Difference between revisions of "Fears of a Clown"

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"Fears of a Clown"

Episode Information Episode number: 632 Season number: S29 E14 Production code: XABF08 Original airdate: April 1, 2018 Title screen: Homer flies through the logo in a wingsuit. Billboard gag: Mayor Quimby's Easter egg hunt. Bunnies supplied by President Trump Chalkboard gag: Bart writes "This is the last episode", then flips over the blackboard, and "April fool" is written on it. Couch gag: At the Museum of Television, the Simpsons family passes in front of wax statues of characters from the tv shows Bonanza, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Lassie and Gunsmoke. At the end, they sit on the couch, under the label "The Simpsons 636 episodes" but Lisa points out they're 4 episodes early and Homer d'ohs. Guest star(s): Jon Lovitz as Llewellyn Sinclair Damian Kulash as himself Timothy Nordwind as himself Andy Daly as Judge Dowd Jackie Mason as Hyman Krustofsky Showrunner: [[Al Jean]] Written by: Michael Price Directed by: Steven Dean Moore

"Fears of a Clown" is the fourteenth episode of season 29 of The Simpsons and the six-hundred and thirty-second episode overall. It originally aired on April 1, 2018. The episode was written by Michael Price and directed by Steven Dean Moore. It guest stars Jon Lovitz as Llewellyn Sinclair, Damian Kulash as himself, Timothy Nordwind as himself, Andy Daly as Judge Dowd and Jackie Mason as Hyman Krustofsky.

Synopsis

"Bart goes to prankster rehab after a clown-mask prank terrifies the town and destroys Krusty's career. A tortured Krusty then tries his hand at serious drama with a regional theater company."

Plot

Martin discovers Skinner giving to Myra the keys to the trophy case, announcing his retirement. After promising to keep the secret, Martin reveals it, by ear, to others, and the news comes to the teachers' lounge.

At the ceremony for the retirement, Skinner calls out Bart to give a farewell speech, however, when Bart tries to prank him with the slingshot, he deflects the rock (that ricotches on Agnes's head), and pranks Bart, telling him that the retirement was a prank to him, with Willie pouring honey and Coach Krupt spreading bird seeds on him.

After having Marge help him clean up the mess, for his revenge, Bart glues Krusty's mask on the teachers' faces, scaring kids and peoples around town. Clowns are now hated, including Krusty, and kids and advertisers left the Krusty the Clown Show when it aired.

At the Juvenile Court, Judge Dowd wanted to leave Bart free, but Marge made him sentence Bart to 28 days at the Tomorrow's New Horizons Rehab Center and General Rotten Time Ranch. Marge, Homer and Lisa then convinces to switch to drama.

At the Springfield Public Theater, Llewellyn Sinclair presents to Krusty the script for The Salesman's Bad Day, while Marge is at the Rehab Center, watching Bart's rehabilitation. The doctor makes him learn empathy by having Marge sitting on the chair full of thumb thacks Bart put on it, Bart stopping her before she sit.

Sinclair tries to make Krusty a drama actor, but the ghost of the clown past still lurks in him. Bart makes amend to the people he had pranked, but ends up pranking the people in front of him with water balloons. In the play, thanks to his past self's ghost, Krusty regains laughs from the crowd, and returns to be a clown, while still doing the play during free time.

Production

The front cover of the script incorrectly refers to the episode title as "Tears of a Clown", rather than "Fears of a Clown", which is the actual episode title.^[1]

It is a re-imagining of Stephen King's It but with Krusty.^[2]

A first description of the plot was: "Everybody is now horrified of clowns after Bart does a prank using clown masks, which also makes Krusty lose his job. He tries to come back as a dramatic actor for the play "The Salesman's Bad Day", with Llewellyn Sinclair as his director."^[3]

Part of the scene when Bart is sentenced (shown in the script for the episode) was removed: Judge Dowd's kid, Wyatt, bangs the gavel instead of Dowd who then says "Good bang, Wyatt! You've got your mother's anger".^[4]

Reception

"Fears of a Clown" was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance in the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards for voicing Homer Simpson, Krusty the Clown, Groundskeeper Willie and Sideshow Mel in this episode, but he lost to Alex Borstein for Family Guy.^[5]

Gallery

References

Promo videos

• Guest Starring Andy Daly at YouTube
• Krusty The Clown Takes The Stage at YouTube
• Coach Llewellyn Sinclair Gives Krusty Some Encouragement at YouTube

Wikisimpsons has a collection of images related to "Fears of a Clown".