Like Father, Like Clown

"Like Father, Like Clown"
The Simpsons episode
Krusty's show
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 6
Directed by	Jeffrey Lynch Brad Bird
Written by	Jay Kogen Wallace Wolodarsky
Production code	8F05
Original air date	October 24, 1991 (1991-10-24)
Guest appearances
Jackie Mason as Hyman Krustofsky
Episode features
Chalkboard gag	"I will finish what I sta" (stops mid-word)[1]
Couch gag	Bart leaps into everybody's lap, annoying Homer.[2]
Commentary	Matt Groening Al Jean Dan Castellaneta Julie Kavner Jay Kogen Wallace Wolodarsky Brad Bird
Episode chronology
← Previous "Homer Defined" Next → "Treehouse of Horror II"
The Simpsons season 3
List of episodes

"Like Father, Like Clown" is the sixth episode of the third season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on October 24, 1991. In the episode, Krusty the Clown reveals to the Simpsons that he is Jewish and that his father, Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky, kicked him out for pursuing a career in comedy. Bart and Lisa try to reunite a heartbroken Krusty with his estranged father.

The episode was written by the duo of Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky, and directed by Jeffrey Lynch and Brad Bird; as it was Lynch's first credit as a director, Bird was assigned to help him. Krusty's religion had not been part of the original concept of the character, so Kogen and Wolodarsky decided to parody the 1927 film The Jazz Singer and establish that Krusty is Jewish. The episode was carefully researched and two rabbis, Lavi Meier and Harold M. Schulweis, were credited as "special technical consultants". Comedian Jackie Mason, who had once been an ordained rabbi, provided the voice of Hyman Krustofsky. Hyman later became an infrequently recurring character voiced by Dan Castellaneta. Mason returned to voice the character in several later episodes.

In its original broadcast, "Like Father, Like Clown" finished 34th in ratings with a Nielsen rating of 12.7. Mason won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1992 for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for his performance as Hyman Krustofsky.