5. Jackie Mason As Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky In "Like Father, Like Clown"
Forget the controversy surrounding Hyman Krustofsky's recent death -- or the repugnance of Jackie Mason himself. The original appearance of the character, Krusty the Clown's estranged father, is one of the show's most moving -- and of course, funniest -- episodes. When Krusty comes to dinner at The Simpsons' house and attempts to make a brocha before dinner, his Judaism is revealed, and he goes on to share his troubled past with a father who turned him out for being an entertainer. Of course, Bart and Lisa can't take this lying down. They attempt to reconcile the two, with Bart dressing as a Rabbi and trading Old Testament quotations with Krustofsky. Finally, they convince the old man to forgive his son (by quoting Sammy Davis, Jr.), and the Rabbi makes a surprise appearance on Krusty's TV show. Mason won an Emmy Award for the episode. Best line: "A rabbi would never exaggerate! A rabbi composes. He creates thoughts. He tells stories that may never have happened. But he does not exaggerate!"
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
