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A Tale of Two Springfields
Insane Clown Poppy
Lisa the Tree Hugger


All Mom ever said was my father was some pathetic clown, so I typed "pathetic clown" into a search engine and your name popped right up.
Sophie Krustofsky

"Insane Clown Poppy" is the third episode of Season 12 (originally going to be an episode of Season 11 in production order).

Synopsis[]

The Simpsons visit the annual book festival, where Krusty is in attendance to sign copies of his new book (ghostwritten by John Updike), only for a young girl named Sophie to approach him and reveal herself to be the daughter he's never met. Completely unfamiliar with fatherhood, Krusty asks Homer for assistance with bonding with his daughter, but the relationship hits a snag when he bets Sophie's beloved violin in a high-stakes poker game with Fat Tony.

Full Story[]

Clownandher

Krusty with Sophie's mom

Homer and Bart fix things around the house using fireworks. They destroy Lisa's room on her birthday, so to help make it up to her, the family goes to a book fair, where Krusty is signing his new book. A little girl named Sophie is in line and she tells Krusty that she is his daughter. Krusty flashes back to his experiences during the Gulf War, where Krusty had meet Erin after trying to his tent during a sandstorm and accidentally stumbles into Erin's tent and the two make love. However, the next Erin suddenly realizes that she is late for her mission to assassinate Saddam Hussein. At the moment when Erin is about to shoot, Krusty runs up to her, which causes her to fail at shooting Saddam Hussein. Sophie's mother now hates Krusty, ever since he ruined her mission after that night with her. Sophie, who wants to get to know her father asks (i.e. begs) to spend time, while Krusty declines, explaining he is not an ideal father figure for her agrees, especially after seeing her cry. In his first attempt to be a good father, Krusty tries spending time with Sophie at the beach, but they don't bond very well. He sees Homer interacting with his kids and gets some parenting advice from him.

Tonybiolin

Fat Tony examines Sophie's violin

Krusty gambles away Sophie's violin, which is something that means a lot to her, in a poker game with Fat Tony. She gets offended with Krusty, so he, along with Homer's help, tries to gain possession the violin. There is a big mafia summit at Fat Tony's place and Krusty manages to escape with the violin and a bunch of cash (although it was implied that he didn't even know that there was money in the real violin case when he took it), although not without inadvertently starting a gun fight amongst the various mafia members when they dropped most of the other cases (which contained Tommy guns) and had the contents discharge ammo. He wins back Sophie's love, who discovers that the case was also lined with money. Then Frankie the Squealer, Legs and Louie chase Homer for his role in the caper (and presumably for his role in tearing down their summit) by shooting at him, but Homer outruns them nevertheless.

Behind the Laughter[]

Production[]

Originally, Homer was the one who was surprised to have a long-lost daughter, but this was changed to Krusty, to try and keep the episode canon, and not too far from reality.

Some sources suggested that Christopher Walken originally agreed to appear as himself. However, he demanded a lot more money than the producers were willing to pay. Instead, Jay Mohr did the voice of Walken.

In the end credits, Jay Mohr is actually credited with the voice of Christopher Walken, the credit says "Jay Mohr as Christopher Walken". While this is the first time a celebrity guest star has been credited as playing a character (real or fictional), this is actually the second time (not counting The Simpsons Movie) since the season two episode "Old Money" that the show's credits have both the actor and the character he or she plays.

Reception[]

The episode received negative reviews from critics. 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."

Citations[]

Krusty The ClownKrusty the Clown Show Characters, Locations and Key Episodes
Krusty the Clown | Sideshow Bob | Sideshow Mel | Sophie Krustofsky | Mr. Teeny

Krusty Burger | Clown College | Kamp Krusty
Krusty Gets Busted | Itchy & Scratchy & Marge | Like Father, Like Clown | Kamp Krusty | Krusty Gets Kancelled | Bart Gets Famous | Homie the Clown | Bart the Fink | The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show | The Last Temptation of Krust | Insane Clown Poppy | Day of the Jackanapes | Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington | Today, I Am a Clown | Yokel Chords | All About Lisa | Once Upon a Time in Springfield | The Ten-Per-Cent Solution | Clown in the Dumps | The Nightmare After Krustmas | Fears of a Clown | Krusty the Clown (episode) | The Clown Stays in the Picture

Season 11 Season 12 Episodes Season 13
Treehouse of Horror XIA Tale of Two SpringfieldsInsane Clown PoppyLisa the Tree HuggerHomer vs. DignityThe Computer Wore Menace ShoesThe Great Money CaperSkinner's Sense of SnowHOMЯPokey MomWorst Episode EverTennis the MenaceDay of the JackanapesNew Kids on the BlecchHungry, Hungry HomerBye Bye NerdieSimpson SafariTrilogy of ErrorI'm Goin' to PraiselandChildren of a Lesser ClodSimpsons Tall Tales
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