‘The Simpsons’ Shut Down Production So Writers Could Watch Bob Newhart Record Krusty Tribute

Bob Newhart, who passed away this week at the age of 94, once said comedians help people get past pain by speaking at memorial services. “It’s not easy speaking at a funeral. I’ve done it many times,” he wrote in his memoir, I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This!: And Other Things That Strike Me as Funny. “On The Simpsons, I spoke at Krusty the Clown’s funeral.”

“When Newhart guest-starred on The Simpsons, they shut down production so the entire writers’ room could watch him record his lines,” culture writer Vikram Murhi posted on Twitter/X. “Everyone stifled their laughter for like two mins before completely losing it when his take was done.”

Here’s Newhart’s memory of recording his tribute to the deceased (but not really) clown: “In the show, I played myself, albeit drawn by the animators. The script was written by a former Newhart writer named David Mirkin. Anyway, my character was just killing time waiting for a different funeral to start, and I was dragged onstage to eulogize Krusty, whom I didn’t know.”

Newhart’s tribute to the late kiddie-show host was just the kind of stammering, self-effacing tribute you’d expect from the legendary comic: “I started my career several years before Krusty ... so I never really learned anything directly from him. ... I think in a way, in a meaningful way, all of us have learned from him. ... That is from him being a clown on television for so many years ... even though many of us ... didn’t watch his show.”

In real life, Newhart knew that funny words are necessary after a tragedy. After John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Newhart was performing with Dinah Shore at a theater in Anaheim, California. The show shut down for two nights, but on the third day, the promoter asked Newhart if he’d consider doing a show that evening. If Shore would, Newhart said, he was in. 

The comedian was understandably nervous about performing comedy during such a dark time, but the theater was packed. “I went out and did my act without mentioning the Kennedy assassination. The audience was fantastic. They were one of the most receptive audiences I have ever played to in my life because they were ready to laugh,” he said. 

“That week, one horrendous story after another unfolded. But the audiences kept filling the theater, and they kept laughing. People had to escape from the tragedy. For an hour and a half, they needed to blot out the real world,” Newhart remembered. “They were saying, ‘I’ll deal with life when the show’s over, but right now I need to laugh.’”

That’s why Troy McClure pulled in Newhart to Krusty’s cavalcade of celebrity mourners, even though the comic was there for someone else’s service. When life gets too sad, there are no better words to hear than, “Bob Newhart, everybody!”