Unoriginal writing The episode "
The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" was a satire over unoriginal, poor television writing and references and parodies many TV shows. The episode features three
spin-off ideas for
The Simpsons show, which also functions as a critique of spin-offs in general.
Troy McClure introduces the three spin-offs as a host of the episode, something he had previously done in the episode "
The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular". The three segments were: •
Chief Wiggum, P.I. is a parody of police-dramas, such as
Miami Vice,
Magnum, P.I. and
Starsky & Hutch.
Seymour Skinner emulates Don Johnson from
Miami Vice in order to look scruffier. •
The Simpson Family Smile-Time Variety Hour is a parody of the 1960s and 1970s live variety shows. Mainly it is 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. The Simpson family is made to look like
The Partridge Family. Also, the segment holds numerous references to
Laugh-In,
The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, and
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. It was also an intentional call back to the first season episode "
Krusty Gets Busted" where it was a catchphrase of
Krusty the Clown. When people in the episode eventually got tired of the catchphrase "I didn't do it", Lisa tells Bart that now "you can go back to just being you, instead of a one-dimensional character with a silly catchphrase". The episode ends with a self-referential scene in which several characters say their catchphrases, including the Simpsons,
Ned Flanders,
Nelson Muntz,
Mr. Burns and
Barney Gumble. The episode "
Behind the Laughter" was a parody of the music documentary series
Behind the Music, which was popular during the episode's production. It tells the fictional history of the
Simpson family and how they got into show business; from their weak beginnings to their exceptional prosperity. A television show, a recording contract, a lot of awards, and countless wealth follow
Homer's inadequate video "
pilot". It took the writers a long time to conceptualize the show, as they were unsure whether to make Homer a filmmaker or make the characters unaware they were being filmed. The writers had particular fun writing over the top, melodramatic lines "tortured metaphors," many of which were penned by producer
David Mirkin. In the clip show "
The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular", the entire setup of
Troy McClure presenting the episode is a parody of the practice by live-action series to produce clip shows in general. The parody was done by celebrating a completely random milestone and by making exaggerated use of the conventions of traditional highlight shows, such as a grand introduction and relentlessly showbizzy host. Considered a spoof of television clip shows, the episode is seen drawing attention to prevailing televisual conventions and reminds viewers that
The Simpsons itself participates actively in that same cultural legacy. Simone Knox referred to it in her article
Reading the Ungraspable Double-Codedness of "The Simpsons" as not simply a clip show, "but a ‘clip show’ that looks at the series with a sense of hyper-self-consciousness about its own textuality".
Self reflectivity One of the goals of showrunners
Bill Oakley and
Josh Weinstein was to create several episodes in each season which would "push the envelope conceptually". The idea for the episode "
Homer's Enemy" was first conceived by Oakley who thought that Homer should have an enemy. The thought evolved into the concept of a "real world" co-worker who would either love or hate Homer. The writers chose the latter as they thought it would have funnier results. In the episode, Homer is portrayed as an everyman and the embodiment of the American spirit; however, in some scenes his negative characteristics and silliness are prominently highlighted. The episode states the series turned to "gimmicky premises and nonsensical plots" as ratings dipped, and uses a clip from the season nine episode "
The Principal and the Pauper" to get that point across: a highly controversial episode that many fans and critics panned. The staff, amused with the idea, decided to write this episode as a commentary on what it was like to work on a television show that had been on the air for several years. Parallel to Poochie being introduced on Itchy & Scratchy, they inserted the one-time character Roy, with no explanation as to who he was, or why he was there, as a reference to the executive's proposal. Usually, this is a technique used in shows that involves children who have grown up. This was the case in "Oliver" in
The Brady Bunch or "Luke" on
Growing Pains. The episode was intended to be a commentary on what it was like to work on a television show that had been on the air for a long time but was nearing its end. It was intended to show that
The Simpsons could still be good after eight seasons, even though it no longer had the "shock value" it did in the early years.
The Simpsons would, in a later episode "
The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase," mock the addition of
The Great Gazoo into some of the final episodes of
The Flintstones by stating that, in future episodes, Homer would meet a green space alien named Ozmodiar that only he can see.
Commercialism Television advertisements are also parodied. As an example there is a song and visual sequence in the episode "
The Last Temptation of Krust" that was modeled after
Ford commercials. The sequence is a parody of a commercial for a sport utility vehicle, and
Hank Williams Jr. sings a song about the fictional "Canyonero" accompanied by
country guitar music and whip cracks. The song "Canyonero" closely resembles the theme to the 1960s television series
Rawhide. The first verse of the song is: "Can you name the car with a four-wheel drive / Smells like a steak and seats thirty-five? / Canyonero! / Canyonero!" Turner wrote positively of the Canyonero spoof piece in
Planet Simpson, calling it "a brilliant parody of an SUV ad". In an article in the journal
Environmental Politics Steve Vanderheiden commented that the Canyonero reflected an "anti-SUV" stance by
The Simpsons. In an article in the
San Francisco Chronicle about SUV owners, Vicki Haddock wrote "SUV owners have become something of a punch line, succinctly captured in a "Simpsons" parody touting the apocryphal Canyonero [...]" In his book
Watching with The Simpsons: Television, Parody, and Intertextuality, Jonathan Gray analyses a scene from the episode "
Girly Edition" in which it is announced that
Kidz News has been replaced by the children's cartoon
The Mattel and Mars Bar Quick Energy Chocobot Hour (a reference to the Mattel toys and the
Mars chocolate bar). He says this mocks "how many children's programs have become little more than the ad to the merchandise". Gray also writes that
The Simpsons "illustrates how the ad as genre has itself already invaded many, if not all, genres. Ads and marketing do not limit themselves to the space between programs; rather, they are themselves textual invaders, and part of
The Simpsons parodic attack on ads involves revealing their hiding places in other texts." ==Animation==