Homie the Clown
From Simpsons Wiki
“Homie the Clown” is the 15th episode of The Simpsons’ sixth season. The episode title is a play on the sketch comedy character Homey the Clown from the sketch comedy show In Living Color. Damon Wayans played Homey the Clown, his real name being Herman Simpson.
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Plot
Krusty’s poor gambling skills and wasteful habits (he lights a cigarette by burning a $100 bill, a pearl necklace, and a copy of Action Comics #1) land him in deep financial trouble, and to make up for it he launches a training college for clowns. Homer enters the program, after being tempted by the billboard he saw on the highway and hallucinating the people he knew as clowns. After graduating, he impersonates Krusty at private and public events that the real Krusty deems unworthy of his personal appearance. Homer discovers that, mistaken for Krusty, he receives all sorts of benefits from authority figures and businesses. The impersonation goes too far when Homer is kidnapped by Fat Tony’s gang, to whom the real Krusty is indebted. However, the real Krusty arrives and Krusty and Homer’s lives are spared after they entertain the gang with an elaborate clown trick. Krusty pays off his debt to the gang—a total of $48, of which he gets change for his $50.
Trivia
- Officially, this episode is titled “Homie the Clown,” but it is still known as “Homer the Clown” in some places, including The Simpsons Archive.
- This episode is the first to reveal that Kirk Van Houten works at a cracker factory.
- It is also revealed that Fat Tony apparently works for “Don Vittorio DiMaggio,” who admits to being an Italian stereotype. Don Vittorio appears in non-speaking roles in later episodes.
Cultural references
- Krusty lights a cigarette with the first issue of Action Comics, the first full appearance of Superman, a gem piece for any comic collector.
- The notes that play on the wine glasses during Homer and Krusty’s bicycle trick are those of The Godfather theme.
- One scene in the episode parodies the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind, when Homer forms his mashed potatoes into a circus tent.
- There is a reference to Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman when Krusty takes the bandages off after his surgical operation, spoofing the movie scene when Jack Napier discovers his new face after being disfigured. The same reference is made after Lisa gets her giant metal braces in “Last Exit to Springfield.”
- The “Krustyburglar” is a parody of the McDonald’s’ Hamburglar.
- Fat Tony tells Louie that they’ll get more ammo at Big 5.
- Krusty bets all of his money on the Washington Generals, a basketball team that loses to the Harlem Globetrotters in exhibition games, with his reasoning being that they’re “due.”
- The title of the episode is taken from Homie D. Clown, a character from the sketch comedy "In Living Color".