COULD IT BE curtains for Krusty? Or is it time up for Sideshow Bob?
The Simpsons producers have given the strongest hints yet about which character they’re killing off in the new season.
Executive producer Al Jean revealed at the weekend that the first episode of season 26 is called A Clown in the Dumps, and it’s in this episode that the character will die.
So will it be Krusty? Will it be his arch-nemesis Sideshow Bob? Or is there another possibility?
Let’s examine the evidence.
We know for sure that somebody is going to be killed
Fans have known for months that one of the characters is for the chop.
In fact, executive producers Al Jean and Matt Selman compared the impending death to Game of Thrones’ Red Wedding.
The death happens in the premiere of Season 26, which is due to air in the US in September.
We know it’s one of these people:
- Anne Hathaway as Princess Penelope (2010)
- Dan Castellaneta as Homer Simpson (2009)
- Kelsey Grammer as Sideshow Bob (2006)
- Dan Castellaneta as “various characters” (2004)
- Hank Azaria as “various characters” (2003)
- Hank Azaria as “various characters” (2001)
- Hank Azaria as Apu (1998)
- Dan Castellaneta as Homer Simpson (1993)
- Jackie Mason as Rabbi Hyman Krustofski (1992)
When executive producer Al Jean revealed in April that they’re killing off a character, he also revealed that “the actor playing the character won an Emmy for playing that character”. The list above is the list of Emmy-winning Simpsons actors.
Dan Castellaneta is the voice of Krusty the Clown.
So it could be him.
Kelsey Grammer is the voice of Sideshow Bob.
So it could be him.
Or it could be Krusty’s father Rabbi Hyrman Krustofski. Jackie Mason won an Emmy back in 1992 playing the character before before Castellaneta took over in more recent years.
The producers have also said that the actor playing the role has been told “this does not mean the end of your participation in The Simpsons”. Mason hasn’t participated since 2010. Castellaneta is integral. Does that mean it’s Grammer for the chop?
Is Krusty the Clown ‘iconic’? What about Sideshow Bob?
People who reported on it reported that we were killing an ‘iconic’ character. I’d like to say it’s a great character, but I never used the word ‘iconic’. It’s a terrific character.
The words of Al Jean back in April.
So it depends on how ‘iconic’ you think Krusty and Sideshow are. A quick straw poll around DailyEdge.ie Towers revealed that many think that the answer is ‘very iconic’.
However the producers have said since that the death has turned out to be a bigger deal that they thought. Hmmm.
We know it’s none of Hank Azaria’s characters
That means the likes of Apu, Moe, Chief Wiggum, Doctor Nick and Comic Book Guy are safe.
Not Krusty though. Or Sideshow Bob. Or the Rabbi.
Only time will tell.
