"The Ten-Per-Cent Solution" is the eighth episode of the
twenty-third season of the American animated 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 Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
''. 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 December 4, 2011. In the episode,
Krusty the Clown
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 ...
becomes depressed after getting fired from his television show for being unpopular with children. The
Simpson family
The Simpson family are the fictional characters featured in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. The Simpsons are a nuclear family consisting of married couple Homer and Marge and their three children, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. Th ...
encourages him to make a comeback, suggesting that he seek help from an
agent
Agent may refer to:
Espionage, investigation, and law
*, spies or intelligence officers
* Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another
** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuranc ...
they met earlier at a television museum. This agent turns out to be Annie Dubinsky, who was Krusty's first agent and former girlfriend. Krusty left her when he became successful but now he begs her to take him as a client again. She accepts and together they are able to get him back on television, hosting a show for adults that features his clown tricks. However, Annie soon begins to interfere too much, which frustrates the network executives.
The episode, which contains parodies of films such as ''
The King's Speech
''The King's Speech'' is a 2010 British historical drama film directed by Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler. Colin Firth plays the future King George VI who, to cope with a stammer, sees Lionel Logue, an Australian speech and language ...
'', ''
The Social Network
''The Social Network'' is a 2010 American biographical drama film directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin, based on the 2009 book ''The Accidental Billionaires'' by Ben Mezrich. It portrays the founding of social networking websi ...
'', and ''
Black Swan'', was written by cast member
Dan Castellaneta
Daniel Louis Castellaneta (; born October 29, 1957) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for voicing Homer Simpson on the animated series ''The Simpsons'' (as well as other characters on the show such as Abraham "Grampa" ...
and his wife
Deb Lacusta. Comedian and actress
Joan Rivers
Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedian, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona—heavi ...
, who was a big fan of ''The Simpsons'', guest starred as the character Annie. Other guest performances in the episode came from
Kevin Dillon
Kevin Brady Dillon (born August 19, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Johnny "Drama" Chase on the HBO comedy series '' Entourage'', Bunny in the war film ''Platoon'', and John Densmore in the musical biopic ''The Doo ...
and
Janeane Garofalo
Janeane Marie Garofalo ( ; born September 28, 1964) is an American comedian, actress, and former co-host on the now-defunct Air America Radio's ''The Majority Report''.
Garofalo began her career as a stand-up comedian and became a cast member on ...
as themselves and
Jackie Mason as Krusty's father. Reception of "The Ten-Per-Cent Solution" from television critics has been mixed, with praise directed at Rivers' appearance and the development of Krusty's character. The episode was criticized by the
Parents Television Council
The Parents Television and Media Council (PTMC), formerly the Parents Television Council (PTC), is an American media advocacy group founded by conservative Christian activist L. Brent Bozell III in 1995, which advocates for what it considers ...
for containing sexual dialogue. During its original American broadcast, the episode was seen by approximately nine million people.
Plot
During an episode of ''The Krusty the Clown Show'', three ''
Itchy & Scratchy
''The Itchy & Scratchy Show'' (often shortened as ''Itchy & Scratchy'') is a Story within a story, fictional animated television series featured on ''The Simpsons''.
Description
The show depicts a blue mouse named Itchy who repeatedly and violen ...
'' cartoons are shown. This angers
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 ...
, the host of the show, since he thinks he should be the star of the show and not the Itchy and Scratchy characters. Meanwhile,
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 Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
visit a television museum that is soon to be closed. After a while, they come to an exhibit displaying ''The Adventures of Fatso Flanagan'', which is one of
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 ...
's favorite television shows. There, the family is approached by Annie Dubinsky, the
agent
Agent may refer to:
Espionage, investigation, and law
*, spies or intelligence officers
* Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another
** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuranc ...
of the actor who played Fatso Flanagan. They start chatting and become acquainted. At the Channel 6 studios, during a board meeting, Krusty is fired because "Today's children are uncomfortable with a clown whose every reference they have to look up on
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a multilingual free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and using a wiki-based editing system. Wikipedia is the largest and most-read refer ...
", and because Itchy and Scratchy are shown to be more popular with the children. Krusty goes to his current agent, hoping to get a new job, but the agent drops him since he got fired.
After the Simpsons have left the museum, they head for
Krusty Burger
Springfield is the primary fictional setting of the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' and related media. It is an average-sized, fictional city within an indeterminate state in the United States. The fictional city's geography, surroundi ...
where they discover Krusty crying in a
ball pit. Krusty is encouraged by them into making a comeback, and they inform him that they met an agent that can help him out. However, when they all go to Annie's office, Annie instantly recognizes Krusty and angrily slams the door before he gets a chance to enter. It is revealed that Annie was the one who discovered Krusty, became his first agent, and was responsible for his rise to success. They also had a romantic relationship together. However, once he achieved fame, Krusty fired Annie and replaced her with a more acclaimed agent, and as a result their relationship ended. Back in the present, he begs her to take him back as a client, and she eventually accepts.
Krusty starts performing his clown tricks at a theater in front of adults, and not children like before. This is because Annie knows that there is nothing adults enjoy more than the things they liked as children. The performances are praised by both the audience and the critics, and Krusty and Annie initiate a relationship again. Soon, a
premium cable television
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...
network called HBOWTIME (an obvious portmanteau of
HBO and
Showtime, straight down to their parody of HBO's longtime slogan, ''"It's not just TV, it's more expensive."'') gives Krusty his own show and Annie is hired as the producer on his demand. The stars of the series ''
Entourage
An entourage () is an informal group or band of people who are closely associated with a (usually) famous, notorious, or otherwise notable individual. The word can also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* L'entourage, French hip hop / rap collecti ...
'', such as
Kevin Dillon
Kevin Brady Dillon (born August 19, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Johnny "Drama" Chase on the HBO comedy series '' Entourage'', Bunny in the war film ''Platoon'', and John Densmore in the musical biopic ''The Doo ...
, become Krusty's assistants. The network executives soon become frustrated with Annie for meddling too much in the show. For example, she refuses to let
Janeane Garofalo
Janeane Marie Garofalo ( ; born September 28, 1964) is an American comedian, actress, and former co-host on the now-defunct Air America Radio's ''The Majority Report''.
Garofalo began her career as a stand-up comedian and became a cast member on ...
appear only because Garofalo is funnier than Krusty. She also runs over an intern with a stage car for sharpening her pencil too much. The executives decide to fire Annie, but Krusty refuses to continue without her. The couple therefore turns to another network where they start a show called ''Sex Over Sixty'', with them as the stars. While doing the show, Annie dies of
cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and poss ...
while during a taping of one of their episodes.
Production
![Joan Rivers 2010 - David Shankbone](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Joan_Rivers_2010_-_David_Shankbone.jpg)
"The Ten-Per-Cent Solution" was written by
Dan Castellaneta
Daniel Louis Castellaneta (; born October 29, 1957) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for voicing Homer Simpson on the animated series ''The Simpsons'' (as well as other characters on the show such as Abraham "Grampa" ...
, who voices characters such as Homer and Krusty on ''The Simpsons'', and his wife
Deb Lacusta.
[ American comedian and actress ]Joan Rivers
Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedian, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona—heavi ...
guest starred in the episode as Annie. She recorded her lines in March 2011. In an interview with ''E! News
''E! News'', previously known as ''E! News Daily'' and ''E! News Live'', is the infotainment, entertainment news operation for the cable network E! in the United States. Its former on-air weekday newscast debuted on September 1, 1991, and prima ...
'' at that time, Rivers noted that this was not her first animated voice-over role, though it was her biggest one yet.[ She further added that she is a fan of the show because it is "so clever and so funny on so many levels. So when they called and said, 'Do you want to do it?' without even reading a script I said, 'Absolutely.'"][ Adam Buckman, a former television columnist at the '']New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'', noted on his blog that the story of the episode is similar to a period in Rivers' life at the end of the 1980s. At that time, she was hosting ''The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'' 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 ...
. When Rivers challenged Fox executives who wanted to fire her husband Edgar Rosenberg as the show's executive producer, the network fired them both. Rosenberg committed suicide just three months later. Buckman wrote that the story of "The Ten-Per-Cent Solution" was "no doubt devised with Rivers’ approval and possibly with her input", and that "only a comedian of her stature and experience" would attempt to spoof a personal tragedy such as this one. Other guest stars in the episode include actor Kevin Dillon
Kevin Brady Dillon (born August 19, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Johnny "Drama" Chase on the HBO comedy series '' Entourage'', Bunny in the war film ''Platoon'', and John Densmore in the musical biopic ''The Doo ...
and stand-up comedian Janeane Garofalo
Janeane Marie Garofalo ( ; born September 28, 1964) is an American comedian, actress, and former co-host on the now-defunct Air America Radio's ''The Majority Report''.
Garofalo began her career as a stand-up comedian and became a cast member on ...
as themselves, and stand-up comedian Jackie Mason in a minor reprisal of his role as Krusty's father, speaking only one line.
Several references to popular culture
Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...
, including a meta-reference
Meta-reference is a special type of self-reference that can occur in all media or media artifacts, for instance literature, film, painting, TV series, comic strips, or video games. It includes all references to, or comments on, a specific medium, ...
to ''The Simpsons'', are included in "The Ten-Per-Cent Solution". The three ''The Itchy & Scratchy'' cartoons that are shown at the beginning of the episode as Krusty is hosting his show are all parodies of films released in 2010: the first one, titled ''The Cat's Speech'', is a parody of ''The King's Speech
''The King's Speech'' is a 2010 British historical drama film directed by Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler. Colin Firth plays the future King George VI who, to cope with a stammer, sees Lionel Logue, an Australian speech and language ...
''; the second one, titled ''The Social Petwork'', parodies ''The Social Network
''The Social Network'' is a 2010 American biographical drama film directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin, based on the 2009 book ''The Accidental Billionaires'' by Ben Mezrich. It portrays the founding of social networking websi ...
'' in that the storyline is partially explained through the use of screens containing nothing but text; and the final one, titled ''Black and Blue Swan'', references '' Black Swan''. After the three cartoons are shown, Krusty points out that "It’s like those parodies were written when the movies came out, but it took so long to animate them that we look dated and hacky!" This is a reference to the long time it takes to produce an episode of ''The Simpsons''—hence why cultural references on the show can often be seen as dated.[ Pop culture allusions at the television museum include a brief appearance by the main characters of the animated series '']King of the Hill
''King of the Hill'' is an American animated sitcom created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It aired its original non-syndicated run from January 12, 1997, to September 13, 2009, and centers on the Hills, an Am ...
'' as cardboard cutouts being taken down in a process similar to the opening of the show,[ an exhibit devoted to the sitcom '']The Beverly Hillbillies
''The Beverly Hillbillies'' is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor, backwoods family f ...
'', and the showing of one of Homer's favorite television shows, ''Fatso Flanagan'', which is a knockoff of the sitcom ''The Honeymooners
''The Honeymooners'' is an American television sitcom which originally aired from 1955 to 1956, created by and starring Jackie Gleason, and based on a recurring comedy sketch of the same name that had been part of Gleason's variety show. It fo ...
''.[
The music that is played during the parody of ''The King's Speech'' is " Symphony No. 7" by ]Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
, and a musical piece from the '' Swan Lake'' ballet is played during the ''Black Swan'' parody. For the ''King of the Hill'' visual gag
In comedy, a visual gag or sight gag is anything which conveys its humour visually, often without words being used at all. The gag may involve a physical impossibility or an unexpected occurrence. The humor is caused by alternative interpretatio ...
, the ''Simpsons'' staff acquired the rights to use the actual theme song from that show.[ The music that is played as Krusty performs his new show in front of adults at the theater is a mixture of the old Krusty theme and the theme from '']Playboy After Dark
''Playboy After Dark'' is an American television show hosted by Hugh Hefner. It aired in syndication through Screen Gems from 1969 to 1970 and was taped at CBS Television City in Los Angeles.
Overview
''Playboy After Dark'' followed much the sam ...
'', a television show hosted by Hugh Hefner that started airing in the 1960s and featured parties from a ''Playboy'' club. This musical combination was composed by Alf Clausen after ''The Simpsons'' music editor Chris Ledesma came with the suggestion. On his blog, Ledesma wrote that theme for ''Playboy After Dark'' "was cool and jazzy and just right for its time. Alf’s homage to that theme, wrapped around Krusty’s theme was very clever indeed."[
]
Release and reception
"The Ten-Per-Cent Solution" 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 December 4, 2011.[ It was watched by approximately nine million people during this broadcast. In the demographic for adults aged 18–49, the episode received a 4.0 ]Nielsen rating
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...
(a fifty-four percent increase over the previous episode) and a ten percent share. The high rating was the result of the episode being preceded by a popular National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
game. ''The Simpsons'' became the highest-rated program in Fox's Animation Domination lineup that night in terms of both total viewers and in the 18–49 demographic, finishing ahead of new episodes of '' Family Guy'', ''The Cleveland Show
''The Cleveland Show'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Richard Appel, and Mike Henry for the Fox Broadcasting Company. A spin-off of ''Family Guy'', the series centers on Cleveland Brown, his new wife Donna Tubbs, and ...
'', and ''Allen Gregory
''Allen Gregory'' is an American adult animated sitcom created by Jonah Hill, Jarrad Paul, and Andrew Mogul for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows pretentious seven-year-old Allen Gregory De Longpre, who is raised by his two rich h ...
''. For the week of , "The Ten-Per-Cent Solution" placed seventh in the ratings among all prime-time broadcasts in the 18–49 demographic.
Since airing, the episode has received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Hayden Childs of ''The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' praised the choice of having Rivers guest star since she was able to "employ her trademark humor within the world of ''The Simpsons'' without hijacking the plot or satire." He also noted that while the Simpson family does not appear heavily, "Krusty is such a large part of the supporting cast that he carries this episode well. While it may seem a little funny that Castellaneta, who voices Krusty, wrote such a large part for himself, it is also a testament to his empathy for Krusty that this episode both deepens our understanding of Krusty and actually allows him growth as a character in an organic fashion." Ology's Josh Harrison similarly praised "The Ten-Per-Cent Solution" for having "some wonderful Krusty the Klown moments and some clutch guest star appearances".[ He also cited the visual gags in the episode as "clever".][ Harrison concluded his review by writing that though the episode "wasn't ''Simpsons'' gold, it was a great chance to focus on a secondary character and an opportunity for Joan Rivers to, um, be Joan Rivers. I imagine your assessment of the episode may be based largely on your opinion of the guest star. That said? I dug it."]
AOL TV
AOL TV was the name of both a thin client which uses a television for display (rather than a monitor), and the online service that supports it, both of which were launched in June 2000 to compete with WebTV.
The product and service were develo ...
's Jason Hughes was more negative, criticizing the episode for taking a "soft approach" to the television industry when it "had a chance for some sharp satire".[ He elaborated that the writers "had a little bit of fun talking about networks meddling in shows – as well as agents trying to control content as when Joan Rivers booted Janeane Garofalo for being funnier than Krusty – and the differences between cable original programming and broadcast programming. But they had the potential they had to make some bold statements about television and how the industry works throughout, and simply didn't."] Hughes did, however, like the ''King of the Hill'' appearance, which he described as a "fun nod".[ Further criticism came from the conservative ]Parents Television Council
The Parents Television and Media Council (PTMC), formerly the Parents Television Council (PTC), is an American media advocacy group founded by conservative Christian activist L. Brent Bozell III in 1995, which advocates for what it considers ...
(PTC), which named ''The Simpsons'' the "Worst TV Show of the Week" because "The Ten-Per-Cent Solution" contains "content inappropriate for the Family Hour".[ The group wrote that the "frank sexual dialogue warranted a ]TV-14
The TV Parental Guidelines are a television content rating system in the United States that was first proposed on December 19, 1996, by the United States Congress, the television industry and the federal communication commission (FCC), and went ...
rating, but the episode was rated TV-PG. Fox network executives surely know that almost nothing that comes out of Joan Rivers’ mouth is rated PG; but they chose to rate the program inappropriately anyway, thus blindsiding parents and children with crude content." PTC cited examples such as Annie saying that every night in his early days, Krusty "had is audiencerolling in the aisles, followed by a roll in the hay with me," and that "Today's kids are less sensitive than an Army condom. They see more on TV than my mother did on her wedding night. And they don't complain about it for the next 50 years."[
]
See also
* The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (film)
''The Seven-Per-Cent Solution'' is a 1976 Oscar-nominated British-American mystery film directed by Herbert Ross and written by Nicholas Meyer. It is based on Meyer's 1974 novel of the same name and stars Nicol Williamson, Robert Duvall, Alan Ar ...
References
External links
*
"The Ten-Per-Cent Solution"
at The Simpsons.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ten-Per-Cent Solution, The
The Simpsons (season 23) episodes
2011 American television episodes