There’s no doubt that Krusty the Clown is one of The Simpsons ‘ central and most loved characters.
But, Al Jean, the show’s creator, all but confirmed during a Television Critics Association panel on Fox on Sunday, that Krusty would be The Simpsons character to get the axe in the new season. Speculation has been rising for months now as to who will be taken out of the script for season 29.
Al Jean has been pretty tight-lipped when it comes to the question of who is to be killed off, offering just a hint to reporters : “I’ll give you a clue that the actor playing the character won an Emmy for playing that character, but I won’t say who it is.”
As we all know, that’s not much of a clue as most of the actors who performed The Simpsons voices received Emmy’s at one time or another during their careers.
Jean did spill the beans though, when he revealed at the panel that the episode in which the character would be killed off is called “A Clown In The Dumps,” which pretty much makes it a forgone conclusion that Krusty is getting the axe.
Then again, some believe that it could well be Krusty’s father, Rabbi Hyman Krustofski, who is leaving the show, while others suggest that it could well be Sideshow Bob who gets killed off. All Jean said is, “It’s a terrific character and it [happens in] our premiere this coming year.”
Dan Castellaneta, the voice for Krusty the Clown , told the Archive of American Television that the character is a chance for the writers to “take shots at comedians or TV shows they’ve written for, so they can put it all into Krusty.”
Castellaneta added, “For a while they tried to do Krusty out of his make-up, but then they said “just leave him in make-up all of the time”.