Several moments of Krusty's wasteful spending are references:
Krusty tells one his associates to bet $5,000 on the Los Angeles Lakers. At the time of this episode's premiere, the Lakers were in the middle of a losing streak that lasted the first half of the 1990s, with them recently having failed to make the NBA Playoffs for the first time since 1976.
One of the objects that Krusty burns to light cigarette is a copy of Action Comics No. 1, known for being the first appearance of Superman, and one of the most valuable (and expensive) comic books ever.
Krusty gets a phone call from George Carlin, accusing him of stealing his "Seven Words You Can't Say on Television" comedy routine. In response, Krusty says "Well, excuuuuuuuse me!", a catchphrase of Steve Martin, before receiving another complaint from Martin himself.
Krusty bets on the Washington Generals, who regularly play the Harlem Globetrotters. The Globetrotters are not an actual competitive sports team, but an exhibition team that plays games which are largely staged or comedic. They have at times gone decades without losing a single game, losing to the Generals last in 1972 (a game that was largely seen as an accident) while having defeated them on thousands of occasions in the years since.
Homer obsessively sculpting a circus tent out of mashed potatoes parodies a scene from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, in which Roy Neary does the same thing with a mashed-potato sculpture of Devils Tower.
The Cable ACE Awards was a ceremony that honored achievements in cable programming, and were presented from 1978 to 1997. The winner for "Best Promising New Series" is given to Starsky and Hutch reruns; at the time, basic cable was largely viewed as a haven for old and cancelled shows, with most original programs coming from "premium" networks like HBO.
Accepting the award was "the son of the guy who played Huggy Bear". In real life, Antonio Fargas played Huggy Bear, and his son is Justin Fargas, a running back for the Oakland Raiders.
When the mob runs out of bullets after creating "speed holes" at the car dealership, Fat Tony says "Let's go to Big 5." Big 5 is a sporting goods store which sells bullets (for hunting).
On the audio commentary, Matt Groening believes that this was also a reference to the O.J. Simpson murders (according to him, O.J. possibly bought the knife he used at Big 5).
Krusty throwing the mirror to the floor after seeing the results of his plastic surgery refers to Jack Napier's similar action in Batman. It was also referenced by Lisa's reaction to her braces in "Last Exit to Springfield".
When Homer and Krusty are riding the tricycle for the mob, Homer hits his head on several hanging wine glasses. The pinging sounds create the melody to the love theme from The Godfather, heard when Michael Corleone is hiding out in his ancestral homeland of Italy and gets married to his first wife.
Trivia[]
The scene with Krusty eating his bike could also be seen in Virtual Springfield
Krusty has his accountant send three thousand roses to Bea Arthur's grave, even though she was still alive at the time (as his accountant tried to point out). However, Bea Arthur did eventually pass away in 2009, after voicing a character In Matt Groening's other show, Futurama.
In the episode "Homer Goes to College", Bart asked, when learning that Mr. Burns wanted Homer to go to college, if he meant Barber College or Clown College.
We learn Homer's favorite parts of the first of the month are new billboard adverts.
Krusty used $48 to franchise his name.
Krusty burns his cigarettes with a 100 dollar bill, an Action Comics No. 1, and a pearl necklace.
The episode name is in reference to a character also on FOX at the time, Homey D. Clown, from the sketch comedy show In Living Color (his real name is Herman "Homey" Simpson).
The concept for this episode seems to be inspired by a discarded idea that Krusty and Homer were the same person, with Krusty being Homer in disguise. Krusty's design was maintained for the irony that Bart reveres a near-exact double of a man for whom he has no respect.
Goofs[]
"Seattle A"
Janey with yellow skin
When Homer imagines the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant employees as clowns, the one on the far right has an outfit with purple and yellow dots. The two colors of dots repeatedly change places with each other.
As Krusty showcases the amusing location names, the word "Seattle" has an "A" after it for a couple of frames.
Homer without his hair
When Homer stands up after falling "by parachute", he is missing the hair on the top of his head for a frame.
When Homer arrives at the Van Houten house for Milhouse's party, Janey is among those at the entrance and she appears with yellow skin than brown.
Lenny with gray straps
When Homer is talking to Lenny and Carl at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant in his Krusty outfit, the straps on Lenny's shirt are colored gray instead of purple. However, when the camera cuts to a close-up of Lenny, they are their usual purple.
When Krusty uses a $50 bill to retire his debt of $48 to the Mafia, the Mafia Don returns $2 to Krusty but uses three bills to do so, despite $1 being the smallest denomination of American money in bill form.
Chief Wiggum with black hair
When Chief Wiggum pulls Homer over but lets him off the hook thinking he is Krusty, Wiggum has black hair.
Krusty's breast implants conveniently have disappeared when he returns to America. It seems unlikely he could have had them removed due to the lack of funds at the time. Of course Krusty is most likely not above seeing a back-alley doctor and obtaining what money he would need through begging, borrowing, or some less than honest means.
