Today I Am a Clown (S15, E06-319)

When Mr. T made that line about not managing his
finances better, how serious do you think he was?

Plot Summary
The family learns that Santa's Little Helper conceived puppies with Dr. Hibbert's poodle.  The family finds this odd as, after the last time the dog had puppies, Homer was supposed to get the dog neutered.  However, Homer took pity on the dog and had it promise never to get 'busy' again, which obviously didn't work.  So, Bart and Lisa go around town to give away the new batch of puppies.  They give one puppy to Krusty the Klown, who takes it for a walk a short time later.  He gets taken to the Jewish walk of fame, but learns to his disgust that he isn't featured on there.  When he goes to get his name on there, he learns he isn't eligible because he never had his bar mitzvah.

Bart and Lisa find the ashamed clown, and get him to ask his father, the venerable Rabbi Krustofsky, why Krusty never had a bar mitzvah.  The Rabbi simply reveals that by the time Krusty could have one, he had fully gone into his career as a clown and that holding a bar mitzvah for him would've shamed the family.  Krusty decides to have one, anyway, and furthermore begins to openly display his beliefs on the show.  This includes not doing the show on Saturdays like before, so Krusty decides on having Homer replace him on that day, under the premise that Homer will screw up so bad there's no way he could replace Krusty (there's no way that plan will backfire!).  As Krusty takes his extra free time to study up for his bar mitzvah, Homer's fill-in show on Saturday is basically just him, Moe, Lenny and Carl ranting about things.  The kids aren't fans of it, but most adults are and the show becomes a hit.  Homer becomes a bit power-hungry, though, replacing Lenny with Barney when the former hinted at a pay raise, and Barney with Disco Stu when the former complained about the lighting.  It becomes so popular, the network executives decide to simply cancel Krusty's regular show.

Krusty goes to FOX and they agree to air his bar mitzvah live.  Meanwhile, Homer makes the grave mistake of listening to Lisa and uses the show to talk about important issues.  Predictably, people stop watching, the ratings tank and Homer's show is quickly cancelled.  At the same time, Krusty's bar mitzvah gets underway, and he gets Mr. T to help with the show.  However, Krusty sees his father in the stands looking awfully disappointed in Krusty, and Krusty decides to have a normal bar mitzvah after the show.

Quick Review
This was an alright episode, nothing special.  The middle act was probably the best of the three, but the others were okay as well.  I didn't enjoy Mr. T's appearance as much as I thought I would, it was just him either doing the ceremony or making a joke based around his famous "I pity the fool" phrase.  Still, its better than the other episode focused on Krusty's religion, which isn't saying all that much.

Final Score: 7.5

Like Father, Like Clown (S03, E06-041)

At this point I don't think the rabbi knows what's going on exactly.

Plot Summary
In this episode, Krusty (eventually) has dinner with Bart after the latter proved Krusty's innocence in Krusty Gets Busted.  Its a fine affair at first, but at the dinner table, Krusty is asked to say grace.  He says it in Hebrew, and its quickly learned he's Jewish.  However, saying grace in Hebrew brought back some memories to Krusty, and he can't help but shed tears.

As it turns out, one Herschel Krustofsky was born to a rabbi, whose father was a rabbi, and so on and so forth.  Herschel, however, found enjoyment in making people laugh, but his father Hyman Krustofsky would have nothing of it.  Herschel would attempt to continue a clown routine in secret, but was found out during a show which his father was attending.  Right then and there, Hyman denounced Herschel, claiming he had no son.

The memories begin to eat away at Krusty, affecting his on-air work.  Bart and Lisa agree to have Krusty reunite with his father.  While it wasn't difficult to track the rabbi - he is one of Springfield's leading Jewish leaders apparently - it is much more difficult to convince him to reconcile with Krusty, citing phrases from various religious texts to justify his decision.  Lisa tries to fight fire with fire by having Bart recite similar phrases to counterpoint the rabbi's decision, but Hyman refuses to listen.

Finally, in a last ditch effort, the two give the rabbi a powerful quote passionately depicting the Jewish people's struggles in the past and their victories in the present.  Impressed with the tidbit, the rabbi is stunned to learn that the quote is from Sammy Davis Jr., a Jewish entertainer.  Realizing that entertainers can also provide wisdom, Hyman regrets the time he's lost with his son, but quickly Bart and Lisa have him reunite with Krusty on the latter's program, and the two share a happy reunion together.

Quick Review
Its a touching episode, one that is a strong developer of Krusty's character.  I liked the idea behind the episode and the way it played itself out, but the jokes just weren't there.  Its a good episode, but its not really a funny episode, you know what I mean?

Final Score: 7.2