"Clown in the Dumps" is the twenty-sixth season premiere of the American animated television series The Simpsons and the 553rd episode of the series overall. It first aired in the United States on the Fox network on September 28, 2014, with the Family Guy crossover episode "The Simpsons Guy" airing afterwards. This episode was dedicated to the memory of Louis Castellaneta, the father of The Simpsons lead voice actor Dan Castellaneta. It was written by Joel H. Cohen and directed by Steven Dean Moore, with Don Hertzfeldt guest directing the opening title sequence. Jeff Ross, Sarah Silverman, and David Hyde Pierce guest starred as themselves, with Jackie Mason and Kelsey Grammer reprising their respective roles as Rabbi Krustofski and Sideshow Bob, while Maurice LaMarche voiced several minor characters.
In the episode, Krusty the Clown is offended by a comedy roast and asks his father, Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky, if he believes that Krusty is funny. Hyman disagrees and then dies, leaving Krusty upset that his father did not admire his work. After an alcohol-induced coma, Krusty vows to do good in the world, and eventually discovers (with the help of Bart) that his father did enjoy his work. The death of Krusty's father also causes Lisa to obsess over the health and safety of Homer, her own father.
In October 2013, during the promotion of the show's previous season, executive producer Al Jean revealed that a character would die in this episode. In July 2014, after the announcement of the title of the episode, several media outlets incorrectly presumed that Krusty would die. The choice of Hyman as the character who died was deemed by some critics as anti-climactic due to his minor role in the show, although other reviewers praised the episode's conclusion of the relationship between Krusty and his father.
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