The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular

"The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular"
The Simpsons episode
File:Troy138th.JPG
Episode no.	Season 7
Directed by	David Silverman
Written by	Jon Vitti
Original air dates	December 3, 1995
Episode features
Chalkboard gag	" I will only do this once a year "
Couch gag	Twelve different previously aired couch gags (see "Couch Gag Montage" section).
Commentary	Matt Groening Bill Oakley Josh Weinstein Jon Vitti George Meyer

"The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular" is the tenth episode of The Simpsons' seventh season, and is, as the title suggests, the 138th episode (though, in production order, this would be the 155th). The episode aired on December 3, 1995, and is the third clip show episode of The Simpsons. As with the Halloween specials, the episode is considered non-canon and outside of the show's regular continuity.

Introduction

Announcer: Live, from the Springfield Civic Auditorium—it's The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular!
(trumpet fanfare; Troy McClure enters)
Troy McClure: Hello, I'm Troy McClure. You may remember me from such Fox network specials as Alien Nose Job and five fabulous weeks of The Chevy Chase Show. Tonight, we're here to honor America's favorite non-prehistoric cartoon family. You'll see long-lost footage, never-before-seen material from your favorite episodes, old favorites you can't see in syndication. (showing clips from previous episodes) So join me, won't you, for The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular.

Opening credits

The normal medium-length credits appear (features only the chalkboard and couch), except it says "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular! - 23% New Footage".

Couch gag montage

Instead of one couch gag, the episode has a montage of couch gags:

• The couch transforming into a brown monster and swallows the family (from A Streetcar Named Marge)
• Homer, Marge, and Bart running out of the film frame on their way to the couch (from Lisa the Beauty Queen)
• The Simpsons sitting on the couch, followed by many secondary characters joining the family in viewing TV (from Marge vs. the Monorail)
• The Simpsons are microsized (from Homer's Triple Bypass)
• Santa’s Little Helper growling before the family can sit on the couch (from Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk)
• The Simpsons getting crushed by the foot from Monty Python's Flying Circus (from Homer Goes To College)
• The family's heights being reversed [with Maggie the biggest and Homer the smallest] (from A Star is Burns)
• The living room is depicted as M.C. Escher’s “Relativity” (from Homer the Great)
• The Simpsons chasing the couch as it slides down an endless hallway (from Homer Badman)
• The family swimming to the couch (from Lisa's Rival)
• The family as pie-eyed, 1930s cartoon characters (from Bart's Comet)
• The Simpsons joining in on a showbiz extravaganza (from Lisa's First Word)

Plot

File:Simpsons good night.jpg

Simpsons "Good Night" Short

Troy McClure hosts this episode, which looks back at the show and also offers never-before-seen outtakes. Many questions fans often ask finally have their answer revealed, such as a question about Smithers' sexuality showing footage scenes about Smithers' homsexuality is suggested, but McClure is inconclusive about his sexuality; and about Homer's stupidity showing footage scenes from Homer doing stupid things. It also takes a look at who Matt Groening, James L. Brooks, and Sam Simon are. Groening is portrayed as a Southern patriot who wields a gun, is bald, and has an eye patch (he ends up shooting the camera placed in his office for the audience to see him), Brooks is seen as Rich Uncle Pennybags from Monopoly, and Simon's appearance resembles Howard Hughes. It is also revealed that, according to McClure, Homer's original name in The Simpsons was "Captain Wacky".

In the episode, Troy McClure shows clips from The Tracey Ullman Show, including "Good Night", the first short. The episode also shows the highly popular deleted scene from "Burns' Heir", where instead of merely shutting the door in Homer's face, Mr. Burns releases the "robotic Richard Simmons", which immediately starts dancing to KC and the Sunshine Band's (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty". After a few seconds, Homer runs away screaming. The robot then turns on Mr. Burns. Smithers tries to kill it with a shotgun, but it heals itself resembling a scene from Terminator 2. Shortly after, its "ass" goes into overdrive and starts shaking uncontrollably. Smithers exclaims, "Its ass is gonna blow!" and ushers Mr. Burns and Bart inside. The robot then explodes in a small mushroom cloud and its head lands on the driveway. Among the other deleted scenes for other episodes are a scene from "Mother Simpson" where Homer is eating the candies she sent to him by mail, a scene from "Homer and Apu" where Apu is watching a Indian movie with the Simpson family and three deleted scenes from the segment "The Devil and Homer Simpson" of Treehouse of Horror IV. The episode also offers alternative endings to Part Two of "Who Shot Mr. Burns?", most of which consisted of random characters shooting Mr. Burns, followed by a more elaborate ending where Smithers is revealed to be the assailant. The alternate endings were created to prevent any staff, be it writers, editors, hangers on or even overseas animators, on the Simpsons from spoiling the mystery.

At the end of the episode, Troy McClure says: "I'm Troy McClure and now it's time for what we all came to see: hardcore nudity!", with a montage of scenes of only bare butts on The Simpsons playing over the end credits, while KC and the Sunshine Band's "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty" plays in the background.

Notes

• Due to the "picture" of Matt Groening and the subsequent cash register joke, Groening frequently receives mail from several right-wing groups applauding him.
• "Matt Groening" is also shown wearing the same clothes as Grandpa Simpson.
• When the list of people who work on The Simpsons goes by, David X. Cohen's name is spelled DAVIOD, and some people are listed more than once (requires freeze frame).

• On the DVD commentary George Meyer points out that because of the Tracy Ullman shorts in the episode, this clip show features clips from a different series.
• In the first "Simpsons Trivia" blurb, the announcer says the cash register says "NRA4EVR". When paused, the cash register says $847.63 (which was the monthly cost of raising a baby in 1989).
• In the second "Simpsons Trivia" blurb, it states that Dr. Marvin Monroe died in the past year, but he later appeared in the episode "Diatribe of a Mad Housewife" claiming that he had been "very sick" (though, the episode never states Monroe is dead, just the ultimate joke that Monroe and Bleeding Gums Murphy were never popular characters. However, this is questioned because people were sad about Murphy's death. Also, it is unclear who the popular characters who died were).
• The Simmons outtake was a real scene that got cut as there are distinctive outlines of the door where the robot comes out on the finished episode. The scene was cut because the writers didn't think it was funny, nor did it do well with a test audience. However, it always gets laughs when shown at college screenings and animation conventions [1]. Because Richard Simmons isn't widely known outside the United States, the Latin American translation changes the name of Simmons to Lorenzo Lamas, son of Fernando Lamas and star of the TV Show Renegade, and the Italian translation changes it into "Mr. Ginnasta Robotico" (Mr. Robotic Gymnast).
• Concerning the false endings of "Who Shot Mr. Burns?", Troy McClure comments that if Waylon Smithers had been the gunman, "then we would have to ignore all of the Simpson DNA evidence, and that would be downright nutty!" This is a sly reference to the O.J. Simpson Trial in which many people claim DNA evidence was ignored, leading to a false acquittal.
• In the false ending, Mr. Burns punishes Mr. Smithers with a pay cut, despite terminating him in the first part of the episode.
• The "old favorites you can't see in syndication" are not addressed later in the episode.
• During the hardcore nudity montage, a scene of Homer and Marge covering up their bodies while in bed was an actual outtake from the "Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy" episode. It was replaced with a scene with much less nudity.

External links

"The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular episode capsule". The Simpsons Archive.