Fears of a Clown/References

Cultural references

 * The episode's name is a reference to the song "" by.
 * The episode is a re-imagining of Stephen King's  but with Krusty.
 * At the Museum of Television, wax statues of characters from the TV shows Bonanza (431 episodes), ' (435 episodes), Lassie (547 episodes) and ' (635 episodes) appear. At the end, they sit on the couch, under the label "The Simpsons. 636 episodes" but Lisa points out they're 4 episodes early. The 636th episode will be "Forgive and Regret", 4 episodes after this one.
 * Lassie however ran for 591 episodes, with the additional ones not counted being the last two seasons, which ran in syndication.
 * Martin says the line "with diagonal belt comes great responsibility", a reference to Ben Parker's line in the Spider-Man comics.
 * Skinner retires on.
 * Skinner mentions David Bowie and his song "". He also mentioned publishing.
 * Skinner mentions The Beatles's "".
 * The OK Go appear singing "". They're voiced by Timothy Nordwind and Damian Kulash themselves.
 * The Real Ex-Wives of Krusty is a reference to the TV show .
 * The show had been pariodied in past episodes in the shows The Real Housewives of Shelbyville and The Real Housewives of Tampa Bay, and with the episode title The Real Housewives of Fat Tony.
 * Marge mentions Tom Hanks, Albert Brooks, Michael Keaton, Zach Braff and Bryan Cranston. All except Zach Braff appeared as guest stars in the show.
 * Llewellyn Sinclair refers to his cast as s and s.
 * The rights of Death of a Salesman cost too much, so the people in the public theater make a rip-off called The Salesman's Bad Day.
 * The stage manager from  is featured in The Salesman's Bad Day.
 * Sideshow Mel mentions Amazon.
 * William Shakespeare's ghost appears.
 * Agnes Skinner is seated in the back of the courtroom, knitting like.

Continuity

 * In the title screen gag, Homer is seen flying in his wingsuit. ("YOLO")
 * In the walls around Lassie, images of Laddie appear. ("The Canine Mutiny")
 * Arthur Miller's ghost appears. ("Barting Over")

Trivia

 * "The Tears of a Clown" has been referred to in previous episodes:
 * The Itchy & Scratchy cartoon "The Tears of a Clone" ("Little Big Mom").
 * The Tears of a Clown counseling center ("Clown in the Dumps").
 * This is the second episode in a row to reference the line "with great power comes great responsibility".
 * The blackboard text and the episode premise is based on pranks. The episode aired on.
 * This was the last episode where József Székhelyi voiced Homer, prior to his death, and Balázs Simonyi voiced Bart in Hungarian. Simonyi didn't want to continue being part of the voice cast after Székhelyi's death.