Blu-ray Review: ICONS UNEARTHED: THE SIMPSONS

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Jul 10 Posted by Kyle Nolan in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

The second season of the Vice TV series Icons Unearthed arrives on Blu-ray thanks to Mill Creek Entertainment. Each season of the documentary series delves into the behind-the-scenes drama of a different popular TV or movie franchise. This second season originally aired in the fall of 2022, and takes an in-depth look at The Simpsons. (You can check out our review of the first season, which covered the first 6 Star Wars films, here.)

This second season takes a look at the origins of TV’s longest running scripted series, The Simpsons, from the origins of the FOX network, to the show’s early beginnings as interstitials on The Tracey Ullman Show, to some of the behind-the-scenes drama between the writers, animators and producers as the series took off, and the ongoing legacy of the show. Icons Unearthed makes use of clips, photos, behind-the-scenes footage of table reads & the writers room, and new interviews with Simpsons experts, writers, animators, directors, producers, former network executives, and more to delve into the history of the groundbreaking series.

Across the 6 episodes, those interviewed include writer/showrunner Bill Oakley, writers Ken Levine, Mimi Pond, Jon Vitti & Donick Cary, animators/directors Wes Archer, Rich Moore & Pete Michels, animator Bill Kopp, color designer Gyorgyi Kovacs-Peluce, color designer/cleanup artist Carol Wyatt, animation executive producer Phil Roman, former FOX executives Garth Ancier & Rob Kenneally, former FOX animation executive Jennifer Howell, TV actor/producer Cooper Barnes, executive producer Ken Estin (The Tracey Ullman Show), production assistant Joe Russo II, comic book creator/artist/writer Todd McFarlane, TV writer/producer Russ Woody, comedian Doug Benson, Simpsons experts Chris Turner & Allie Goertz, #1 Bart Simpson Fan Travis “Bart” McNall, Simpsons expert/writer Julia Prescott, and author Daniel M. Kimmel.

Here’s a rundown of the topics covered in each of the 6 episodes:

The Origin
The first episode looks at the origin of the FOX network, how The Simpsons began as a series of interstitials on The Tracey Ullman Show, and getting the series picked up for 13-episodes.
The Pilot
The second episode looks at ramping up the staff, the tension behind-the-scenes, expanding the cast, standardizing the look of the series, building out the world, and the challenges that led to the Christmas Special becoming the first episode.
The Room
Episode three looks at the writers’ room and the various writers involved in the first four seasons, the writing process, the merchandising efforts for the series, legal matters due to the show’s success, and more.
The Wars
The fourth episode jumps back to look at ramping up the animation staff, the craziness at animation studio Klasky Csupo, the disconnect between the writers and the animators, switching animation studios, the attempt to spin off The Critic, the effect of the earthquake in 1994 on the series, and more.
The Later Years
The penultimate episode looks at the show’s later years with new showrunners Bill Oakley & Josh Weinstein, rectifying the lack of diversity and women on the writing staff, finally making the movie, the guest stars, and more.
The Legacy
The final episode discusses the legacy of the series, trying to reinvigorate the series for its 20th anniversary, some questionable story choices, the real danger of being canceled, the sale to Disney, how the series predicts the future, and the show’s overall impact on the television landscape.

Like the first season, I found this second season of the 6-part documentary Icons Unearthed series to be quite entertaining and informative. It comes from The Nacelle Company, who also created The Toys That Made Us. This second season is narrated by actor Cooper Barnes (who is also interviewed on camera), who keeps things fun and light. It is nicely edited to provide an interesting narrative that flows across the six 44-minute episodes. The series also makes really clever wordplay and use of clips from the series to inject a lot of humor and callbacks, such as when one participant brings up the Tracey Ullman shorts, and they make it clear that she’s not referring to Bart’s iconic “Eat My Shorts” line, which hadn’t been invented yet.

There are some noticeably missing participants, such as the cast, and folks like Matt Groening and Al Jean, and the coverage of the later seasons feels a bit rushed at the end. However, overall it was an interesting and entertaining look at the origins of The SImpsons, and made me want to go back and revisit some of those iconic episodes from the third and fourth seasons.

Mill Creek’s Blu-ray release provides solid picture and sound. The picture generally looks quite clean, and the stereo soundtrack is more than sufficient for the interviews. Mill Creek’s release is split across 4 discs, placed in trays in a slightly thicker HD keepcase, which is covered with a cardboard slipcover. The first three discs each contains 2 episodes of the season with a Play All option and optional subtitles, along with a bonus interview. The fourth disc contains two more feature-length bonus interviews. These bonus interviews are the full length interviews with participants showrunner Bill Oakley, former FOX executives Rob Kenneally & Garth Ancier, executive producer Ken Eston (The Tracey Ullman Show), and writer John Vitti. These are presented in their raw form without any color timing or visual touch-ups, and make for an entertaining and interesting watch for the die-hard fans.

I quite enjoyed this second season of Icons Unearthed, and hope that Mill Creek will continue to release additional seasons on Blu-ray.

What’s Included:

Episodes: (4:24:14)

All 6 episodes of the second season:
“The Origin”, “The Pilot”, “The Room”, “The Wars”, “The Later Years”, “The Legacy”
1080p / Widescreen 1.78:1
Audio: English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio
Subtitles: English

Extras:
The bonus material consists of the full-length interviews with three of the participants, provided in their raw form, without any additional color-timing or picture enhancements.

Bonus Interview: Bill Oakley (Showrunner) (2:22:52)
Bonus Interview: Rob Kenneally (Former FOX Executive) (1:29:53)
Bonus Interview: Ken Eston (Executive Producer, The Tracey Ullman Show) (1:46:21)
Bonus Interview: Garth Ancier (Former FOX Executive) (2:37:40)
Bonus Interview: John Vitti (Writer) (3:19:01)

Final Thoughts:

My Rating

Episodes:

Video:

Audio:

Extras:

Recommended

Icons Unearthed: The Simpsons provides an interesting and entertaining look back at the origins of TV’s longest running scripted series, The Simpsons. The series maintains a light and humorous tone while looking at some of the behind-the-scenes drama with the animators, writers and executives. Mill Creek’s Blu-ray release offers a solid audio/video presentation as well as over 11 hours of raw interview footage as bonus material. This is definitely worth a look for fans of The Simpsons. I quite enjoyed this second season of Icons Unearthed, and hope that Mill Creek continues to releases additional seasons on Blu-ray.