The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase

Last updated

"The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase"
The Simpsons episode
The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase.gif
The new "Lisa" and the regular family members in their variety hour, the episode's third segment.
Episode no.Season 8
Episode 24
Directed by Neil Affleck
Story by Ken Keeler
Teleplay by David X. Cohen
Dan Greaney
Steve Tompkins
Production code4F20
Original air dateMay 11, 1997 (1997-05-11)
Guest appearances
Episode features
Commentary Matt Groening
Josh Weinstein
David X. Cohen
Dan Greaney
Yeardley Smith
Ken Keeler
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Homer's Enemy"		Next →
"The Secret War of Lisa Simpson"
The Simpsons season 8
List of episodes

"The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" is the twenty-fourth and penultimate episode of the eighth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons . It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 11, 1997. [1] The episode centers on fictional pilot episodes of non-existent television series derived from The Simpsons, and is a parody of the tendency of networks to spin off characters from a hit series. As such it includes references to many different television series. The first fictional spin-off is Chief Wiggum P.I., a cop-dramedy featuring Chief Wiggum and Seymour Skinner. The second is The Love-matic Grampa, a sitcom featuring Moe Szyslak who receives dating advice from Abraham Simpson, whose ghost is possessing a love testing machine. The final segment is The Simpson Family Smile-Time Variety Hour, a variety show featuring the Simpson family except for Lisa, who has been replaced.

Contents

The episode was written by David X. Cohen, Dan Greaney and Steve Tompkins, with Ken Keeler coming up with the story and the general idea of intentionally bad writing. It was directed by Neil Affleck, [1] and Tim Conway, Gailard Sartain and Phil Hartman guest-starred. [1] [2]

The producers were initially uneasy about the episode, as they feared that the purposely bad writing would be mistaken for actual bad writing. The episode, however, now appears on several lists of the most popular Simpsons episodes.

Plot

Troy McClure hosts a television special from the "Museum of TV and Television" introducing three spin-off productions, created using characters from The Simpsons. The Fox network has only three programmes — The Simpsons, The X Files and Melrose Place — prepared for the next broadcasting season, and so commissions the producers of The Simpsons to create thirty-five new shows to fill the remainder of the lineup. Unable to handle such a workload, the producers create only three new shows.

"Chief Wiggum, P.I."

"Chief Wiggum, P.I." is a crime-dramedy spin-off and a parody of Magnum, P.I. , which follows Chief Wiggum, Ralph and Seymour Skinner. Chief Wiggum and his son Ralph move to New Orleans following Wiggum's removal from the Springfield Police Department for corruption, with Seymour Skinner as Wiggum's sidekick. Wiggum has proclaimed that he will "clean up the city" of New Orleans, but it does not take long before he meets his nemesis, Big Daddy, who warns Wiggum to stay out of his business. Soon after, Ralph is kidnapped and Wiggum finds Big Daddy's calling card left behind. Wiggum manages to track Big Daddy's ransom call to the Mardi Gras, where he briefly runs into the Simpson family, and the two chase each other to Big Daddy's mansion in the New Orleans bayou (in reality the Louisiana governor's mansion which Big Daddy had managed to steal). Chief Wiggum then threatens Big Daddy with a gun, but Big Daddy counters by tossing Ralph at his father, then jumping out the window and swimming away (at an extremely slow speed, due to his weight). Wiggum ultimately lets the villain escape, feeling that he will meet him again "each and every week", a riff on serialized, weekly television dramas.

"The Love-matic Grampa"

"The Love-matic Grampa" is a sitcom about Moe's love life, a parody of My Mother the Car . He receives advice from the ghost of Abraham Simpson, who was crushed by a store shelf containing cans of figs that toppled on him and subsequently "while travelling up toward Heaven…got lost along the way" and now possesses Moe's love tester machine. Moe ends up getting a date he meets at the bar. On Grampa's advice he takes his date out to a French restaurant and hides the Love Tester in the bathroom so he can get advice while at the restaurant. After Kearney, Dolph and Jimbo whack the machine because it said they were gay, it malfunctions and advises Moe to tell his date that "her rump's as big as the Queen's, and twice as fragrant." Moe returns with a bowl of snails dumped on his head and his dependence on the machine is revealed, so he confesses to receiving advice. His date is actually happy when she hears this, flattered that Moe would go to all that trouble for her. Grampa asks to be introduced to an attractive payphone in front of the restaurant, much to the mirth of Moe and his date.

"The Simpson Family Smile-Time Variety Hour"

"The Simpson Family Smile-Time Variety Hour" is a variety show featuring various songs and sketches in a parody of The Brady Bunch Hour and Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In . It features Homer, Marge, Bart, and Maggie. Lisa refuses to participate, but is replaced by a blonde teenaged girl. After the introduction there is a sketch, where the family are portrayed as beavers living in a dam with Tim Conway as a skunk and Homer's boss. The show ends with a medley of songs about candy sung by the family, Jasper Beardley and Waylon Smithers.

Troy ends the special with a look at the upcoming season of The Simpsons, filled with ridiculous plot twists, such as Homer turning Lisa into a frog using magical powers, the discovery of Bart's two long-lost identical twin brothers (one African-American, the other a cowboy), Selma marrying Lenny, Bumblebee Man, and Itchy (in succession), and Homer meeting an alien named Ozmodiar whom only he can see.

Production

Tim Conway appears as himself in the episode's third segment. Tim Conway cropped.jpg
Tim Conway appears as himself in the episode's third segment.

Ken Keeler came up with the idea for the episode from the one sentence statement: "Let's do spin-offs". [3] His idea was to use intentionally bad writing and "crazy plots", which underlines their critique of spin-offs in general. [4] After he had pitched the idea it was decided that "it was an idea that ought to work pretty well" and production went ahead. [3] Creator Matt Groening was uneasy about the idea, feeling that it could be mistranslated as actually bad sitcom writing. He also did not like the idea of breaking the fourth wall and the concept of saying that the Simpsons were just actors in a television show. [5] The idea was later explored in the season 11 episode "Behind the Laughter". [6] One of the "crazy" ideas was the inclusion of the character of Ozmodiar, who was originally included in the script for an earlier episode but was considered too ridiculous for the time. When this episode came along the character seemed to fit with the story and was included. [7] Even though Keeler came up with the story, David S. Cohen, Dan Greaney and Steve Tompkins wrote the scripts for the three segments. [2] Cohen wrote Chief Wiggum P.I., [8] Greaney wrote Love-matic Grampa and Tompkins wrote The Simpson Family Smile-Time Variety Hour. [9]

The episode demanded a different approach to directing than a usual The Simpsons episode. Director Neil Affleck had to animate each segment so that it fit the style of the show it parodied. The Love-matic Grampa segment for instance emulates a three-camera setup, as is normally used in sitcoms. [3]

Three guest stars appear in the episode; Phil Hartman as Troy McClure, Tim Conway as himself and Gailard Sartain as Big Daddy. [2] McClure is used as a host of the episode, something he had previously done in the episode "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular". [10] Conway appears as himself. Conway, a comic veteran, was known for his work on The Carol Burnett Show , which has a similar format to The Simpson Family Smile-Time Variety Hour. [11] Due to Lisa being substituted for an older teenager (voiced by Pamela Hayden) in the third segment, Yeardley Smith, despite having the flu after recording all of her lines in "In Marge We Trust", has a cameo in this episode, like the previous episode, and speaks only one line in the entire episode, [12] making it one of the four times Lisa has a minor role in a Season 8 episode, the others being "Bart After Dark", "Grade School Confidential", and "Homer's Enemy".

Proposed real spin-offs

Dan Castellaneta was set to reprise his role of Krusty the Clown in a live-action series created by Matt Groening. Dan Castellaneta 2.jpg
Dan Castellaneta was set to reprise his role of Krusty the Clown in a live-action series created by Matt Groening.

Over the course of the show, the staff have considered producing several spin-off television series and films based on The Simpsons . In 1994, Matt Groening pitched a live-action spin-off from The Simpsons that centered on Krusty the Clown and would have starred Dan Castellaneta in the role, reprising the character from The Simpsons. He and Michael Weithorn [13] wrote a pilot script where Krusty moved to Los Angeles and got his own talk show. A recurring joke throughout the script was that Krusty lived in a house on wooden stilts which were continuously being gnawed by beavers. Eventually, the contract negotiations fell apart and Groening decided to stop work on the project. [14]

"22 Short Films About Springfield" sparked the idea amongst the staff for a spin-off series titled Tales from Springfield. The proposed show would focus on the town in general, rather than the Simpson family. Every week would be a different scenario: three short stories, an adventure with young Homer or a story about a background character that was not tied into the Simpson family at all. [15] The idea never came to anything, as Groening realized that the staff did not have the manpower to produce another show as well as The Simpsons. [13] The staff, however, say it is something that they would still be interested in doing, [16] and that it "could happen someday." [13]

Phil Hartman had wished to make a live-action film based on his character Troy McClure, but the project was cancelled following his murder in 1998. Phil as Chick-1-1.jpg
Phil Hartman had wished to make a live-action film based on his character Troy McClure, but the project was cancelled following his murder in 1998.

Groening also expressed a wish to make Simpstasia, a parody of Fantasia , but it was never produced, partly because it would have been too difficult to write a feature-length script, although a similar idea did appear in the episode "Itchy & Scratchy Land". [17] Before his murder, Phil Hartman had said he had wished to make a live-action film based around his character of Troy McClure, and several of the show's staff had expressed a desire to help create it. [18] Groening later told Empire that the idea never "got further than enthusiasm", but "would have been really fun". [13]

Cultural references

The entire episode is a satire of unoriginal, poor television writing and references, and parodies many television series. When McClure mentions that Fox can only fill up three slots for the next season, the three series are Melrose Place , The X-Files , and The Simpsons itself. [2] In the museum of television, Troy walks by posters of spin-offs, such as The Ropers (spun off from Three's Company ), Laverne & Shirley (spun off from Happy Days ), Rhoda , a show that Julie Kavner, the voice of Marge, once starred in (spun off from The Mary Tyler Moore Show ), [2] and Fish (spun off from Barney Miller ), [19] to demonstrate the power of spin-offs. Troy walks by a poster of The Jeffersons (a spin-off of All in the Family ) twice, because the writers could not think of any more spin-offs. [7]

The character Big Daddy is based on New Orleans musician Dr. John. Dr. John 2.jpg
The character Big Daddy is based on New Orleans musician Dr. John.

Chief Wiggum, P.I. is a parody of police-dramas, such as Miami Vice , Magnum, P.I. and Starsky and Hutch . Skinner emulates Don Johnson from Miami Vice in order to look scruffier. [4] The character of Big Daddy is based on Dr. John, who comes from New Orleans. [8] The chef in the restaurant resembles Paul Prudhomme. [20]

The Love-matic Grampa is a parody of fantasy sitcoms such as Mister Ed , I Dream of Jeannie , and Bewitched [2] as well as having similarities to My Mother the Car . [5] The Love-matic Grampa machine singing "Daisy Bell" in a distorted manner when its electrical circuits are failing is a reference to HAL from the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey . [2] Grampa also references All Quiet on the Western Front , when Moe says he "wrote the book on love". [21] Moe's date, Betty, looks somewhat like Tress MacNeille, the actress who voiced her. [12]

The Simpson Family Smile-Time Variety Hour is a parody of the 1960s and 1970s live variety shows. Mainly a parody of The Brady Bunch Hour , a short-lived spin-off of the 1970s sitcom The Brady Bunch , the replacement of Lisa in the third segment with another girl reflects the recasting of Jan Brady in the Brady Bunch Hour when Eve Plumb refused to participate. [21] The Simpson family is made to look like The Partridge Family . [2] Also, the segment holds numerous references to Laugh-In . Kent Brockman introduces the show from inside a broadcast booth in a style similar to Laugh-In, there is a joke wall similar to the one in Laugh-In where The Sea Captain opens a porthole. There is also a Laugh-In-like montage wherein other characters comment on the skit itself. [11] When Hans Moleman reads a poem at the end of the segment and the episode itself, it is based on Henry Gibson reading a poem on Laugh-In. [7] Other shows parodied during the variety show include The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour , [12] and The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour . [11]

The songs parodied during the third segment are:

In the planned future for the show, Homer meets a green space alien named Ozmodiar that only he can see. This is a reference to The Great Gazoo, a character added into some of the final episodes of The Flintstones . [22]

Reception

In its original American broadcast, "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" finished 61st place in the weekly ratings for the week of May 5–11, 1997 with a Nielsen rating of 7.3. It was the seventh-highest-rated show on the Fox network that week. Even though Troy mentions that The Simpsons, Melrose Place, and The X-Files are the only shows worth a slot in the next season's lineup, three other Fox shows actually did better than The Simpsons that week. These were Beverly Hills, 90210 , King of the Hill , and Married... with Children . [23] In Australia, the episode premiered on July 6, 1997, [24] while in the UK it premiered on August 24, 1997.

Groening feared that fans would interpret the episode in a negative light and was uneasy about the episode when it was in production. He later went on to say that the episode "turned out great". [5]

The writers of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood called it, "A very clever spin on the alternates offered by the Treehouse of Horrors run. Each of the spin-offs is very clever in its own way." [2] It has also appeared as one of the favorite episodes on a number of "best of" lists. Entertainment Weekly placed the episode 19th in their top 25 Simpsons episode list. [25]

In an interview for Star-News, writer Don Payne revealed that the episode was in his personal top six of the best The Simpsons episodes. [26]

Additionally, The News Journal staff writer Gary Mullinax picked the episode as part of his top-ten list. [27]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grampa Simpson</span> Recurring character in The Simpsons

Abraham Jay "Abe" Simpson II, better known as Grampa Simpson, is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He made his first appearance in the episode entitled "Grandpa and the Kids", a one-minute Simpsons short on The Tracey Ullman Show, before the debut of the television show in 1989.

Springfield (<i>The Simpsons</i>) Fictional city in animated TV sitcom The Simpsons

Springfield is the primary fictional setting of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons and related media. It is an average-sized, fictional city within an unknown state in the United States. The fictional city's geography, surroundings, and layout are flexible, often changing to accommodate the plot of any given episode.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trilogy of Error</span> 18th episode of the 12th season of The Simpsons

"Trilogy of Error" is the eighteenth episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 266th episode overall. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on April 29, 2001. In the episode, Homer's rush to the hospital to re-attach his severed thumb, Lisa's rush to school to win the science fair, and Bart's run-in with an illegal fireworks scheme are interconnected as each act tells the events of the same day, but from a different point of view.

"Treehouse of Horror III" is the fifth episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on October 29, 1992. The third annual Treehouse of Horror episode, it features segments in which Homer buys Bart an evil talking doll, Homer is a giant ape which is captured by Mr. Burns in a parody of the 1933 version of King Kong, and Bart and Lisa inadvertently cause zombies to attack Springfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treehouse of Horror IX</span> 4th episode of the 10th season of The Simpsons

"Treehouse of Horror IX" is the fourth episode of the tenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on Fox in the United States on October 25, 1998. This is the ninth Treehouse of Horror episode, and, like the other "Treehouse of Horror" episodes, contains three self-contained segments: In "Hell Toupée", Homer gets a hair transplant and is possessed by the spirit of an executed criminal; in "Terror of Tiny Toon", Bart and Lisa are trapped in a special, extremely violent episode of The Itchy & Scratchy Show; and in "Starship Poopers", Marge reveals that Maggie is the product of a one-night stand with the alien Kang.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treehouse of Horror XI</span> 1st episode of the 12th season of The Simpsons

"Treehouse of Horror XI" is the first episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, the 249th episode overall, and the eleventh Halloween episode. The episode features "G-G-Ghost D-D-Dad", "Scary Tales Can Come True" and "Night of the Dolphin" and was written by Rob LaZebnik, John Frink and Don Payne and Carolyn Omine and directed by Matthew Nastuk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homer's Barbershop Quartet</span> 1st episode of the 5th season of The Simpsons

"Homer's Barbershop Quartet" is the first episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 30, 1993. It features the Be Sharps, a barbershop quartet founded by Homer Simpson. The band's story roughly parallels that of the Beatles. George Harrison and David Crosby guest star as themselves, and the Dapper Dans partly provide the singing voices of the Be Sharps.

"The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular" is the tenth episode of the seventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on December 3, 1995. As the title suggests, it is the 138th episode and the third clip show episode of The Simpsons, after "So It's Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show" and "Another Simpsons Clip Show".

"Simpsons Bible Stories" is the eighteenth episode of the tenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on Fox in the United States on Easter Sunday, April 4, 1999. It is the first of The Simpsons' now annual trilogy episodes, and consists of four self-contained segments. In the episode, the Simpson family falls asleep during a sermon in church. Marge dreams that she and Homer are Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, Lisa dreams that she and her fellow Springfield Elementary School students are Hebrew slaves in Ancient Egypt and guides Moses to lead them to freedom, Homer dreams that he is King Solomon called to resolve a dispute between Lenny and Carl over the ownership of a pie, and Bart dreams he is King David, who has to fight Goliath's son, Goliath II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">22 Short Films About Springfield</span> 21st episode of the 7th season of The Simpsons

"22 Short Films About Springfield" is the twenty-first episode of the seventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox Network in the United States on April 14, 1996. It was written by Richard Appel, David X. Cohen, Jonathan Collier, Jennifer Crittenden, Greg Daniels, Brent Forrester, Dan Greaney, Rachel Pulido, Steve Tompkins, Josh Weinstein, Bill Oakley, and Matt Groening, with the writing being supervised by Daniels. The episode was directed by Jim Reardon. Phil Hartman guest-starred as Lionel Hutz and the hospital board chairman.

"This Little Wiggy" is the eighteenth episode of the ninth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on March 22, 1998. It was written by Dan Greaney and directed by Neil Affleck. The episode sees Ralph Wiggum becoming friends with Bart. Phil Hartman guest stars as recurring character Troy McClure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment</span> 18th episode of the 8th season of The Simpsons

"Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment" is the eighteenth episode of the eighth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 16, 1997. In the episode, Springfield enacts prohibition after a raucous Saint Patrick's Day celebration. To supply Moe's speakeasy, Homer becomes a bootlegger. The episode was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Bob Anderson. Dave Thomas guest stars as Rex Banner and Joe Mantegna returns as Fat Tony.

"The Front" is the nineteenth episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired in the United States on Fox on April 15, 1993. In the episode, Bart and Lisa decide to write an episode of The Itchy & Scratchy Show; after their script is rejected, they resubmit it under the name of their grandfather Abraham Simpson, resulting in Grampa being hired as a staff writer. Meanwhile, Homer returns to high school to retake a failed science course.

"Marge on the Lam" is the sixth episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 4, 1993. After Marge invites her neighbor Ruth Powers to attend a ballet recital, they become friends. Homer grows jealous of their friendship and pursues them, resulting in a police chase led by Chief Wiggum that ends in near-disaster.

"Duffless" is the sixteenth episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on February 18, 1993. Homer gets arrested for drunk driving, and Marge asks him to stop drinking beer for a month. Meanwhile, after Bart ruins Lisa's science fair project, she attempts to get revenge by proving that he is "dumber than a hamster".

Media is a recurring theme of satire on The Simpsons. The show is known for its satire of American popular culture and especially television culture, but has since its inception covered all types of media such as animation, journalism, commercials, comic books, movies, internet, and music. The series centers on a family and their life in a typical American town but the town of Springfield acts as a complete universe. The town features a vast array of media channels—from kids' television programming to local news, which enables the producers to make jokes about themselves and the entertainment industry.

<i>The Simpsons</i> season 8 Season of television series

The eighth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons originally aired on the Fox network between October 27, 1996, and May 18, 1997, beginning with "Treehouse of Horror VII". The showrunners for the eighth production season were Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein, while the season was produced by Gracie Films and 20th Century Fox Television. The broadcast season contained two episodes with 3F-series production codes, indicating that were hold-over episodes from the seventh production season, and two episodes with 3G-series production codes, which have never been explicitly confirmed to be part of any specific production season

<i>The Simpsons</i> season 7 Season of television series

The seventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons originally aired on the Fox network between September 17, 1995, and May 19, 1996. The show runners for the seventh production season were Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein who would executive produce 21 episodes this season. David Mirkin executive produced the remaining four, including two hold overs that were produced for the previous season. The season was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Animated Program and won an Annie Award for Best Animated Television Program. The DVD box set was released in Region 1 on December 13, 2005, Region 2 on January 30, 2006, and Region 4 on March 22, 2006. The set was released in two different forms: a Marge-shaped box and also a standard rectangular-shaped box in which the theme is a movie premiere.

<i>The Simpsons</i> season 6 Season of television series

The sixth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons originally aired on the Fox network between September 4, 1994, and May 21, 1995, and consists of 25 episodes. The Simpsons is an animated series about a working class family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. The show is set in the fictional city of Springfield, and lampoons American culture, society, television and many aspects of the human condition.

<i>The Simpsons</i> season 3 Season of television series

The third season of the American animated television series The Simpsons originally aired on the Fox network between September 19, 1991, and August 27, 1992. The showrunners for the third production season were Al Jean and Mike Reiss who executive produced 22 episodes for the season, while two other episodes were produced by James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, and Sam Simon, with it being produced by Gracie Films and 20th Century Fox Television. An additional episode, "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?", aired on August 27, 1992, after the official end of the third season and is included on the Season 3 DVD set. Season three won six Primetime Emmy Awards for "Outstanding Voice-Over Performance" and also received a nomination for "Outstanding Animated Program" for the episode "Radio Bart". The complete season was released on DVD in Region 1 on August 26, 2003, Region 2 on October 6, 2003, and in Region 4 on October 22, 2003.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Richmond & Coffman 1997, p. 228.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase". BBC. Archived from the original on December 5, 2011. Retrieved February 15, 2007.
  3. 1 2 3 Keeler, Ken (2006). The Simpsons The Complete Eighth Season DVD commentary for the episode "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  4. 1 2 Alberti, pp. 155–156
  5. 1 2 3 Groening, Matt (2006). The Simpsons The Complete Eighth Season DVD commentary for the episode "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  6. ↑ Long, Tim; Meyer, George; Scully, Mike; Kirkland, Mark (May 21, 2000). "Behind the Laughter". The Simpsons. Season 11. Episode 248. Fox.
  7. 1 2 3 Weinstein, Josh (2006). The Simpsons The Complete Eighth Season DVD commentary for the episode "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  8. 1 2 Cohen, David X. (2006). The Simpsons The Complete Eighth Season DVD commentary for the episode "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  9. ↑ Greaney, Dan (2006). The Simpsons The Complete Eighth Season DVD commentary for the episode "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  10. ↑ Vitti, John; Silverman, David; Oakley, Bill; Weinstein, Josh (December 3, 1995). "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular". The Simpsons. Season 7. Episode 138. Fox.
  11. 1 2 3 Alberti, pp. 158–159
  12. 1 2 3 Smith, Yeardley (2006). The Simpsons The Complete Eighth Season DVD commentary for the episode "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Olly Richards (May 24, 2007). "Life In Development Hell". Empire . p. 76.
  14. ↑ Dan Snierson (April 15, 1999). "Matt Groening tells EW Online about the lost 'Simpsons' spin-off". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on April 9, 2008. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
  15. ↑ Groening, Matt (2006). The Simpsons The Complete Seventh Season DVD commentary for the episode "22 Short Films About Springfield" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  16. ↑ Weinstein, Josh (2006). The Simpsons The Complete Seventh Season DVD commentary for the episode "22 Short Films About Springfield" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  17. ↑ Groening, Matt (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "A Streetcar Named Marge" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  18. ↑ Oakley, Bill (2006). The Simpsons The Complete Seventh Season DVD commentary for the episode "Homerpalooza" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  19. ↑ Alberti, p. 154
  20. ↑ "The Simpsons Spinoff Showcase". Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  21. 1 2 Alberti, pp. 156–157
  22. ↑ Alberti, p. 160
  23. ↑ "Prime-time Ratings". The Orange County Register . May 14, 1997. p. F02.
  24. ↑ "The Simpsons in Australia, March to July 1997". simpsonsgazette.tripod.com. Archived from the original on September 4, 2014. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  25. ↑ "The best Simpsons episodes, Nos. 16-20". Entertainment Weekly. February 6, 2003. Archived from the original on May 10, 2007. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
  26. ↑ Ballard, Allison (August 21, 2005). "Wilmington Walk of Fame 'Simpsons' writer Don Payne — Master of his D'oh-main Don Payne left the Port City years ago for Springfield, but he'll always be a celebrity in his hometown". Star-News (Wilmington, NC). p. 1D, 5D.
  27. ↑ Mullinax, Gary (March 16, 2003). "Homer's Odyssey". The News Journal . pp. 14, 15, 16H.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.