According to the DVD commentary, this episode was conceived as a way to slim down a "celebrities list" the crew had, featuring several stars who wanted to appear in the show. However, most of them had issues with the script and declined to appear, and the episode was almost not produced because of this. Other issues involving getting guest stars for this episode included: writing parts for four different musical groups (including The Rolling Stones) before finally getting the Red Hot Chili Peppers and asking all the ex-U.S. Presidents who were still alive at the time to appear in the episode. The only one who responded was Ronald Reagan (who was U.S. President from 1980-1988), and he only responded so he can personally decline the offer.
As of 2024, Bette Midler and all the members of The Red-Hot Chili Peppers are the only celebrities who appeared in this episode who are still alive. Barry White died in 2003, Johnny Carson in 2005, Elizabeth Taylor in 2011, Hugh Hefner in 2017, and Luke Perry in 2019.
Similar to "Homer at the Bat", Julie Kavner and Harry Shearer (and the characters they play) don't appear much in this episode (with Julie Kavner's Marge not having any lines at all) due to Kavner and Shearer not liking the fact that the episode was a flimsy excuse to bring in celebrity cameos.
This Episode Is Featured Briefly In The Movie Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul.
The first had Krusty the Clown telling the audience that if they watched his show, he will give them a photo book depicting Krusty in several sexually-explicit positions (a spoof of Madonna's SEX book, which included a lot of nudity and explicit sexual situations), only to be arrested by FBI agents, with Krusty then insisting it wasn't really him because he "used a stunt butt" as he's dragged away. The scene was replaced with Krusty offering the kids a check for $40 if they watch his show (with an announcer saying that checks will not be honored). Coincidentally, the Channel 4 airing of "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular" cut the very scene that was never aired on the actual episode in America (Krusty getting arrested for selling his sexually explicit book to minors on live television).
The second had Krusty learning from the network executives that his show had just been cancelled (supposedly because of the sex book arrest and not because Krusty showed the Soviet Itchy & Scratchy knock-off "Worker and Parasite"), with Krusty acknowledging he figured it would have happened eventually, and asked if they at least replaced him with something as educational and uplifting as he tried to be, only to be informed that he had in fact been replaced by a hemorrhoid infomercial starring Claude Aikens. Krusty begs to play either Hemorrhoid Sufferer #1 (who squirms in pain) or one of the "After" guys ("Ah! Oh, that's better! I can ride a bike again!"), but is turned down twice.
International Dub Trivia[]
The Latin American dub of this episode changed all spoken references to Luke Perry into spoken references to Robert Redford, as the dubbers didn't think Latin American audiences would know who Luke Perry was. Despite this, the shot of Luke Perry's mangled face on the cover of Peep-Hole magazine wasn't edited or altered to reflect the change.
This is the last episode dubbed in Dutch on RTL 4.
Goofs[]
The picture of Krusty on his dressing room door shows his beard as the same color as his skin. This could simply be lazy design in-universe, however.
Krusty without his distinctive pacemaker scar and third nipple
When Bette Midler picks up the can Snake threw out, it was a can of Buzz Cola, but when Midler said "You pigs!," it became a can of Duff.
When Krusty is seen with his shirt off, he didn’t have his pacemaker scar, cattle skull birthmark, or famous superfluous third nipple as shown in "Kamp Krusty" and later episodes.
Cultural References[]
Rocky - The scene where Krusty punches the pork is a reference to the training style of Rocky Balboa for a fight against Apollo Creed, portrayed by Sylvester Stallone in the Rocky films.
Ed Sullivan and The Doors — 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". Unlike the Doors, the Chili Peppers happily accept the new lyrics. The dressing room scenery is also very similar to the mise-en-scène in The Doors movie.
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Krusty attempting to humiliate the Chili Peppers by making them perform in their underwear is a reference to how they used to perform naked. They weren't embarrassed by this and even showed up to the party at Moe's Tavern in their underwear.
Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers-Barney yelling "We Want Chilli Willi" at Moe's is a possible reference to the British Rock group from the 70's whose name is strikingly similar to RHCP's name. It's also a possible reference to the 50s/60s cartoon penguin Chilly Willy.
The riddle Krusty asks Alphonse is "Why is a raven like a writing desk?", a reference to Alice in Wonderland.
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 remaining in 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.
Simpsons vs. Cosby Show: Gabbo and Krusty the Clown Show.
"Peter and the Wolf" — The musical piece that Hugh Hefner plays on the wine glasses is from the children's story composed by Sergei Prokofiev.
People magazine - imagined by Krusty as Peephole Magazine when trying to visualize Luke Perry's new look after he is shot out of a cannon.
"That ought to hold the 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 commercial break — is a reference to this broadcasting urban legend.[1] The incident said to have inspired the urban legend had a children's radio (or television, depending on the source) host ending a program, then unaware the microphone was still live, uttered the infamous line, resulting in his near-immediate dismissal.
The Tonight Show — When Krusty rings Johnny Carson's doorbell, the doorbell theme is the theme of The Tonight Show. Bette Midler serenading Krusty is the way Bette sang to Johnny Carson on Carson's next-to-last show. Their duet, however, is likely a reference to Midler's 1977 duet with Tom Waits on "I Never Talk To Strangers," which appeared on Waits' album Foreign Affairs.
Gabbo References[]
Greta Garbo — Mr. Burns misreads a billboard, causing him to tell Smithers that "Garbo is coming" and lightly groom himself.
The Great Gabbo — Gabbo gets his name from the title character (a ventriloquist who operates a dummy named Otto) of the 1929 film.
Howdy Doody — Gabbo's face looks just like the famous dummy (red hair, freckles), who hosted an afternoon children's program from 1947-1960.
Pinocchio — The lyric "You're gonna like me" in Gabbo's theme song — as well as the newspaper headline "Gabbo to have real boy operation" — are references to the 1940 Disney film.
Channel 4 and Sky Showcase in the UK edited the following parts:
On Channel 4:
The beginning with the TV show Springfield Squares was cut to remove the Coast Guard boat warning of an impending tidal wave and Charlie Weaver getting drowned by it after refusing to take to Barry White's square (which is higher up) for shelter.
The flashing lights during the Gabbo trailer were slowed down.
The Gabbo crank call on Krusty was missing the line, "Is this the call-back about that porno film? Look, I know I was nervous, but, let me assure you, I'm all man...". Right after this, Krusty saying, "Me rikey veddy much!" in a stereotypical East Asian accent and apologizing for possibly offending the alleged Japanese man on the other line was also cut. It should be noted that, when Channel 4 aired the episode between 2013 and 2019, the only part cut was the porno film shoot line.
Gabbo saying, "I wouldn't want to offend the little S.O.B.'s.", and later saying that the children of Springfield are all "S.O.B.'s" was cut, though Gabbo's first use of "S.O.B's" wasn't cut.
Kent accidentally saying "That oughta hold those S.O.B.'s" was cut, with the edit making it look like Kent got fired for criticizing Gabbo.
On Sky Showcase, the only part cut was the flashing light effects on the Gabbo trailer (due to UK rules against showing quick cuts and flashing effects that could affect epileptic viewers).
