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Today, I Am a Clown |
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Previous Episode References[]
- "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds":
- Santa's Little Helper is the father of a litter of puppies
- The Simpsons give away the puppies to the townspeople
- "Like Father, Like Clown":
- Krusty has a personal crisis over being Jewish (or, in this case, not being Jewish), which affects his professional life.
- Rabbi Krustofsky appears.
- "Helter Shelter": Homer is upset that 1895 is too late to save Abraham Lincoln from being assassinated and too early to save John F. Kennedy from the same fate. In this episode, he fantasizes about doing both tasks.
- "Homer The Smithers": Homer is hired as a replacement for a secondary character (Smithers/Krusty the Clown)
- "Homie the Clown": Homer replaces Krusty the Clown
- "Skinner's Sense of Snow": Bart has an injury from a running gag on the show (his wrist sounds like a cement mixer from the many times he's had to write sentences on the chalkboard as punishment/has broken trachea bones from Homer strangling him a lot).
- "Homer the Great": Homer ruins his chance at being famous by listening to Lisa's advice to do something meaningful.
- "Two Bad Neighbors": The house across the street from The Simpsons that George H.W. Bush and Gerald Ford moved into is seen.
- "Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield": Krusty thinks he's being discriminated for being Jewish at a country club (he thinks the many times he's been hurt is a sign that he's "not wanted here"/Krusty's line about not being accepted into country clubs for being Jewish are all for nothing because he isn't Jewish).
Trivia[]
- When Krusty is sitting in front of his TV, in the background there is an upside-down German flag on the wall.
- When Krusty proclaims that he would be a bad Jew if he continued to perform shows on the Sabbath the first replacement suggested for Saturdays is comedian Jon Stewart, whom Krusty rejects thinking that he will be upstaged. Stewart is Jewish himself, although he is not religious, making Krusty technically correct.
- The park where Bart, Lisa, Krusty and Krusty's Father met together has an arch resembling the arch at Washington Square Park in New York City. These two arches are almost identical, including the two standing figures in front of the arch (they are on the north side of the arch in real life, as seen here), and the reliefs (sculptures) on the arch are also almost the same. Besides, buildings around that park appeared in that plot also resembles the common building styles in New York City (which has a huge Jewish community), instead of the common, suburban style in Springfield.
Cultural References[]
- The statement in the title is part of the Hebrew coming of age rite for young men or the Bar Mitzvah where the candidate declares "Today, I am a man".
- Lisa breaks the fourth wall by reading the 'Two Dozen and One Greyhounds' page of The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family to discover that they got Santa's Little Helper neutered.
- The subplot involving Santa's Little Helper being neutered after an incident with his owner's neighbor's pet dog got her pregnant resembles a similar plotline in the sitcom Frasier (specifically, it's the episode "The Unkindest Cut of All"). In fact, both neighbors in that episode even say to the family that owns the dog "Well, I'm glad you like them, because they're your problem now!" or similar lines. Coincidentally Kelsey Grammar and David Hyde-Price, who play Sideshow Bob and his brother Cecil on The Simpsons played Frasier and Niles Crane on Frasier.
- The popular Johnny Cash song "Ring of Fire" is played at the episode's beginning.
- Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax's refusal to pitch Game 1 of the 1965 World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur is mentioned when Krusty sees his star on the Jewish Walk of Fame and reacts with disgust.
- The dog neutering clinic which Santa's Little Helper is taken to is called Nuts Landing, a reference to Knots Landing.
- Dr. Hibbert's dog, Rosa Barks, is a reference to Rosa Parks, a Civil Rights Activist.
- FOX makes fun from itself again: its main headquarters is shown like an old caravan in the middle of desert.
- Homer referencing to Argentina is maybe related to the country recently (by that time) recovering from a financial crisis it suffered in years 2001-2002.
- The Beach Boys experience sing a parody of the real-life Beach Boys song, "Kokomo".
Goofs[]
- There are three bathrooms in the Simpson house, so there was no reason for Homer, Marge, Bart, and Lisa to all have to wait in line.
- In the Itchy & Scratchy Show cartoon "A Briss Before Dying" Itchy pulls Scratchy's eyes out and throws them out of the window, but the windows is clearly seen to be closed.
- Dr. Hibbert’s daughter’s pants are white rather than blue.
- Dr. Hibbert shouldn't be so shocked at Homer strangling Bart, as he's seen this before (cf. "So It's Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show" and "'Round Springfield") and didn't intervene.
- Bar mitzvah ceremonies are largely arbitrary, and not having one has no bearing on a Jewish male's standing as a "real" Jew.
- Krusty says he's been kicked out of country clubs for being Jewish (only to realize it's all for nothing since he's not officially Jewish), but "Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield" shows that Krusty was in Springfield's country club learning how to play golf with Tom Kite (though he could have left since he thought the many times he's been injured is a sign that he's "not wanted here").