MP3: Simpsons episode with "DVS" audio captioning for blind people.
The other night, I turned on The Simpsons, only to find that the program's audio had a weird narrator describing almost everything that was happening. At first I thought that The Simpsons were parodying the voice-over approach from another Fox show, Arrested Development. It turns out that my broken VCR was picking up an additional audio channel instead of the main one, and in the case of The Simpsons, I was hearing the DVS, or blind captioned version of the show. DVS stands for Descriptive Video Services, and it's the audio equivalent of closed captioning for the deaf. Here's a large MP3 of the DVS version of The Simpsons "Rapture" episode from May 8th (right click to download).
While its obviously intended to benefit blind people, DVS also has the effect of converting The Simpsons into a radio show. Every sign, locale and visual gag is described by a harried announcer employed by Fox Television and WGBH.
DVS is a godsend for blind viewers - how else could you follow the weekly couch gag? But as with any subtitled movie, there's a lot of editorializing that goes on. In this episode, Homer pretends to smoke a joint at one point and the DVS description of his action only says "Homer pretends to smoke." In another scene, Marge and Homer start to go at it under the sheets, and the DVS description dares not to describe their sexual cartoon antics. Unfortunately, other technology out there which addresses the problem that blind people face with television strikes me as unworkable - charting the visual action through sounds. Article on that here. How would you translate the couch gag into a series of squeals and whistles?
This all came about when the remote for my VCR fell apart and I attempted to put it back together with rubber bands and paper clips. The audio channels on my cable service went haywire, with half the channels suddenly in Spanish, a few silent, and Fox with the DVS captioning turned on. The best audio mistake though was with CNN's newly atrocious Headline News, which had audio five seconds out of sync with the visuals, and digital skipping, looping and layering of the out-of-sync audio.
As much as I enjoyed my broken VCR, my kids demanded a new unit. So if anybody wants to continue the audio experiments with my broken VCR, you can have it. Let me know.
That's the secound audio program or SAP. Here in Canadaland we get french and stuff on it for the public stations. Most VCRs have it in the audio section of the setup screen. When ABC played Wizard of the Oz a while ago they played that album that goes along with it on SAP. I can think of a million great uses of this sadly underused feature.
Posted by: Jeff T | May 18, 2005 at 04:21 PM
I was talking to Ken and Im pretty sure its not the SAP. The SAP for simpsons is a spanish version. I have never heard of this pre-Kens show, but it seems pretty damn cool. I wish I knew how to listen to it.
Posted by: Ed Word | May 18, 2005 at 07:21 PM
From http://www.csbps.com/happen/dvs.shtml
"WGBH will be providing DVS for FOX, which recently added DVS to five of its most popular series. As of April 1, 2002 the broadcast of the Bernie Mac Show, Boston Public, Malcom in the Middle and The Simpsons are now programmed with DVS.
To activate the service you need to turn on the second audio program (SAP) on your stereo equipped television or VCR."
Posted by: Jeff T | May 18, 2005 at 07:47 PM
That's awesome... Reminds me of the old 30s & 40s radio serials -- and it's just as funny that way too!
Posted by: timsamoff | May 19, 2005 at 03:11 PM
It's not "captioning" of any kind, let alone "audio captioning." It's audio description, in this case done by the Descriptive Video ServiceslashMedia Access Group at WGBH. They hire the narrator (DVS mainstay Miles Neff), not Fox.
You are in fact listening to SAP when you watch The Simpsons with description, no matter what "Ken" says (unless he's using Bell ExpressVu in Canada). The only Canadian channels I know of that put French or the other official language on SAP are the Canadian Parliamentary channels, so that other comment is incorrect, too, as is the 2002-vintage Fox described-programs listing. (Isn't The Simpsons the sole described show on Fox now?)
The biggest constraint in writing descriptions is time. There probably just were not any more additional fractions of seconds to add "a joint" or any description of Marge and Homer's movements under the covers.
Posted by: Joe Clark | May 21, 2005 at 03:14 PM
Podcast this stuff, please. someone.
Posted by: D Hector | May 22, 2005 at 08:17 PM
Really. As an experiment I burned the MP3 to a CD and listened to it in the car on the way home. It was maybe 99% of the experience of watching a show (after 350+ episodes, it's pretty easy to picture every scene in your head).
Posted by: koz | May 23, 2005 at 10:32 AM
Are the jokes the same? Because I noticed that when I have the closed caption on, sometimes the punchlines to the jokes are different.
Posted by: jaboobie | May 23, 2005 at 02:42 PM
The first time I heard DVS was on the DVD version of "The Passion of the Christ".
Anyway, DVS ripped into a podcast would be awsome.
Posted by: Scott | May 23, 2005 at 08:31 PM
If you all really like audio description, help the blind fight for it. We've been trying to get the FCC to mandate that description be in more TV programs, as well as movies in theaters. We could really use the help to keep description alive.
Posted by: Michael McCarty | May 24, 2005 at 08:30 AM
People still use VCRs?
I had no idea DVS even existed, though it makes perfect sense. How else would visually challenged people follow television or movies? This definitely brings to light even more accessibility issues in the world.
Posted by: Patrick Haney | June 03, 2005 at 03:09 PM
@Scott
Just imagining the DVS-track for the "Passion of the Christ" gives me the creeps. :)
Is it on the US-Retail-DVD?
Posted by: theDia | June 11, 2005 at 09:53 AM
i was just thinking podcast, right before i read it. that would be awesome, i know its kinda weird "exploiting" a service for "handicapped" people, but it woudl still be pretty cool to listen to the simpsons, fully, on the road. someone make a site, please
Posted by: tweaq | June 19, 2005 at 11:45 PM
hi everybody!
i think it is very important for blind people to have this kind of entertaiment.they allso deserve that onacount that they have no access to much entertainment that we have.have you thought of how dull it must be ?
although allot of problems and narrating "mistakes" come with it ... i think it is a step towards future!besides...hearing simpsons while you drive is smashing!you won't get bored wen stuck in trafic jams!
P.S-I NEED HELP EVERYBODY!!!WERE CAN I DOWNLOAD FULL SIMPSONS EPISODES??TELL ME A GOOD SITE!PLEASE ANSWER!!!
THANKX
Posted by: jonh | July 05, 2005 at 08:41 PM
you can download full seasons from torrentspy.com, mininova.org, and thepiratebay.org. The can also watch episodes at http://www.craftytv.com/. And does anyone know of anyone podcast the DVS?
Posted by: tweaq | July 14, 2005 at 02:58 PM
thank u very much, thank u kindly!!
u're a lifesaver!!if u want to send me mail, u're welkome!!
bye bye tweao!
Posted by: john | July 27, 2005 at 08:40 PM
Last night I accidentally came across this very same thing, and I thought everyone had to sit through it! I'm sure it was due to the fact that our cable is off at the moment, but I didn't know that until I reached this page!
For anyone who HASN'T heard it, I can assure you it is NOT FUNNY!!! lol
It was one of the most annoying things I've ever endured, and I thought they did it on purpose!
Posted by: r3tr0 | August 22, 2005 at 02:38 PM
DVS is a great. My very best friend is blind. We've known about it since the beginning. TCM, (Turner Classic Movies), is one of the first and best to use this format. As a former film student, it was difficult to share my love of films with my friend. Now Casablanca and others can make more sense to her. The first Videotape in wide distribution to use it was "Terminator 2" It makes action films much more accessible. We also wish there was a podcast. Our cable company does not pass through the signal. (We found this out after paying 80 bucks a month for full on digital JUST to get TCM in DVS - Bastards!)
Posted by: bvoid | October 02, 2005 at 04:24 PM
go to http://www.homerize.com/episodes/
Posted by: frien | October 20, 2005 at 11:14 AM
You can Download The Simpsons Episodes here.
Posted by: ameadmin | March 06, 2006 at 12:08 PM
hi, i havn't got the program to watch torrents is there a place to download simpson episodes in a format that windows media player can play. please email answer to [email protected] thanks
Posted by: Daniel | March 22, 2006 at 05:13 AM
Wow, this is really interesting.
Posted by: anonymous | May 21, 2006 at 09:19 AM
This started happening on occasion with my VCR. Wish I could have kept the tapes--lots of unintentional humor.
Posted by: SillyWilly | March 21, 2007 at 06:48 AM
Hey Everyone,
I made up a website that has season 18 of the simpsons (so far).
Its not to flashy, but it works.
Enjoy :)
http://www.freevideos.ca.tc/
Posted by: Stewart | May 06, 2007 at 05:57 AM
- hear a phone call ... Bart takes up ... "you father?" . Who asked him? "his boss". , and what the old boss-ass or a complete jerk.
Posted by: BartSipmson | June 08, 2007 at 12:00 AM