Review: The Simpsons ‘Clown in the Dumps’

 

Spoilers Below:

Screw Christmas, this is the most wonderful time of the year. Our beloved Sunday night FOX shows are back, and that means…blah, blah, blah…nice intro & set-up… really, who cares? The important thing is which character died.

I’ll tell you who: Rabbi Fucking Krustofski – the guy I predicted would die in this episode over FOUR months ago. Suck it, haters. Suck it hard.

Ahem, anyway, let’s get keep this professional and respectful; I mean, a fictitious clown’s fictitious rabbi dad just died. So, let me start with the plot.

After an upsetting comedic roast (which featured Jeff Ross and Sarah Silverman) Krusty consulted his father, Rabbi Hyman Krustofski, for guidance. When he began to explain what he really thought of his son’s work, Hyman kicked the bucket mid-sentence, giving Krusty the exact opposite of closure. After some long soul searching and a brief retirement, which took up most of the episode, Krusty eventually realized that his father enjoyed a Jewish comedian just like him, and gained peace of mind.

Meanwhile, Lisa became concerned with Homer’s health after the Rabbi’s death, going as far as to slap a helmet on his head and wrap him in bubble wrap. In the end, though, she ended up saving her father’s life, and enjoyed the small bit of control she held.

In Case You Missed It:

1) The chalkboard said, “Spoiler Alert: Unfortunately My Dad Doesn’t Die.”

2) Lisa played a harp in the introduction’s band sequence.

3)Couch Gag: Homer’s remote control sent him back in time to the day The Simpsons premiered on The Tracy Ullman Show, and then deep into the future in a really, really trippy way, with animation that looked like the old “Rejected” YouTube classic (Editor’s Note: Holy shit, it was!), and contained random phrases like: “All hail the Dark Lord of the Twin Moons.” Seriously.

4) Krusty once appeared on To Catch A Predator, and is apparently the voice of Ovaltine.

5) Carrot Top’s sign read, “Suck it, Krusty.”

6) It’s about time Sideshow Mel confronted Sideshow Bob.

7) “What brought you here? And don’t say, ‘Clown car.’”

8) Krusty’s mother’s tombstone read: “Would it Kill You to Leave Some Flowers?”

9) NOW, we know why David Hyde Pierce’s character in the episode was named “Felix.”

10) The people in Krusty’s repeated fat joke over several generations included: Mama Cass, Dom DeLuise, The Cast of What’s Happening, William “The Refrigerator” Perry, Newman from Seinfeld, the whale from Whale Rider, and Adele.

11) Rodney Dangerfield, Albert Einstein, Golda Meir, The Marx Brothers, and Karl Marx were all citizens of Jewish Heaven.

12) This episode was dedicated to the memory of Louis Castellaneta, the father of Simpsons voice actor Dan Castellaneta.

The thing that struck me the most about this episode was the amount it resembled Simpsons episodes of the classic era. Yes, it contained an obvious gimmick, and dealt almost exclusively with death, but it didn’t get overly serious, overly emotional, or stray from jokes at any point. THAT’S that made the old installments work so well. It didn’t matter if they took the simplest plotline, the most complex, or whether it was lighthearted or serious; the episodes always carried the same amount of weight, save for a few heavier scenes here and there. Even then – be it a death like Bleeding Gums, or the background of Homer’s mother leaving her family behind – the writer’s handled every week’s story with humor while still keeping just a bit of respect for the subject matter. That’s exactly what happened last night: the life may have came out of Rabbi Krustofski, but it didn’t suck the life out of the episode – it just acted as a springboard for yet another entertaining plot.

That being said, it wasn’t hilarious. It was funny, and it was consistently funny, but it didn’t have a ton of knee slappers. However, this isn’t always a necessary element for Simpsons episodes. It just helps.

As always a stellar cast turned out for the episode, including the great Jackie Mason as the dearly departed, in addition to the show’s outstanding regular cast. And also, as is becoming the new norm, the couch gag killed. I have no idea how the show, after 25 years, can make some of the best intros that it ever has, but here we are.

“Clown in the Dumps” might not be high on many people’s lists of episode that they’re dying to re-watch (no pun intended) and that’s worth something, but all these elements nevertheless combined for a fantastic premiere to the show’s 26th season.