Homie the Clown originally aired within Season 6 of The Simpsons. Very recently Clown v. Board of Education aired in Season 34 of The Simpsons. Clearly a huge time gap but we aren't here to talk about that. There's several things both episodes have in common. Even considering how they change it from Homie the Clown, you still felt like you seen this before.
1. Krusty starts a new clown education business
2. A member of the Simpsons becomes a clown
3. The mob gets involved
4. The mob takes over the business
Early on both episodes, Krusty gets an idea to start a clown theme education business. In Homie the Clown, all the students were getting trained to become Krusty. Let's be honest, he can't be everywhere at once. In Clown v. Board of Education, Krusty allows children to become students. Bart left his old school for Krusty's, it sorta reminded me of School is Hell from Treehouse of XXV.
I say that because in both stories, Bart left his old school to join an unusual school. Where he becomes one of their top students. I felt someone had to make that comparison. Obviously every story in Treehouse of Horror episodes isn't canon. Homer graduates to become a new Krusty. Homer and Bart were decent clowns in their respective episodes.
The mob gets involved for different reasons. In Homie the Clown, they were upset Krusty didn't give them money from gambling. In Clown v. Board of Education, the mob wanted to invest a new illegal operation. This by itself left a huge plot hole. Let me explain, in both episodes the mob ends up taking over both businesses.
Early into Clown v. Board of Education, neither Krusty or the mob remembers the events of Homie the Clown episode. We know this because Fat Tony stated on investing into an education business for the first time. Except it actually wasn't, the mob gets involved with a good variety of businesses on the show. Unless, Fat Tony would've clarified they previously done an college now an school.
Then I wouldn't had an issue with it. Look I know Season 6 was a long time ago. We are talking about a particular episode from 1995. A lot of people from the golden days already moved on. Fat Tony is heavily presented in both Simpsons episodes. Not the same character if you recall Fit-Fat Tony became the new Fat Tony.
This changed happened not long after the original Fat Tony died. In Season 22, his identical cousin originally known as Fit-Fat Tony. Later in the same episode, he ends up taking his place like nothing had happened. Like The Simpsons' newest cat originally named Snowball 5 now renamed as Snowball 2 for a similar reason.
In both cases, a previous similar character dies. To end up getting replaced in later episodes of the show. I know this has little to do with the actual comparison. At least you know I'm a huge Simpsons fan. Homer simply got quickly trained while Bart was attending Krusty's school. This means, Homer officially is a clown while Bart never finished because of the school got burnt down.
Homer had to go to several events as Krusty. He actually had an close enough appearance to him, the mob couldn't tell which one was the real Krusty. Bart got to compete against his old school, it was a close one too. In Clown v. Education, Krusty had to convince people to allow his clown school to happen.
This isn't a factor in Homie the Clown's case with his clown college. Krusty was barely involved with his college but heavily involved up to a point in his clown school. The situation with the mob was quite different too. The mob simply took the college from Krusty while he still involved with his school. Now how Krusty gets out of both situations is very different.
In Homie the Clown, Homer & Krusty had to attempt a clown trick. They ended up pleasing the Don, they were allowed to go. In Clown v. Board of Education, Fat Tony burnt Krusty's school down for the insurance money. In turn, Fat Tony rebuild the business without Krusty. Effectively meaning Krusty was free to do what he wanted.
Basically Krusty started both businesses because he had money trouble. Let's be honest, plenty of episodes shows how bad with money Krusty actually is. It's even rare to see Krusty be happy for something he's done. Both clown Simpsons characters tried to protect Krusty their own way. Yes there's some major differences as well.
The entire point is you virtually got a basis that's too similar to something the show already had done. Sure some episodes came close to this situation. At the same time, there's major differences. I couldn't even say they're the same episodes with a new coat of paint. In a sense, I technically could in this particular situation.
Another similarities is we see how the mob changes how their education businesses ran. In Homie the Clown, members of the mob took the clown teachers' places. In Clown v. Board of Education, certain objects like markers became a part of an illegal business. Also, two members of the mob sits outside the building with no real idea why in the first place.
To clarify, I'm not insulting any real life mobs or gangs. But I felt to the actual people they're parodying they wouldn't happy after seeing this episode. To be technical, this is more what if Homie the Clown was more centered on Bart rather than his dad. What's next, Santa's Little Helper becomes a Mime? I felt the actual recent episode was alright with some good jokes thrown in.
Honestly with the huge time gap, it's very possible they either forgotten or simply didn't even know about Homie the Clown episode. Regardless, Clown v. Board of Education receives an D for not being different enough. Most of the major plot points are very similar. It's almost like that kid cheating a test then swapped with someone else.
In hopes, the teachers doesn't notice. But you can bet I did notice very heavily. I do prefer Homie the Clown, it's a classic Simpsons episode. Season 6 as a whole was one of my favorite Simpsons seasons ever. There's no debating Clown v. Board of Education is guilty of not being more of it's own thing. In truth, it's not a bad episode especially for a Krusty episode.
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