Best episode ever, easily beats anything from the classic era.. okay a bit late for an April Fool's joke :-/
Its actually a very mediocre episode to me. It didn't feel like they did much different as they were using plots we were already familiar with, we've had episodes portraying Bart's misbehaviour and Krusty's acting skills outside of comedy. I think they did a pretty good job with the Bart plot as it reminded me more of the brat we knew, it just needed a better ending. The Krusty plot was rather average but I really liked that they brought back Llewellyn Sinclair who we haven't seen for a long time, other than a cameo in ''Yolo''. As for the episode break down:
The couch gag was pretty fun with Bart's April Fool's chalckboard gag (I'm sure a lot of people actually wanted this to be the last episode
) and that the show was 4 episodes to early to dethrone Gunsmoke. I also liked how they used Lassie's Simpson portrayal when they ran past. First act was pretty good with the school pranking Bart back, at moments like these I really miss Edna who would've loved to see this. I actually expected Skinner stepping down to be an April Fool's joke since this episode aired on that date. Ralph's rap was funny but it shows some exhausted voice acting. Bart's counter prank was really funny even if it was a bit unbelieveable that people realise that they have masks on so late, and it doesn't seem impossible to take them off. Some fun scenes with the teachers wearing masks and kids getting scared of IT.
So kids are now scared of clowns, yet they went to Krusty's show after all? Were they expecting not to see Krusty or what? Not sure what to think of the show bringing the ''boys will be boys'' saying back which they already used in the past in ''The Parent Rap'', which was only being done with Judge Snyder (so why wasn't he the judge as always?). It did lead to a funny moment to Bart's ending so I won't complain. Also not sure what to think of Marge insisting that the judge punishes Bart. ''The snake ate all the peanut brittle'' got me a good chuckle. I liked seeing Krusty without his make up and Homer realising how much he looks like him, also realising that Lisa/Maggie and Kirk/Luann look so much alike. You can tell that Krusty does look older than Homer. I liked the gag with Krusy reading everything from cardboard messages.
Some fun scenes in the rehab center (and those butt animations from Marge... dat ass), though it seemed unbelieveable that they don't notice the thumb tacks on the chair before sitting. Unless they did notice as they were testing Bart. I liked Bart confessing to random people and going back to pranking with Willy. Some fun moments during Bart's apology as I didn't actually expect the prank to pull trough, loved how Bart laughs to Marge while being scared. The ending could've been a lot better then just Marge saying ''motherhood sucks'' and getting angry at Homer, which I actually found quite funny. The Krusty plot ended a bit predictable but I liked how it ended with the ghosts.
Overall there's not really much to say about this one. Both plots have been done before and they only explored them a bit differently, though it was fun to see Bart being closer to his prankster personality and Krusty reminding himself who he took up comedy over acting. I liked the role Marge played in Bart's plot but it could've lead to a better ending where she engages him for his prank. Llewellyn Sinclair is the proper character to bring into Krusty's plot and I'm glad to finally see an older character do more then just a small cameo gag. Both gags from the school and Bart were fun, with the clown gag being the best (I also guess they were satirising the killer clown trend from the past couple of years). The comedy was fine'ish, the characterisation for both Bart and Krusty were great. The plot and lack of originality is what brings the score down the most though. For an average episode it scores a:
2.5/5