Krusty Gets Busted

"Krusty the Clown, you are being arrested for armed robbery!"

- Clancy Wiggum

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

Synopsis

 * "No one's sadder than Bart when his TV hero Krusty the Clown's arrested for a convenience-store robbery, and witness Homer has to testify against the clown."

Plot
The episode begins with Bart, Lisa and Maggie watching Krusty the Clown on TV. During the show, a reluctant and unhappy Sideshow Bob's launched from a cannon, and an episode of Itchy and Scratchy's aired (titled: Burning Love). Marge calls Homer at work and asks him to stop on his way home to pick up some ice cream. Homer asks what the occasion is, and shudders when he learns Patty and Selma are coming over later to show slides of their vacation in Mexico. Homer stops at the Kwik-E-Mart for ice cream on the way home, and while there, he witnesses Krusty rob Apu at gunpoint. Cut quickly to the Simpson house, as the rest of the family watches Patty and Selma's slides. Cut back to Homer, who gives a description of Krusty to the police. Meanwhile, at Krusty's apartment, Krusty's relaxing with a drink when a SWAT team busts down his door and takes him into custody. At the police station Homer identifies Krusty as the armed robber. Homer finally makes it home just as the news report about Krusty's arrest comes on the air. Bart's devastated his idol did such a thing.

On the news, Kent Brockman reports on the upcoming trial and history of Krusty the Clown, including the fact that Krusty has a pacemaker. Reverend Lovejoy calls for a public burning of all Krusty merchandise. The next day, as Krusty walks up the steps to the courthouse, Bart and Lisa watch in disbelief, and Bart notices Krusty has small feet. Inside the courtroom during the trial, even after Bart begs him not to, Homer points out Krusty to the jury as the armed robber. Homer and Marge later gather up all of the Krusty merchandise in the house and head to the public burning. An upset Bart watches as the pile of merchandise goes up in flames. The next day at the trial, it's revealed after being asked to identify some evidence, Krusty's illiterate. Later, the jury reaches a guilty verdict. At the Simpson house, Lisa and Maggie watch Sideshow Bob, who has taken over for Krusty on TV. When Bart walks in and sees this, he's upset. He tells Lisa he thinks Krusty is innocent and he convinces her to help him prove it.

Bart and Lisa return to the scene of the crime at the Kwik-E-Mart to search for clues. They find the first clue: Krusty can't have used the microwave as depicted by the hidden camera footage from the store because he wears a pacemaker, due to a heart attack he suffered years ago and there's a sign saying people wearing pacemakers should never be near the microwave. They also find out the second clue: Krusty won't have been reading at the magazine rack, because he's illiterate, because he confessed to it during the trial, despite his show's endorsement of child literacy. Upon learning the two clues, she realizes Bart was right and Krusty was framed for a crime he didn't commit. They believe Sideshow Bob may know if Krusty had any enemies who want to see him fall, and decide to talk to him. Cut to Sideshow Bob who, after just finished taping his show, enters his changing room and emits an evil diabolical laugh.

The next day, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie meet with Bob at the studio to ask him if Krusty had any enemies. But before they can ask him, Bob dismisses their investigations because the show's about to start, although he gives them tickets to his show. At the live broadcast, Bart comes on stage and explains to Bob about his investigation. Bob brushes Bart's investigations aside, stating Krusty never really followed doctor's orders (thus why he used the microwave) and can simply have been looking at the cartoons in the magazine. Bob tries to change the subject, admitting to the audience he had 'big shoes to fill'. At that moment, Bart recalls while watching the security tape, he noticed the robber yelled at Homer when he stepped on his shoes. It was the third and final clue, indicating the robber had big feet. This helps Bart figure out the identity of the mystery robber from the Kwik-E-Mart: Sideshow Bob. The former sidekick had the most to gain from Krusty's downfall. He has feet large enough to fill his clown shoes. Therefore, he yelled at Homer when he stepped on his feet before the robbery.

Outraged, Bart rightfully levels his accusation towards Sideshow Bob. He grabs the microphone and contends to the audience Bob was the real robber and proves his point by smashing the end of his shoe with a croquet mallet. This causes him to scream in pain and grab his foot. Bob yells at him for hitting his foot, and the kids are shocked to hear the words uttered on the security tape. Bart continues even though Krusty wore big clown shoes on his show, he always had little feet like everyone else. He mentions Sideshow Bob had the most to gain in his downfall by filling his shoes with his huge feet and hits it once more, causing him to fall down. Bart removes Bob's clown shoes and reveal his huge feet on T.V. The police, having watched this, realized Bart was right and they overlooked one key piece of evidence which may have kept Krusty out of jail. Chief Wiggum orders them to immediately go to the studio and arrest Sideshow Bob for the robbery.

Outside the studio, an arrested and exposed Bob dramatically confesses to the crime. He reveals he framed Krusty for the Kwik-E-Mart armed robbery out of frustration because he finally had enough of constantly being on the receiving end of the clown's humiliating antics for more ratings. He felt his intelligence was wasted on the Krusty the Clown show and wanted it gone so he can make an educational program where his intelligence is appreciated by the public. Bob's taken to jail and swears revenge on Bart for foiling his plan. He also warns adult criminals to treat kids like equals because they were smart to catch him and will be smart to catch them too. The charges against Krusty are dropped, he now regains the trust of the community, and the crowd cheers for him. Homer, the people, and the police gave their apologies to him for their misunderstanding. Grateful to be free, Krusty thanks Bart for standing up for the truth and sticking to his convictions. The episode ends with Bart tacking up a photo of him and Krusty on a wall. He happily goes to bed with his room refurnished with new Krusty merchandise.

Production
Sideshow Bob makes his first appearance as a major character in this episode. However, his official first appearance was in the background of a scene in the season one episode "The Telltale Head". Bob's design was revamped, with his original round hair being turned into his now-famous "palm tree" style. James Earl Jones was originally cast as Bob, but the producers decided to try Kelsey Grammer. Also making their first appearances in this episode are Kent Brockman and Scott Christian.

Reception
The episode finished thirteenth place for May 23–29, 1990, with a Nielsen rating of 16.4. The episode received positive reviews from critics. Matt Groening has listed it as his ninth favorite episode of the show and said "I have a peculiar love of TV clownery". In a DVD review of the first season, David B. Grelck gave the episode a rating of 3/5. Colin Jacobson at DVD Movie Guide said in a review that "throughout the episode we found great material; it really seemed clear that the show was starting to turn into the piece we now know and love. It’s hard for me to relate any deficiencies" and added that "almost every Bob episode offers a lot of fun, and this episode started that trend in fine style."