The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase unoriginal, poor television writing and references and parodies many television series. When Troy McClure mentions that Fox can only fill up three slots for the next season, the three series are "Melrose Place", "The X-Files" and "The Simpsons" itself. In the museum of television, Troy walks by posters of spin-offs, such as "The Ropers" (spun off from "Three's Company"), "Laverne & Shirley" (spun off from "Happy Days"), "Rhoda", a show that Julie Kavner, the voice of Marge, once starred in, (spun off from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show") and "Fish" (spun off from "Barney Miller"), to demonstrate the power of
James L. Brooks the short-lived series "Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers" in 1974. He and Burns moved on to "Rhoda", a spin-off of "Mary Tyler Moore", taking Valerie Harper's character Rhoda Morgenstern into her own show. It was well received, lasting four years and earning Brooks several Emmys. The duo's next project came in 1977 in the shape of "Lou Grant", a second "Mary Tyler Moore" spin-off, which they created along with Tinker. Unlike its source however, the series was a drama starring Edward Asner as Grant. James Brown of the Museum of Broadcast Communications said it "explore[d] a knotty issue facing