Sideshow Mel tells the story of how Lisa upstaged Krusty the Clown on his own show. Meanwhile, Bart and Homer go coin-collecting.
Tropes:
- As Himself: Drew Carey.
- Bookends: The season opener "He Loves to Fly and He D'ohs" began with Burns finding a penny in a fountain as its inciting incident. In this, the season finale, he loses a penny—the rare coin Homer and Bart were seeking—after Homer tricks him out of it.
- End of an Age: Season 19 is the last full season of the show to air in 4:3 standard definition TV. Season 20 would see the show transition to 16:9 high definition TV.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: As Krusty's agent warns him that Lisa will try to sabotage his career, he gets a call from Mr. Teeny,Krusty: If there was a rehearsal for the network, I would have been told by my...(gasp) assistant!
- Fleeting Passionate Hobbies: After finally completing their coin album, Homer and Bart proudly enjoy the summit of their labors...sticking it on the shelf and never looking at it again.
- Former Child Star: During a reunion special, Krusty brings back The Kruskateers (a rather obvious parody of The Mouseketeers from The Mickey Mouse Club) as adults.. or rather, the three of them who didn't become successful enough to tell him to drop dead. One of them is an ex-convict who apparently did time for taking the fall for Krusty.
- How the Mighty Have Fallen: Sideshow Mel warns Lisa that continuing to be a star of her own show will eventually have her do anything just to make people laugh that she'll lose her way as Mel (as he was a successful theater personality who began to fall down in fame) and many other performers had.
- How We Got Here: As narrated by Sideshow Mel.
- It's the Journey That Counts: Homer and Bart both admit that collecting coins is kind of a lame hobby. Their mission to fill the coin album starts out as a distraction for Bart as he's frustrated about Lisa getting the gig he wanted, but by the end they're just enjoying spending time together working on a shared goal.
- Long-Runners: Parodied with Krusty's show In-Universe; if you thought The Simpsons was stretching its limit at 400 episodes as of the previous season, Krusty is celebrating his 4000th.
- Orbital Shot: Lisa when she experiences the sensation of applause for the first time.
- Shout-Out:
- A plot-wide one to All About Eve, with Krusty as Margo and Lisa as Eve and Mel as George Sanders.
- Krusty's "Krustkateers" are an obvious parody of The Mickey Mouse Club.
- Bart's act involves him swallowing light and lighting up his stomach, saying he's E.T. He then puts on an afro wig and says he's B.E.T.
- Krusty's dog costume at the end greatly resembles Nana from Peter Pan.
- Smart Ball: When his negotiation with Burns for the rare penny he and Bart are seeking is unsuccessful, Homer tricks him into handing it to him as part of change for a nickel.
