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Tag Archives: Krusty the Clown
The Simpsons: Krusty’s Newfound Faith and Jewish Representation Abound in “Today I Am a Klown”
One of the many distinctive things about The Simpsons is that religion is a big part of its characters’ lives. The eponymous family is full of grousing but nevertheless consistent church-goers. Lisa wrestled with the Eighth Commandment. Homer chatted with the big man himself about life, the universe, and everything. Ned Flanders questioned his own usually unfailing devotion and, for better or worse, Apu’s Hindu beliefs have been a major element of his persona. Even Reverend Lovejoy has faced down his own growing apathy and waning commitment to his flock.
And, of course, the show features the world’s most famous Jewish clown. As I discussed on The Simpsons Show Podcast, Krusty (real name: Herschel Shmoikel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofsky) is an odd place to look for representation if you are, like yours truly, Jewish. He is venal, crude, and shameless. And while there’s occasionally good cause to sympathize with him, there’s rarely a reason to truly admire the guy as a symbol of Semitic humor or charm.
Posted in Television, The Simpsons
Tagged Episode Reviews, Judaism, Krusty the Clown, The Simpsons Season 15
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Conan O’Brien and The Simpsons: My Idea
Conan guest starred on the show in 1994 in the episode "Bart Gets Famous."
Many people are surprised to learn that beloved television personality Conan O’Brien, of “I’m With CoCo” fame, used to be a writer for The Simpsons. It’s true. The job that dear old Conan held before taking over “Late Night” was that of class clown in the Simpsons’ writers room. Even then, he was well-regarded among his colleagues for his zany antics, and he penned some of the show’s best-remembered episodes like “Marge vs. the Monorail.”
Now, at a time when the show is facing declining ratings and a hit and miss creative side of the equation, many of the diehard fans have suggested trying to talk Conan into writing another episode for the show. The fine folks at NoHomers have taken this to heart with their latest edition of their Just D’oh It contest. The contest presents fans with a fun Simpsons related question, and awards prizes to the contestants who do the best job of “answer[ing] in a creative and fun way.” This edition’s question is a pretty straightforward one: If the writers got Conan O’Brien to write one more episode, what would it be about?
I have to admit, despite the rampant nature of my Simpsons nerdiness, this is the first time I have entered the “Just D’oh It” contest. As a big fan of both Conan and Our Favorite Family, I thought it would be fun to give it a try. Here’s what I came up with.
The Andrew Review: The Simpsons – Elementary School Musical (s22e01)
The Season Premiere of The Simpsons features Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords as counselors at Lisa's Arts Camp.
The Simpsons is a television show that will forever be chasing its own shadow. I firmly believe that if your average viewer were to watch the episodes produced over the last five seasons or so, the general consensus would be that it’s generally a pretty good show. Unfortunately for showrunner Al Jean and the rest of the current Simpsons’ staff, their modern day output will always be measured against the seven or eight years when The Simpsons was one of the best shows on television, or to go one step further, if the good people at Time Magazine and your humble narrator are to be believed, the best show of all time. It can be a difficult task to live up to your own legacy.
Despite this challenge, Season 21 of The Simpsons produced a number of very good episodes, some of which even stack up pretty well against the episodes of the “Classic Era.” As has become customary, the latest season of The Simpsons consisted of a few big hits, a few big misses, and a large quantity of solidly enjoyable if unspectacular episodes in between. First and foremost, “O Brother, Where Bart Thou?” a tale of Bart’s quest for a younger brother, attained a level of quality that I did not believe the modern day Simpsons staff could reach anymore. Even with the proliferation of guest stars, usually a telltale sign of a weak episode, the story and the comedy fired on all cylinders the whole way through. It was touching, it was funny, it was well-constructed, and most of all it was entertaining from start to finish. Though Season 21’s hits managed to be a notch above those of prior recent seasons, this episode in particular stands apart as the best of the bunch.
