Gone Boy (S29, E09-627)

Recap: Bart falls into an old missile base and can't get out.  Among others searching for him is a prisoner contingent featuring Sideshow Bob.

Review: So, it seems like this episode is ignoring the events of the last full episode, which I'm thankful for.  Overall, its been the best episode centered on Bob since Season 14, but barely.  I liked the parts with Bart, and Homer and Grampa when the two of them were searching for Bart.  Bob's parts were fine too but the episode does drag sometimes when he pulls out the now numerous amount of references to his past escapades, and the multiple Dial "M" for Murder references weren't good at all, inhibiting it from being a really good, 8+ episode.

Still, this season has been mostly terrible thus far, and this episode is the best of it to this point with minimal effort.

Final Score: 7.7

Treehouse of Horror XXVI (S27, E05-579)

He's supposed to be laughing in this scene, I guess?

Plot Summary
The opening is another John K. affair, where the zombified remains of Frank Grimes chase the Simpson kids back to their house, where the monster eats Homer's soul, or something.

Wanted: Dead Then Alive
Bart is easily lured to the school's music room, as part of a trap set up by Sideshow Bob.  Bart taunts Bob, knowing how often the man has failed to kill the young boy.  However, thanks to the lack of canon these Halloween episodes carry, Bob finally, successfully, and rather easily, pulls off the deed.  Having finally killed Bart, Bob takes the boy's body back home with him as a trophy of sorts, easily avoiding the small attempt by Homer to figure out where Bart went.

His main goal in life completed, Bob decides to become a professor at a University.  However, today's "educated" college kids do not mesh well with Bob at all, and he yearns for a time when Bart was alive so he could kill him all over again.  Luckily, Bob is able to 'borrow' enough materials from his college that he's able to build a reanimation machine to bring Bart back to life, good as new.  Thus begins a cycle where Bob kills Bart quickly, then his machine brings Bart back as good as new regardless of how badly Bob hacks or chops Bart up.  Eventually, though, Lisa finds Bart by peeking in from the basement window, and the family goes in to rescue and reanimate Bart.  Bob tries to stop them, but Homer knocks him out with a lamp, then chops his head off with the same, reanimated lamp.  Bart then takes Bob's head and various other parts to reanimate Bob as a chimera sort of thing, which makes his job as a professor slightly more difficult.
Individual Score: +1.1

Homerzilla
In a rural, 1940's Japanese town, Abraham Simpson is mocked for sending a donut out to sea daily, as he does so to prevent the rise of a massive monster.  One day, however, crazy ol' Abe dies, and nobody in his family believed his story so nobody carries on the tradition.  Soon enough, a beast rises from the sea: Homerzilla.  Causing havoc all around, Homerzilla destroys all.

It's revealed, though, that Homerzilla is just a film (evident by the Homer in the suit falling off the city set), and a group of modern movie executives plan on creating a modern Homerzilla.  Two years later, the remake, 'Zilla, comes to fruition but with an uninteresting plot and product placements everywhere, the movie bombs heavily.  The execs decide to dump all copies of the movie into the sea, which bumps into, and awakens, a Homerzilla sleeping within.
Individual Score: +0.5

Telepaths of Glory
Milhouse falls into a hole, with Bart and Lisa giving chase.  The three land in cavern littered with nuclear waste which eventually explodes.  When they awake, Milhouse and Lisa realize that they've been given telepathic powers which react to their intellect (which means Bart gets squat).  As Lisa slyly abuses her powers, Milhouse goes full on madman with his, but is struck down mightily.  As Lisa denies having anything to do with it, it's revealed Maggie, too, has powers thanks to sucking on a radioactive element of some sort.  She uses her powers to do incredible things, like making French people nice.  Then, the aliens lament being relegated to a simple cameo again and when the picture ratio drops to 4:3 as punishment, Kodos warns their overlords that this isn't Season 4 (don't worry, we know it isn't).
Individual Score: +0.4

Quick Review
Well, I really enjoyed the Sideshow Bob bit, a nice return for the Kelsey Grammar-voiced character after his last, very odd appearance.  The Homerzilla bit started off very nicely, and the twist involved I had no problems with, but the comedy following the twist fell flat and held that segment back.  The last segment was short, not that funny and got a little reference-happy at the end.  In the end, its an improvement from last season, but its still one of the weaker Treehouse of Horror entries.

Final Score: 7.0

Clown in the Dumps (S26, E01-553)

Another new gimmick for Season 26: in-episode hashtags.
Surely, #thesimpsons enriches this "emotional" moment.

Plot Summary
Krusty is the target of a comedy roast, but he is completely unprepared to be the one that's roasted.  After the likes of Sarah Silverman and especially Jeff Ross tear into Krusty for being "unfunny", Krusty takes the words, for some reason, to heart.  After a quick attempt to prove he's funny fails, Bart finds him and advises him to seek counsel from his father, Rabbi Hyman Krustofski.  Krusty goes to his father to learn how funny he is.  The Rabbi starts by noting his favorite comedian, Rabbi Rudenstein,  then telling Krusty that he's always felt his son's comedy has been kinda "eh", immediately becoming motionless.  Krusty quickly realizes that his father died while calling him an "eh" comedian.

A grieving Krusty finds himself unable to cope with his father's death, nor with his last remarks.  Soon, Krusty decides to retire as he no longer finds himself funny.  Bart, desperate to save his hero (again), goes to Krusty's mansion and shows him multiple Krusty episodes at once to show the clown how funny he is.  Krusty, though, quickly notices how often he reuses his simple jokes and gags, and becomes even more depressed, going into a drinking binge as a result.  In the aftermath, a sleeping Krusty dreams about being in Jewish Heaven, with Rodney Dangerfield touting its strengths, but Krusty's father appears to remind him Jewish Heaven isn't actually a thing, and that if he wants to make a difference, Krusty should devote his life to helping people.

Meanwhile, the Rabbi's death has Lisa gravely concerned for his own father's health, and begins constantly watching and keeping an eye on Homer to ensure his safety.  Soon, Lisa wraps a sleeping Homer completely with bubble wrap, and ironically it does help as it saves Homer from a bus crashing into him - validating Lisa's fears.

Krusty helps with the construction of an animal shelter, but he feels no accomplishment for the feat.  Bart finds him again and takes him to a nearby temple, where Rabbi Rudenstein is giving service.  Rudenstein includes comedy in his routine, and Krusty realizes that Rudenstein's jokes are no better than his.  More notably, though, if his father found Rudenstein funny, then by extension he had to of found Krusty funny as well.  Relieved, Krusty has another dream where he and his father enjoy their time in the Jewish Heaven that shouldn't be.

Quick Review
Where to start?

First of all, the couch gag.  It went on for way too long.  Its become a thing in recent years where the producers of the show will allow other creators to make their own couch gag, but they gotta start enforcing some kind of time limit on these, or put them on social media by themselves, or something.  This one, created by Don Hertzfeldt, which features what the Simpsons would be like tens of thousands of years from now (under the correct premise that the show is still airing then), went on for almost two minutes, whereas the "joke" was understood in well under half the time.  It really seems like filler for the episode as it just dragged on and on, it seemed.  That said, its just as well the episode got filler at the beginning, because the episode wasn't that good.

Now, the death.  News of a character's death had been circulating for awhile, and hype was building up.  Clues as to who would be the one to perish popped up, and the news that the character would die in a Krusty-focused episode, rumors were rampant on who it would be.  The episode itself even references the buildup in the chalkboard gag.  I figured, in a previous writing that is no longer, that the character that dies would be unrelated to the plot and they would die in a stupid way.  Well, I was half-right, the character was related to the episode's plot, but he died in a stupid way, which I guess is par for the course for the show at this point.  Rabbi Krustofski, who originally was Krusty's estranged father before they made up, helped Krusty finally go through his bar mitzvah, and has appeared in a couple of cameos since, is not the "big, important" character producers made it out to be.  Oh, sure, he's an important piece of Krusty's character and he's voiced by Jackie Mason, but as a standalone character he's not much.  To compare, there was little to no buildup for Mona Simpson's death, and she's both voiced by a well-known celebrity and important to Homer's history.  So why now?  It troubles me that, in what seems to be a very gimmicky season, they would build that death up.

How about all of those guest voices?  Silverman, Ross, Mason, David Hyde Pierce, Kelsey Grammer for a Sideshow Bob cameo, lot going on there.  While not as many celebrity guests as in Season 25's premiere, they were overall better used than in that episode, with each providing a good line or two (well, except Pierce, I guess).

That all aside, the episode was okay.  There were a few good jokes throughout, and the sideplot with Homer and Lisa had its moments, but the episode's multiple missteps really hurt it and at the end of the day, another "Krusty quits, oh wait-" episode just doesn't work out.

Final Score: 6.6

The Man Who Grew Too Much (S25, E13-543)

Seems like Bob grafted the DNA of modern Simpsons into his genes.

Plot Summary
Its Taco Tuesday at school, and Lisa (who is upset school isn't challenging her, again) notices that, yet again, barely anybody used vegetables for their tacos.  She also notices Lunchlady Doris put them away for next week, told by Doris that those vegetables have been genetically enhanced to last awhile.  Concerned, Lisa investigates the health and safety risks of genetically modified foods and eventually comes to the conclusion that its okay, encouraging the town to go all in on the stuff.  The genetically altered food revolution is being headed by the Monsarno corporation, who invites Lisa and her family to their headquarters for a tour.  There, they get a chance to meet the head scientist - Sideshow Bob!

Bob explains that after the last time he tried anything (referenced by his face falling off), his latest stay in prison was driving him further insane.  Monsarno stepped in, offering Bob the chance to be their guinea pig for experiments.  Bob happily agreed and, somehow, he quickly rose up the ranks in the company to be its head scientist - though he's still chained to a prison block.  As Bob intelligently laments Bart's tomfoolery in his office, Lisa finds a connection between her and Bob, an intellectual connection.  She later meets up with Bob to help him with his experiments and the two seem to be getting along quite well.

Meanwhile, Marge is tasked by the church to have teens take an abstinence pledge, but is having a lot of trouble getting those teens to commit.  Frustrated, she brings Homer along and with the image of a guy like Homer making love, the teens become more than happy to pledge.

Bob is given a free hour at the museum alongside Lisa, though still chained to his block.  A falling piece of artwork nearly crushes Lisa but Bob steps in to withstand the blow.  Given how heavy the item is, Lisa is stunned Bob took it so well, but realizes that Bob has actually modified himself with the DNA of multiple animals and people.  Bob admits that his museum visit today was to acquire more DNA from historical figures to enhance his strength and smarts.  The ever suspicious Bart steps in to save Lisa, and an angered Bob gives chase.

The chase ends up over the Springfield dam, where the enhanced Bob finally catches them.  Just then, Homer and Marge reach the three, and Marge decides to stop Bob by sicking her abstinence-pledged teens on him, most of whom have become sexually frustrated.  Bob fends them off rather uncivilly, causing Lisa to call Bob out on his behavior.  Regretful, Bob decides to jump off the dam rather than live on as he has become, much to Lisa's sadness.  However, Bob survives the fall because he can now breathe underwater, and he takes his leave.

In one final scene, Ned remembers taking tango lessons with Edna (which was why he couldn't do teen abstinence this time), and is saddened alongside Nelson that Edna is now gone.

Quick Review
So, at this point, I'm fairly sure they've run out of ideas for Sideshow Bob episodes.  His character does vary sometimes in terms of the motivation behind his plans, but between the last episode where he cuts off his own face and this one where he becomes a genetic freak of nature, I'm not liking these developments.

The episode itself has its moments, nothing specifically noteworthy, but a few of Bob's lines were good.  The Marge subplot wasn't particularly good but it wasn't bad either though it mixed it with the main storyline somewhat awkwardly.  Overall, its a decent episode, but as a Bob episode its only really better than The Italian Bob, and it takes no effort to be better than that episode.

As a note, this is the final episode to feature Edna Krabappel as the episode notes that she has likely passed away.  I think the late Marcia Wallace does voice her two lines here, which makes this the last episode to feature Marcia as a guest voice.

Final Score: 7.2

The Bob Next Door (S21, E22-463)

New face, same old maniacal laugh.

Plot Summary
Springfield is broke (again), and Mayor Quimby enacts multiple measures to help the town save money, one of which is to let low-level convicts go free.  As the Simpson's other next door neighbors move away to prosperous ol' Detroit, someone else quickly moves into the house.  Bart goes to greet him but learns in horror that this new neighbor sounds exactly like Sideshow Bob.  The family tries to convince Bart that the new neighbor, Walt Warren, isn't Bob.  First of all, his feet are normal sized.  Second, he seems like the nicest guy around.  Bart still isn't convinced, so Marge takes Bart to the prison where Bob is held and shows Bart that Bob is still in his cell.  Bob, though, is a bit crazed, writing "Bart Simpson Will Die" all over the wall and unable to speak properly with a marker stuck in his mouth.  Still, that seemed to do the trick, but that night Bob is able to escape from prison.  Regardless, the next day Bart feels much better.

Walt tries to reconcile with Bart by taking him to the baseball game, which Bart agrees to.  A short time later, Homer and Marge are stunned as Bob pops in through the window.  He's quickly subdued, but he tells Homer and Marge he's the real Walt Warren.  Meanwhile, "Walt" drives right by the baseball stadium and reveals he actually is Sideshow Bob to Bart, having folded his feet in half to fit normal size shoes.  Both men reveal to their respective Simpsons that Walt was due an early release, but Bob had been reading up on plastic surgery, and was able to knock Walt out.  Bob then snuck Walt over to the prison infirmary where Bob was able to cut out and swap both of their faces.  Bob was let go as Walt, given tons of money that the guards invested wisely for him, and bought the house next to the Simpsons.  Walt, now stuck in Bob's face, hadn't gotten used to it enough to speak, and so tried to warn Bart by writing "Bart Simpson Will Die" on the wall, but that message wasn't properly received.

The other Simpsons along with the real Walt bust into Bob's house and learn Bob is heading towards the 'five corners'.  A waitress along the way falls in love with Bob posing as Walt, and tries to throw off Homer and the family to protect him, though the real Walt isn't buying it.  Bob reveals to a now tied up Bart that by shooting him at the five corners, he'll fire his gun in one state, the bullet will pass through two others, and Bart will get hit in a 4th state, and no state law can handle all of that.  Bart tries to outsmart Bob by jumping to the state Bob is in, but Bob eventually decides to just shoot Bart and lie about the plan later.  Walt, however, jumps in to save Bart but a bee had gotten underneath Walt's new face and he too is subdued.  Bob has both of them at gunpoint, but just then Chief Wiggum arrives.  Bart never got over his suspicions of Bob and asked the Chief to follow Walt after Bart was invited to the game.  Bob tries to jump to another state but soon police from the other four states arrives, and Bob is eventually captured by one of them and taken to jail.  Later, the Simpsons once again welcome a new neighbor, but to Homer's dismay its Ned Flanders' cousin Ted and the combo of diddlies and doodlies drive Homer mad.

Quick Review
Well, this episode has a decent amount of humor, but I have to admit as far as intelligent plans go, Bob's had better.  Whether it's Bob going out of his way to not look like himself, even folding his feet, only to just let himself sound like Bob anyway, or just up and stealing some other guy's face to escape prison, or the plan to shoot Bart across several states - well that last one was pretty clever but for the most part there wasn't a whole lot to decipher like there was even in the previous Bob episode.  Anyway, those are personal grips, its still a pretty decent Bob episode.

Final Score: 7.4

Wedding for Disaster (S20, E15-435)

Bridezilla doesn't care much for King Wrong's nonsense.

Plot Summary
Reverend Lovejoy hypes everyone up for the arrival of the Holy Parson and, sure enough, the town fawns over the guy and his easy going demeanor.  The Parson and Lovejoy get a moment to themselves, where the Parson reveals that due to a technical error, there was a period of three months where Lovejoy was not an official Reverend, and therefore anything he did during that period of time never counted.  Lovejoy goes around town telling those affected about the error, including Homer and Marge, who just so happened to have their second wedding during that same time frame.  As such, Homer and Marge are still divorced.

The two go to town hall to pay for a marriage license, but its sort of depressing with no romantic over tones around.  Homer opts not to get a license at that time, and decides instead to throw Marge a big wedding instead to really make it count.  Soon, though, Marge completely takes over the wedding planning, getting incredibly upset if even the slightest detail is askew.  Homer tries to confront Marge over her control, calling her a "Bridezilla", but Marge doesn't back down.  The day of the wedding arrives, and Homer is depressed over how Marge has handled everything.  A short time later, Marge gets the wedding going, but is delayed when Homer doesn't show up.  She goes to find out what's taking Homer so long, only to learn in shock that Homer has disappeared, having apparently ditched the wedding.

As Marge starts blaming herself over what's happened, Bart and Lisa are skeptical over Homer's departure and search his room for clues.  Bart finds a keychain with the initials "S.B.", and the two quickly assume Sideshow Bob is responsible.  Meanwhile, Homer finds himself chained to a pipe in some sort of torture room, and is given a lollipop with key to the chain within, however both the lollipop and the key are made of hot sauce.  Bart and Lisa locate Bob, who isn't in jail, but is spending time with Krusty, who vouches that Bob was with him during the time in question.  Bob is gratified he was thought of first from the initials S.B., but Bob quickly tells the kids those initials could belong to a number of people, including... Selma Bouvier!  It turns out that in fact it was Selma - and Patty - who kidnapped and are subsequently torturing Homer.  Ready to give up, Homer starts reading the vows he had prepared for the wedding, admitting he misses Marge, the kids, and even his sisters-not-currently-in-law.  The vows get to Patty and Selma, and they decide to let him go.  They dispose of the evidence as quickly as they can, but Bart and Lisa overhear them talk about the kidnapping, and have them pegged.

Homer and Marge get their license at town hall, saddened over recent events.  However, upon exiting the building, they're met with an extravagant wedding reception, secretly paid for by Patty and Selma so Bart and Lisa wouldn't out their scheme to Marge.  Marge couldn't be happier, and the two finally get to enjoy their wedding.

Quick Review
This was an alright episode.  The Sideshow Bob cameo was a bit out of place but appreciated none the less, and the twists the episode provided in the latter portion came along with a decent amount of humor.  Admittedly, it was a slow start with the Parson bit and the Bridezilla portion, but it picked up and became a respectable episode.

Final Score: 7.1

Funeral for a Fiend (S19, E08-408)

Anything is better when done as a family!

Plot Summary
Going out to a hardware store to buy batteries, Homer ends up buying a TiVo instead.  Marge becomes obsessed with the TiVo and its ability to skip any and all commercials, and watches commerical-free programming thanks to it all day, every day.  Marge starts to get a bit worn out, and hallucinates that Keith Olbermann is chiding her for skipping commercials all the time, and she's eventually convinced in her weakened state to actually watch the commercials.  One such commercial is for the opening of a new barbecue restaurant, and the Simpsons are convinced to attend its grand opening.

Once there, though, the restaurant has no customers and its insides are barren.  The owner, seen in the commercial, reveals himself to actually be... Sideshow Bob!  After somehow tying up the family all by himself, Bob tells the Simpsons about what he's been doing since they narrowly escaped his last vengeance plot.  Bob and his wife and son flee to England to find work, but Bob is eventually able to smuggle himself over to America to set up the restaurant plot.  He plans to have the restaurant catch fire by having a defective laptop battery set off boxes of dynamite.  However, Lisa is able to foil this plot by catching Bob misquote Shakespeare, forcing him to double check his quotes on the laptop just as its battery explodes on him.  Bob is essentially subdued, and all is supposedly well.

At the trial, though, Bob's parents attend.  His mother is a top notch classical actress, while his father is a top notch doctor.  Bob pleads not guilty for reason of insanity, claiming that Bart's continued foiling has driven him to madness.  His father goes up to the stand to note that Bob suffers from a heart condition as well, and Bob reminds everyone that Bart has done bad things to them as well.  Bart tries to defend himself, but Bob pulls out a vial of nitroglycerin.  As people panic thinking its explosive, Bart snatches the vial and throws it away.  However, the vial was actually the medicine for Bob's heart condition, and he suddenly collapses and dies on the spot.  Bart is justifiably noted as the reason for Bob's death, and becomes hated across town.

Bob's funeral is huge, attended by all sorts of people including Krusty, other clowns, and his extended family (parents, wife and son, brother).  Bart, though, isn't grieving, and with people still mad at him, he just storms off from the funeral.  Later, nearby, Bart is met by Bob's brother, Cecil, who eventually convinces Bart to give Bob his last respects before he gets cremated.  Bart finally visit Bob's casket, fit to accommodate Bob's large feet, with nobody else around.  It works perfectly, as Bob pops out of the casket alive and ready to kill Bart, tossing him into the casket so he'll get cremated instead.  Bob's entire family is also there to enjoy the slaughter, though Bob is less than pleased to enjoy the moment with glory-hog Cecil.

Lisa suddenly realizes the plot after a visit from a clue-giving Milhouse, and get her family to the funeral home.  Lisa realizes that this was Bob's scheme from the start; he actually wanted to be captured at the restaurant, that because his mother is a classical actress there's no way Bob could mess up a Shakespeare quote, and Bob's father helped simulate death for Bob to complete the ruse of his death.  The family arrives at the home and stops Bob's plot just in time, freeing Bart from the coffin.  The police arrive to arrest the Terwilliger family for their parts in the scheme.  Bob goes mad in prison, which the other family members as well as their cellmate Snake just have to deal with again.

Quick Review
Its definitely a step up from the disaster that was The Italian Bob, but this episode is far from the high bar of quality set by Sideshow Bob episodes from Seasons 3 to 12.  Bringing back Cecil was a nice touch, and the introduction of his parents were okay as well, but the episode was hampered by the somewhat faulty leaps in logic (his mother was a classical actress, that means Bob can never mess up Shakespeare quotes), combined with Lisa's gloatful attitude everytime she stops Bob throughout the episode.  Its about as good as Season 19 can put out, but its not as good as it could've been.

As an aside, when Bob goes mad at the end of the episode, he 'imagines' that the Simpsons are celebrating the 10th time Bob's plot has been foiled.  Indeed, this is the 10th episode focused on Sideshow Bob.  However, in two previous occasions, it was Bob foiling the plot of another person (Cecil in Season 8, 'lil Grimey in Season 14, though Bob did try to kill Bart at the very end of that episode).  Moreover, while Bart was the reason Bob's first three plots failed, Bart hasn't been the main factor for Bob's failures since.  It has either been Lisa, Krusty, or even Bob himself.  Just noting, is all.

Final Score: 7.4

The Italian Bob (S17, E08-364)

As long as he doesn't say "vendetta", that kid can be as menacing as he wants.

Plot Summary
Mr. Burns buys a new Italian sportscar, but has Homer retrieve it manually from Italy so that he doesn't have to pay taxes for it.  Homer gets to bring the family along to get the car, and they have to drive it to Rome to have it shipped.  Despite that, the family does some sightseeing first which winds up with the car getting smashed by a giant block of cheese.  They go to the nearest town to get help, but only one person in town speaks English: the mayor.  They go visit the mayor to learn to their shock that the mayor is actually Sideshow Bob!

Bob reveals that, after his last attempt at killing Bart 'failed', he decided he needed a fresh start, and half-randomly moved to a Tuscan village.  There, his large feet prove vital in creating a large wine harvest, and becomes so celebrated he's voted in as the mayor of the town.  He even found a woman to be his wife and together they had a son (the two are both aware of Bart as Bob screams out his name at night).  Bob tells them that nobody in the village is aware of his dubious past, and he agrees to fix their car in exchange for their silence.  Things go pretty well, but in a celebration feast Lisa gets drunk from wine and lets out Bob's big secret to the entire town.  Bob is disgraced and swears vengeance on the fleeing Simpson family.

During the escape, the Simpson family wrecks Burns' car again but they're able to flee Bob's notice.  Bob is about to give up again, but is encouraged by his wife and child to follow through on his vengeance, as they too have been shamed by the Simpsons.  The Simpsons make it to Rome, where they realize that Krusty the Klown is in town to perform a play.  They ask for his help, and he tries to have them hide within a background character cast in the play he's poorly performing, but Bob and family find the Simpsons and try to kill them on stage.  Krusty is able to secure the family's escape, though, and they get to go back to America.  Bob and his family is at first disappointed, but they soon get motivated again as they bond over getting vengeance.

Quick Review
This... this was not a good episode.  The premise was pretty bad from the start, Bob having a kid already was 'we know continuity is messed up so here you go anyway, suckers' level stupid, and that kid going 'vendetta' over and over again got too annoying for its own good.  Krusty the Klown tries his best to salvage the episode at the end, but its far too little, far too late.  By far, this is the worst Sideshow Bob episode of the show.

Final Score: 5.1

The Great Louse Detective (S14, E06-297)

You can tell by that face that Bob just wasn't into killing Bart.

Plot Summary
The Simpsons are invited for a free day at the spa.  There, Homer partakes in a steam room; when he's by himself, an unknown person locks Homer inside in an attempt to kill him, though Homer is able to escape in time.  He goes to the police to report the attempt on his life, and Chief Wiggum decides that in order to catch this killer, Homer needs the help of someone with the mind of a criminal.  For some reason, Wiggum chooses Bart's pal Sideshow Bob for this.

Bob agrees to help find Homer's assailant in exchange for having first pick in an upcoming prison play.  Bob is forced to wear a shock collar so he doesn't try anything silly like escaping or killing Bart.  As Bob begins to investigate by following Homer's movements, Homer crashes his car and chides a mechanic, Junior, just because.  Bob quickly learns that Homer has a lot of enemies.  To further that point, Bob sets up a dummy of Homer outside, which is attacked by said enemies, and thus Bob is no closer to figuring out the killer.  Bob does start finding clues, such as a thumbprint smudge on the spa postcard sent to the family, but as Bob advises Homer to stay out of sight, Homer learns he's been declared "King of Mardi Gras" (likely because the killer stuffed votes for him at the poll), and is forced to be out in the open for a significant period of time.

At the parade, Bob learns that the float Homer is riding was 'tuned up' by a mechanic.  Bob quickly adds up the pieces and realizes that Junior (and somehow not any other mechanic) must be the murderer.  The float Homer is on has had its brake lines cut, and sure enough the float goes down a hill.  Bob acts quickly to save Homer's life, and the two spot the murderer and give chase.  Cornering him in an alley, the murderer reveals himself to be Frank Grimes Jr., the son of Frank Grimes, who died after Homer drove him insane but apparently not before makin' babies with prostitutes.  The police arrive to arrest Junior and to tranquilize Bob, his job now done.

That night, Bart is visited by Bob, who had escaped the police, and attempts to kill Bart quickly (as per Lenny's advice earlier on), but finds that he can not kill Bart, having become accustomed to his face (singing a song stating as such).  Bob takes his leave, but not before getting shocked once or twice or several times more.

Quick Review
As far as Sideshow Bob episodes go, its the weakest entry thus far, slightly worse than Krusty Gets Busted, but as far as Season 14 episodes go its the highlight thus far.  Kinda sad to think about either way.  The episode itself had a good quantity of jokes, with Bob once again leading the humor charge.  Though, the reveal of the murderer was underwhelming, given age discrepancies of the two Grimes and the odd reference to Homer's Enemy, it just felt odd.  Still, I ended up enjoying the episode which, given how the season has gone thus far, is a compliment.

Final Score: 7.8

Day of the Jackanapes (S12, E13-261)

This picture of Bob laughing maniacally looks more like him being really eager.
Which he is, I guess.  Eager to commit murder!

Plot Summary
Krusty becomes annoyed over how TV has changed over the years, even more so how meddlesome network executives have gotten.  They get so meddlesome with their terrible ideas that Krusty has had enough and decides to retire, his final show airing the upcoming Friday.  Krusty also has an interview with Kent Brockman, when he reveals that he's taped over all of his old shows during an infatuation with Judge Judy, and then reveals that he feels the show hadn't gotten really funny until Sideshow Bob had been replaced with Mel.

This interview does not go unnoticed by Bob, and is so fueled with rage over Krusty's neglect he decides to go out and kill him.  Flimsy reasoning is enough for him to get paroled, and he quickly sets up shop at a storage locker to set up a master plan.  It starts with him taking a job at the Elementary School, with Skinner and Bob having a mutual disdain of Bart Simpson.  Taking on the role of morning announcement, uh, guy, Bob uses this to his advantage and announces that Bart should go unescorted to a shack out back.  Bart goes and is immediately captured by Bob, who plans to have Bart kill Krusty during Krusty's final show, using hypnotism to get Bart under his control.

The Simpsons get invites to the show (for some reason), and Bob is able to sneak his way in.  "Activating" Bart, Bob calls him over to begin the final stage of his plan: equipping Bart with belts lined with plastic explosive with Bart's hands applied with triggers to said explosive, Bob plans to have Bart hug Krusty, setting up an explosion and killing off both of them.

Having Bart go to the stage after Krusty says a particular phrase, Bob's plan is about to work without a hitch.  However, in the time it takes for Bart to actually reach the stage, Krusty reveals one single regret he's had his entire career: that his abuse of Bob while he was Krusty's sidekick was what led Bob down the path of crime.  Krusty's remorse reaches Bob, and he has a last second change of heart.  He attempts to stop the assassination, but is unable to reach the two.  Thankfully, Mr. Teeny, Krusty's show monkey, spots the plastic explosives under Bart's jacket and is able to swoop in and remove the explosives, throwing them into a room full of network executives (who survive the blast somewhat).

Krusty and Bob reconcile their differences, though Bob is once again hit for attempted murder and the episode ends with Bob trying to convince Chief Wiggum to at least get a trial before getting the guillotine.

Quick Review
This ends up to be an excellent Sideshow Bob episode.  He hadn't appeared in Mike Scully's tenure as showrunner, as he had feared that Bob's storylines had dried up, a fear that seemed somewhat true at the beginning of the episode when "Krusty doesn't think much of me" doesn't really seem like much of a motive for Bob - who had reformed only to be falsely arrested in his last major appearance - to go out and kill again.

Still, the jokes around Bob worked really well and though this episode is part of "new Simpson" territory, it can be counted among the better episodes that feature him, and its certainly one of the best episodes of Season 12.

Final Score: 9.1

Brother from Another Series (S08, E16-169)

I'm surprised there was never an episode where Bob tries to kill Wiggum.

Plot Summary
Bart freaks out when seeing Sideshow Bob on the TV during a prison show, but despite that it turns out Bob has reformed during his latest stay in jail, and Reverend Lovejoy has helped Bob enroll in a work release program.  The person willing to help Bob out?  Bob's brother, Cecil, who had been estranged from Bob for some time but is willing to take Bob on for his work.  Though the town is furious over Bob's release, he's able to calm them by explaining that everyone should get a second chance (never mind that Bob's had several already).  Bart, however, is still suspicious.

At Cecil's apartment, Bob learns he'll be supervising the construction of a dam just outside Springfield.  As Bob notes Cecil's rather superior demeanor, he realizes that Cecil is still angry over an incident years ago that led to the estrangement.  Cecil, as it turns out, was a big fan of Krusty the Klown and wanted to be his sidekick since he was 5.  He got his big shot one day, with Bob having driven him to an audition, however Cecil messes it up and as Krusty demonstrates how to do the 'pie gag' right by having one sent Bob's way, Bob's reaction to getting hit is apparently so funny they hire Bob on the spot.  Though Cecil may still be a bit resentful over those events, he's still willing to allow Bob to work for him.

Bob's frustrations quickly mount, however.  The workers Cecil has given Bob to construct the dam are nothing but slack-jawed yokels, and Bart constantly hounds Bob wherever he goes.  Bob catches Bart (along with Lisa) snooping in a dumpster, and takes them home, claiming he won't be held responsible should he catch them again.  Regardless, Bart and Lisa head to the dam to find clues.  Bart finds a suitcase full of money, but just then Bob enters the scene.  The two escape to an inner room of the dam, where they expose Bob's supposed embezzlement.  While Bob claims he hasn't seen that money before, Cecil enters the scene.  He is the one behind the embezzlement, creating a faulty dam that he's going to blow up, which will be blamed on Bob while Cecil walks away with millions of dollars (also he plans to blow up Bob and the kids in the dam).

With the kids now finding themselves unable to foil Cecil's plan, much to Bob's displeasure, he leads the kids to an escape route.  As Bob and Lisa attempt to disarm the bomb, Bart confronts Cecil, causing him to lose his money.  Cecil is able to grab Bart, though, and toss him off the cliff.  Heroically, Bob uses the dynamite as a rope to grab Bart, then cuts the wire to prevent Cecil from activating it.  Bob and Bart fall, but 'land' on a well-placed pipe.  Bart helps Bob off of it onto a nearby stanchion, essentially saving Bob's life, and the two make amends.

The police arrive to arrest Cecil, but Chief Wiggum arrives, and absolutely refuses to believe Bob wasn't responsible, eventually talking his way into having Bob arrested for 'resisting arrest' despite Bob, Lisa, Lou the cop and even Cecil proclaiming Bob's innocence.  In frustration (and on Cecil's clever tip), Bob accidentally yells out that people will pay for this, thereby establishing himself as a villain later on.  The dam does crumble, though the damage remains minimal.  Though Wiggum theorizes that Cecil and Bob could concoct one hell of a scheme in prison, the two merely just bicker.

Quick Review
I thought this episode was interesting already in the voice casting.  Kelsey Grammer, of course, voices Bob, but also plays Frasier Crane in both Cheers and the spinoff Frasier.  In the latter, Frasier's brother is played by David Hyde Pierce who, in this episode, voices Bob's brother Cecil.  To further show the Frasier connection, the first commercial bump featured a quick bit about the show so that the audience could get that, yes, this episode has the Crane brothers from Frasier as the Terwilliger brothers on the Simpsons.  Well, I found that interesting, anyway.

I found that dynamic between the two to be a strength for this episode, as the dry wit shared between the two I found funny from time to time.  Bart's role in the episode, the slack-jawed yokels, and Chief Wiggum's deductive reasoning all help make this episode one of Season 8's best and one of the best Sideshow Bob episodes around.

Final Score: 10

Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming (S07, E09-137)

The bomb, like Bob's plan, is fated to simply fizzle out.

Plot Summary
While watching Sideshow Mel get made a fool of again on Krusty's show, the kids remind Homer of the things Sideshow Bob has done in the past.  At the same time, in the minimum security prison Bob went to after being convicted of voter fraud, Bob becomes increasingly frustrated towards the cesspool of entertainment otherwise known as television.  Soon, the inmates at the prison are forced to clean up an air force base for an upcoming air show (which the Simpson family will be going to much to Marge's dismay).  Bob takes the opportunity to escape just as the air show is about to begin.

Bob is able to pick up on the mannerisms of the base's colonel, and pretends to be him over an intercom to gain access to a bomb storage, where he steals an atomic bomb.  Hiding himself somewhere, a rather high-pitched Bob appears on the jumbotron at the air show to announce his demands: either eliminated TV in two hours, or he'll detonate his atomic bomb.  As panic quickly escalates as everyone evacuates the base, Bart is able to separate from the group and go back in, with Lisa following.  Meanwhile, with such a strict deadline, Mayor Quimby has no choice, despite Krusty's objections, to force all TV to end.  Krusty however isn't licked quite yet, as he realizes that the Emergency Broadcast Network is still live, and makes the trek to the remote location the EBN is at to begin broadcasting himself - the only thing on TV now.

Lisa realizes that Bob is in the blimp at the base, given how high-pitched Bob's voice was during his announcement.  As the two reach the blimp, Bob finds out in horror that Krusty is still on the air.  His campaign to end TV foiled, Bob decides to 'take the easy way out' and detonate the bomb.  However, the bomb is a dud, as it was built in the 50s and Bob was too taken up on the retro look to pass up on it.  His plans foiled further, he tries to take it out on Bart, but Lisa is able to call the police to the scene, foiling Bob again.  In desperation, Bob kidnaps Bart and makes a getaway on the Wright Brothers plane that was on display.  Far too slow to be intercepted by modern jets yet too above the ground to actually grab, Bob is successfully making his getaway, but his mission isn't to escape: its a kamikaze mission to crash into the station Krusty is at, to kill Krusty.

As the plane approaches, Bart is able to warn Krusty to escape, however the plane is moving far too slowly and upon hitting the shack, it only bumps into it and falls to the ground.  Bob is arrested, finding terrible irony in that his plan and its ruination are not unlike a plot devised by some Hollywood TV hack.  Just then, Grampa rolls up on a motorcycle ready to burn rubber, much to Marge's dismay.

Quick Review
This episode is considered a bit of an oddball among the early Sideshow Bob episodes, the premise is kinda screwy admittedly, but there are still plenty of jokes and gags that carry the episode through its premise and makes for another top notch Sideshow Bob episode and another quality Season 7 episode.

Final Score: 9.3

Sideshow Bob Roberts (S06, E05-108)

"And just look how happy he is!"

Plot Summary
Seems I'm a bit late with this episode, a somewhat satirical take on politics both then and now, but more importantly than that its another Sideshow Bob episode.  Bob, still in prison after his attempt on Bart's life, calls into a right-wing radio show hosted by Birch Barlow, complaining that his incarceration for "attempted" murder has no merit.  Birch makes it his mission to free Bob, gathering a large public force to convince Mayor Quimby to let Bob go.  Quimby relents, and quickly Bob is released from prison.

With the race for mayor coming up, the Republican party, consisting of Barlow, Mr. Burns, some Texan, Ranier Wolfcastle, Dr. Hibbert and who I presume is Dracula, agree that Bob would make an excellent candidate to unseat the six-time incumbent Quimby.  Bob's campaign is harsh and quick, using his own release from prison as a weapon against Quimby.  In a debate, Quimby is suffering from a cold (and extra-drowsy cold medication) and is unable to keep up with a witty Bob.  Come election time, Bob earns 100% of the vote to Quimby's 1% (with a 1% margin of error) and Bob gleefully enjoys his victory.

Soon, Bob makes efforts to make life miserable for the Simpsons, Bart in particular.  The "Matlock" Expressway, a new highway initially proposed by Quimby to appease seniors but left in limbo during the campaign, is quickly being built by Bob but requires going straight through the Simpson house, leaving is to be demolished.  Bob also sends an executive order to send Bart all the way back to kindergarten.  Lisa is convinced that Bob did not win legitimately given the wide disparity of votes between two ex-convicts, and begins to investigate, easily acquiring the list of people who voted and for whom.  Falling asleep in her attempt, a shadowy figure gives Lisa a letter to meet at a Pay & Park & Pay.  Homer unwittingly reveals the figure to be Smithers, whose "lifestyle choices" are conflicted with Bob's ultra-conservative views, tells the kids to look for one name: Edgar Neubauer.

The search for Edgar is fruitless at first, but Bart finds a gravestone with his name.  Lisa then realizes that most of the votes for Bob were by the deceased, including most of the pets in the pet cemetery.  Having found evidence of voter fraud, they take Bob to trial.  There, Lisa recognizes Bob's ego and attempts to cast Barlow as the mastermind behind the fraud scheme, implying Bob was nothing more than a puppet.  Bob furiously refutes that claim and takes full responsibility for the fraud, including showing the court all of the evidence needed to convict himself.  Having been trapped, Bob is arrested, and things go back to normal with Quimby somehow getting back in.  Bob in the meantime is sent to a minimum security prison where rowing contests against Princeton alums is a thing.

Quick Review
For an episode that tries to be a Sideshow Bob episode and a political satire, the combination works very well here, and there was a lot of humor to supplement the plot.  Oddities, like Homer's newfound rivalry with the Riverdale gang and the Matlock expressway add to the episode's quality as well.

Final Score: 9.5

Cape Feare (S05, E02-083)

This was the most maniacal laugh I could find.

Plot Summary
For some crazy reason, Bart is getting death threats to start this episode.  Death threats written in blood.  Attempts to figure out who's sending the threats prove fruitless.  Soon, however, its revealed to the viewer that, yes, Sideshow Bob is the one behind the letters.  In a parole hearing, after testimony from Chief Wiggum and Selma prove to help Bob rather than hurt him, a question about his chest tattoo ("Die Bart, Die") has him replying that its German for "The Bart, The".  As the parole board fails to recall any "evil" German person in the past, they approve Bob's parole and he's back on the streets.  Right away, he begins terrorizing Bart by appearing around him or going around town reading a list of names of people he won't kill (excluding Bart of course).

With options to keeping Bob away failing, the Simpsons try the Witness Relocation Program.  There, they get renamed the Thompsons and are sent to live at "Terror Lake" in a house boat.  Given a new car by the WRP, the "Thompsons" are off to their new home, not aware that Bob has hitched a ride under the car.  While not exactly smooth sailing for Bob, with the car being driven through cactus patches and walking into several rakes lying around upon reaching his destination, Bob lets Bart know right away he's there.

That night, Bob makes his move, and sends the boat drifting into the river, tying up the family in the process, leaving Bart by himself.  Unable to jump into the river because of crocodiles and electric eels, Bart sees that the boat is drifting towards Springfield, 15 miles away.  To stall for time, Bart is granted a last wish by Bob: to have Bob sing the entire score to the H.M.S. Pinafore, which Bob gladly does.  The ploy works, and by the time Bob finishes and resumes his advance on Bart, the boat crashes near a brothel where the police are conveniently near.  They take Bob away, and the Simpsons can return home, with Grampa having turned into a woman because his pills were locked away within the house.  Good times.

Quick Review
Cape Feare is one of Season 5's best episodes, its also one of the best Sideshow Bob episodes as well.  There are a lot of memorable parts, like Bob running into nine rakes in a row, Homer writing a "I Kill You Scum" threat letter to Bart just because Bart managed to write "Wide Load" on Homer's ass, or Wiggum saying "Bake him away, toys" after Bart stole his thunder.  It all makes for an exceptional episode.  I should also note that, until the last couple of Sideshow Bob episodes, this was once the only one where Bob makes an effort to actually kill Bart.  Every other episode he has a different plot and/or motive and usually its either Bart or Lisa that foils it, but this was the only one for a long time where Bart was the target of Bob's angered strategems.

Final Score: 10

Black Widower (S03, E21-056)

When your wife is sleeping, you can laugh maniacally all you want.

Plot Summary
Selma's attempts at avoiding crippling loneliness have her trying out prison inmates, and guess who the inmate is!  It's Sideshow Bob!  As the Simpsons alongside Patty invite the two over for dinner (though the Simpsons didn't know who Selma's date was until he arrived), Bart finds himself rather antagonistic against Bob, remembering full well how Bob got into prison in the first place.

As Bob explains during that dinner, it is true that Bob was full of anger after going to jail, angry at Krusty for his lowball, abusive form of entertainment, and angry at Bart for being responsible for sending Bob to jail.  However, he received a letter for Selma due to a prison pen-pal arrangement, and the two quickly fall in love, soothing Bob's heart.  Bob, having served his time in jail, makes a bold move and proposes to Selma at the dinner table.  Despite Bart's objections, Selma agrees to be married.

As Bob is able to make up with Krusty on a telethon, Bart remains skeptical of Bob and his intentions.  Meanwhile, as wedding preparations are underway, Bart is around to hear very interesting factoids: Selma, as a kid, had a bottle rocket shoot up into her nose, destroying her senses of taste and smell.  In addition, Selma "bought stock in a mace company just before society crumbled".  The night before the wedding, a conflict occurs between the two: it seems Bob can't stomach Patty & Selma's favorite show: MacGyver, which devastates Selma.  Homer, of all people, comes up with a solution: Bob takes a brisk walk or heads to a bar during MacGyver, then return upon the episode's conclusion.  The two reconcile, and the wedding goes as planned, though afterward as Selma is sleeping Bob lets on his plan to kill Selma.  Bart learns a few more interesting things: that Selma is only going to smoke after dinner and after MacGyver, and in a later moment that Bob has gone out of his way to procure a fireplace at their hotel.

As Patty visits the Simpsons just in time for MacGyver, Bart realizes Bob's plot, claiming that Selma has only one hour to live.  At the hotel, Bob turns up the gas, leaves Selma's cigarettes nearby and goes on his walk while Selma watches MacGyver.  An hour later, as Bob is enjoying a drink, the room explodes, and Bob returns in a pleasant mood, only to find Bart sitting where Selma's corpse was supposed to be, and Selma both alive and willing to separate.  With the cops on the scene, Bart explains that he figured out Bob was going to blow Selma up.  Selma explained earlier that she lost her sense of smell, which means she can't smell gas.  Furthermore, she always has a smoke after a viewing of MacGyver, and Bob found a way to not be around during that show's airing.  All he needed now was a fireplace to allow enough gas to flow and create the explosion.  Bart tries to explain this to Homer, but after four failed attempts explains it to Marge instead, and they were able to stop the explosion just in time.  Though, the only reason why the room exploded later on was because Chief Wiggum threw a match in the room after lighting a victory cigar.  The cops arrest Bob, and everyone praises Bart's mistrust.

Quick Review
Black Widower is an excellent return of Sideshow Bob's character, and again does Kelsey Grammar voice him wonderfully.  The episode itself doesn't have the quantity of hilarity some of the other Season 3 episodes contained, but it still had plenty to laugh over and is a great resumption of the Sideshow Bob story, whatever that is.

Final Score: 8.9

The Episodes of Sideshow Bob

Sideshow Bob, voiced by Kelsey Grammer, was the former sidekick of Krusty the Klown.  He was abused and oft-ignored by the clown throughout the years, and finally had enough.  This is a series of episodes documenting his on-again off-again relationship with insanity and a little boy named Bart Simpson.

01) Krusty Gets Busted
Season 01 - Episode 12-012
Bob frames Krusty for armed robbery, and almost gets away with it if not for Bart and his keen detective abilities.
Score: 7.9

02) Black Widower
Season 03 - Episode 21-056
Bob attempts to murder Selma for her money, and almost gets away with it if not for Bart and his keen detective abilities.
Score: 8.9

03) Cape Feare
Season 05 - Episode 02-083
After being foiled by Bart twice before, Bob tries to just kill Bart this time, and almost gets away with it if not for Bart and his keen time stalling abilities.
Score: 10

04) Sideshow Bob Roberts
Season 06 - Episode 05-108
Bob becomes mayor via voter fraud, and almost gets away with it if not for Bart Lisa and his her keen detective abilities (and some outside help).
Score: 9.5

05) Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming
Season 07 - Episode 09-137
Bob tries to eliminate television by threatening to blow up the town with an atomic bomb, and almost gets away with it if not for Krusty and his keen desperation to stay on TV by any means.
Score: 9.3

06) Brother from Another Series
Season 08 - Episode 16-169
Bob's brother Cecil tries to frame Bob for the destruction of a crummy dam, embezzling money in the process, and almost gets away with it if not for Bart and his keen abilities of suspicion (towards Bob).
Score: 10

07) Day of the Jackanapes
Season 12 - Episode 13-261
Bob tries to kill Krusty by hypnotising Bart into blowing himself up with Krusty, and almost gets away with it if not for Krusty and his keen last second remorse that gets to Bob just in time.
Score: 9.1

08) The Great Louse Detective
Season 14 - Episode 06-297
The son of Frank Grimes attempts to kill Homer, and almost gets away with it if not for Bob and his keen detective abilities.
Score: 7.8

09) The Italian Bob
Season 17 - Episode 08-364
Bob tries to start a new life as mayor of a small Italian town, with a wife and kid, and almost gets away with it if not for Lisa and her keen, booze-soaked tongue.
Score: 5.1

10) Funeral for a Fiend
Season 19 - Episode 08-408
Bob tries to kill Bart by concocting a scheme with help from his wife, son, Cecil, and both of his parents, and almost gets away with it if not for Lisa and her superior, keen detective abilities.
Score: 7.4

11) The Bob Next Door
Season 21 - Episode 22-463
Bob swaps faces with a freed convict so Bart won't suspect him, then complicates the law by trying to shoot Bart across five states, and almost gets away with it if not for Bart and his keen abilities of suspicion.
Score: 7.4

12) The Man Who Grew Too Much
Season 25 - Episode 13-543
Bob becomes the head scientist of a genetically enhanced food company, then decides to take those practices to modify his own DNA, and almost gets away with it if not for... oh wait, he basically does get away with it.
Score: 7.2

Bonus) Treehouse of Horror XXVI (Wanted: Dead Then Alive)
Season 27 - Episode 05-579
Bob finally kills Bart, then builds a reanimation machine so he can kill Bart over and over, and almost gets away with it if not for the Simpsons and their brand new ability to care that Bart went missing.
Score: +1.1 for the segment, 7.0 for the episode

13) Gone Boy
Season 29 - Episode 09-627
Bob locates a missing Bart in an old missile base, and successfully ties him up to an active rocket about to launch, and almost gets away with it if not for his keen conscious kicking in at the last minute.
Score: 7.7

Krusty Gets Busted (S01, E12-012)

I'm going to post this face in every episode he makes it in.

Plot Summary
Beloved TV icon Krusty the Klown is seen robbing the Kwik-E-Mart, and is quickly arrested, and his trial amazingly goes back quickly.  With Homer as a key witness, Krusty is found guilty, and he's sent to jail.  In the meantime, Sideshow Bob, who had previously only communicated with a slide whistle, gets control of the show and turns it into a more intellectual program, which somehow succeeds.

Bart, of course, can not and will not believe Krusty committed a crime, and recruits Lisa to help him figure out the real culprit.  While leads at the Kwik-E-Mart dry up, its suggested they ask Bob for help cracking the case.  On the program, Bob invites Bart to talk about it, and as Bob shoots down Bart's leads on the case, Bart realizes that, during the robbery, Homer stepped on the robber's large feet.  However, Krusty's feet are normal-sized while Bob's feet truly are large.  Bart figures out that it was Sideshow Bob who robbed the Kwik-E-Mart, and is arrested shortly thereafter.  Krusty is freed, and all is well.

Quick Review
While both Krusty the Klown and Sideshow Bob have made appearances in earlier episodes, this is the first real half-hour episode where both take center stage.  Yes, we've reached the first of several Sideshow Bob episodes, and this one in particular is one of the better episodes not just in that set, but also in Season 1 in particular.

Krusty Get Busted was a great episode overall, though there wasn't a real classic or memorable scene.  Kelsey Grammer, who voices Bob in this in all other speaking appearances, was great here as well when Bob finally got the chance to speak, and Apu, who first appeared in The Telltale Head, really got a chance to shine here too.  A fine start to a fine series of episodes featuring Sideshow Bob.

Final Score: 7.9