Like Father, Like Clown

"Like Father, Like Clown" is an episode of The Simpsons first broadcast on October 24, 1991 as the sixth episode of the show's third season . Bart and Lisa try to reunite Krusty the Clown with his long-estranged father, a rabbi who disapproved of his son's choice of career in comedy.

The episode is an homage to the film The Jazz Singer. Comedian Jackie Mason, as the voice of Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky, won an Emmy for his performance. In real life, Mason is a rabbi himself.

Episode details

Production Number: 8F05
Original Air Date: October 24, 1991
Writers: Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky
Directors: Jeffrey Lynch and Brad Bird
Blackboard: "I will finish what I sta..."
Couch Gag: Bart leaps into everyone's lap
Guest Voice: Jackie Mason as Rabbi Krustofsky

Plot synopsis

Krusty the Clown has agreed to have dinner with Bart and his family, but keeps putting off the appointment, much to Bart's disappointment. Bart writes a letter to Krusty renouncing his fanhood, and Krusty's secretary is so moved that she tells Krusty she will quit her job if he doesn't keep his promise to Bart. Krusty finally comes to dinner at the Simpson house. When asked to say grace, he recites a Hebrew barucha. Lisa realizes that Krusty is Jewish, and reminded of this, Krusty begins to cry. He tells the family of his upbringing on the Lower East Side of Springfield.

His father, Hyman Krustofsky, was a rabbi dispensing Talmudic wisdom and car-buying tips to the neighborhood. Rabbi Krustofsky was strongly opposed to young Krusty's wish of becoming a clown, wanting the boy to go to yeshiva instead. Krusty performed slapstick comedy behind his father's back. When Rabbi Krustofsky found out, he disowned his son, and it has been 45 years since they've seen or spoken to each other. In the weeks following this admission, Krusty's TV show begins to suffer, as he thinks more and more about his father. Bart and Lisa resolve to help reunite father and son, but the rabbi still refuses to accept Krusty's career choice.

An attempt by the kids to reunite the Krustofskys at a deli fails when the rabbi leaves early after seeing a very non-kosher sandwich bearing his son's name on the menu. Bart calls into a religious talk-radio show that Rabbi Krustofsky appears on, asking if a father should forgive his son for defying his wishes if the son is making millions of children happy, and the rabbi angrily answers in the negative. Lisa does research to find Judaic teachings that urge forgiveness, but Rabbi Krustofsky has responses for each of them. Finally Bart is able to convince the rabbi to reconcile with a quote by Sammy Davis Jr. A deeply depressed Krusty is glumly doing a live taping of his show, but when Rabbi Krustofsky appears, they joyously hug and make up before the audience of children.