show's 20th anniversary you may have noticed i skipped over seasons 18 and 19 and that's because fox did too for the better part of a decade with the decline in physical media sales and the rise in streaming services the twice per year dvds dwindled gradually to yearly seasons and then to a season every two to three years from 2017 to 2019 there was this annoying gap in collections that fans feared would never be filled but there was a surprising turn of events after disney acquired fox in march of 2019 and season 19 was absolutely worth the wait the artwork for the cases and menus are beautiful it's done by bill clinton a familiar guest animator of the show will season 21 and onwards get physical releases i'm not holding my breath honestly i could go on about all the benefits of physical media but that's beside the point come on disney keep them coming there are dozens of us and that's the story of the simpsons dvd fiasco finding that website security flaw totally threw me off guard but if you want to stay smart online consider using brain and nerve tonic warning may cause gigantism you

Channel: Kid Leaves Stoop

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Keywords: the simpsons, simpsons dvds, simpsons controversy, simpsons lost media, homer simpson, simpsons mysteries, simpsons scandal, dvd box, dvd collection, simpsons season 6 dvd, homer's head, simpsons case, simpsons dvd case, simpsons dvd menu, simpsons, simpsons 2005, simpsons history, simpsons timeline, analysis, simpsons fans, simpsons drama, homer simpson package, bart simpson, marge simpson, lisa simpson, animated cartoon (tv genre), the simpsons disney+

Id: zHHxue-8e9w

Length: 8min 48sec (528 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 19 2021