Airdate: November 3, 1993
Opening Line- "Come back, Shane-y"- Dot
Clown and Out: Mr. Plotz hires a clown to entertain Wakko for his birthday, unaware that Wakko is violently afraid of clowns.
Bubba Bo-Bob Brain: Brain becomes a country western singer to broadcast a mind-control message.
Wheel of Morality: Elvis lives on in our hearts, in his music, and in a trailer park in Milwaukee.
Tropes found in Clown and Out:
- Afraid of Clowns: Wakko isn't the only one in this episode who's terrified of clowns. Mr. Plotz also has a phobia of them. Dr. Scratchansniff calls it "Clownophobia"note .
- A Birthday, Not a Break: Poor Wakko. On his birthday, he's visited by a clown!
- Butt-Monkey: The clown gets hit with Wakko's mallet, then takes a number of falls off the tower.Clown: [after the third fall] I don' wanna DO dis no more!
- By the Lights of Their Eyes: Tweaked—since the Warners have Black Bead Eyes, we see their white faces and gloves instead.
- A Day in the Limelight: This is one of a handful of episodes to focus more on Wakko, who becomes It in a game of hide-and-seek just before the clown arrives. Yakko and Dot spend quite a while waiting to be found, not knowing Wakko is preoccupied with trying to make the clown go away.Dot: Why is it taking Wakko so long to find us?
Yakko: Beats me. - Didn't Think This Through: When Mr. Plotz decided to hire the clown as a birthday surprise for Wakko, he didn't think to make sure that Wakko actually likes clowns.
- The Door Slams You: Inverted. When the clown first tries to enter the tower, Wakko slams the door, hitting the clown in the face with it.Clown: [dazedly] Dat hurt my face!
- Dreaded Kids' Party Entertainer Job: Mr. Plotz hires a clown for Wakko's birthday, not realizing that Wakko is terrified of clowns. The clown keeps trying to be nice to Wakko, but Wakko still sees the clown as evil and abuses him with Amusing Injuries.
- Jerkass: After learning that Wakko is afraid of and hates clowns, Mr. Plotz insists that the clown do his full hour-long show... because Mr. Plotz also is afraid of and hates clowns, and so likes to watch the clown suffer every time Wakko hurts him.
- Kindness Ball: Mr. Plotz takes this at the beginning of the episode, putting aside his fear of clowns and dislike of Wakko to hire the clown as a birthday surprise for him, not knowing about Wakko's fear of clowns. His moment of kindness is done, though, the minute he decides to make the clown do his full hour-long show, just to watch Wakko abuse him.
- Made of Explodium: The clown tries to get Wakko to come out of the tower by shouting that he can make balloon animals.Wakko: [from inside the tower] Can you make a little cannon?
Clown: Yeah, I think so. [Pulls two balloons out of his pockets and twists them into the shape of a cannon.] There! A cannon!
[Wakko opens the door and turns the balloon cannon so that it's pointed at the clown. It fires at him, leaving the clown with an Ash Face.]
Clown: It blowed up at me. [He falls off the tower again.] - No Celebrities Were Harmed: The clown is an obvious parody of Jerry Lewis.
- Non-Ironic Clown: Although Wakko and Mr. Plotz are both terrified of him, the clown is a nice guy who means no harm.
- Shout-Out: "A clown is not a big spider..."
- Throw the Dog a Bone: The clown, after getting put through the wringer, is blasted off to Mars, where the Martian children love his act.Clown: I like it up here.
Tropes found in Bubba Bo-Bob Brain:
- Accidental Misnaming: Pinky never manages to pronounce "Bubba Bo Bob Brain" correctly. Brain's annoyance at this ends up ruining his plan.
- Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?: "I think so, Brain, but burlap chafes me so."
- The Cameo: The Warners, in cowboy costumes, run by a billboard while a harmonica rendition of the theme song plays.
- Costumes Change Your Size: As part of his costume, Brain sews himself an extra-long pair of blue jeans and uses stilts to make himself over six feet tall. This results in him repeatedly walking into door frames.
- Expospeak Gag: Brain, when accepting a Country Tune award for Best Male Vocal, does this.Brain: Pardon my effervescence, but your accolade is more than any bucolic mouse merits.
[The audience looks confused.]
Brain: I'd like to thank my mama and Elvis. - Farm Boy: Brain claims to have been a pig farmer before his manager, "Colonel Pinky", discovered him.
- Is This Thing Still On?: At the Grand Ole Opry, Brain succeeds in hypnotizing the entire audience with the prerecorded subliminal message in his song. The audience had previously bought his record and, by this time, had listened to the song enough times that the message takes permanent hold when Brain sings it on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry. Pinky, who's been getting Brain's stage name wrong for the entire episode, shouts, "Way to go, Blubber Boo Bean Brain!" Rather than ignore it, Brain snaps at Pinky (and into the microphone), "Do me a favor and forget my name. While you're at it, forget you ever knew me!" The audience immediately forgets who Bubba Bo Bob Brain is and boos him offstage.Newscaster: Tonight's inside story: a complete unknown somehow made it onto the stage at the Grand Ole Opry.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed:
- Brain meets a busty woman who's an obvious Expy of Dolly Parton.
- Also, the country western star that Pinky was watching, giving Brain his idea, is one of Billy Ray Cyrus, and one of the presenters who gives Brain his award is one of Garth Brooks.
- Overly Long Name: Brain chooses his alias because a "name consisting of at least three words" is a requirement to be a country western star.
- Rule of Three: Brain walks into door frames three times.
- Running Gag: Pinky repeatedly failing to say the name "Bubba Bo Bob Brain" correctly, annoying Brain to the point where it ends up thwarting his plan.
- Subliminal Messaging: Brain records a message to make everyone who hears it do whatever he says. His scheme is to become a country western star so that people will listen to his song, which includes his message, enough times until the message takes permanent hold.
Closing Tower Gag: "Flamiel!"— Yakko, Wakko, and Dot
