Krusty Gets Kancelled/References

Episode	References	Gags	Appearances	Gallery	Quotes	Credits

◄ Marge in Chains

Krusty Gets Kancelled

Homer's Barbershop Quartet ►

Trivia

• In the scene in which Bart makes a toast to Krusty, you can see Elizabeth Taylor looking through the window of Moe's Tavern.
• Marge does not speak a word in this episode, but her voice actress (Julie Kavner) is still credited. This was because Julie Kavner sat out of the episode completely in protest over the overuse of celebrity guest stars. This is the first time in the history of the series that one of the family members (excluding Maggie) does not have a single line. However, Lisa speaks only once in "Two Bad Neighbors" while in "Chief of Hearts" and "Moho House", she doesn't have a line, but her voice actress (Yeardley Smith) is still credited; Maggie doesn't appear in "Team Homer", "Lisa's Date with Density" and "Stealing First Base"; and Bart has only one line in "Eeny Teeny Maya, Moe" and "Moho House", doesn't have any lines in "My Fare Lady", and doesn't appear in "Four Great Women and a Manicure". Out of all the Simpsons, Homer is the only family member to speak in all the episodes so far.
• According to DVD commentary for the episode, getting guest stars was extremely hard because many kept dropping out. They also wrote parts for 4 different musical groups (including The Rolling Stones) before finally getting the Red Hot Chili Peppers. This is parodied in the episode, with Elizabeth Taylor opting out of appearing on Krusty's reunion show.
• The members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers that appear in this episode are Anthony Kiedis (Vocals), Chad Smith (Drums), Flea (Bass), and Arik Marshall (Guitar). This episode aired not long after the departure of guitarist John Frusciante, who spent the next few years deep in a heroin addiction. After this episode, the Chili Peppers went through a series of guitar players, including Jane Addiction's Dave Navarro, before reuniting with Frusciante to record 1999's "Californication." Fruciante departed from the Red Hot Chili Peppers again ten years after the release of "Californication" and was replaced by their current guitarist Josh Klinghoffer.
  • Even though Flea is the bassist, he is seen playing a normal guitar.
  • They have eyebrows, which is very unusual for Simpsons characters.
  • When they enter Moe's Tavern after being on Krusty's show and they greet him, you can hear Flea say "Heeeey MOE!" in a weird voice.
• Barry White was a guest star earlier in the season (in "Whacking Day"); Elizabeth Taylor was a guest star in "Lisa's First Word" as the voice of Maggie when she said her first word, "Daddy", at the end.
• In the Latin American dub of this episode, Luke Perry was renamed as fellow actor Robert Redford, as producers in Latin America did not think the public would know who Luke Perry was. This added to the confusion when the Peephole magazine is shown, displaying Perry's name.^{[citation needed]}
• For those who don't know what "SOB's" mean, it means "sons of b*tches."
• There were two deleted scenes from this episode, both of which were later aired in The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular:
  • 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, only to be promptly arrested by people who were implied to be from the FBI, with Krusty then insisting it wasn't really him because he "used a stunt butt" as he's dragged away. This was presumably cut due to the family unfriendly implications of the scene. Presumably, it was meant to occur in the scene where Krusty says "All right, here's the deal. Every time you watch my show, I will send you... forty dollars!" and holds up a check, only for a voice over to mention that the checks will not be honored, due to it having a very similar opening sentence.
  • The second had Krusty learning from the network executives that his show had just been cancelled, 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 hemmorhoid infomercial starring Claude Aikens, with Krusty then begging he be the Number 1 guy or even the Number 2 guy (before relief and after relief), only to be shot down both times.
• This is the first time Kent Brockman got fired. The second time would be in the episode You Kent Always Say What You Want (where he was similarly fired for bad language) and the third was in Trust But Clarify, where he was exposed as a fraud.

Goofs

• When Bette Midler picks up the can Snake threw out, it was a can of Buzz Cola, but when Midler said "Yo, pigs!," it became a can of Duff.
• When Krusty is seen with his shirt off, he didn’t have a pacemaker scar, a birthmark or a third nipple as it was previously shown in "Kamp Krusty" and later episodes.

Citations

• Rocky - The scene where Krusty punches the pork is a reference to the training style of Rocky Balboa, 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 lyric. The dressing room scenery is also very similar to the mise-en-scene in The Doors movie.
• Red Hot Chili Peppers - Krusty attempting to humiliate the chili peppers by making them preform in their underwear is a reference to how they used to preform 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 similarly to RHCP's name

• 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.
• Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon — The reunion of Krusty and Sideshow Mel (during the clown's singing of "Send in the Clowns") is a reference to the 1976 on-air reunion between Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin on the former's annual telethon.
• Carmen - Johnny Carson balances a Buick Skylark car over his head while singing the famous aria Habanera.
• "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. 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.
  • It may also be a reference to a scene in the 1957 film A Face in the Crowd.
• The Tonight Show — When Krusty rings Johhny 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.
• Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus — The final line in the song ("It's the greatest show in town") is a reference to the circus' tagline.

Censorship

United Kingdom

The Channel 4 airings of this episode have the following scenes cut:

1. The part during Hollywood Squares in which the lifeguard warns everyone that a tidal wave is coming.
2. The Gabbo crank call on Krusty is missing the line about Krusty thinking the call is about the porno film he did.
3. A strange cut during the scene of Bart trying to get Gabbo into trouble: the first instance of Gabbo calling the children "Little SOB's" was kept in, but all other instances of the word was cut, including the scene of Kent Brockman muttering, "That oughta hold those SOBs," making it look like he got into trouble and fired for doing a news report on Gabbo cursing.