--- title: Review of The Simpsons, "Clown in the Dumps" description: In a much-hyped Simpsons episode, one character dies and another one tries to figure out life canonical: https://time.com/3432718/review-the-simpsons-death/ author: James Poniewozik article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-29T02:04:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:07:39.928Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Review of The Simpsons, "Clown in the Dumps" og:description: In a much-hyped Simpsons episode, one character dies and another one tries to figure out life og:url: https://time.com/3432718/review-the-simpsons-death/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5471e0c20eb8aa36/6986a59755a8597219a82d2c/krusty_hey_hey_01104121_hires1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Krusty_HEY_HEY og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Review of The Simpsons, "Clown in the Dumps" twitter:description: In a much-hyped Simpsons episode, one character dies and another one tries to figure out life twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5471e0c20eb8aa36/6986a59755a8597219a82d2c/krusty_hey_hey_01104121_hires1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _The Simpsons_ Watch: Heaven, I'm in Jewish Heaven > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. by [James Poniewozik](https://time.com/author/james-poniewozik/) ## James Poniewozik Sep 29, 2014 2:04 AM UTC  THE SIMPSONS: Krusty's decision to retire after heÕs offended by a comedy cable channel roast of him, has dire consequences for one citizen of Springfield in the all-new ÒClown in the DumpsÓ milestone season 26 premiere episode of THE SIMPSONS airing Sunday, Sept. 28 (8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT) on FOX. THE SIMPSONS ªÊand © 2014 TCFFC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THE SIMPSONS: Krusty's decision to retire after heÕs offended by a comedy cable channel roast of him, has dire consequences for one citizen of Springfield in the all-new ÒClown in the DumpsÓ milestone season 26 premiere episode of THE SIMPSONS airing Sunday, Sept. 28 (8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT) on FOX. THE SIMPSONS ªÊand © 2014 TCFFC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.FOX by [James Poniewozik](https://time.com/author/james-poniewozik/) ## James Poniewozik Sep 29, 2014 2:04 AM UTC In end-of-life care, there’s a concept known as “the good death.” Depending whom you ask, it might mean dying without prolonged discomfort, or in the company of loved ones, or after achieving a feeling of meaningful closure. In the case of TV death, especially one trumpted in advance publicity, “a good death” has a somewhat different meaning. Is it resonant? Does it close the character’s story well? And–let’s be frank here–did it actually live up to the hype? It’s possible that on that last score, the death of Rabbi Hyman Krustofski (voiced again by the great, gravelly Jackie Mason) will disappoint those amateur Reapers who were laying odds that Krusty would be leaving us, largely on the basis of the episode title, “Clown in the Dumps.” It wasn’t an Earth-shattering death–and I’m glad, if it means Krusty lives to peddle _trayf_ another day. Because overhyped or not, the episode showed that Krusty is valuable to _The Simpsons_, not just for the showbiz jokes, but as an entree to a certain kind of story about disappointment and living with one’s limitations. If “Clown in the Dumps” is not a classic on the level of season three’s “Like Father, Like Clown,” it was still a fitting, sweet conclusion to the story of Hyman and Herschel. There has always been a special darkness to Krusty’s stories–as Lisa once said, he’s like a black-velvet painting come to life–and it’s been rooted in both running from and aching for the approval of his father. In a TV-sitcom medium that often [ignores Jewish experience or writes it in as subtext](http://entertainment.time.com/2009/08/31/robo-james-time-machine-how-tv-taught-me-to-be-jewish/), that relationship and its details were something special. And there was a brilliant absurdity to leaving Krusty with that Talmudic, torturously ambiguous “Eh”–that most malleable of Jewish judgments–leaving Krusty to decide, on his own, whether his life has been worth it. What does the “Eh” mean? Over time–with the help of a whiskey funnel, a dream sequence and a comedy rabbi–Krusty finds an answer: that his father really approved of him, even if he could never express it. It’s an answer; it’s not the answer, which Krusty will never get any more than the rest of us will. There may be other answers, maybe even more believable ones (as Lisa suggests, that the rabbi didn’t care for his son’s delivery), but they don’t really matter. The solution–the episode suggests with understated profundity–is in taking the effort to try to find the answer, not in the answer itself. Meanwhile, the episode tried to parallel the rabbi’s death with the Simpson family by having Lisa become justifiably worried about her own father’s health. It’s heavy stuff, but not too heavy, historically, for The Simpsons. (The first time Homer’s mortality was connected with the rabbi was in “Homer’s Triple Bypass,” back in season four.) There was a lot of potential in linking an older child’s acceptance of his father’s mortality to a younger child’s just becoming aware of it. But as for the execution and payoff of the subplot? Eh. Krusty was the star of the show this time out. And as for you, Rabbi Krustovski, we’ll see you in non-existent Jewish Heaven. Save me an egg cream and a giant slice of dill pickle. ### Meet the Voices of The Simpsons  Dan Castellaneta is the voice of Homer, the bumbling patriarch of the Simpson family. He also voices other adult males such as Grampa Simpson, Groundskeeper Willie and Krusty the Clown. Michael Tran—FilmMagic/Getty Images; Fox  Julie Kavner voices Marge Simpson as well as her twin sisters Patty and Selma and their estranged mother Jacqueline. Michael N. Todaro—Getty Images; Fox  Nancy Cartwright voices many of the male children in The Simpsons. She primarily voices Bart, but also gives life to Nelson Muntz, Todd Flanders and Ralph Wiggum, amongst others. Amanda Edwards—WireImage/Getty Images; Fox  Yeardley Smith is the voice of Lisa, the brains of the Simpson clan. Imeh Akpanudosen—Getty Images; Fox  Hank Azaria plays the town barkeep, Moe Szyslak, as well as a wide cast of male characters ranging from Chief Wiggum and Apu to Duffman (can't breathe! oh no!). Brad Barket—Getty Images; Fox  The other everyman of the series, Harry Shearer gives voice to Ned Flanders, Mr. Burns, Principal Skinner and a host of other Springfield residents. Dave J. Hogan—Getty Images; Fox  Pamela Hayden voices Milhouse, Bart's sidekick, as well as some other male children in Springfield like Jimbo Jones and Rod Flanders. Frazer Harrison—Getty Images; Fox  The late Marcia Wallace was the voice of elementary school teacher Edna Krabappel. Angela Weiss—Getty Images; Fox  Russi Taylor voiced some of the kids at Springfield Elementary such as Martin Prince, Terri and Sherri, and German exchange student Üter Zörker. David Livingston—Getty Images; Fox ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3432718/review-the-simpsons-death/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3432718/review-the-simpsons-death/"},"headline":"The Simpsons Watch: Heaven, I'm in Jewish Heaven","datePublished":"2014-09-29T02:04:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:07:39.928Z","description":"In a much-hyped Simpsons episode, one character dies and another one tries to figure out life","url":"https://time.com/3432718/review-the-simpsons-death/","keywords":["Television","review","Recap","The Simpsons"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5471e0c20eb8aa36/6986a59755a8597219a82d2c/krusty_hey_hey_01104121_hires1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"James Poniewozik","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/james-poniewozik/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5471e0c20eb8aa36/6986a59755a8597219a82d2c/krusty_hey_hey_01104121_hires1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Krusty_HEY_HEY","caption":"","creditText":"FOX","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3432718/review-the-simpsons-death/","name":"The Simpsons Watch: Heaven, I'm in Jewish Heaven"}}]}] ```