If any season deserves them, then it's seven that should come with its own pair of rose-tinted goggles. For it arguably marked the tail-end of the true writing zenith, when the misadventures of Homer and Bart still clung (albeit tenuously) to feasibility, while the supporting cast had yet to become overblown... well, caricatures.

That said, this collection does feature one of the least 'realistic', most talked-about (and, incidentally, most laugh-free) sequences in Simpsons history, wherein Homer ends up in a live-action 3-D sequence for the only time in his screen life. Elsewhere, though, this box is distended with glowing examples of Groening's 'serious issue, side-splitting set-up' magic. A glut of extras is now standard on these sets and this one doesn't disappoint - commentaries for every episode jostling with a raft of galleries and featurettes.

But it's the main attraction you'll buy for: 25 beauts such as 'The Day The Violence Died', 'Much Apu About Nothing' and 'King Size Homer' (surely a contender for the all-time top ten) ensured this series gave our emotions almost as tough a workout as our ribs. Unfettered genius.

BEST BIT A morbidly obese Homer jams the vent on a stricken power-plant tank. The affection with which Bart notes the irony of "Dad's butt preventing the release of toxic gas" is quintessential Simpsons.

DVD Extras:

Audio commentary for each episode
Deleted scenes
Sketch gallery
Matt's Intro featurette
3-D Homer featurette