Krusty Gets Busted
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"Krusty Gets Busted" is the twelfth and penultimate episode of the first season of the American animated television series ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...
''. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on April 29, 1990. The episode was written by Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky and directed by
Brad Bird Philip Bradley Bird (born September 24, 1957) is an American filmmaker, animator, and voice actor. He has had a career spanning over four decades in both animation and Live action, live-action. Bird was born in Montana and grew up in Oregon. He ...
.Krusty Gets Busted
''BBC.co.uk''. Retrieved on August 31, 2008
In the episode, Krusty the Clown is convicted of armed robbery of the Kwik-E-Mart. Believing that Krusty has been framed for it,
Bart Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves List of Bay Area Rapid Transit stations, 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running t ...
and
Lisa Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA" * Lisa, stagename of Japanese singer Lisa Komine (born 1978) * Lisa (South Korean singer) (born 1980) * Lisa (Japanese musician, b ...
investigate the crime and learn that Krusty's sidekick,
Sideshow Bob Robert Underdunk "Bob" Terwilliger Jr., Doctor of Philosophy, PhD, better known as Sideshow Bob, is a recurring antagonist in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Kelsey Grammer and first appeared in the episode "The ...
, is the culprit. This episode marks the first full-fledged appearance of Kent Brockman.
Kelsey Grammer Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955) is an American actor and producer. He gained fame for his role as the psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1984–1993) and its spin-off ''Frasier'' (1993–2004, and again F ...
makes his first guest appearance on the show as the voice of Sideshow Bob, who becomes a recurring character in the series.


Plot

Marge Marge is a feminine given name, a shortened form of Marjorie, Margot or Margaret. Notable Marges include: People * Marge (cartoonist) (1904–1993), pen name of Marjorie Henderson Buell, American cartoonist * Marge Anderson (1932–2013), Ojibwe ...
asks
Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
to pick up ice cream from the Kwik-E-Mart on the way home from work; Homer obliges, and at the Kwik-E-Mart, he sees a man resembling Krusty the Clown committing a robbery. After Homer identifies Krusty in a police lineup, the latter is arrested and convicted, much to the grief of Bart. Taking advantage of the public outrage over Krusty's apparent criminal turn, Apu begins marketing a "clown-repelling" machine gun, while
Reverend Lovejoy The Reverend, Reverend Timothy "Tim" Lovejoy, Jr. is a recurring character in the Animated cartoon, animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the episode "The Telltale Head". Rev. Lovejo ...
arranges a bonfire that the Springfield's residents use to destroy Krusty's merchandise. In Krusty's absence, his sidekick Sideshow Bob becomes the new host of his show, rechristening it as ''The Side-Show Bob Cavalcade of Whimsy'', which focuses on education and classic literature while retaining ''
The Itchy & Scratchy Show ''The Itchy & Scratchy Show'' (often shortened as ''Itchy & Scratchy'') is a Story within a story, fictional animated series featured on ''The Simpsons''. The cartoon depicts a Sadistic personality disorder, sadistic mouse named Itchy who repeat ...
''. Refusing to accept that his idol could have committed a crime, Bart enlists Lisa's help to prove Krusty's innocence. At the crime scene, Bart and Lisa recall that the robber read a magazine and used a
microwave oven A microwave oven, or simply microwave, is an electric oven that heats and cooks food by exposing it to electromagnetic radiation in the microwave frequency range. This induces Dipole#Molecular dipoles, polar molecules in the food to rotate and ...
, which Krusty could not have done as he is illiterate and has an artificial pacemaker, which requires him to avoid microwave radiation. When Bart, Lisa, and Maggie visit Sideshow Bob to learn whether Krusty had any enemies, he gives them tickets to his show. During the live broadcast, Bart is invited on stage with Bob, who dismisses Bart's points about the microwave and magazine. When Bob says he has "big shoes to fill", Bart remembers when Homer stepped on the robber's foot during his robbery, making him react in pain. Despite wearing clown shoes, Krusty has small feet and would not have felt Homer stepping on them. Bart deduces that Sideshow Bob is the culprit, since he had the most to gain from Krusty's downfall and his large feet literally fill his own shoes. To prove this to the audience, Bart hits one of them with a mallet and reveals their size as Bob reacts in pain. While watching the show, the police realize they failed to notice this evidence and head to the studio to arrest Bob, who confesses that he framed Krusty out of frustration for being on the receiving end of the clown's humiliating gags and felt that his true talents were wasted on his show. Now released following his exoneration, Krusty regains the trust of the townspeople, including Wiggum, who apologizes for mistakenly arresting Krusty, and Homer, who apologizes for misidentifying him, as he thanks Bart for his help. Bart hangs a picture of himself shaking hands with Krusty in his bedroom, which is refilled with Krusty decor and merchandise.


Production

Director
Brad Bird Philip Bradley Bird (born September 24, 1957) is an American filmmaker, animator, and voice actor. He has had a career spanning over four decades in both animation and Live action, live-action. Bird was born in Montana and grew up in Oregon. He ...
wanted to open the episode with a close-up of Krusty's face. The staff liked the idea, and he then suggested that all three acts of the episode, defined by the placement of the commercial breaks, should begin with a close-up shot. Act one begins with Krusty's face introducing the audience at his show, act two begins with Krusty's face being locked up behind bars, and act three begins with Sideshow Bob's face on a big poster. Krusty's character is based on a television clown from
Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...
called Rusty Nails, whom ''The Simpsons'' creator
Matt Groening Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is best known as the creator of the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), ''Futurama'' (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2 ...
watched while growing up in Portland. The original
teleplay A teleplay is a screenplay or script used in the production of a scripted television program or series. In general usage, the term is most commonly seen in reference to a standalone production, such as a television film, a television play, or a ...
, written by Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky, was 78 pages long and many scenes had to be cut. One scene that had to be cut down was the scene where Patty and Selma show the slideshow of their vacation; it originally contained images of them being detained for bringing
heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...
into America. "Krusty Gets Busted" is Sideshow Bob's second appearance on ''The Simpsons'' but is his first major appearance. He first appeared as a minor character in the season one episode " The Telltale Head". In that appearance, his design was simpler and his hair was round. However, near the end of the episode, he appears with his more familiar hairstyle. Bob's design was updated for "Krusty Gets Busted", and the animators tried to redo his scenes in "The Telltale Head" with the re-design, but did not have enough time. The script for "Krusty Gets Busted" called for James Earl Jones to voice Bob, but the producers instead went with
Kelsey Grammer Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955) is an American actor and producer. He gained fame for his role as the psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1984–1993) and its spin-off ''Frasier'' (1993–2004, and again F ...
, a cast member on ''
Cheers ''Cheers'' is an American television sitcom, created by Glen and Les Charles, Glen Charles & Les Charles and James Burrows, that aired on NBC for eleven seasons from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/C ...
'' at the time. Grammer based Bob's voice on that of theater director Ellis Rabb. Kent Brockman, Judge Snyder, and Scott Christian make their first appearances on ''The Simpsons'' in this episode.


Cultural references

Chief Wiggum's order during the suspect line-up to "send in the clowns" is an allusion to the
Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March22, 1930November26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. Regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, he is credited with reinventing the American musical. He received Lis ...
song " Send in the Clowns" from the 1973 musical '' A Little Night Music''. The Sondheim musical took its name from
Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
's Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major, ''Eine kleine Nachtmusik'', which is the theme tune to Sideshow Bob's show. The close up shot of Krusty's face behind bars in the beginning of act two is a reference of the closing credit motif of the British television series ''
The Prisoner ''The Prisoner'' is a British television series created by Patrick McGoohan. McGoohan portrays Number Six (The Prisoner), Number Six, an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a The Village (The Prisoner), mysteri ...
'' from the 1960s. The background music in that scene resembles the theme of the television series '' Mission: Impossible'' at one point. Sideshow Bob is reading '' The Man in the Iron Mask'' by
Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...
to the studio audience. The song " Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" by
Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became Standard (music), standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway the ...
is featured in the episode. Following Sideshow Bob's arrest, he mutters to the Simpsons children, "And I would've gotten away with it too, if it weren't for these meddling kids.", which is a reference to a catchphrase from
Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...
's ''
Scooby-Doo ''Scooby-Doo'' is an American media franchise owned by Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Entertainment and created in 1969 by writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears through their animated series, ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'', for Hanna-Barbera (which wa ...
'' franchise, which was airing on ABC as '' A Pup Named Scooby-Doo'' when this episode aired.


Reception

In its original American broadcast, "Krusty Gets Busted" finished 13th in the ratings for the week of April 23–29, 1990, with a
Nielsen rating Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the #Nielsen TV ...
of 16.4. It was the highest rated show on the Fox network that week. The episode received generally positive reviews from critics. Gary Russell and Gareth Roberts, the authors of the book ''I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide'', praised the episode: "The invention of the Simpsons' arch enemy as a lugubrious yet psychotic Englishman in dreadlocks succeeds wonderfully in this super-fast, super-funny episode that works by constantly reversing the audience's expectations." In a DVD review of the first season, David B. Grelck rated this episode a3 (of 5). Colin Jacobson at DVD Movie Guide said in a review that "throughout the episode we found great material; it really seemed clear that the show was starting to turn into the piece we now know and love. It's hard for me to relate any deficiencies" and added that "almost every Bob episode offers a lot of fun, and this episode started that trend in fine style."
Screen Rant ''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and comic books. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publications including Comic Book Resources, Collider, MovieWeb and XDA Developers. ...
called it the best episode of the first season. Series creator Matt Groening listed it as his ninth favorite episode of ''The Simpsons'' and added "I have a peculiar love of TV clownery".


References


Bibliography

*


External links

* * {{Good article 1990 American television episodes Fiction about wrongful convictions The Simpsons season 1 episodes Television episodes directed by Brad Bird Television episodes written by Wallace Wolodarsky Television episodes written by Jay Kogen cs:Simpsonovi (první série)#Je Šáša vinen?