History Recap / TheSimpsonsS1E12KrustyGetsBusted

--->'''Homer:''' If the crime is making me laugh, they're all guilty. ''(laughs)''\\

** Sideshow Bob reads a chapter of Dumas' ''[[Literature/TheThreeMusketeers The Man in the Iron Mask'' on his show.

** Sideshow Bob reads a chapter of Dumas' ''Literature/TheManInTheIronMask'' on his show.

* MeaningfulEcho: Right before the robbery, "Krusty's" foot is stepped on by Homer and he angrily mutters "Ow, my foot you lousy stupid..." Later when Bart calls out Sideshow Bob, he hits his foot with a hammer to show how large his are compared to Krusty's; Bob says the same line he gave Homer word for word.

* BlackAndGrayMorality: Sideshow Bob's reasons for holding a grudge against his boss are understandable. Krusty constantly shoots him out of a cannon and makes him the puppy to kick. On the other, framing him for petty theft was definitely wrong, especially breaking his pedestal over a lie than for the other reasons Krusty shouldn't be worshipped, like the cannon. Bart's noted that he and Lisa are not trying to find justice in clearing Krusty's name, but proof that his idol is not evil; at least, not evil enough to commit such a blatant crime. Still, finding out that Sideshow Bob framed Krusty for such a petty reason makes him the worse party.

* BlackAndGrayMorality: Sideshow Bob's reasons for holding a grudge against his boss are understandable. Krusty constantly shoots him out of a canon and makes him the puppy to kick. On the other, framing him for petty theft was definitely wrong, especially breaking his pedestal over a lie than for the other reasons Krusty shouldn't be worshipped, like the cannon. Bart's noted that he and Lisa are not trying to find justice in clearing Krusty's name, but proof that his idol is not evil; at least, not evil enough to commit such a blatant crime. Still, finding out that Sideshow Bob framed Krusty for such a petty reason makes him the worse party.

* EveryoneHatesMimes: Kent Brockman gives a special TV report that paints Krusty in a very unflattering light, first mentioning that he started his career as a street mime [[FishOutOfWater in a small town in Mississippi]] and going on to [[CantGetAwayWithNuthin criticize him for his history of health problems, the lowbrow content of his TV show, and his general phoniness]]. The hatred continues at Krusty's trial, when it's discovered that he is illiterate and he is branded a hypocrite for urging kids to learn how to read when he can't read, himself.

** Bart says "D'oh!" (accopanied by a {{facepalm}}) when Patty and Selma bring eight reels of travel slides.

** Bart says "D'oh!" when Patty and Selma bring eight reels of travel slides.

** Krusty's number on his prison uniform is A113, which appears in a number of works created by alumni of California Institute of the Arts' character animation program (the number was the room where the character animation classes took place). Creator/BradBird, who directed the episode, was one of those alumni.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Completely unlike his [[CharacterizationMarchesOn later portrayals]], Sideshow Bob has some good intentions behind his criminal decisions in this episode. He genuinely cares about the education and future of Krusty's young demographic, fearing sense of humor has been corrupting them. After framing Krusty, he takes over and retools his show to include high culture and good morals, and when he's arrested, he screams "Treat children as equals! They're smarter than you think! They were smart enough to catch ''me!''"

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Completely unlike his [[CharacterizationMarchesOn later portrayals]], Sideshow Bob has some good intentions behind his criminal decisions in this episode. He genuinely cares about the education and future of his child audience, fearing Krusty's sense of humor has been corrupting them. After framing Krusty, he takes over and retools his show to include high culture and good morals, and when he's arrested, he screams "Treat children as equals! They're smarter than you think! They were smart enough to catch ''me!''"

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Completely unlike his [[CharacterizationMarchesOn later portrayals]], Sideshow Bob has some good intentions behind his criminal decisions in this episode. He genuinely cares about the education and future of his child audience, fearing Krusty's sense of humor has been corrupting them. After framing Krusty, he introduces high culture and good morals, and when he's arrested, he screams "Treat children as equals! They're smarter than you think!"

** Sideshow Bob's villainy is quite downplayed here. Here, he appeared to do the wrong thing for the supposed "right" reasons and does appear to show a ''somewhat genuine'' concern for children and young viewers when becoming the new host. Contrast to the more traditional outright villainy his character would be noted later in the series. See WellIntentionedExtremist.

* WellIntentionedExtremist [=/=] ThinkOfTheChildren: Sideshow Bob. He genuinely cares about the education and future of the children watching the show and hates the kind of humor Krusty is corrupting them with. After framing Krusty, he introduces high culture and good morals (which can be entertaining for kids, but not fully entertaining (although it’s still a positive influence)) and when he's arrested, he screams "Treat children as equals! They're smarter than you think!". Later episodes would phase this out in favor of his straightforwardly villainous schemes and obsession with getting revenge on either Bart or sometimes, Krusty (although he would still retain his WickedCultured attributes).

** The "whodunit" plot is rather simple and easy to solve (although the episode basically solves the mystery for you beforehand with Bob's EvilLaugh), compared to the more complex detective plots of later episodes, such as the "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsWhoShotMrBurns Who Shot Mr. Burns?]]" two-parter.

* FairPlayWhodunnit: The episode is built like this. The mystery is really easy to solve, though, especially compared to some of the more elaborate examples in the show like "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS3E21BlackWidower Black Widower]]" and especially "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsWhoShotMrBurns Who Shot Mr Burns?]]"

** Krusty is only referred to by his stage name and is said to hail from Tupelo, Mississippi, with no mention of his Jewish heritage or his birth name Herschel Krustofsky, both of which wouldn't be revealed until the third season.

* AllPartOfTheShow: When Krusty has a heart attack, the kids think his wild contortions and screaming in extreme pain are all for comedy. Even Kent Brockman chuckles as he whimsically remembers the incident.

** This is also what gave him away as the real robber, as Homer stepped on Bob's foot, which wouldn't have hurt the real Krusty as he only wears large shoes over regular feet, while Bob's feet actually are the size of the clown shoes.

* EurekaMoment: When Bob tells Bart that Krusty left big shoes to fill, this causes the boy to realize something that everyone else missed - that the Krusty at the robbery yelled in pain when Homer stepped on his shoe, but Krusty has normal sized feet- Bob, on the other hand, has feet big enough to fill those shoes!

* ImposterForgotOneDetail: Three details, two of which are pointed out by Lisa and Bart. In Bob's eagerness to frame Krusty and send him to jail forever, he forgets a number of key facts that he knew about his co-star: he knew Krusty is illiterate, yet he is seen (via the security camera) reading a magazine at the counter, waiting for the store to clear out, and Bob (as Krusty) stood near a microwave oven, which Krusty can't do because he has an artificial pacemaker implanted in his heart (which was also captured via security camera). Naturally, when Bart points this out, Bob tries to bluff an explanation that Krusty was "never one to take doctor's orders too seriously" and liked to look at the pictures. The third detail comes when Bob slips up by saying he has "big shoes to fill". Bart remembers that Homer stepped on the robber's foot, making him scream in pain. Bart points out that Krusty wouldn't have been able to feel it because he has small feet and wears big floppy shoes, and he proves Bob framed him by whacking his huge feet with a hammer.

** In this episode, we see Krusty without make-up, something the animators avoided in later episodes because it made Krusty look too much like Homer. Indeed, later episodes would suggest that Krusty isn't wearing make-up at all, but his face is bleached white. This actually becomes a plus in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E15HomieTheClown Homie the Clown]]", where Homer is a look-alike Krusty.

* OldShame: In-universe. When Bart reminds Sideshow Bob of the times Krusty shot him out of a cannon, Bob glares back. After Bob is exposed for framing Krusty, he admits that did so because he was sick of being Krusty's ButtMonkey.

* TheGamblingAddict: The prosecutor at Krusty's robbery uses Krusty's racetrack betting slips to establish his motive for robbing the Kwik-E-Mart. Krusty's lost so much money betting on horse races that he needed the cash from the robbery to make up for it.