Krusty Gets Busted

"Krusty the Clown, you are under arrest for armed robbery! You have the right to remain silent, anything you say may be blah-blah-blah, blah-blah-blah-blah."

- Clancy Wiggum

"Krusty Gets Busted" is the twelfth episode of Season 1. Kent Brockman, Judge Roy Snyder and Scott Christian make their first appearances on The Simpsons in this episode. Kelsey Grammer makes his first appearance on the show as Sideshow Bob.

Synopsis
Homer witnesses a robbery at the Kwik-E-Mart, and he identifies Krusty the Clown as the culprit. Krusty is arrested, tried, imprisoned, and replaced on the show by Sideshow Bob. Lisa and Bart are adamant that Krusty is innocent, so they examine the confirmation, and they conclude that he was framed. Eventually, they uncover evidence proving Krusty's innocence and showing that the robber was Sideshow Bob, who framed Krusty. When Bart confronts Bob, he admits to the crime and is sent to jail, while a grateful Krusty is released and thanks Bart for believing in him.

Act One
The episode begins with Bart, Lisa and Maggie watching Krusty the Clown on TV. Krusty launches into the TV screen in a motor car. During the show a reluctant and unhappy Sideshow Bob is launched from a cannon, as the wish of a girl as it was her birthday, also an episode of Itchy and Scratchy is aired (titled: Burning Love). Marge is hurt by the 'unnecessary violence' in the show, but Lisa points out if cartoons were meant for adults, they would place it on prime time. Marge calls and asks Homer to purchase some ice cream. Homer is suspicious and shudders when he learns that Patty and Selma are coming over later to show slides of their Mexican vacation which turns out to be very boring. Homer goes to the Kwik-E-Mart for ice cream on the way home, and while there he witnesses Krusty rob Apu at gunpoint. Cut quickly to the Simpson house, as the rest of the family watches Patty and Selma's slides. Cut back to Homer, who gives a description of Krusty to the police. Meanwhile, at Krusty's apartment, Krusty is relaxing with a drink when a SWAT team bursts through his door and takes him into custody.

At the police station, Homer identifies Krusty as the armed robber. Homer finally gets home just as Patty and Selma finish the slideshow, being glad for once having missed the boring viewing. Then the news report about Krusty's arrest comes on the air (with Emmy award-winning Kent Brockman's stand-in, Scott Christian "Kent Brockman is off tonight" ). Homer must deal with Marge's embarrassment along with Patty and Selma's anger when he learns they heard what he said on the security tape. Bart is devastated that his idol Krusty could have done such a thing, but later determined that someone had framed Krusty.

Act Two
On the news, Kent Brockman reports on the upcoming trial and history of Krusty the Clown including the fact that Krusty has a pacemaker. Reverend Lovejoy calls for a public burning of all Krusty merchandise. The next day as Krusty walks up the steps to the courthouse Bart and Lisa watch in disbelief and Bart notices that Krusty has small feet. Inside the courtroom during the trial, even after Bart begs him not to, Homer, being called as a witness, points out Krusty to the jury as the armed robber. Later back at the house, Homer and Marge gather up all the Krusty merchandise in the house and head to the public burning.

An upset Bart watches as the pile of merchandise goes up in flames. The next day at the trial, it is revealed after being asked to identify some evidence that Krusty is illiterate. Later, the jury reaches a guilty verdict. At the Simpson house, Lisa and Maggie watch Sideshow Bob who has now taken over for Krusty on TV. He promises that while the show will be more educational, it will retain the popular The Itchy & Scratchy Show. When Bart walks in and sees this, he is upset. He tells Lisa he thinks Krusty is innocent and he convinces Lisa to help prove Krusty's innocence.



Bart and Lisa go to the Kwik-E-Mart to examine the crime through the security camera footage. Lisa quickly deduces that Krusty isn't the robber because the robber used the microwave oven at the checkout counter to heat a burrito, which has a sign warning that it is unsafe for pacemaker users, recalling that Krusty has a pacemaker due to a fulminating heart attack he suffered a few days prior. She also recalls Krusty's illiteracy, while the robber was shown reading The Spirngfield Review of Books magazine. Upon learning these two clues, she realizes that Bart was right and accepts the fact Krusty was framed for a crime he didn't commit. Lisa asks him if Krusty has enemies who hated him enough to take Krusty down. Bart suggests they can ask Sideshow Bob and he might identify any known enemies who want to see Krusty suffer. Cut to Sideshow Bob who after just finishing taping of his show enters his changing room and emits an evil diabolical laugh.

Act Three
At the television studio Bart, Lisa, and Maggie pay a visit to Sideshow Bob, he dismisses them because his show is about to start, but he offers them free tickets. While in Bob's dressing room they notice his enormous feet. In the audience a visibly saddened Bart watches the show. When Sideshow Bob notices Bart's sadness he invites him on stage for a new psychological segment called Choices. While on stage, Bart reveals he is sad because he thinks that Krusty was framed and wrongfully jailed, but Bob tries to convince him otherwise, brushing off the clues he and Lisa found by claiming that Krusty was never one to follow doctor's orders and pointing out that The Spingfield Review of Books contains amusing caricatures that anyone could enjoy. When Bob mentions that he has "big shoes to fill", Bart connects the final piece of the mystery together, recalling that Homer stepped on the robber's shoes and made him scream in pain, yet when he and Lisa both saw Krusty going into the courtroom, they noticed that he had small feet "like all good-hearted people". Remembering that Bob has large feet that can only fit in clown shoes, Bart concludes that Bob is the real robber.

Outraged by the truth, Bart rightfully levels his accusation towards Sideshow Bob. He grabs the microphone and contends to the audience about his discovery. Bart then proves his point by smashing the end of Bob's clown shoe with a mallet. This causes Bob to scream in pain for hitting his foot, and the kids are shocked to hear the words spoken by the robber on the security tape and turn against Bob for what he did to Krusty. Bart pounds Bob's other foot, causing him to fall down, and removes his shoes to expose his feet on TV. While watching the show and eating donuts, the police realize Bart is right and they overlooked one key piece of evidence that could have kept Krusty out of jail. Chief Wiggum who is also eating a donut, orders the officers to go to the studio and arrest Sideshow Bob for the robbery.



Outside the studio, an arrested and exposed Bob dramatically confesses to the crime. He reveals that he framed Krusty for the Kwik-E-Mart armed robbery out of frustration because he finally had enough of constantly being on the receiving end of the clown's humiliating antics for more ratings. Bob felt his intelligence was wasted on the show and wanted it gone so he can make an educational program where his intelligence is appreciated by the public. Before being carted off to jail, Bob pays a grudging kudos to the Simpson children with the often used line from Scooby-Doo: "I would've gotten away with it, if it hadn't been for those meddling kids." and swears revenge on Bart for foiling him. He dramatically warns criminals to start treating children as equals because they were smart to catch him and will do the same to them. The charges against Krusty are dropped and he now regains the trust of the community. Chief Wiggum and the citizens apologize to Krusty for their misunderstanding, and Homer offers an apology for fingering him in court. Grateful to be free, Krusty forgives the populace for their wrong accusations and thanks Bart for standing up for the truth and sticking to his convictions. The episode finishes with Bart proudly tacking up a photo of himself and Krusty on the wall, before going to bed with his room refurnished with new Krusty the Clown merchandise.

Production
Sideshow Bob makes his first appearance as a major character in this episode. However, his official first appearance was in the background of a scene in the season one episode The Telltale Head. Bob's design was revamped, with his original Afro being turned into his now-famous "palm tree" style. James Earl Jones was originally cast as Bob, but the producers chose to try Kelsey Grammer. Also making their first appearances in this episode are Kent Brockman and Scott Christian.

Reception
The episode finished thirteenth place for May 23–29, 1990, with a Nielsen rating of 16.4. The episode received positive reviews from critics. Matt Groening has listed it as his ninth favorite episode of the show and said "I have a peculiar love of TV clownery". In a DVD review of the first season, David B. Grelck gave the episode a rating of 3/5. Colin Jacobson at DVD Movie Guide said in a review that "throughout the episode we found great material; it really seemed clear that the show was starting to turn into the piece we now know and love. It’s hard for me to relate any deficiencies" and added that "almost every Bob episode offers a lot of fun, and this episode started that trend in fine style."