Krusty Gets Kancelled
| "Krusty Gets Kancelled" | |
|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |
| File:Krusty Gets Kancelled.gif | |
| Episode no. | Season 4 |
| Directed by | David Silverman |
| Written by | John Swartzwelder |
| Original air dates | May 13, 1993 |
| Episode features | |
| Chalkboard gag | "I will not charge admission to the bathroom" |
| Couch gag | The family steps into a net trap on the way to the couch. |
"Krusty Gets Kancelled" is the final episode of The Simpsons' fourth season.
Synopsis
One afternoon while Homer and Bart are watching The Springfield Squares, an arresting commerical is aired for something named "Gabbo." The advertisement is the start of a massive blitz around Springfield, to build interest in whatever "Gabbo" is. At one point, a distressed Rev. Lovejoy expresses his concern that the term "Gabbo" has fallen into common usage, in lieu of religious terms such as "worship" and "Jericho."
Finally, "Gabbo" is unveiled with great fanfare — he's a Howdy Doody-type ventriloquist's dummy with a voice like Jerry Lewis. Ventriloquist Arthur Crandall announces that Gabbo's new program will air in direct competition with the established The Krusty the Klown Show show. Gabbo's catchphrase — "I'm a bad wittle boy" — instantly charms his intended audience.
Krusty vows to withstand the competition from the new program, but Gabbo's cutthroat tactics and fantastic reviews quickly erode Krusty's audience. Gabbo even steals away Krusty's signature cartoon, The Itchy & Scratchy Show, since it would be exposed to far-higher ratings than the fast-fading Krusty. Krusty tries to fight back with a dummy of his own, but its gruesome appearance and poor condition (since it falls apart on the clown's lap) conspire to scare off the children. Eventually, Krusty's ratings hit rock bottom, and after being left to air a poorly produced "Worker and Parasite" cartoon ("Eastern Europe's favorite cat and mouse team"), his show is cancelled.
Left without work, Krusty falls on hard times and begins suffering from depression. Meanwhile, Bart and Lisa — all along unimpressed with Gabbo — decide the best way to get Krusty back into the public eye is twofold: Expose Gabbo as a flash-in-the-pan, and plan huge prime-time special starring Krusty.
After Bart begins derailing Gabbo's success (by secretly turning on a studio camera, which catches Gabbo bad-mouthing his audience on-air), he and Lisa begin recruiting major celebrities to appear on Krusty's special: Bette Midler, Johnny Carson, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Luke Perry (Krusty's "worthless half-brother").
The special — styled much like Elvis Presley's '68 Comeback Special — airs and is a huge success, ensuring Krusty's future success. Gabbo, meanwhile, has a "real boy operation" and quickly fades into oblivion.
Worker and Parasite
Worker and Parasite was a fictional cartoon in this episode. When the popular cartoon Itchy and Scratchy, featuring a very violent cat and mouse, leaves the Krusty the Clown Show for Krusty's new competitor, Gabbo. "Eastern Europe's favorite cat and mouse team, Worker and Parasite" was a cheap replacement. According to the title screen, it was made in 1959 under the Khrushchev regime in the USSR.
The cartoon opened with some cyrillic-looking credits. The cartoon itself was quite unintelligible, and featured a crudely drawn cat and mouse chattering incoherently and bouncing around in front of a breadline of identical, miserable-looking peasants, while random background music was playing. It concludes with the screen reading "ENDUT! HOCH HECH!" Afterwards, Krusty's on-air response (before a vacant studio) was shocked silence, a limp cigarette hanging from his mouth, then promptly, "What the hell was that?!"
Coincidentally, the idea bears some similarity to the rather unusual set of Tom and Jerry cartoons (on which Itchy and Scratchy is based) produced in Prague by animator Gene Deitch, not to mention the characters' resemblance to Ren and Stimpy.
Judging by the sounds of the voices, the characters were probably portrayed by Simpsons voice actors Dan Castellaneta and Harry Shearer, both of whom also portrayed Itchy and Scratchy on the series.
Notes
- The show's title is a reference to social parasitism, which was a crime in the Soviet Union.
- There has been some speculation as to what "Endut! Hoch Hech!" means. Although the opening credits show some cyrillic-looking text, the end was written in Latin script. "Endut" obviously resembles the English "end" or "end it". "Hoch Hech" could also be interpreted as onomatopoeia for laughter, considering under the Khruschev regime, this would be considered a humourous short (i.e. "The End! Ha ha!"). The words resemble some from the German language, with "Endut" sounding similar to "ende gut", meaning all's well that ends well. "Hoch" in German is used as a cheer. The Season 4 DVD audio commentary for the episode however claims that writer John Swartzwelder had no intended meaning for the phrase "Endut! Hoch Hech!".
- The opening card is reads СФИР ЕТ ЅЕРОНЖ, only with a backwards P, which does not exist in Cyrillic. It does not seem to mean anything, but it would be pronounced something like "Sfir Yet Seronzh." In Russian, Worker and Parasite would be something like Рабочий И Паразит
Trivia
- Marge does not speak a word in this episode.
- The Red Hot Chili Peppers played their performance for the episode in their underwear.
- Barry White also appears in the Whacking Day episode.
- Bette Midler sings to Krusty in a similar vein to when she sang to Johnny Carson during his last episode of The Tonight Show.
- Elizabeth Taylor is clearly seen lurking into Moe's Tavern in the final scene in this episode.
Cultural references
- Ed Sullivan — The scene in which Krusty instructs the Red Hot Chili Peppers to change the lyrics to the song "give it away" is a reference to Sullivan instructing The Doors to change the lyrics to the song "Light My Fire."
- Elvis Presley's '68 Comeback Special — The Krusty Komeback Special is styled exactly like The King's prime-time special, aimed at getting him back into the spotlight after a sabbatical.
- The Hollywood Squares — The Springfield Squares is an obvious parody. The final moments of the segment, where a tidal wave knocks a stubborn Charley Weaver from his lower-left square (he had refused to leave, while the others fled), is a reference to an earthquake that shook up a 1971 taping of Squares and center square Paul Lynde not leaving his spot while everyone else ran off the stage. The Springfield Squares taping "on location" is much akin to the 1986 version frequently taping at outdoor locations in Florida.
- "That ought to hold those little bastards" urban legend – Gabbo's statement referring to his audience as "little SOBs" (which is caught on live air, thanks to Bart) — and later, Kent Brockman's comment when he thought the station had cut to a commerical break — is a reference to this broadcasting urban legend. [1]
- The Tonight Show — Bette Midler's serenading Krusty is just like how Bette sang to Johnny Carson on Carson's next-to-last show.
Additional characters
- Luke Perry also makes an appearance as a replacement for Sideshow Mel. He is apparently Krusty's worthless half-brother. He plays Sideshow Luke Perry, who features in a small scene where Krusty and Sideshow Luke Perry must build a balloon model. Luke Perry manages to make a 19th Century carousel with just a couple of balloons. Krusty can only make a simple traditional horse, and Krusty becomes jealous and angry of his ability. In Krusty's imagination, Sideshow Luke Perry is shot from a cannon into a brick wall. Krusty's mind then shows the cover of a magazine called 'Peephole', in which Luke Perry's face has been humorously flattened, with the tagline "New look for Luke". When Krusty tries the act in real life, however, Luke is fired through a window, a sandpaper museum, the Kwik-E-Mart's special sale of acid, and lands in a pillow factory is is immediately demolished. He later appears in Moe's at the end, covered in bandages.
Quotes
- Pimple-faced kid: Here's your taco, sir.
Krusty: I don't want it.
Pimple-faced kid: But this comes out of my salary! If I had a girlfriend, she'd kill me!
- Bart: (upon seeing that Krusty is dancing in his underwear in the street for food) Krusty! Have you maken any money?
Krusty: Nah, That guy's giving it away for free! (points)
Crazy old man: Old grey mare she ain't what she used to be, ain't what she used to be, ain't what she used to be...
Later
(Krusty turns on TV and finds the Crazy Old Man in his underwear dancing)
Crazy old man on TV: Old grey mare she ain't what she used to be, ain't what she used to be, ain't what she used to be...
TV Announcer: And now the Crazy Old Man Singers.
Crazy Old Men: Old grey mare she ain't what she used to be, ain't what she used to be...
(cuts to Krusty staring and blinking)
- Bart: (giving a toast to Krusty) to Krusty the Clown, the greatest entertainer on T.V.....'cept maybe that guy, (camera pans to Johnny Carson balancing Jasper and Abe on his head while tap dancing and playing the simpsons theme tune on an accordion.)
- Krusty: If you watch my show, I'll give you $40! (holds up cheque to audience).
Disclaimer: Cheques will not be honoured.
External links
 | This Simpsons-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |