Krusty Dead? What The Hell Is That?
Elaine Stritch, James Garner, Archie of comic-book fame: everybody’s dropping dead. Next up: It looks as if “The Simpsons” is killing Krusty the Clown. And, if it’s true, you’re right to be outraged about it. At a Television Critics Association panel on Sunday, Al Jean made his biggest hint yet that Krusty is for the chop. The death will occur in an episode called “A Clown in the Dumps,” and that the actor playing the doomed character has won an Emmy for his work on the show. This puts Krusty firmly in the crosshairs. And, simply put, this would be a travesty. Krusty the Clown – or, to use his birth name, Herschel Shmoikel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofsky – is an institution. An icon. Almost everything the man says is a catchphrase. His laugh is a catchphrase. “Glug-glug, vroom-vroom, thump-thump,” is the greatest drink-driving slogan ever written.
