The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular
[1] The "138th Episode Spectacular" was written by Jon Vitti and directed by David Silverman, and is a parody of the common practice among live-action series to produce clip shows.
McClure starts the episode by showing a brief presentation of how The Simpsons series was conceived by Matt Groening, James L. Brooks, and Sam Simon.
Fox network officials reasoned that clip shows could be produced at half the cost of a normal episode, but syndication rights could be sold at full price.
The staff tried to entertain themselves while producing the clip show, and Oakley said by having the only actor be Phil Hartman as Troy McClure, it was "guaranteed to be fun".
[6] Troy McClure is shown put off after watching "Good Night", the very first short produced for The Simpsons, and falls asleep while deleted scenes from various episodes are being played.
[6][7] The fan mail segment showed letters supposedly sent in by distinguished professors and diplomats; Oakley said the joke was that no one of their pedigrees would actually watch the series, let alone write to the staff.
Creator Matt Groening is shown as a "radical right-wing" conservative and active gun user who supports the National Rifle Association, which is a deliberate subversion of the political stance most of the staff actually have.
The original clip went on for a few seconds longer, but had to be trimmed down in order to remove portions that showed "Mr. Burns land[ing] in a particular position on Smithers' anatomy".
To the production staff's surprise, the scene would make the audience "erupt with laughter" when screened at animation conventions and college presentations, so they decided to insert it in this episode.
The five shorts used in this episode are "Good Night" and "Bathtime", which were featured in their entirety, and portions of "The Perfect Crime", "Space Patrol", and "World War III".
[18] The deleted scene from "$pringfield (or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)" in which Homer plays blackjack with James Bond parodies the 1967 film Casino Royale.
[19] The deleted scene from "Burns' Heir" in which the robotic Richard Simmons is shot through the head and repairs itself parodies the liquid metal T-1000 in the 1991 film Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
[13] The show's producers are depicted as animated characters in the introduction: Groening is a bald Southern patriot who wields a gun wearing an eye patch, a reference to the promotional poster of the 1970 film Patton, and his own comic strip Life in Hell;[16] Brooks is seen as Rich Uncle Pennybags, the tycoon from Monopoly; and Simon's appearance resembles Howard Hughes.
[20] One of Smithers' fantasies is a parody of Marilyn Monroe's famous happy birthday song to President John F. Kennedy, while another one is an allusion to Peter Pan flying through the window.
"[24] Considered a spoof of television clip shows, the episode is seen drawing attention to prevailing televisual conventions and reminds viewers that The Simpsons itself participates actively in that same cultural legacy.
[25] The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, thought that "the out-takes [were] up to standard" and said that the episode contains "a number of great self-referential moments".
[25] DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson said even though the episode is a clip show, it "gussies up the concept with some interesting elements, and keeps repetitive material to a minimum.
