Clown in the Dumps

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"Clown in the Dumps"
The Simpsons episode
Promotional poster for the episode
Episode no.Season 26
Episode 1
Directed bySteven Dean Moore
Written byJoel H. Cohen
Production codeSABF20
Original air dateSeptember 28, 2014 (2014-09-28)
Guest appearances
Episode features
Couch gag
A surreal depiction of a future episode of the show created by Don Hertzfeldt.
Episode chronology
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The Simpsons season 26
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"Clown in the Dumps" is the twenty-sixth season premiere of the American animated television series The Simpsons and the 553rd episode of the series overall. It first aired in the United States on the Fox network on September 28, 2014, with the Family Guy crossover episode "The Simpsons Guy" airing afterwards.[1] This episode was dedicated to the memory of Louis Castellaneta, the father of The Simpsons lead voice actor Dan Castellaneta. It was written by Joel H. Cohen and directed by Steven Dean Moore, with Don Hertzfeldt guest directing the opening title sequence. Jeff Ross, Sarah Silverman, and David Hyde Pierce guest starred as themselves, with Jackie Mason and Kelsey Grammer reprising their respective roles as Rabbi Krustofski and Sideshow Bob, while Maurice LaMarche voiced several minor characters.

In the episode,

comedy roast and asks his father, Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky, if he believes that Krusty is funny. Hyman disagrees and then dies, leaving Krusty upset that his father did not admire his work. After an alcohol-induced coma, Krusty vows to do good in the world, and eventually discovers (with the help of Bart) that his father did enjoy his work. The death of Krusty's father also causes Lisa to obsess over the health and safety of Homer
, her own father.

In October 2013, during the promotion of the show's previous season, executive producer Al Jean revealed that a character would die in this episode. In July 2014, after the announcement of the title of the episode, several media outlets incorrectly presumed that Krusty would die. The choice of Hyman as the character who died was deemed by some critics as anti-climactic due to his minor role in the show, although other reviewers praised the episode's conclusion of the relationship between Krusty and his father.

Plot

Rabbi Krustofsky
, on whether he is funny; the rabbi says he always thought Krusty was "eh..." but dies mid-sentence, right before he is about to tell Krusty what he really thinks of his comedy. With his father's last words appearing to be dismissive, and believing that nobody finds him funny anymore, Krusty quits his show.

Bart attempts to reinspire Krusty by showing him old episodes of the show, but he picks up on the repetitive nature of his own jokes and

binge drinks in anger. He passes out and has a vision of himself in Jewish Heaven, where he meets Rodney Dangerfield. Rabbi Krustofsky then appears and reminds Krusty that Jews do not believe in Heaven, and thus he should do more to help others. An act of kindness does not seem to make Krusty happier, but Bart takes him to the synagogue, where Rabbi Krustofsky's favorite rabbi recites Krusty's jokes on religion. Krusty therefore deduces that his father did find him funny, and sees him again in Jewish Heaven, where Jesus turns Dangerfield's water into a Bloody Mary
.

Meanwhile, triggered by the death of Krusty's father,

Otto's school bus plows into the garden. Eventually, Marge
and Bart talk some sense into Lisa; they say that while it is nice of her to be concerned for her father, she should not force Homer to take it easy on himself and just let him live his life.

Production

The Simpsons producer Al Jean made headlines when he revealed that a character would die in this episode.

In October 2013, in a conference to promote the

Comic-Con that it would not be Homer,[4] although there is a scene that features Lisa worrying about Homer's health as he struggles with a CPAP mask.[4]

In July 2014, when Jean announced the title of the episode at the Television Critics Association summer tour, several news outlets suspected that Krusty the Clown would be killed off.[5][1] Jean later told of his surprise at this theory, saying "I was like, 'What? "In the dumps" doesn't mean you're dead. It means you're sad.' I thought it was so obvious. I would be nuts to kill Krusty. Everybody loves that character".[6] He said of the episode, "It turned out bigger than we thought it was going to be. It's not going to be this blood bath where they all get murdered."[1]

Jean confirmed that the possibility was open for Jackie Mason to reprise his role as Rabbi Krustofski in dreams or flashbacks, and that Krusty would become a more generous character in the knowledge that his father admired his work.[6] After the episode "Simpsorama" later on in the season, which implied that Ralph Wiggum would die in 2017, Jean told Entertainment Weekly that he had "learned [his] lesson" from the death of Rabbi Krustofski, therefore there would be no more deaths in the series.[7] The first instance was in the 28th season episode "The Nightmare After Krustmas", aired in December 2016, Rabbi Krustofsky appears when Krusty has a near-death experience while being baptized in icy water for his conversion to Christianity.[8] Jackie Mason continued to voice the character until his death on July 23, 2021.

In addition to Mason, the episode guest starred

Sideshow Mel. David Hyde Pierce, who had previously appeared as Bob's brother Cecil, had a cameo as himself acting in the role of Felix in The Odd Couple.[9]

The episode's couch gag was the work of

Academy Award-nominated surrealist animator Don Hertzfeldt, who was recommended to the show by Mike B. Anderson. It depicts Homer using a time-traveling remote control to regress to his original 1987 character model, then accidentally going into a distant future incarnation of the show called The Sampsans where he and his family have evolved into grotesque, mindless, catchphrase-spouting mutants. Jean deemed it "crazier than we thought" and "the most insane one we've ever done".[6]

Reception

Ratings

The episode originally aired on the

crossover episode with The Simpsons. The Simpsons was, however, the most-watched show in the lineup in terms of total viewers.[12]

Critical response

The couch gag by Don Hertzfeldt (pictured above) was praised as "staggering" by a CNN writer.

The episode polarized critical opinions. Carey Bodenheimer of CNN wrote that

Instead of dropping the mic and resting on its collective laurels, [The Simpsons] kicked off season 26 with a staggering, Don Hertzfeldt directed intro sequence and then went on to prove that, in a world where shows can flame out after just a few episodes, 'The Simpsons', which premiered in 1989 still has plenty of jokes left in their comedic arsenal.[13]

Time wrote "If 'Clown in the Dumps' is not a classic on the level of season three's 'Like Father, Like Clown', it was still a fitting, sweet conclusion to the story of Hyman and Herschel".[14] TV Fanatic gave the episode 4 out of 5 stars, writing "Simpsons Season 26 starts off with a bang, with plenty of laughs and even a few sentimental moments".[15] Tony Sokol of Den of Geek gave the episode 4 stars out of 5, commenting

'Clown in the Dumps' may not be considered a classic episode now, but after a few years when we watch it again on syndication, probably next year on FXX, it will grow in stature. It is a heartfelt episode that does bring on the laughs. The sadness of the episode to me was Jackie Mason's voice, which sounds very tired.[16]

Paste gave the episode a rating of 7.1, concluding

These days, The Simpsons can be hit or miss, and there was nothing to guarantee success from 'Clown in the Dumps'. However, even if the character death was perfunctory, and Rabbi Krustofski has made only a handful of appearances in over 550 episodes, it was still a funny, solid half hour of television. Nothing special—really, it was just another Krusty episode, and not the best Krusty episode. Nevertheless, the 26th season of The Simpsons has started out on somewhat of a high note. The good times keep on rolling for Matt Groening's deathless creation.[17]

FXX marathon of every episode ever, The Simpsons returns for its 26th season with a nondescript, anticlimactic premiere whose overstuffed cameos and would-be big character death amount to little more than a disspiriting confirmation that its best days are, indeed, long gone."[18] IGN rated the episode 5.8, concluding "Between an anticlimactic death and a redundant conflict, The Simpsons didn't start Season 26 off on the right foot".[9]

Executive producer Al Jean responded that the episode had been over-hyped, and that a quote attributed to him he never made: he said that he was quoted as saying that an "iconic" character would die, when in actuality, he said a "beloved" character would die.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c Reed, Ryan (July 21, 2014). "Save Me the Krust: 'The Simpsons' Likely Killing Off Krusty the Clown". Rolling Stone.
  2. ^ "Simpsons actress Marcia Wallace dies aged 70". BBC News. October 27, 2013.
  3. ^ Hooton, Christopher (January 24, 2014). "Simpsons character death hugely narrowed down following Hank Azaria tip". The Independent. London.
  4. ^ a b Wightman, Catriona (July 26, 2014). "The Simpsons: Comic-Con 2014 panel as it happened - celebrating 25 years". Digital Spy.
  5. ^ O'Connell, Michael (July 20, 2014). "Krusty on 'Simpsons' Death Watch? A Platonic 'New Girl'? 5 TCA Takeaways From Fox Comedy". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
  6. ^ a b c d Snierson, Dan (September 28, 2014). "'Simpsons' producer talks character's death in premiere". Entertainment Weekly. Entertainmentweekly.com. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
  7. ^ Snierson, Dan (November 10, 2014). "'Simpsons' producer on the surprising Kang and Kodos revelation, 'death' of Ralph Wiggum". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
  8. ^ Snierson, Dan (September 15, 2016). "The Simpsons reanimates Rabbi Krustofski, welcomes Natasha Lyonne". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  9. ^ a b c "The Simpsons: 'Clown in The Dumps' Review". IGN. September 29, 2014. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  10. ^ Abrams, Simon (September 29, 2014). "Voice Actor Maurice LaMarche on The Boxtrolls, His Impressive Career, and Pinky and the Brain". Vulture. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
  11. ^ "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Once Upon A Time', 'Resurrection' & 'Revenge' Adjusted Up; 'CSI' Adjusted Down". TVbytheNumbers. Archived from the original on October 2, 2014. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  12. ^ "TV Ratings Sunday: 'Once Upon A Time' , 'The Simpsons' & 'Family Guy' Return Way Up, 'CSI' Premieres Down, 'Madam Secretary' Falls". TVbytheNumbers. Archived from the original on October 2, 2014. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  13. ^ Bodenheimer, Carey (September 29, 2014). "'Family Guy' and 'The Simpsons' crossover and a character dies". CNN. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
  14. ^ Poniewozik, James (September 28, 2014). "Review of The Simpsons, 'Clown in the Dumps'". Time. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  15. ^ "The Simpsons". TV Fanatic. September 28, 2014. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  16. ^ "The Simpsons Season Premiere Review: Clown in the Dumps". Den of Geek. September 29, 2014. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  17. ^ "The Simpsons Review: 'Clown in the Dumps'". Paste. September 29, 2014. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  18. ^ "Review: The Simpsons: 'Clown In The Dumps'". The A.V. Club. September 29, 2014. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
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