"Insane Clown Poppy" is the third episode of the twelfth season of the American television series ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, ...

''. It originally aired on the

Fox network The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations ...

in the United States on November 12, 2000. In the episode, during an outdoor book fair,

Krusty Herschel Shmoikel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofsky (; ) better known by his stage name Krusty the Clown (sometimes spelled as Krusty the Klown), is a recurring character on the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Dan Castel ...

finds out he has a daughter (from a

one-night stand A one-night stand or one-night sex is a single sexual encounter in which there is an expectation that there shall be no further relations between the sexual participants. It draws its name from the common practice of a one-night stand, a single ...

with a woman during the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

), but loses her trust after gambling away her violin to Fat Tony, prompting

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

and Krusty to retrieve it. The episode was written by John Frink and Don Payne as their second produced episode and their first written episode. Although originally produced for season 11 the episode was held over for season 12. The episode features guest stars

Jay Mohr Jon Ferguson "Jay" Mohr (born August 23, 1970) is an American actor, comedian and radio host. He is known for his roles as film producer Peter Dragon in the TV comedy series '' Action'', Professor Rick Payne in the TV series ''Ghost Whisperer'' ...

Christopher Walken Christopher Walken (born Ronald Walken; March 31, 1943) is an American actor. Prolific in film, television and on stage, Walken is the recipient of numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Awa ...

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

as himself,

Amy Tan Amy Ruth Tan (born on February 19, 1952) is an American author known for the novel '' The Joy Luck Club,'' which was adapted into a film of the same name, as well as other novels, short story collections, and children's books. Tan has written ...

as herself,

John Updike John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth Tar ...

as himself and

Joe Mantegna Joseph Anthony Mantegna (, ; born November 13, 1947) is an American actor. Mantegna began his career on stage in 1969 in the Chicago production of the musical ''Hair''. He earned a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play and a Joseph Jeff ...

as recurring character Fat Tony.

Drew Barrymore Drew Blythe Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, director, producer, talk show host and author. A member of the Barrymore family of actors, she is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a ...

also guest-starred as Krusty the Clown's daughter in the episode. The episode features references to

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with ...

's famous USO shows. The episode has also received negative reviews from critics.

Plot

and

Bart Bart is a masculine given name, usually a diminutive of Bartholomew, sometimes of Barton, Bartolomeo, etc. Bart is a Dutch and Ashkenazi Jewish surname, and derives from the name ''Bartholomäus'', a German form of the biblical name ''Bartho ...

use fireworks to accomplish things Marge has told them to do: fix a stuck drawer, demolishing Santa's Little Helper's doghouse (while promising him another one would be built by January 2007), and attempting to fix Lisa's VCR, but end up destroying her room with fireworks instead. To make it up to her, the family spends a day at the Springfield Festival of Books for her birthday. There, they encounter famous authors such as

Tom Wolfe Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018)Some sources say 1931; ''The New York Times'' and Reuters both initially reported 1931 in their obituaries before changing to 1930. See and was an American author and journalist widely ...

, and

. While waiting in line for an autograph from

, Bart strikes up a conversation with a girl named Sophie. When she gets to the front of the line, she reveals to Krusty that she is his daughter. Sophie tells Krusty that he met her mother when she served as a soldier in the

, spending the night with her after a USO show; however, she dumped (and almost killed) Krusty the next day after he ruined her attempted assassination of

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...

to protect his comedy routine based on him and has hated Krusty and clowns ever since. Krusty proves a distant and unemotional father, and on a trip to the beach, he sees Homer playing with the kids and asks him for advice on how to be a good parent. Krusty and his daughter begin to bond, and Sophie shows Krusty her prized violin and plays a song for him. That night, Krusty plays in a poker game with Fat Tony, where he is dealt four aces with a king kicker, but is forced to bet Sophie's violin after running out of money and betting his Rolex watch, and loses the hand to Fat Tony, who had a

straight flush In poker, players form sets of five playing cards, called ''hands'', according to the rules of the game. Each hand has a rank, which is compared against the ranks of other hands participating in the showdown to decide who wins the pot. In high ...

(2-3-4-5-6 of diamonds). Sophie loses her trust in Krusty upon hearing the news, and Krusty turns to Homer for help; the two attempt to break into Fat Tony's mansion while a

mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

summit is being held. They find a room filled with violin cases, but most of them are filled with weapons. They attempt to sneak out with the cases, but they fall to the ground and a mob shootout erupts around them; Krusty finds the violin, and the two escape. The next day, Krusty gives the violin back to Sophie, who is delighted to find that the case has been lined with money. The episode ends with Homer still being pursued by the mafia.

Production

The episode was written by John Frink and Don Payne and features guest stars

as himself,

as herself,

as himself and

as recurring character Fat Tony.

also guest-starred as Krusty the Clown's daughter in the episode. Fat Tony would later appear in the critically acclaimed "

Trilogy of Error "Trilogy of Error" is the eighteenth episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'', and the 266th episode overall. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 29, 2001. In th ...

". The episode went into a cycle where it was written in season 11 and produced for season 12. Originally,

Homer Simpson Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared, along with the rest of his family, in '' The Tracey Ullman Show'' short ...

was the one who was surprised to have a long-lost daughter, but this was changed to Krusty as a suggestion from

Mike Scully Michael C. Scully (born October 2, 1956) is an American television writer and producer. He is known for his work as executive producer and showrunner of the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' from 1997 to 2001. Scully grew up in West Springfield, ...

. During production

Julie Kavner Julie Deborah Kavner (born September 7, 1950) is an American actress. Best known for her voice role as Marge Simpson on the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', Kavner first attracted notice for her role as Brenda Morgenstern, the younge ...

, the voice of Marge Simpson, went to

's radio station to record lines. Ian Maxtone-Graham was the one who suggested

as the real Christopher Walken could not make it to the recording. Some sources suggest

originally agreed to appear as himself. However, he then decided to demand a lot more money than the producers were willing to pay. Instead,

provided the voice of Walken. In the end credits, Jay Mohr is credited with the voice of Christopher Walken, and the credit says "Jay Mohr as Christopher Walken". This is the first time this has ever been done.

Cultural references

The episode title is a play on the

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, based hip hop group, the

Insane Clown Posse Insane Clown Posse, often abbreviated as ICP, is an American hip hop duo. Formed in Detroit in 1989 as a gangsta rap group, ICP's best known lineup consists of rappers Violent J (Joseph Bruce) and Shaggy 2 Dope (originally 2 Dope; Joseph Utsl ...

, and Krusty's line "do you want to get down with the clown?" is a reference to an Insane Clown Posse lyric. Krusty's performance at the USO show is a parody of

who is famously known for his USO Shows. Originally Moe was supposed to say "Anny Deskanko" in a reference to

Ani DiFranco Angela Maria "Ani" DiFranco (; born September 23, 1970) is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. She has released more than 20 albums. DiFranco's music has been classified as folk rock and alternative rock, although it has additional influe ...

. As in some previous episodes, there is a song featuring

NRBQ NRBQ is an American rock band founded by Terry Adams (piano), Steve Ferguson (guitar) and Joey Spampinato (bass). Originally the "New Rhythm and Blues Quintet", the group was formed around 1965. Adams disbanded it for a time, and the group re ...

. Fat Tony's real name is Marion, as was actor

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Go ...

. In one scene, Krusty comes in with a problem and Homer asks Marge to play " devil's advocate". However, instead of taking up an argument, the next scene shows Homer playing a

pinball Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...

game called "Devil's Advocate".

Reception

The episode has received negative reviews from critics. Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide gave the episode a negative review saying "After two pretty good shows, Season 12 encounters mediocrity with “Poppy”. At no point does the program become poor, but it just lacks many real laughs. Outside of some amusing book fair cameos, this one fails to deliver much zing, and it tends to drag." Mark Naglazas of ''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, '' The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuous ...

'' called the episode "disappointing". He remarked that it and "

A Tale of Two Springfields "A Tale of Two Springfields" is the second episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'', and the 250th episode of the series overall in both broadcast and production order. It originally aired on the ...

" (which premiered the same night in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

) were "so surreal they would have

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarr ...

scratching his head". However, he identified John Updike's guest appearance as an example of "sophisticated comedy". ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' said, "The episode gets lost in a quagmire of guest stars. The names range from the sublime to the ridiculous, or to be exact, from

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made ...

-winning author John Updike to actor Drew Barrymore. The script seems designed only to fit in as many big names as possible. Oh for the days when it was the other way round and guest stars fitted in with the script." Judge Mac McEntire of DVD Verdict said the best moment in "Insane Clown Poppy" was Fat Tony and the violin.

John Updike's reflection

John Updike described the experience of appearing on ''The Simpsons'' to a crowd at the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,0 ...

in 2001, and his reflections were recorded in the book ''Updike in Cincinnati''. Updike exclaimed vigorously, "I can't claim to be a morbidly avid fan, but I'm basically well-disposed toward ''The Simpsons'', and was flattered to be asked to be one of the many voices that they work into the endless saga of Springfield. . . . It was the kind of invitation to which you can't say no. I did notice that Amy Tan and Stephen King got many more lines in the episode than I did." He joked that he struggled with the chuckle he had to perform in the episode, saying, "How do you chuckle over a microphone. . . to make it worthy of ''The Simpsons''?"John Updike and James A. Schiff. ''Updike in Cincinnati''. Ohio University Press, 2007. 26-27.

References

External links

* * * {{The Simpsons episodes, 12 The Simpsons (season 12) episodes 2000 American television episodes Works about clowns