Krusty Gets Busted

"Krusty Gets Busted" is the twelfth episode of The Simpsons' first season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 29, 1990.^[2] The episode was written by Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky, and directed by Brad Bird.^[1] In the episode, Krusty the Clown is convicted of armed robbery of the Kwik-E-Mart. Convinced that Krusty has been framed, Bart and Lisa investigate the incident and discover that Krusty's sidekick, Sideshow Bob, was the culprit.

This episode marks the first full-fledged appearance of Kent Brockman,^[1] and Kelsey Grammer makes his first guest appearance on the show as the voice of Sideshow Bob.^[4] The episode was well received by critics, and it was the highest rated show on the Fox network the week it aired.

Plot

Homer stops by the Kwik-E-Mart on the way home from work, and witnesses a robbery committed by a masked clown, resembling Krusty. He identifies the clown as Krusty to the police, and Krusty is arrested, upsetting Bart, who considers him to be his idol. During his trial the next day, Krusty is revealed to be illiterate. After being called out to the stand, Homer points out Krusty as the robber, and he is convicted and sentenced to jail. The community then gathers up in a public burning as they burn up all of Krusty's merchandise. Krusty's sidekick Sideshow Bob becomes the new host of his show, making it a more educational program. Still refusing to accept that his hero could have committed the crime, Bart enlists the help of a reluctant Lisa and they set out to prove Krusty's innocence.

At the scene of the crime, the pair deduce Krusty could not have been the robber because the robber used the microwave not suitable for those with a pacemaker, and read at the magazine rack. They go to Sideshow Bob with the intention of finding if Krusty had any enemies, but are given tickets to his show. At the live broadcast, Bart is invited up on stage with Bob, where he points out the facts regarding the microwave and magazine, which Bob dismisses. When Bob says he has "a lot of big shoes to fill", Bart remembers how Homer stepped on the robber's foot that made him scream in pain. Bart knew that despite wearing clown shoes all the time, Krusty never would have felt Homer stepping on them due to his small feet. It was then he realized that Sideshow Bob is the real robber, since he had the most to gain in Krusty's downfall and has large feet. The police, having watched the show, realized they wrongfully put Krusty in jail for a crime he did not commit and head down the studio to arrest Sideshow Bob.

Arrested and exposed, Bob confesses that the reason he framed Krusty was out of frustration for constantly being on the receiving end of the clown's humiliating gags. He vows revenge on Bart, setting up a regular plotline in future episodes. The charges against Krusty are dropped and he regains the trust of the community. Homer then apologizes to Krusty for fingering him in court, and Krusty thanks Bart for standing up for the truth and sticking to his convictions, and a picture is taken of the two shaking hands (which Bart later hangs in his bedroom, refilled with Krusty decor).

Production

Kelsey Grammer voiced Sideshow Bob in the episode.

Director Brad Bird wanted to open the episode with a close up of Krusty's face.^[5] 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.^[5] 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.^[5] Krusty's character is based on a television clown from Portland, Oregon, called Rusty Nails, whom The Simpsons creator Matt Groening watched while growing up in Portland.^[6] The original teleplay, written by Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky, was 78 pages long and many scenes had to be cut.^[7] 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 into America.^[7]

Sideshow Bob's first major appearance on The Simpsons was in this episode, but he first appeared in the season one episode "The Telltale Head".^[8] In that appearance, his design was more simple and his hair was round in shape. 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.^[8] The script for "Krusty Gets Busted" called for James Earl Jones to voice Bob, but the producers instead went with Kelsey Grammer, a cast member on Cheers at the time.^[4] Kent Brockman, Judge Snyder, and Scott Christian make their first appearances on The Simpsons in this episode.^[9]

Chief Wiggum's order during the suspect line-up to "send in the clowns" is an allusion to the Stephen Sondheim song "Send in the Clowns" from the 1973 musical A Little Night Music. The Sondheim musical took its name from Mozart's Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major, Eine kleine Nachtmusik, which is the theme tune to Sideshow Bob's show.^[1] 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 from the 1960s.^[1] The background music in that scene resembles the theme of the television series Mission: Impossible at one point.^[1] The line "The Day the Laughter Died", shown during the newscast, is a reference to the Andrew Dice Clay album released the previous month. Sideshow Bob is reading The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexander Dumas to the studio audience.^[10] The song "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" by Cole Porter is featured in the episode.^[1] Following Sideshow Bob's arrest, he mutters: "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's animated television show Scooby-Doo which was airing on ABC as A Pup Named Scooby-Doo when this episode aired.^[6]

Reception

In its original American broadcast, "Krusty Gets Busted" finished thirteenth place in the ratings for the week of May 23–29, 1990, with a Nielsen rating of 16.4. It was the highest rated show on the Fox network that week.^[11] The episode received generally positive reviews from critics. Series creator Matt Groening listed it as his ninth favorite episode of The Simpsons and added "I have a peculiar love of TV clownery".^[12] Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, 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."^[1] In a DVD review of the first season, David B. Grelck gave the episode a rating of 3/5.^[13] 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."^[14]

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Krusty Gets Busted

• "Krusty Gets Busted" at The Simpsons.com
• "Krusty Gets Busted episode capsule". The Simpsons Archive. 
• "Krusty Gets Busted" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Krusty Gets Busted" at TV.com