Recap / The Simpsons S 9 E 15 The Last Temptation Of Krust

Original air date: 2/22/1998 (produced in 1997)

Production code: 5F10

At a charity comedy show, Krusty discovers that his brand of humor is out of step with modern stand-up comedy. After announcing his retirement and going on a drunken bender, Krusty wakes up at the Simpsons household and, with the help of Bart Simpson and special guest star, Jay Leno, Krusty becomes an anti-establishment stand-up comic (a la George Carlin, Denis Leary, Dennis Miller, and Bill Hicks), but must choose between his ethics and selling out when an agent offers him the chance to be the spokesman for a new SUV called The Canyonero.

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"The Last Temptation of Krust" contains examples of:

• Asian Buck Teeth: Krusty wears some fake buck teeth to do an extremely racist imitation of a Chinese man when he goes back to stand-up comedy, showing how out-of-touch he is.
• Asian Speekee Engrish: Krusty's offensive Asian impression ("ME SO SOLLY!") is complete with him putting in fake teeth. Only Bart approves.
• As Himself: In addition to Jay Leno, the episode also features standups Steven Wright, Janeane Garofalo, Bobcat Goldthwait, and Bruce Baum, as well as an original song by Hank Williams Jr..
• Bait-and-Switch: After Krusty bombing:
  Stage manager: Five minutes, Krusty.
  Krusty: Oh, I ain't goin' back out there.
  Stage manager: No, five minutes to get your stuff and get out.
• Borrowed Catchphrase: "Hey, hey. I'm Kent Brockman the Clown..."
• Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: One line for the Canyonero jingle is "Top of the line in utility sports. Unexplained fires are a matter for the courts."
• Brick Joke: At Krusty's last stand-up act, Homer complains about pants. When Krusty starts to bomb, Homer, in only his underwear and a shirt, throws his pants at Krusty.
• Call-Back: In "$pringfield, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling", Krusty also tried performing stand-up comedy, and did poorly, as well.
• Cannot Tell a Joke: Kent Brockman filling in for Krusty:
  Kent Brockman: Today's top joke: It seems a local moron threw his clock out the window! We'll tell you why, right after this.
• The Comically Serious: Steven Wright walks up to the mike and simply says: "I finally got around to reading the dictionary. Turns out the zebra did it." (Homer is the only person who doesn't laugh).
• Couch Gag: The couch is a trough filled with water, and the Simpsons, on fire, rush in and sit on the couch to extinguish the fire.
• The Dead Rise to Advertise:
  So I'm watching TV today, and all I keep seeing is dead celebrities hawking products! You've got poor old Vincent Price floating around in a toilet keg telling me about the horrors of an unfresh bowl! And I tell ya something else: I do not believe Winston Churchill would eat at a place called "Der Wienerschnitzel"!
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: Krusty's outdated and offensive comedy act fails to impress the audience. (Except Bart.)
• Drunken Montage: Krusty goes on "the bender to end all benders" after his stand-up act bombs.
• Dude, Not Funny!: The reaction to Krusty's racist performance.
• Everyone Has Standards: Even the snarky, cynical insult comics are turned off by Krusty's bad and blatantly offensive brand of comedy.
• Fake-Out Fade-Out: Near the end, after the Canyonero commercial song appears to finish, the 20th Century Fox Television Vanity Plate appears...only to get pushed aside for more of the Canyonero song.
• Hint Dropping: Homer hopes that Krusty will rant on pants; during the act, Homer yells out, "Don't you hate pants?"
• Ho Yay: Invoked when two Canyonero execs watch Krusty's new act:
  Exec 1: Wow, they're hanging on his every word. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
  Exec 2: (tries to hold his hand) I hope so.
  Exec 1: (retracts his hand) I thought I made myself clear in Boston.
• Hummer Dinger: The Canyonero.
  Twelve yards long, two lanes wide, sixty-five tons of American pride! Canyonero!''".
• Hypocritical Humor: When Krusty bombs, Bruce Baum (wearing swimming trunks and an inner tube, and with a "fish going through head" hat on) comments:
  Bruce: That guy cheapens our whole profession! What do you think of him, Internet Comic? (a nearby computer beeps twice)
• Hypocrite: As Homer, Marge, and Bart drive home from Moe's, where Krusty premiered his new "tell it like it is" routine:
  Homer: I'm gonna be just like Krusty and tell it like it is. Marge, you're getting a little fat around the old thighs.
  Bart: Dad!
  Homer: You too, Bart.
  Marge Oh, knock it off, Homer, you're the fattest one in the car!
  Homer: You didn't have to tell it like it is, Marge.
• I Thought You Were Dead: Discussed, when devoted fan Bart asked why Krusty isn't among the other comedians, some thought he was dead, much to Bart's annoyance.
• Incompatible Orientation: It would seem one of the two executives is not gay.
• It's Been Done: Krusty tests his first batch of new observational material on the family:
  Krusty: Hello. I'm a real person. And as a real person, I've made some humorous observations about real life. For example, have you ever noticed how there are two phone books... a white one and a yellow one? Like... what's the deal with that?
  Lisa: One's residential and one's business.
  Krusty:...Oh... well... that makes sense...uh...I mean what will they think of next? Blue pages?
  Marge: They have those. Those are government listings.
  Krusty:...Oh...I see...
• The Last Title: The name of the episode.
• Late to the Punchline: Homer, during Steven Wright's act.
  Steven: I finally got around to reading the dictionary. Turns out the zebra did it.
  (everyone laughs except Homer)
  Homer: I don't get it.
  Lisa: Dad, the zebra didn't do it; it's just a word at the end of the dictionary.
  Homer: I still don't get it.
  Lisa: It's just a joke.
  Homer: (lights up) Oh, I get it! I get jokes! (laughs)
• The Makeover: When Krusty retools his act to be edgier, his appearance gets an update as well: He ties his hair strands back into a ponytail, and wears a jacket with a black shirt underneath.
• Money to Burn: At his first new stand-up show, Krusty burns a dollar bill out of protest. Chief Wiggum inquisitively asks "isn't that illegal?"
• Noodle Incident: Whatever happened in Boston between the two execs.
• No Such Thing as Bad Publicity: In-universe, Sideshow Mel believes that any publicity (for Krusty) means good publicity. Krusty disagrees and calls Mel an idiot.
• Not Allowed to Grow Up: Lampshaded. When Marge bought Bart and Lisa new shoes, Lisa complained the shoes were too big and Marge said they'll fit when the kids grow up. Bart then asked when it'd happen like he didn't expect it to happen. Marge then comments they're both overdue for a growth spurt.
• Orphaned Setup: Kent Brockman fills in for Krusty as if he's narrating his newscast, teasing a story explaining why "a local moron threw his clock out the window." ^note Because he wanted to see time fly.
• Out-of-Character Moment: Although Rod and Tod aren't fans of Krusty, it does seem uncharacteristically rude of them to poke their sticks at the passed-out clown on their front yard. One would think they would either be too afraid to approach him or would try to help him. Bart has to intervene to get them to leave Krusty alone.
• Overly Long Gag: Dr. Hibbert laughing when the comedy club promoter asks if he likes to laugh. It's cut a little bit in syndication.
• Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: The title references The Last Temptation of Christ.
• Produce Pelting: Krusty after selling out at Moe's.
• Product Placement: Krusty promoting the Canyonero during his comedy act.
• Rhetorical Question Blunder: When Krusty is trying out his new act in front of the Simpsons:
  Krusty: I'm a real person and as a real person, I've made some humorous observations about real life. For example, did you never notice how there are two phone books: A white one and a yellow one? I mean, what's the deal with that?!
  Lisa: (flatly) One's residential, the other's business.
  Krusty: Oh...that makes sense... What'll they think of next: Blue pages?!
  Marge: (also flatly) They have those; they're government listings.
• Sarcasm-Blind:
  Bart: I'm looking for someone named... (reading card) "Jay Leno"?
  Jay Leno: Somebody wanna get this kid a TV?
  Bart: Whoa, gee, thanks, mister!
  Jay Leno: Just kidding. I'm Jay Leno.
  Bart: (flatly) Oh.
• Sell-Out: Krusty reinvents himself as an anti-establishment stand-up comedian. While being applauded at first, Krusty eventually is offered a lot of cash for endorsing the product "Canyonero" during his stage shows. As the shows become blatant Product Placement Krusty is accused of being a sell-out, but he gladly gives up his former ideals to get back on top in show business.
  Krusty: I learned something about myself tonight, kid. It's not comedy that's in my blood, it's selling out.
• Shout-Out:
  • Krusty's anti-commercialism and anti-corporate stances, along with styling his hair in a ponytail, is a reference to George Carlin who styled his hair the same way later in his career and often had anti-capitalist, anti-consumerist and anti-commercialist overtones in his performance. The cigarette smoking also invokes Bill Hicks (interestingly the episode aired a few days before the 4th anniversary of Hicks's death).
  • The Canyonero itself is modeled after the 1962-1991 Jeep Wagoneer, and the bit at the end with the flag parodies both the intro to Bonanza and a mid-1980s commercial for the Jeep Cherokee, where it jumps right through a TV screen and into a family's living room.
• Spit Take: Marge at the comedy show when Janeane Garofalo opened her act with, "I got my period today".
• Stop Saying That!: Krusty's hairband shoots off whenever the ad guys tell him that the Canyonero is free. As he throws them out of the cafe, they tell him again, prompting the hairband to fly off again and him to yell this at them.

• Stylistic Suck: Krusty's comedy is a marvel of So Unfunny, It's Funny, ranging from low-effort to stolen to outdated to flat-out racist.
• Take That!: When Krusty bombs at the comedy show making a joke about TV dinners, Janeane Garofalo sarcastically quips "Ooh, take that, Swanson's".
• Tempting Fate: During Krusty's performance at the comedy show.
  Jay Leno: What's he gonna do next? A flapping dickie?
  Krusty: Uh-oh, I'm losing them. Better give them the "A" material! Hey-hey! (flaps dickie)
• Too Much Information: During Krusty's rant about modern comics:
  Krusty: Then, you got these lady comics talkin' about stuff that would embarrass Redd Foxx! God rest his smutty soul. Who they slept with, what time they sit on the can; this is supposed to get you a husband?!
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight
  Homer (as he's walking in to use the bathroom): I didn't know you, Jay Leno and a monkey were bathing a clown.
• Your Answer to Everything: When Krusty is feeling sad after his flopped stand-up act, Mr. Teeny offers him a banana to cheer him up. Krusty refuses, citing this trope as his reasoning.

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