"Today I Am a Clown" is the sixth episode of The Simpsons' fifteenth season. The episode aired on December 7, 2003. This is one of two episodes that focuses on Krusty's religion.
Maggie is locked in the bathroom and she is eventually freed, thanks to Lisa trying their rescue solution a second time. The family hears the doorbell, finding Dr. Hibbert, who says that Santa's Little Helper had impregnated his poodle, Rosa Barks, and he turns over the puppies to the Simpson family making them their problem. Although Lisa reads a Simpsons episode guide that says that Homer was taking Santa's Little Helper to have him neutered after the events of "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds, Homer could not bring himself to complete the deed. Bart and Lisa give out puppies to people, including Krusty, who takes him for a walk to his old neighborhood."
When Krusty returns to his old neighborhood in the Jewish community of Springfield, he sees the Jewish Walk of Fame. He tells the dog to pee on Sandy Koufax since he got to miss baseball on Yom Kippur and Krusty had to do five shows that day. He later finds that his star is not on the sidewalk. He then goes to register for it and is told he does not have a star because he did not have a bar mitzvah, which means he is not a Jewish man. He then claims he can not be a "self-hating Jew" but instead he is an antisemite (much to the delight of Rainier Wolfcastle). Bart and Lisa take Krusty to see his father, who claimed that Krusty was not given a bar mitzvah because his elders feared the cantankerous boy would ruin it. He agrees to help Krusty reach his goal, teaching Krusty all about Judaism. With this happening, Krusty cannot do shows on Saturday (the Sabbath); therefore, he must seek a replacement, and gets Homer to replace him for the day. Homer's replacement is a talk show, featuring Moe, Lenny (later replaced by Barney and Disco Stu), and Carl as panelists. The show becomes a success in its own right; meanwhile, Krusty continues to learn his Jewish traditions.
Homer's show is a surprising success, so much that Krusty's show is eventually cancelled by Channel 6. Lisa suggests that Homer put his power to good use, but ironically, ratings decline and Homer's show is also cancelled. Krusty, after being fired by Channel 6, pitches his bar mitzvah to the Fox network (knowing that they will "take chances on crap"). When his bar mitzvah ("Krusty the Klown's Wet 'n' Wild Bar Mitzvah"), featuring Mr. T as a guest, airs, it becomes a ratings smash, drawing "Raymond rerun good" ratings, but the spectacle disappoints his father. Krusty feels guilty, and claims that he wants to have a real bar mitzvah the traditional way at the temple. The show closes out with Krusty having an (almost) serious bar mitzvah in a synagogue.
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