History Recap / TheSimpsonsS7E10TheSimpsons138thEpisodeSpectacular

Troy [=McClure=], whom you may remember from such Fox Network specials as ''Alien Nose Job'' and ''Five Fabulous Weeks of Series/TheChevyChaseShow'', opens the program with a look at creator Creator/MattGroening -- depicted as a crazed, [[UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies right-wing]] Southerner who came up with the Simpsons to pay off his gambling debts -- and clips from the original ''Series/TheTraceyUllmanShow'' shorts. After that, there's:

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Creator/MattGroening was drawn to look like Creator/JohnFord, James L. Brooks is drawn like Rich Uncle Pennybags from ''Monopoly'', and Sam Simon is drawn like Creator/HowardHughes.

* Real deleted scenes, including Krusty getting cancelled after his arrest for trying to sell a pornographic photo book to minors in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E22KrustyGetsKancelled Krusty Gets Kancelled]]" (and a subsequent scene where Krusty is told his show is canceled and will be replaced with a hemorrhoid informercial, with Krusty begging to play either a hemorrhoid sufferer or one of the "After" guys); Homer's head being used as a bowling ball in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E5TreehouseOfHorrorIV The Devil and Homer Simpson]]"[[note]](along with Bart trying to sell his soul for a Formula-One racing car, and Lionel Hutz coming back with a box of pizza, thinking he lost the case, but when Marge tells him they won, he reveals the box was empty all along)[[/note]]; Homer eating food from his mom's undelivered care packages and talking about how he's taking the nuclear plant down from the inside in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E8MotherSimpson Mother Simpson]]", Apu showing a Bollywood film to The Simpsons in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E13HomerAndApu Homer and Apu]]"; Mr. Burns using a robotic Richard Simmons to scare Homer away in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E18BurnsHeir Burns' Heir]]"; and a montage of alternate scenes made for "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E1WhoShotMrBurnsPartTwo Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part Two]]" to keep the real shooter's identity secret until broadcast, presenting everyone from Moe to Tito Puente to Santa's Little Helper as the culprit. This is followed by a complete alternate ending in which Smithers turned out to be the culprit all along (which would have conflicted with the plot point about the attempted murderer being someone having Simpson family DNA).

** Groening is portrayed as an old, bald, gun-toting maniac who shoots at the camera crew who tries to interview him.

* DomesticOnlyCartoon: To date, this is the only episode to be fully animated in America, with no Korean outsourcing involved. This is because there was very little new footage that needed animating, and what little was required was just the outside shot of the Springfield Amphitheater (with the sign gag that the next day's event is an "Alternate Lifestyle Prom"), and all the scenes involving Troy sitting, standing and talking to the audience. The episode was also digitally colored in America.

Troy [=McClure=], whom you may remember from such Fox Network specials as ''Alien Nose Job'' and ''Five Fabulous Weeks of ''Series/TheChevyChaseShow'', opens the program with a look at creator Creator/MattGroening -- depicted as a crazed, [[UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies right-wing]] Southerner who came up with the Simpsons to pay off his gambling debts -- and clips from the original ''Series/TheTraceyUllmanShow'' shorts. After that, there's:

Troy [=McClure=], whom you may remember from such Fox Network specials as ''Alien Nose Job'' and ''Five Fabulous Weeks of [[Creator/ChevyChase The Chevy Chase Show]]'', opens the program with a look at creator Creator/MattGroening -- depicted as a crazed, [[UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies right-wing]] Southerner who came up with the Simpsons to pay off his gambling debts -- and clips from the original ''Series/TheTraceyUllmanShow'' shorts. After that, there's:

* BitingTheHandHumor: Troy [=McClure's=] self-introduction (see above) mocks some of Fox's most embarrassing efforts of TheNineties -- the DocumentaryOfLies ''Alien Autopsy'' and ''The Chevy Chase Show'', a late night talk 1993 show that lasted less than two months.

* TakeThat: There's one to the O.J. Simpson criminal trial's jury, when it's noted that the Smithers-as-culprit ending to "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E1WhoShotMrBurnsPartTwo Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part Two]]" could not work because it would require ignoring "all the Simpson [=DNA=] evidence", which was what the jury was accused of doing.

* TakeThat: There's one to the O.J. Simpson criminal trial's jury, when it's noted that the Smithers-as-culprit ending to "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E1WhoShotMrBurnsTwo Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part Two]]" could not work because it would require ignoring "all the Simpson [=DNA=] evidence", which was what the jury was accused of doing.

* Real deleted scenes, including Krusty getting cancelled after his arrest for trying to sell a pornographic photo book to minors in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E22KrustyGetsKancelled Krusty Gets Kancelled]]" (and a subsequent scene where Krusty is told his show is canceled and will be replaced with a hemorrhoid informercial, with Krusty begging to play either a hemorrhoid sufferer or one of the "After" guys); Homer's head being used as a bowling ball in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E5TreehouseOfHorrorIV The Devil and Homer Simpson]]"[[note]](along with Bart trying to sell his soul for a Formula-One racing car, and Lionel Hutz coming back with a box of pizza, thinking he lost the case, but when Marge tells him they won, he reveals the box was empty all along)[[/note]]; Homer eating food from his mom's undelivered care packages and talking about how he's taking the nuclear plant down from the inside in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E8MotherSimpson Mother Simpson]]", Apu showing a Bollywood film to The Simpsons in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E13HomerAndApu Homer and Apu]]"; Mr. Burns using a robotic Richard Simmons to scare Homer away in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E18BurnsHeir Burns' Heir]]"; and a montage of alternate scenes made for "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E1WhoShotMrBurnsPartTwo Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two)]]" to keep the real shooter's identity secret until broadcast, presenting everyone from Moe to Tito Puente to Santa's Little Helper as the culprit. This is followed by a complete alternate ending in which Smithers turned out to be the culprit all along (which would have conflicted with the plot point about the attempted murderer being someone having Simpson family DNA).

* TakeThat: There's one to the O.J. Simpson criminal trial's jury, when it's noted that the Smithers-as-culprit ending to "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsWhoShotMrBurns Who Shot Mr. Burns?]]" could not work because it would require ignoring "all the Simpson [=DNA=] evidence", which was what the jury was accused of doing.

** Note that, in the context of the scene, he's wrong, since the alternate ending still includes Burns' fight with Maggie, so the DNA evidence would simply become a red herring.

Episode - 3F31\\
First Aired - 12/3/1995

* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Troy McLure hosts the episode in the Museum of [=TV=] and Television.