text: the ten - per - cent solution " the ten - per - cent solution " is the eighth episode of the twenty - third season of the american animated sitcom the simpsons . it originally aired on the fox network in the united states on december 4 , 2011 . in the episode , krusty the clown becomes depressed after getting fired from his television show for being unpopular with children . the simpson family encourages him to make a comeback , suggesting that he seek help from an agent they met earlier at a television museum . this agent turns out to be annie dubinsky , who was krusty 's first agent and former girlfriend . krusty left her when he became successful but now he begs her to take him as a client again . she accepts and together they are able to get him back on television , hosting a show for adults that features his clown tricks . however , annie soon begins to interfere too much , which frustrates the network executives . the episode , which contains parodies of films such as the king 's speech , the social network , and black swan , was written by cast member dan castellaneta and his wife deb lacusta . comedian and actress joan rivers , who was a big fan of the simpsons , guest starred as the character annie . other guest performances in the episode came from kevin dillon and janeane garofalo as themselves and jackie mason as krusty 's father . reception of " the ten - per - cent solution " from television critics has been mixed , with praise directed at rivers ' appearance and the development of krusty 's character . during its original american broadcast , the episode was seen by approximately nine million people . plot during an episode of the krusty the clown show , three itchy & scratchy cartoons are shown . this angers krusty , the host of the show , since he thinks he should be the star of the show and not the itchy and scratchy characters . meanwhile , the simpsons visit a television museum that is soon to be closed . after a while , they come to an exhibit displaying the adventures of fatso flanagan , which is one of homer 's favorite television shows . there , the family is approached by annie dubinsky , the agent of the actor who played fatso flanagan . they start chatting and become acquainted . at the channel 6 studios , during a board meeting , krusty is fired because " today 's children are uncomfortable with a clown whose every reference they have to look up on wikipedia " , and because itchy and scratchy are shown to be more popular with the children . krusty goes to his current agent , hoping to get a new job , but the agent drops him since he got fired . after the simpsons have left the museum , they head for krusty burger where they discover krusty crying in a ball pit . krusty is encouraged by them into making a comeback , and they inform him that they met an agent that can help him out . however , when they all go to annie 's office , annie instantly recognizes krusty and angrily slams the door before he gets a chance to enter . it is revealed that annie was the one who discovered krusty , became his first agent , and was responsible for his rise to success . they also had a romantic relationship together . once he achieved fame , krusty fired annie and replaced her with a more acclaimed agent , and as a result their relationship ended . back in the present , he begs her to take him back as a client , and she eventually accepts . krusty starts performing his clown tricks at a theater in front of adults , and not children like before . this is because annie knows that there is nothing adults enjoy more than the things they liked as children . the performances are praised by both the audience and the critics , and krusty and annie initiate a relationship again . soon , a premium cable television network called hbowtime ( an obvious portmanteau of hbo and showtime , straight down to their parody of hbo 's longtime slogan , " it 's not just tv , it 's more expensive . " ) gives krusty his own show and annie is hired as the producer on his demand . the stars of the series entourage , such as kevin dillon , become krusty 's assistants . the network executives soon become frustrated with annie for meddling too much in the show . for example , she refuses to let janeane garofalo appear only because garofalo is funnier than krusty . she also runs over an intern with a stage car for sharpening her pencil too much . the executives decide to fire annie , but krusty refuses to continue without her . the couple therefore turns to another network where they start a show called sex over sixty , with them as the stars . production " the ten - per - cent solution " was written by dan castellaneta , who voices characters such as homer and krusty on the simpsons , and his wife deb lacusta . american comedian and actress joan rivers guest starred in the episode as annie . she recorded her lines in march 2011 . in an interview with e ! news at that time , rivers noted that this was not her first animated voice - over role , though it was her biggest one yet . she further added that she is a fan of the show because it is " so clever and so funny on so many levels . so when they called and said , ' do you want to do it ? ' without even reading a script i said , ' absolutely . ' " adam buckman , a former television columnist at the new york post , noted on his blog that the story of the episode is similar to a period in rivers ' life at the end of the 1980s . at that time , she was hosting the late show starring joan rivers on the fox network . when rivers challenged fox executives who wanted to fire her husband edgar rosenberg as the show 's executive producer , the network fired them both . rosenberg committed suicide just three months later . buckman wrote that the story of " the ten - per - cent solution " was " no doubt devised with rivers ’ approval and possibly with her input " , and that " only a comedian of her stature and experience " would attempt to spoof a personal tragedy such as this one . other guest stars in the episode include actor kevin dillon and stand - up comedian janeane garofalo as themselves , and stand - up comedian jackie mason in a minor reprisal of his role as krusty 's father , speaking only one line . several references to popular culture , including a meta - reference to the simpsons , are included in " the ten - per - cent solution " . the three the itchy & scratchy cartoons that are shown at the beginning of the episode as krusty is hosting his show are all parodies of films released in 2010 : the first one , titled the cat 's speech , is a parody of the king 's speech ; the second one , titled the social , parodies the social network in that the storyline is partially explained through the use of screens containing nothing but text ; and the final one , titled black and blue swan , references black swan . after the three cartoons are shown , krusty points out that " it ’ s like those parodies were written when the movies came out , but it took so long to animate them that we look dated and hacky ! " this is a reference to the long time it takes to produce an episode of the simpsons — hence why cultural references on the show can often be seen as dated . pop culture allusions at the television museum include a brief appearance by the main characters of the animated series king of the hill as cardboard cutouts being taken down in a process similar to the opening of the show , an exhibit devoted to the sitcom the beverly hillbillies , and the showing of one of homer 's favorite television shows , fatso flanagan , which is a knockoff of the sitcom the honeymooners . the tv network krusty 's new show is on , hbowtime , is an obvious merging of the names of pay - tv channels hbo and showtime ; their slogan , " it 's not just tv , it 's more expensive . " , is a parody of hbo 's longtime slogan , " it 's not just tv , it 's hbo . " the scenes seen during a bumper for hbowtime reference the current / former hbo shows game of thrones , john adams , the sopranos , and the ricky gervais show . the music that is played during the parody of the king 's speech is " symphony no. 7 " by ludwig van beethoven , and a musical piece from the swan lake ballet is played during the black swan parody . for the king of the hill visual gag , the simpsons staff acquired the rights to use the actual theme song from that show . the music that is played as krusty performs his new show in front of adults at the theater is a mixture of the old krusty theme and the theme from playboy after dark , a television show hosted by hugh hefner that started airing in the 1960s and featured parties from a playboy club . this musical combination was composed by alf clausen after the simpsons music editor chris ledesma came with the suggestion . on his blog , ledesma wrote that theme for playboy after dark " was cool and jazzy and just right for its time . alf ’ s homage to that theme , wrapped around krusty ’ s theme was very clever indeed . " release and reception " the ten - per - cent solution " originally aired on the fox network in the united states on december 4 , 2011 . it was watched by approximately nine million people during this broadcast . in the demographic for adults aged 18 – 49 , the episode received a 4 . 0 nielsen rating ( a fifty - four percent increase over the previous episode ) and a ten percent share . the high rating was the result of the episode being preceded by a popular national football league game . the simpsons became the highest - rated program in fox 's animation domination lineup that night in terms of both total viewers and in the 18 – 49 demographic , finishing ahead of new episodes of family guy , the cleveland show , and allen gregory . for the week of november 28 – december 4 , 2011 , " the ten - per - cent solution " placed seventh in the ratings among all prime - time broadcasts in the 18 – 49 demographic . since airing , the episode has received mixed to positive reviews from critics . hayden childs of the a.v. club praised the choice of having rivers guest star since she was able to " employ her trademark humor within the world of the simpsons without hijacking the plot or satire . " he also noted that while the simpson family does not appear heavily , " krusty is such a large part of the supporting cast that he carries this episode well . while it may seem a little funny that castellaneta , who voices krusty , wrote such a large part for himself , it is also a testament to his empathy for krusty that this episode both deepens our understanding of krusty and actually allows him growth as a character in an organic fashion . " ology 's josh harrison similarly praised " the ten - per - cent solution " for having " some wonderful krusty the klown moments and some clutch guest star appearances " . he also cited the visual gags in the episode as " clever " . harrison concluded his review by writing that though the episode " wasn 't simpsons gold , it was a great chance to focus on a secondary character and an opportunity for joan rivers to , um , be joan rivers . i imagine your assessment of the episode may be based largely on your opinion of the guest star . that said ? i dug it . " aol tv 's jason hughes was more negative , criticizing the episode for taking a " soft approach " to the television industry when it " had a chance for some sharp satire " . he elaborated that the writers " had a little bit of fun talking about networks meddling in shows – as well as agents trying to control content as when joan rivers booted janeane garofalo for being funnier than krusty – and the differences between cable original programming and broadcast programming . but they had the potential they had to make some bold statements about television and how the industry works throughout , and simply didn 't . " hughes did , however , like the king of the hill appearance , which he described as a " fun nod " .