Sideshow Bob Simpsons: Episodes New!

What makes these episodes endure is not the plot, but the performance . Grammer delivers lines like “Attempted murder? No, no, no. Now, honestly, what is that? Do they give a Nobel Prize for ‘attempted chemistry’?” with the righteous indignation of a fallen king. Bob’s pathology is that he cannot stop explaining his genius. If he simply killed Bart silently, he would win. But he needs Bart to understand the poetry of his revenge. That need to be appreciated is his tragic, hilarious anchor.

The brilliance of Sideshow Bob begins with his origin. In The Telltale Head (S1, E8) and fully realized in Krusty Gets Busted (S1, E12), Bob is introduced not as a cackling villain, but as a plausible, articulate man. Framed by Krusty the Clown, Bob’s crime—armed robbery—is driven by intellectual disgust. He hates the lowbrow, slapstick violence of Krusty’s show. His motive is classically tragic: a refined man driven to evil by his contempt for the vulgar world that celebrates his tormentor. sideshow bob simpsons episodes