Production
Ken Keeler came up with the idea for the episode from the one sentence statement: "Let's do spin-offs". His idea was to use intentionally bad writing and "crazy plots", which underlines their critique of spin-offs in general. After he had pitched the idea it was decided that "it was an idea that ought to work pretty well" and production went ahead. 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. The idea was later explored in the season 11 episode "Behind the Laughter". 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. Even though Keeler came up with the story, David S. Cohen, Dan Greaney and Steve Tompkins wrote the scripts for the three segments. Cohen wrote Chief Wiggum P.I., Greaney wrote Love-matic Grampa and Tompkins wrote The Simpson Family Smile-Time Variety Hour.
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 fitted 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.
Three guest stars appear in the episode; Phil Hartman as Troy McClure, Tim Conway as himself and Gailard Sartain as Big Daddy. McClure is used as a host of the episode, something he had previously done in the episode "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular". Conway appears as himself. Conway, a comic veteran, is known for his work on The Carol Burnett Show, which has a similar format to The Simpson Family Smile-Time Variety Hour. Due to Lisa being substituted for an older teenager in the third segment, Yeardley Smith only has one line in the entire episode.
Read more about this topic: The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase
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