History Recap / TheSimpsonsS8E24TheSimpsonsSpinOffShowcase

* ReroutedFromHeaven: Grandpa gets hit by a car, his WingedSoulFliesOffAtDeath but collides with a plane and falls back to Earth. As the intro says he "floated up toward Heaven and got lost along the way".
* SpecialGuest: Phil Hartman as Troy [=McClure=] and Tim Conway AsHimself.

* TakeThat: Pretty meta with ''The Love-Matic Grampa'', because ''Series/MyMotherTheCar'' is an old shame for series producer James L Brooks.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Beaver Bart taking advantage of the fact he lives in a dam [[note]]A common misconception: Beavers actually live in lodges[[/note]] in order to be able to say, "Hey, could you two close the damn door?".

'''The Love-matic Grampa''' (Cheesy fantasy sitcoms of TheSixties, ''My Mother, the Car'' in particular) -- Having "got lost along the way" to Heaven, Abe Simpson's spirit now inhabits the "love tester" machine at Moe's Tavern and gives the bartender tips on how to win over women. In this episode, Abe helps Moe score a date with a woman who enters his bar for roadside assistance, and secretly gives Moe love tips during their fancy dinner--some better than others.

'''The Love-matic Grampa''' (Cheesy fantasy sitcoms of TheSixties, ''My Mother, the Car'' in particular) -- Having "got lost along the way" to Heaven, Abe Simpson's spirit now inhabits the "love tester" machine at Moe's Tavern and gives the bartender tips on how to win over women.

'''Chief Wiggum P.I.''' (Police action shows from the 1970s and 1980s) -- The corrupt, now-former Chief of the Springfield Police Department, Clancy Wiggum, has gone into business for himself in New Orleans with Seymour "Skinny Boy" Skinner (aching to return to his Big Easy roots) along for the ride. In this episode, Chief Wiggum's son Ralph gets kidnapped by a Southern crime lord and Clancy and Skinner must find him.

'''Chief Wiggum P.I.''' (Police action shows from the 1970s and 1980s) -- The corrupt, now-former Chief of the Springfield Police Department, Clancy Wiggum, has gone into business for himself in New Orleans with Seymour "Skinny Boy" Skinner (aching to return to his Big Easy roots) along for the ride. In this episode, Chief Wiggum's son gets kidnapped by a Southern crime lord and Clancy and Skinner must find him.

'''The Simpson Family Smile-Time Variety Hour''' (Variety shows of TheSeventies, specifically ''The Brady Bunch Hour'' and ''Laugh-In''): The Simpsons, minus Lisa -- who declined to participate and is replaced by a blonde teenager -- host a cornball 1960s sketch comedy show, with special guest star Tim Conway.

* MissingMom: Sarah, for some reason, is nowhere to be found in ''Chief Wiggum P.I.''

* HyperCompetentSidekick: Skinner is this to Wiggum. Wiggum is every bit as an inept as you would expect given his track record. Skinner is actually the smart one who does all the real work.

* ShoutOut: After being beaten up by the bully trio ([[DisproportionateRetribution for calling Kearney gay]]), the Love-Matic Grampa sings ''Music/{{Daisy}}'' ala [[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey HAL 2000]].

** This wasn't the first episode that gave some of the Springfield recurring characters ADayInTheLimelight; the previous season had the ''[[TheSimpsonsS7E2122ShortFilmsAboutSpringfield 22 Short Films About Springfield]]'' episode, which also served as the pilot for a potential spinoff titled "Tales of Springfield", albeit that one had the series' usual tone and none of the (intentional) bad writing this episode had.

* PoesLaw: Some fans mistook the StylisticSuck throughout the episode for actual bad writing. Creator/MattGroening was worried that fans would react this way.

Troy [=McClure=] reveals that Fox is desperately trying to create new shows for their Sunday night line-up, believing the "only" popular shows on the network were ''Series/MelrosePlace'', ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' and ''Series/TheXFiles''.[[note]]With the likes of fellow hit shows ''Series/{{Martin}}'', ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'', and ''Series/LivingSingle'' were either on their way to being canceled or already gone.[[/note]]

Initially, this episode was made due to FOX asking Creator/MattGroening and his crew from ''The Simpsons'' to come up with a brand-new show. They didn't come up with any[[note]]though they would later with ''Futurama''[[/note]], but they ''did'' supply three pilots for ''Simpsons'' spinoffs:

-->'''Abe:''' [[RefugeInAudacity You buried me naked and sold my suit to buy a ping-pong table!]]

* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: Wiggum is twice shown to be a really bad shot, first in the above GunsAkimbo scene and again when he misses wildly with a alligator that is just a few feet away from him.

* GayCowboy: In ''The Simpson Family Smile-Time Variety Hour'', Smithers dresses as a cowboy and sings about whipping it good with a liquorice whip.

* ShoutOut: After being beaten up by the bully trio ([[DisproportomateRetribution for calling Kearney gay]]), the Love-Matic Grampa sings ''Music/{{Daisy}}'' ala [[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey HAL 2000]].

-->'''Grandpa:''' That's the second time he's pulled the plugon me.

* ShoutOut: After being beaten up by the bully trio (for calling Kearney gay), the Love-Matic Grampa sings ''Music/{{Daisy}}'' ala [[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey HAL 2000]].

* TheBigEasy: The setting of ''Chief Wiggum P.I.'', and according to its backstory, Skinner's birthplace. Wiggum uses two other nicknames for New Orleans: "Sweet Lady Gumbo" and "Old Swampy".

* DinnerWithTheBoss: The beaver sketch in ''The Simpson Family Smile-Time Variety Hour''.

* GreatGazoo: Ozmodiar is a parody, and the original TropeNamer for this trope.

* SpecialEditionTitle: This is one of the few episodes between the first season and the high-definition episodes to not have the traditional opening with Bart [[WritingLines writing lines]] and/or a CouchGag.

* ThemeTuneRollCall: ''The Simpson Family Smile-Time Variety Hour''.