You might think it would be a tough decision, seeing as there are a lot of episodes to choose from and there are so many good ones. But, despite there being other episodes that I love – Marge vs. The Monorail, The Springfield Files, Mother Simpson, Brother from Another Series, Homer at the Bat, A Streetcar Named Marge, Whacking Day, Rosebud, Bart After Dark (and that’s just to name a few), there’s just something special about Bart The Fink.
So, to the specifics. Why do I like this episode so much? Warning – contains spoilers. Oh, and despite my über-fandom, I don’t own the series on dvd and I take full responsibility for misquoting lines.
Value for money (so to speak)
I’m aware of no other episode that has such a high proportion of quality material throughout the entire episode. From the very start: the Simpson family at a funeral where Homer is alternately crying and whispering ‘woo-hoo’ because they know they’re due to inherit something from Great-Aunt Hortense’s estate – to the very end: Krusty faking the death of Rory B Bellows for his ‘surprisingly large’ insurance policy, it’s just packed full of great lines, scenes and wacky stuff.
Laughs
I’m fairly sure I laugh more at this episode than any other. It just seems to be written specifically with things I find funny in mind – an offbeat storyline with twists and turns, obscure references, and blacker-than-usual humour.
Dialogue
There are some absolutely priceless lines in this episode, mostly from the minor one-off characters. The lawyer with his evil laugh, the bank employee with his attempt to convince Bart that saving for his future will be more thrilling than any rollercoaster, and that filling out the form will be more interesting than a weekend with Batman – all delivered in a dull monotone. The Casablanca-esque Cayman Islands guy accidentally revealing Krusty’s secret, illegal account. Bob Newhart’s involuntary eulogy. However, the regulars don’t miss out , with Krusty in particular getting a few good rants in.
Visual impact
This episode contains, as far as I’m concerned, the single best-drawn shot in the history of the show. Bart, having ruined Krusty’s life, is sitting in his room (where everything is a Krusty product – wallpaper, lamp etc.) looking more unhappy than I ever thought it was possible for a 2-D animated character to look. Homer comes in and makes it even worse (‘Why, you could wake up dead tomorrow!’) and turns off the light. Bart’s look of abject misery is simply stunning.
The scenes from Krusty’s post-IRS takeover show are also hilarious. He wants a banana cream pie and, offstage, the IRS guy gives him the ‘think about the money’ rubbing-forefinger-and-thumb-together gesture; Krusty begs him to throw something so the IRS guy flings his briefcase at him, striking him in the head (with the corner) - and then quietly sneaks onstage, grabs the briefcase, and sneaks off again.
It gets censored
Another of my favourite scenes is where the IRS auction off Krusty’s possessions to help pay his tax debt. In the standard version the auctioneer calls out that the next item is some astonishing number of boxes of ‘Krusty’s pornography’. Jasper (the old bearded guy often seen with Grandpa) wants to bid for it, but, as he says, ‘I only brought ten cents. I didn’t know there was going to be pornography’.
This scene is cut from what they call the ‘syndication version’ – ostensibly for length, but it also allows the episode to be shown earlier because of the diminished ‘adult content’.
Also cut is the bit where Krusty, having been zapped by his GPS machine, throws it into the ocean yelling ‘tell me where you are now, bastard!’.
Sheer volume of crazy, random shit
- Comic-book guy with a wheelbarrow full of tacos (from the Tacomat, who have a special - 100 tacos for a $100; this is what Bart intends to spend his inheritance money on) which he considers to be ‘adequate sustenance for the Dr Who marathon'.
- Homer telling Bart that Krusty would be ‘up in heaven, with all the other celebrities – Josef Stalin, John Dillinger and Ty Cobb’ – three people known for their unpleasantness in real life – and then wishing he, himself, was dead.
- Bart’s Hindenburg disaster ‘Oh the Humanity’ chequebook.
- Sideshow Luke Perry is at the funeral, as is Kermit the Frog.
- Troy McLure’s references to Andre the Giant in his eulogy.
- Captain McAllister’s references Moby-Dick: ‘call me back, Ishmael’.
- The law firm ‘Dewey, Cheatem, Howe & Weissmann’.
- Krusty Burger becomes IRS Burger; Homer orders items such as a FICA-chino, Tax-burgers, an IRS-wich (withhold the lettuce) and dependent-sized sodas.
And that’s probably only half of it. It’s one of those episodes where each time I watch it I find something else good about it. I could write at least a couple more pages of rapturous praise about dozens of otherwise insignificant details.
But enough about what I think of it. I want to know what other people think of it – or, if it isn’t your favourite episode, which is?
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