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"The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" is the twenty-fourth episode of the eighth season of ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 11, 1997. 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 TV series. The first fictional spin-off is ''Chief Wiggum P.I.'', a cop-drama 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. The episode was written by David S. 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, and Tim Conway, Gailard Sartain and Phil Hartman guest-starred. The producers were initially uneasy about the episode, as they feared that the purposely bad writing would pass off as actual bad writing. The episode, however, now figures on several lists of the most popular ''Simpsons'' episodes. ==Plot== Troy McClure hosts a television special from the museum of television introducing three spin-offs productions, created using characters from ''The Simpsons''. The Fox network only has three filled slots for the next season and so commissions the producers of ''The Simpsons'' to create thirty-five new shows. The producers instead decided to create just three new shows. ''Chief Wiggum, P.I.'' is a cop-drama 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 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 disappears 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 Orlans bayou (in reality the Louisiana governor's mansion which Big Daddy has 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, always in more sexy and exciting ways". ''The Love-matic Grampa'' is a sitcom-style television series about Moe's love life. 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'' is a comedy show featuring various songs and sketches in a parody of The Brady Bunch Hour. It features Homer, Marge, Bart, and Maggie. Lisa refuses to participate, but is replaced by an attractive blonde bombshell (voiced by Pamela Hayden). 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 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 magic powers, the discovery of Bart's two long lost identical 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. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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