The Simpsons/Krusty Gets Busted

Krusty Gets Busted
Season 1, Episode 12
Airdate	April 29, 1990
Production Number	7G12
Written by	Jay Kogen, Wallace Wolodarsky
Directed by	Brad Bird
← 1x11 The Crepes of Wrath	1x13 → Some Enchanted Evening
The Simpsons — Season One

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Krusty Gets Busted is the twelfth episode of the first season of The Simpsons, and the twelfth episode overall.

The episode is a character sketch of Krusty the Klown, Springfield's beloved children's television host. When he is arrested and charged with first-degree armed robbery, everyone believes Krusty is guilty as charged ... except for Bart and Lisa, two of his biggest fans. Is Krusty indeed a criminal, or is there more to the story?

Guest Stars:

Plot Overview

Bart,and Lisa's TV Hero,Krusty the Clown is arrested.This takes place in Apu's Convienence Store.Homer who was shopping there is the only witness,who would later testify against Krusty in Court.The whole Counrty,and especially children are shocked by Krusty's arrest,and conviction.Practiculy everybody is convinced of Krusty's innocence,including Lisa.The only person who is convinced of Krusty's innocence is Bart.He sets out to prove it.Bart will not only prove Krustys innocence,but will expose the real guilty Party on Krustys TV Show.With clues that the Police missed,Bart proves that the guilty one is none other than Krustys sidekick,and best friend Sideshow Bob.Bob was tired of being only Krustys Sidekick,and getting abused by Krusty on TV,so he decided to framed Krusty for armed robbery,Krusty goes to jail,and children everywhere will come to love Sideshow Bob.But,thanks to Bart,Krusty is exonorated.And,children everywhere loves Krusty again.

Notes

Title Sequence

• Blackboard: "They are laughing at me, not with me."
• Couch Gag: The family sits on the couch and Maggie squirts into the air, but Mage catches her and places her on her lap.

Arc Advancement

Happenings

Krusty does his act to Sideshow Bob in front of many children.A Man in a Clown outfit,and mask holds up Apu.

Characters

• Krusty the Klown: The episode marks the first Simpsons episode to feature a character other than the Simpsons in the primary role. While Bart and Lisa play heavily into plot, this episode gives viewers its first in-depth look at someone other than the Simpsons and how he fits into the world of Springfield. He was an entertainer and someone who always loved to entertain his audiences and loved children, and was a big fan of slapstick comedy. In his secondary role, he was also a talk show host, his show styled after The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, but that aspect of his show business career would come in later episodes.
• Sideshow Bob Roberts: Krusty's longtime sidekick and (on-camera) best friend, the second banana that secretly loathed his role and was tired of being the target of constant abuse by Krusty, and tried (without success) to get others to listen to him and get Krusty to stop using him as the target of his abuse, or at least tone down the act considerably. Secondary on his list of complaints against Krusty, as would be implied starting this episode and further expanded on in later episodes, was that he secretly hated how the show appealed to the lowest common denominator and instead wanted a show that appealed to a more dignified audience and his appreciation of high culture.

Trivia

Allusions and References

• Black Sox Scandal: Bart yelling out to Krusty as he is led into the courthouse, "Say it ain't so, Krusty!" is akin to a headline in the Chicago Daily News editorializing on the 1918 World Series, where several Chicago White Sox players were paid to throw the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. (The phrase itself is often mistakenly attributed to a young fan who tearfully asked the player in question, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, if he was involved with the scandal.)
• Bozo the Clown: Along with every other children's TV show host, the programming that years ago filled afternoon schedules and children both watched on TV and were in the studios as audience members. Common features to The Krusty the Klown Show include comedy skits and cartoon shorts; although not typically seen in future shows where outtakes from Krusty's show were used, children's afternoon shows also often included games and visits from community members talking about various topics of interest to pre-teen children.
  • Krusty himself is based on Rusty Nails, a TV clown based in Portland, Oregon, although elements of Bozo the Clown are also used to make up Krusty's persona. Unlike an earlier Tracy Ullmann-era short, where he was a normal man and spoke in a normal voice off-camera, Krusty's clownish persona and distinctive voice all the time became central to his character starting with this episode (although he is seen without makeup in the scenes from when he is in court to when he is taken to prison after his conviction).
  • Many of the real-life shows used cartoon shorts from the Hanna-Barbera and Terrytunes libraries, along with older Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies shorts; Tom and Jerry, which was the basis of Itchy and Scratchy, came from Hanna-Barbera.
• Disco Demolition Night: The protest against Krusty the Klown leads to a circus-type event, where Krusty merchandise is destroyed, much like disco-genre records during a much-publicized event in 1979,
• The Howdy Doody Show: Krusty suffering a heart attack on-air parallels Howdy Doody host Buffalo Bob Smith's real-life heart attack in 1954 (at the young age of 37). Unlike Krusty's live on-air heart attack – where the audience and show staff allow Krusty to suffer and fall unconscious, thinking it is part of a comedy act, newscaster Kent Brockman remembering the situation whimsically – Smith did not suffer his heart attack live on the air.
• National Review and The New York Times Review of Books:The Springfield Review of Books, which the armed robber is seen on security cameras reading while waiting to rob the Kwik-E-Mart, is modeled after the two book review periodicals aimed at connoisseurs of high culture.
• Scooby-Doo: Sideshow Bob bemoaning that he had been exposed as the real armed robber and that he indeed intended to frame Krusty, as he is taken to jail ("I would have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for you meddling kids"), is akin to virtually every criminal's rant after they were revealed on the long-running cartoon series, about a group of teenaged sleuths and their cowardly Great Dane solving crimes.
• "Send in the Clowns": Chief Wiggum says this phrase as he orders suspects into the lineup area for Homer to identify the man who robbed the Kwik-E-Mart, referring to the song in A Little Night Music. (Even though the phrase is one of imagery only and does not refer to circus clowns, of which Krusty is always dressed as one.)
• Woodsy the Owl: "Give a Hoot: Read a Book" is modeled after an anti-pollution advertising campaign using an anthromophic owl as its mascot ("Give a Hoot: Don't Pollute!").

Memorable Moments

Bart recalling matters which would exonerate Krusty,and expose Sideshow Bob.

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