Difference between revisions of "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase"

Revision as of 01:15, October 29, 2009

This is one of several Simpsons episodes which are considered anthology episodes that features mini-stories.

Plot

Prologue

Troy McClure gives us a tour of the "Museum of TV and Television" and mentions spin-off shows. He shows that FOX needed some new shows for their fall line up, and the Simpsons made three new shows to fill up the schedule. He then shows us the three new shows.

Chief Wiggum P.I.

Chief Wiggum and his new partner "Skinny Boy" move to New Orleans to become crime fighting detectives. They come upon their first case when a mysterious skull from "Big Daddy" is thrown through their window. At night, he sends a crocodile into their houseboat and kidnaps Ralph. They follow him to his hide out in the middle of the swamp. When he is about to be arrested, he jumps out the window and, slowly, swims away. Wiggum is sure they'll meet again.

The Love-Matic Grampa

While at Moe's Tavern, Moe becomes lonely, until he realizes that Grampa's spirit is inside his love tester. When he was going to heaven, he got lost along the way. He helps Moe get a date with a beautiful lady. But Moe doesn't know what to do on the date so he brings Grampa along on the date and puts him in the bathroom. When Moe needs advice, he runs to the bathroom, only to see the machone being smashed by hoodlums Jimbo Jones, Kearney Zzyzwicz and Dolph Starbeam, with Kearney complaining that the machine called him gay. The machine starts malfunctioning and what he says Moe takes as advice. He comes back to the bathroom wearing his dinner. He date comes in and sees what Moe did just for her and is touched.

The Simpson Family Smile Time Variety Hour

The Simpsons host their own show in Radio City Music Hall. The whole family is there except for Lisa who simply refuses and is replaced by a teenage cheerleader. The whole family is there along with many favorites such as Waylon Smithers, The Sea Captain, and Hans Moleman. The show features various skits including "What if The Simpsons Were Beavers", "The Candy Song", and "A Poem By Hans Moleman". The show guest stars Tim Conway and at the end the whole family gets into a pillow fight.

Epilogue

Troy McClure ends the special by explaining season 9 of The Simpsons including, Selma marrying, Itchy, Lenny, and Bumblebee man, Bart discovering he was two long lost brothers, Homer turning Lisa into a frog, and Homer gains the power to see a tiny alien named Ozmodiar.

Trivia

General

• Lisa appears with one line in "Chief Wiggum P.I". It is announced she is replaced (by an older, more attractive, but less intelligent) girl in "The Simpsons Family Smile Time Variety Hour", which is a likely spoof of the 1977 spin off "The Brady Bunch Variety Hour". Eve Plumb refused to participate in this spinoff, so she was replaced by another girl playing Jan Brady.
• Homer is the only family member to appear in all three stories.
• Actor Troy McClure hosts this showcase amidst a sea of framed pictures depicting such vintage TV spin-offs as "Laverne and Shirley," "The Ropers," "Fish," "Rhoda" and "The Jeffersons."
• When Kent Brockman is announcing the debut of "The Simpsons Smile Time Variety Hour" a clock is behind him reading 8:20, which during the episode's debut, was the appoximate time that segment was aired for households that went by Pacific Standard Time and Eastern Standard Time.

Production

• Betty is a caricture of her voice actress Tress MacNeille.

Cultural references

• Magnum P.I. - The title of Chief Wiggum's skit is a reference to the famous TV show.
• My Mother the Car - The "Love Matic Grandpa", where Moe's Love Tester is possessed by the spirit of Grandpa is a spoof of the Jerry Van Dyke show where a man buys an antique car to learn that his deceased mother is communicating to him through the car.