Krusty Gets Kancelled
"Krusty Gets Kancelled" | |
---|---|
The Simpsons episode | |
Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 22 |
Directed by | David Silverman |
Written by | John Swartzwelder |
Production code | 9F19 |
Original air date | May 13, 1993 |
Guest appearances | |
| |
Episode features | |
Couch gag | The family steps into a net trap on the way to the couch.[2] |
Commentary | Matt Groening Al Jean Mike Reiss David Silverman |
"Krusty Gets Kancelled" is the twenty-second and final episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 81st episode overall. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 13, 1993. In the episode, a new show featuring ventriloquist Arthur Crandall and his dummy Gabbo premieres in Springfield and competes with Krusty the Clown's show. Krusty's show is soon canceled. Bart and Lisa decide to help Krusty get back on the air by staging a comeback special.
The episode was written by John Swartzwelder, and directed by David Silverman. Following the success of "Homer at the Bat", the writers wanted to try a similar guest star-heavy episode, except with celebrities instead of baseball players. The episode proved quite difficult, as many of the actors asked to guest star declined at the last minute and the comeback special portion was nearly scrapped. Johnny Carson, Hugh Hefner, Bette Midler, Luke Perry, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers (Flea, Anthony Kiedis, Arik Marshall and Chad Smith) all guest star as themselves and appear on Krusty's special. Elizabeth Taylor and Barry White, both of whom guest-starred in previous episodes this season, make cameo appearances.
Plot
Following a mysterious viral marketing campaign,
Out of work and penniless, Krusty becomes depressed, finding little motivation to do anything. Bart and Lisa, who had disliked Gabbo from the start, decide to try to help Krusty get his career back on track. Bart sneaks into the studio where Gabbo's show is filmed and secretly records Gabbo referring to children of Springfield as "SOBs", which damages his reputation. However, this backfires when Kent Brockman says the same insult the end of his news program and is subsequently fired; the news of Brockman's firing becomes more widespread than Gabbo's remarks, and Gabbo's reputation remains stable.
After visiting Krusty's home and seeing photos of him with multiple celebrities, including Johnny Carson and Bette Midler, Bart and Lisa suggest that Krusty host a live comeback special. They begin recruiting Krusty's celebrity friends to appear on the special and help Krusty get back into shape before the special airs. Bart and Lisa manage to hire all of Krusty's celebrity friends, except Elizabeth Taylor, whose agent rejected Bart and Lisa's offer. Taylor agrees with him, but upon seeing the show, Taylor decides to fire her agent.
The special is a great success and Krusty's career gets back on track. A
Production
The episode was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by David Silverman.[2] The idea of The Krusty the Clown Show being canceled was pitched by Swartzwelder.[3] The rest of the writers decided this would be an opportunity to include a group of celebrity guest stars.[3] They had done a similar episode the year before with "Homer at the Bat", which starred nine Major League Baseball players, and hoped to emulate its success.[3] At that point, the writers had a list of celebrities who had wanted to do a guest spot on the show and decided to use this episode to burn through some of them. However, the production was described by executive producer Mike Reiss as "a nightmare" because several guests pulled out at the last minute and the script had to be revised several times.[4] One of the goals for the episode was to have an ex-President of the United States. They wrote "very respectful but cute" parts for each then-living ex-president (Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan) at the time, but they all turned them down.[4] Only the latter responded, sending a politely worded reply.[3]
All of the guest stars were recorded over a period of several months.[4] One of the writers' goals was to get a musical act to appear, but several performers, including the Rolling Stones and Wynonna Judd, turned the role down (although Rolling Stones members Keith Richards and Mick Jagger did eventually appear in season 14's "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation"). The Red Hot Chili Peppers finally accepted,[3] and were directed by George Meyer, who told them to ad-lib many of their lines.[4] The celebrity aspect of the episode was almost canceled because the producers were unable to get an obligation before the record deadline.[4] Johnny Carson appears in the episode, and it was one of the few televised appearances he made after he retired from The Tonight Show.[4] He recorded his lines the night after the 44th Primetime Emmy Awards.[3] The original role pitched for Carson was one where he visited the Simpson family's house and mooched off them. Carson felt this role was too degrading, so instead the writers took the opposite route and portrayed him as extremely versatile and multi-talented.[4][5] Bette Midler's condition for guest-starring was that the show promoted her anti-littering campaign.[6] Elizabeth Taylor guest-starred as herself and also recorded a part as Maggie in "Lisa's First Word" on the same day.[3] Luke Perry was one of the first guest stars to agree to their parts. Julie Kavner and Harry Shearer both strongly objected to the celebrity cameos in the episode, considering them tasteless; Kavner boycotted it entirely. As a result, this is the only episode of the series to date in which Marge does not have a speaking part.[3]
The short cartoon "Worker and Parasite" is a reference to
Cultural references
Mr. Burns misreads a billboard reading "Gabbo is coming", telling Smithers, "
Reception
In its original broadcast, "Krusty Gets Kancelled" finished 24th in ratings for the week of May 10–16, 1993, with a
In 1997, TV Guide named "Krusty Gets Kancelled" as the second greatest Simpsons episode and the 66th greatest TV episode.[12] In 1998, TV Guide listed it in its list of top twelve episodes, stating "Simpsons fans get a star-packed keeper that in its own twisted way reflects the pure faith and goodness at the heart of every classic children's tale."[13] In 2006, Bette Midler, Hugh Hefner, Johnny Carson, Luke Perry, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers were listed at number four on IGN's list of the best Simpsons guest stars.[14] They all also appeared on AOL's list of their favorite 25 Simpsons guest stars.[15] In 2007, Vanity Fair named "Krusty Gets Kancelled" as the ninth-best episode of The Simpsons.[16] John Ortved felt, "This is Krusty's best episode—better than the reunion with his father, or the Bar Mitzvah episode, which won an Emmy much later on. The incorporation of guest stars as themselves is top-notch, and we get to see the really dark side of Krusty's flailing showbiz career. Hollywood, television, celebrities, and fans are all beautifully skewered here."[16] Brien Murphy of the Abilene Reporter-News classed "Krusty Gets Kancelled" as one of his three favorite episodes of The Simpsons, along with "Behind the Laughter" and "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase".[17] Though Jim Schembri of The Age put the episode among his top 10 episodes of the series, he also noted "Unfortunately, this signaled the beginning of the show's obsession with star cameos."[18] An article in the Herald Sun placed "Krusty Gets Kancelled" among the top 20 episodes of The Simpsons, and characterized "The sight of Krusty's feeble attempt to fight back with his own gruesome ventriloquist doll, which falls apart on his lap on air" as the highlight of the episode.[19] In 2009, it was named the 24th Greatest TV Episode of All-Time.[20] The episode is one of co-executive producer Tim Long's three favorites, including "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" and "A Milhouse Divided".[21]
In an article about the 2003 DVD release in
In 2000, the episode was released as part of a
References
- OL 433519M..
- ^ a b Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2004). "Krusty Gets Kancelled". BBC. Retrieved August 20, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Jean, Al. (2004). DVD Commentary for "Krusty Gets Kancelled", in The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Reiss, Mike. (2004). DVD Commentary for "Krusty Gets Kancelled", in The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ISBN 978-0062748034.
- ^ a b c Groening, Matt. (2004). DVD Commentary for "Krusty Gets Kancelled", in The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ^ a b c d Silverman, David. (2004). DVD Commentary for "Krusty Gets Kancelled", in The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Silverman, David [@tubatron] (September 9, 2014). "Worker & Parasite was based on Surogat" (Tweet). Archived from the original on April 10, 2021 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Did Uncle Don Call Kids 'Little Bastards' on the Air?". Snopes. February 7, 2020. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
- ^ Dalton, Trent (January 19, 2008). "jukebox". QWeekend Magazine. p. 15.
- ^ "The long goodbye pays off for networks". Sun-Sentinel. Associated Press. May 20, 1993. p. 4E.
- ^ Bauder, David (June 23, 1997). "Television's best". The Augusta Chronicle. Archived from the original on June 25, 2008. Retrieved September 3, 2008.
- ^ "A Dozen Doozies". TV Guide. January 3–9, 1998. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
- ^ Goldman, Eric; Iverson, Dan; Zoromski, Brian (January 4, 2010). "Top 25 Simpsons Guest Appearances". IGN. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
- ^ Potts, Kimberly. "Favorite 'Simpsons' Guest Stars". AOL. Retrieved November 24, 2008.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b Ortved, John (July 5, 2007). "Springfield's Best". Vanity Fair. Retrieved April 26, 2008.
- ^ Murphy, Brien (July 26, 2007). "What's so special about this feisty cartoon family?". Abilene Reporter-News.
- ^ Schembri, Jim (July 26, 2007). "What a difference a D'oh! makes — Arts & Culture — Film of the Week". The Age. The Age Company Limited. p. 15.
- ^ Staff (April 21, 2007). "The Simpsons Top 20". Herald Sun. Nationwide News Pty Limited. p. W09.
- TV Guide Magazine. June 16, 2009. Archived from the originalon April 9, 2010. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
- ^ Gonzalez, Erika (February 20, 2003). "D'OH-Mestic Bliss — Writer Loves Life With 'The Simpsons' – Plans on Sticking Around Awhile". Rocky Mountain News. p. 10D.
- ^ a b Staff (September 7, 2003). "Lucky Bag". The Independent on Sunday. Independent Newspapers (UK) Ltd. p. 20.
- ^ Pulver, Andrew (August 6, 2004). "Friday Review: Little things we like: The Simpsons Season 4". The Guardian. p. 19.
- ^ Clark, Mike (June 11, 2004). "New on DVD". USA Today. p. 04E.
- ^ Chaney, Jen (June 1, 2004). "Bonus Points: The monthly guide to DVD extras". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 27, 2008.
- The Toronto Star. Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. p. P12.
- ^ Hartman, Forrest (June 25, 2004). "Small Screen". Reno Gazette-Journal. p. 14H.
- ^ Rabin, Rabin. "The Simpsons (Classic): "Krusty Gets Kancelled"". The A.V. Club.
- ^ a b Staff (January 14, 2000). "Home Video". The Star-Ledger. p. 51.