| "Kamp Krusty" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |||
| Episodeno. | Season 4 Episode 1 | ||
| Directed by | Mark Kirkland | ||
| Written by | David M. Stern | ||
| Production code | 8F24 | ||
| Original air date | September 24, 1992 (1992-09-24) | ||
| Episode features | |||
| Chalkboard gag | "This punishment is not boring and pointless" | ||
| Couch gag | The family findsFred Flintstone,Wilma, andPebbles already sitting on the couch.[1] | ||
| Commentary | Matt Groening Al Jean Mark Kirkland David Silverman | ||
| Episode chronology | |||
| |||
| The Simpsonsseason 4 | |||
| List of episodes | |||
"Kamp Krusty" is thefourth season premiere of the American animated television seriesThe Simpsons, and the 60th episode overall. It originally aired onFox in the United States on September 24, 1992.[2] In the episode, the children of Springfield attend Kamp Krusty, a summer camp named afterKrusty the Clown. The camp is extremely unpleasant, leading to the campers rebelling against the camp director. Meanwhile, with the kids away,Homer andMarge enjoy more time together, and Homer becomes physically and emotionally healthier.[3]
The episode was written byDavid M. Stern and directed byMark Kirkland. A direct sequel episode, "Kamp Krustier", aired as part of the series'twenty-eighth season, on March 5, 2017.
Bart andLisa attend the summer camp Kamp Krusty, leavingHomer andMarge to have some time alone for the summer. The camp's director, Mr. Black, has licensed the camp's name fromKrusty the Clown. However, the camp turns out to be adystopia; as Lisa explains in a letter to her parents, "Our nature hikes have become grim death marches. Our arts and crafts center is, in actuality, aDickensian workhouse.” The camp counselors are bulliesDolph,Jimbo andKearney, who feed the campers Krusty-Brand ImitationGruel while enjoying deluxe accommodations themselves; the bullies sip brandy with Mr. Black, who intones: "Gentlemen, to evil!" Worst of all, Krusty himself is unaware of the camp's conditions and is currently on a vacation inLondon.
To appease the restless campers, Mr. Black tells the children that Krusty himself is coming to visit. However, "Krusty" turns out to be a poorly disguisedBarney Gumble, and the ruse does not fool Bart. Bart then leads the campers in revolt, driving out Mr. Black and the bullies and changing the camp's name to Camp Bart. Meanwhile, Homer and Marge see abreaking news report of the campers' revolt. After learning that Bart is the leader of the rebellion, Homer instantly loses the hair he grew and regains the weight he lost since the children went to camp.
The real Krusty is informed of Kamp Krusty's conditions, and returns from London to visit the camp. He apologizes to the campers for their ordeal and his ignorance of their plight; to gain full control of the camp, Mr. Black had bribed Krusty with a "dump truck full of money". To make it up to the campers, Krusty takes them for "two weeks at the happiest place on Earth:Tijuana!". As"South of the Border" (sung byGene Merlino) plays, amontage is shown of Krusty and the campers vacationing in Tijuana, but Krusty misses the bus home at the end of the trip.
The idea that the children should go to a camp run by Krusty was first suggested byDavid M. Stern. The animators were enthusiastic about making this episode because they had all gone to summer camps as children and thought it would be a fun episode to write for.[4] The writers also thought that "it would be fun if while the kids are gone Homer and Marge find that as the kids are miserable their marriage is better than ever."[5] The layout for Bart and Lisa's cabin was influenced by the director,Mark Kirkland, who as a child went to aBoy Scout camp that had exposed wires and other similar faults.[4] Kirkland was also sure that the character Mr. Black would reappear later in the series, but he never did.Al Jean commented, "I guess that thehydrofoil really got Mr. Black out of the show forever."[5]
After he saw the completed episode,James L. Brooks called the writers and suggested that the "Kamp Krusty" script be used as a plotline for a film. However, the episode ran very short, and to make it barely fit the minimum time theKamp Krusty song had to be lengthened by a number of verses. The episode was also chosen to be the first episode of the season, further complicating matters. As Jean told Brooks, "First of all, if we make it into the movie then we don't have a premiere, and second, if we can't make 18 minutes out of this episode how are we supposed to make 80?"[6]
Along with the following episode, "A Streetcar Named Marge", "Kamp Krusty" was a holdover from the previous season's production run. It was the final episode to be produced in this run and so the last animated atKlasky Csupo, before the show's producersGracie Films moved its domestic production toFilm Roman.[4][7]
Bart’s dream sequence at the beginning of the episode ends with the students destroying Springfield Elementary School toAlice Cooper’s “School’s Out,” mirroring the ending of the 1979 filmRock ‘n’ Roll High School.
Some elements of the plot are borrowed from theAllan Sherman song "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh", a song about a kid who went to camp and hated it. The song was later used in "Marge Be Not Proud", andinspired the title of a later episode. The idea for the song sung by the children was from a 1960s TV show calledCamp Runamuck, which has a theme song that is similar to theKamp Krusty song.[1][5]
The scene where Lisa gives a bottle ofwhiskey to a man on horseback (payment for delivering a letter) is a reference toMeryl Streep's scene from the filmThe French Lieutenant's Woman.[8] Some aspects of the episode are references to the novelLord of the Flies (a pig's head on a spear, kids using primitive weapons and wearing war paint, and a burning effigy).[4]
The scene where Kearney beats a drum to make the campers work in the sweatshop is taken from the slave galley scene in the 1959 filmBen-Hur.[6] The episode ends with the song "South of the Border". According to the DVD commentary, the song is not sung byFrank Sinatra but by another artist impersonating him.[5]
When Krusty is confronted by the reporters, he is asked "if him andPrincess Di are just friends." A more cryptic reference was made when he is confronted by another reporter and retorts "Where were you when I sang atFarm Aid?" The reference was inspired byJackie Mason making the remark "Where were you when I marched in the civil rights movement?" Mason had a recurring role in series as Krusty's father.
While the plot of the episode is similar to that of the 1991video game spin-off from the television series calledBart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly, the two are unrelated as the video game was released well before the first airing of the "Kamp Krusty" episode.
In its original broadcast, "Kamp Krusty" finished 24th in ratings for the week of September 21–27, 1992, with aNielsen rating of 13.5, equivalent to approximately 12.6 million viewing households. It was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week.[9]
Nathan Rabin ofThe A.V. Club gave the episode an A, ultimately saying the episode beganthe Simpsons' fourth season in an amazing way.[10]
Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, the authors of the bookI Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, had mixed views about the episode. They said that it is "A bit baffling to non-Americans unfamiliar with the summer camp system. But top grade stuff nonetheless. Anyone who's worked as a counsellor in such a place can testify to this episode's authenticity."[1]
The episode's reference toBen-Hur was named the 31st greatest film reference in the history of the show byTotal Film's Nathan Ditum.[11]
