[4.4/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] I pegged this one as an Al Jean showrun episode long before the credits rolled. It just has that vibe. The list jokes. The janky plotting. The unlikable characterization. The sense of filler.. It has all those latter day trademarks of the show on his watch, and boy am I glad that it’s not an every episode thing anymore.
What’s frustrating is that this episode has some solid ideas. There's a decent throughline about Krusty doing something to improve the lives of kids in the hope of rising in his father’s posthumous esteem. There’s a quality Bart subplot about him succeeding in school when taught in a way that speaks to him. There’s even some decent cultural commentary on the ways in which private education can be a racket in the wrong hands, even very prestigious hands.
The execution is just so bad. The jokes aren’t just bland, they’re actively bad most of the time. Krusty is just unpleasant for most of the episode, even when you feel for him. The third act twist with the mob comes out of nowhere. There’s a long wind-up to get to the point of the episode. And even when it does, the episode seems to jump back and forth between it being a Krusty episode and it being a Bart episode without really being able to thread the needle. The structure of this one is herky jerky, which isn’t helped by the interludes of feeble gag after feeble gag.
Honestly, the only good humor in this one is the actual clowning we get to see. Bart’s little routine at the table is pretty endearing. And the most I even chuckled at the episode was the clown firefighters showing up to put out the blaze and spraying confetti that only accelerates it.
This is a minor minor gripe, but I am annoyed at the lack of acknowledgment of continuity here. I don’t expect the writers to remember every little detail. But Marge and Homer make a big fuss over the threat of Bart going to Catholic school when there was a whole episode devoted to him going to Catholic school! Krusty opens up a clown school to add a new revenue stream when he already did that in “Homie the Clown”. It’s even a little odd that Rainier Wolfcastle introduces a son who’s Bart’s age when there was a whole episode about Bart crushing on Wolfcastle’s daughter.
This isn’t a major issue with the episode. “Clown vs. Board of Education” could acknowledge these past adventures, and it would still be just as bad. But these aren’t trifling snarls like Marge making Bart “butterscotch chicken” in one episode after previously mentioning his allergy to butterscotch in an earlier one. These were major components of the plot to old episodes that just go unremembered. C’est la vie. This isn’t the first time The Simpsons has done this sort of thing, and it’s always been a loose continuity sort of show at best. But it adds annoyance to an already irksome episode.
Overall, this is a good reminder of how fortunate it is for Simpsons fans that the showrunning responsibilities have largely shifted away from Mr. Jean. Even when the core mission of the story is good -- a solid motivation for the protagonist, a timely subplot for a member of the family, some decent social commentary -- the approach to deliver it all is rough enough to sink the whole thing.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2023-07-22T01:42:40Z
[4.4/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] I pegged this one as an Al Jean showrun episode long before the credits rolled. It just has that vibe. The list jokes. The janky plotting. The unlikable characterization. The sense of filler.. It has all those latter day trademarks of the show on his watch, and boy am I glad that it’s not an every episode thing anymore.
What’s frustrating is that this episode has some solid ideas. There's a decent throughline about Krusty doing something to improve the lives of kids in the hope of rising in his father’s posthumous esteem. There’s a quality Bart subplot about him succeeding in school when taught in a way that speaks to him. There’s even some decent cultural commentary on the ways in which private education can be a racket in the wrong hands, even very prestigious hands.
The execution is just so bad. The jokes aren’t just bland, they’re actively bad most of the time. Krusty is just unpleasant for most of the episode, even when you feel for him. The third act twist with the mob comes out of nowhere. There’s a long wind-up to get to the point of the episode. And even when it does, the episode seems to jump back and forth between it being a Krusty episode and it being a Bart episode without really being able to thread the needle. The structure of this one is herky jerky, which isn’t helped by the interludes of feeble gag after feeble gag.
Honestly, the only good humor in this one is the actual clowning we get to see. Bart’s little routine at the table is pretty endearing. And the most I even chuckled at the episode was the clown firefighters showing up to put out the blaze and spraying confetti that only accelerates it.
This is a minor minor gripe, but I am annoyed at the lack of acknowledgment of continuity here. I don’t expect the writers to remember every little detail. But Marge and Homer make a big fuss over the threat of Bart going to Catholic school when there was a whole episode devoted to him going to Catholic school! Krusty opens up a clown school to add a new revenue stream when he already did that in “Homie the Clown”. It’s even a little odd that Rainier Wolfcastle introduces a son who’s Bart’s age when there was a whole episode about Bart crushing on Wolfcastle’s daughter.
This isn’t a major issue with the episode. “Clown vs. Board of Education” could acknowledge these past adventures, and it would still be just as bad. But these aren’t trifling snarls like Marge making Bart “butterscotch chicken” in one episode after previously mentioning his allergy to butterscotch in an earlier one. These were major components of the plot to old episodes that just go unremembered. C’est la vie. This isn’t the first time The Simpsons has done this sort of thing, and it’s always been a loose continuity sort of show at best. But it adds annoyance to an already irksome episode.
Overall, this is a good reminder of how fortunate it is for Simpsons fans that the showrunning responsibilities have largely shifted away from Mr. Jean. Even when the core mission of the story is good -- a solid motivation for the protagonist, a timely subplot for a member of the family, some decent social commentary -- the approach to deliver it all is rough enough to sink the whole thing.