Homie The Clown - Cultural References

Cultural References

The episode's title is reference to the character Homey the Clown from the sketch comedy show In Living Color. Krusty lights a cigarette with an issue of Action Comics #1, the first appearance of Superman, and one of the rarest comic books of all-time, while Homer forms his mashed potatoes into a circus tent in a parody of Richard Dreyfuss' character forming his potatoes into a replica of Devils Tower in the 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The episode contains several references to films related to organized crime, such as the notes played on the wine glasses during Homer and Krusty's bicycle trick forming those of the theme from the film The Godfather. Additionally, Silverman inserted a low-angle shot of Fat Tony sitting in a chair as a tribute to a similar shot of Sydney Greenstreet's character in The Maltese Falcon, while Don Vittorio is based on actors William Hickey and Don Ameche.