KRUSTY GETS BUSTED

"'Krusty Gets Busted'" is the 12th episode of the first season of ''The Simpsons''. The episode originally aired April 29, 1990. This episode marks the first full-fledged appearances of Krusty the Clown, Itchy & Scratchy and also the first speaking appearance of Sideshow Bob.

Contents

Plot

Debut Appearances

Continuity Errors

Cultural references

A first look at "The Krusty the Clown Show"

External links

Plot

As Bart and Lisa watch ''The Krusty the Clown Show'', Marge calls Homer at work, asking him to stop by the Kwik-E-Mart on his way home since she is expecting a visit from Patty and Selma. While at the Kwik-E-Mart, Homer encounters a masked clown, who resembles Krusty the Clown, pointing a gun at Apu. Homer describes the suspect to a police sketch artist, and the resulting portrait is none other than Krusty the Clown. A SWAT team barges into Krusty's home to take him into custody. At the precinct, Homer is able to identify Krusty as the culprit. Later that night, Homer arrives home in time to see the news report on Krusty's crime. Bart is disillusioned to think that his hero could be a criminal.
Krusty's trial begins and Bart tries to stop Homer from taking the stand, but the bailiff takes Bart back to his seat. Homer takes the stand and immediately indicates that Krusty was the clown he saw. Later, Krusty – testifying in his own defense – admits during cross-examination that he is illiterate when he is unable to identify an exhibit in the courtroom. Krusty is found guilty and sentenced to prison. Afterwards, former Krusty sidekick Sideshow Bob takes over as host of "The Krusty the Clown Show", renaming it "Sideshow Bob's Cavalcade of Whimsy" and completely revamping the format. Instead of the usual insane antics and slapstick Krusty was prone to do, the show now features literary classics and educational activities more to Sideshow Bob's liking.
Bart is certain that Krusty is innocent, and convinces Lisa to help him prove it. He and Lisa go to the Kwik-E-Mart and Lisa quickly discovers two vital clues: on the surveillance video, the robber is shown eating a burrito from the microwave, and reading a magazine before committing the robbery. According to a previous TV newscast, Krusty was a heart attack victim and had a pacemaker, which the microwave would have adversely affected. Also, Krusty is illiterate and was therefore unlikely to have been reading a magazine. Lisa, too, begins to suspect that someone may have been out to get Krusty.
Bart guesses that Sideshow Bob would know who did it. The next day, Bart, Lisa and Maggie meet Sideshow Bob at the studio to ask him. A suspicious Bob dismisses their investigations, giving them tickets to his show. On the air, Bob spots an "unhappy child" – Bart – in the audience, and invites him onstage to talk about what's the matter. Bart states his findings, but Bob provides plausible explanations for each claim.
Then, Bob admits that he "has big shoes to fill." That statement echoes through Bart's mind, as he realizes the final link to the mystery: Homer stepped on the tip of the robber's oversized floppy shoes, causing the suspect to cry out in pain; yet, Krusty had small feet. Bart grabs the microphone and accuses Bob of committing the robbery. To prove his point, Bart grabs a mallet and smashes the end of Bob's shoe, causing him to scream in pain. Bart pulls off Bob's shoes to reveal large feet.
Exposed, Bob admits that he framed Krusty out of frustration being constantly on the receiving end of the clown's humiliating (and often painful) gags. He is taken off to jail, swearing revenge on Bart, and the charges are dropped against Krusty. Grateful to be free, Krusty thanks Bart for standing up for the truth and sticking to his convictions.

Debut Appearances

Characters making a first appearance in this episode are:

★ Kent Brockman

★ Scott Christian

★ Judge Roy Snyder

★ Sideshow Bob (seen in The Telltale Head with an afro)

Continuity Errors

''This episode had numerous parts that seemed to be contradictory to other episodes, as is often the case in early Simpsons episodes'':

★ When the Springfield TV News asks if Krusty is busted, they show a picture of Krusty in makeup and a picture of Krusty without makeup, which is contradicted in a later episode, "Homer's Triple Bypass", where Krusty explains that he is pale because of a heart condition.

★ Krusty's claim of illiteracy in this episode is contradicted by many later flashbacks which depict him as capable of reading and, moreover, the later revelation that he is the son of a rabbi and apparently received an extensive rabbinical education. Possibly Krusty's supposed inability to read is due to brain damage from various heavy overindulgences in his long career, something he would naturally prefer not to clarify. However, it might just be possible that he can read Hebrew, but not English. And, he could have learned the language later on. It is even rebuked at the end of the episode - a picture of Krusty thanking Bart is actually signed by Krusty (albeit in crude print, rather than the usual script): "To my best pal Bart love Krusty". Or, as is typical of Krusty, someone else signed the photo for him.

★ This episode says that Krusty is on a different channel from Kent Brockman, but this is contradicted in later episodes.

★ In this episode after Krusty fires Sideshow Bob from the cannon he says "Don't blame me, 'I didn't do it'". This is contradicted in Bart Gets Famous, in which Bart says the line and it is treated as a brand-new line.

Cultural references

★ Rev. Lovejoy calls Krusty The Clown Prince Of Corruption, a reference to The Joker, Batman's arch-nemesis, often called "The Clown Prince of Crime."

★ Black Sox Scandal – The famous line, "Say it ain't so, Joe!" is mimicked when Bart utters, "Say it ain't so, Krusty!"

★ ''The Flintstones'' – Lisa's line, "If cartoons were meant for adults, they'd put them on in prime time", is a stab at The Simpsons' predecessors-in-kind.

★ The Day the Music Died – The Channel 5 pre-trial report, "The Day the Laughter Died", is a play on the common phrase, referring to the plane crash that killed rock stars Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper. It was also used as a title for a future episode

★ ''Hamlet'' – Bart's observation, "Comedy, thy name is Krusty!" is a play on the Hamlet line, "Frailty, thy name is woman!"

★ ''Time'' and ''Newsweek'' - Krusty is shown on the cover of ''Timely'' and ''Newsweekly'' magazines.

★ Romania - Kent Brockman says, "children of all ages, from eight to eighty, hang on each new development like so many Romanian trapeze artists."

★ Krusty the Clown – several references:

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★ He is modeled after a real-life clown named "Rusty Nails".

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★ His birthplace of Tupelo, Mississippi is a reference to Elvis Presley, who was also born in Tupelo.

★ Book Burning - The townspeople participate in a public burning of Krusty memorabilia.

★ "Burning Love" – The title of Elvis Presley's 1972 hit is used as the title of the first Itchy & Scratchy short (as well as another reference to The King).

★ '' – The distinctive theme to the 1960s crime drama plays as Bart and Lisa arrive at the Kwik-E-Mart to begin their investigation of the armed robbery.

★ ''The New York Review of Books'' – Sideshow Bob's version is ''The Springfield Review of Books'', which contains "amusing caricatures of Gore Vidal and Susan Sontag".

★ ''The Man In the Iron Mask'' - Sideshow Bob reads the end of the chapter "An Homeric Song", and announces, "Next week, chapter 35 of ''The Man in the Iron Mask'': 'The Death of a Titan.'"

★ Cole Porter - Bob sings "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" to end his show.

★ Stoicism - Just before Bart announces he has solved the mystery, Bob says, "In ancient Greece, there was a school of thought called stoicism".

★ ''Scooby Doo'' – Sideshow Bob's line, "And I would've gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for these meddling kids", is akin to what the villain says when caught at the end of every "Scooby Doo" episode.

★ ''Tom and Jerry'' – Because this is their first full-fledged appearance, Itchy & Scratchy are a violent parody of the famous MGM cat and mouse duo. Scratchy fills Tom's shoes as the hapless cat, who is forever tormented by Itchy the mouse, an ultra-sadistic version of Jerry. However, unlike Tom and Jerry, Itchy actually succeeds in causing some pain to Scratchy (in Tom and Jerry, Jerry always escapes unharmed).

★ Woodsy Owl – Krusty's poster, "Give a hoot, read a book!" is a spoof of Woodsy Owl's advertising campaign, "Give a hoot, don't pollute!"

★ ''Garfield and Friends'' the plot of this episode is similar to an episode called "Binky Goes Bad" in which Binky the clown is framed for robbery.

★ Beatles - Beatles records and merchandise were burned after John Lennon was quoted saying the Beatles were 'bigger than Jesus'.

A first look at "The Krusty the Clown Show"

Krusty greets his audience:

★ 'Krusty': "Hi, kids! Who do you love?"

★ 'Children in studio': Krusty!

★ 'Krusty': "How much do you love me?"

★ 'Children (along with Bart and Lisa)': "With all our heart!"

★ 'Krusty': "What would you do if I went off the air?"

★ 'Bart, Lisa and Children': "We'd kill ourselves!" audio clip
A little girl named Brittany is celebrating her birthday, and is given a choice of having Krusty sing her a birthday song, or have Sideshow Bob blown out of a cannon. Encouraged by the audience, Brittany chooses the cannon. Krusty loads the cannon with gunpowder (in an effort to make the trick work like it's supposed to), but the cannon fires and rolls offstage, where Bob just flops out of the cannon onto the stage. The audience cheers wildly.
Later is an Itchy & Scratchy cartoon, "Burning Love." Scratchy the cat is sleeping in a hammock, when Itchy (a sadistic mouse) shoots a Fire Arrow at the cat. The arrow hits its intended target, and a burning Scratchy runs in terror. (This was cut out in syndication, despite later episodes featuring more painful methods of torture. Also note that the "Itchy & Scratchy Theme" credit remains in syndication despite the cut.)

External links

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