Lynch and Brad Bird. It was Lynch's first credit as a director, so Bird was assigned to help him out and "usher [Lynch] into the world of directing things quickly". Krusty is one of Bird's favorite characters, and he always tries to animate a scene in every Krusty episode. Rabbi Krustofsky was voiced by Jackie Mason, who had once been an ordained rabbi, but had resigned to become a comedian. Mason recorded his lines in New York City, and Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Krusty, went there to record with him. In the script, Bart and Lisa try to trick Rabbi Krustofsky into meeting with Krusty by arranging a lunch date between him and Saul Bellow, the "Nobel Prize-winning Jewish novelist". Originally, this was intended to be Isaac Bashevis Singer, but the writers changed it when Singer died. Mason's lines had to be re-recorded in order to complete the change. Rabbi Krustofsky became an infrequently recurring character, and his occasional speaking parts were voiced by Castellaneta. Mason later returned to voice the rabbi in "Today I Am a Clown" in the fifteenth season, "Once Upon a Time in Springfield" in the twenty-first season, and "Clown in the Dumps" in the twenty-sixth season, in which the character dies. The episode is an homage to the film The Jazz Singer, about a son with a strict religious upbringing who defies his father to become an entertainer. Krusty is considered to be partially based on Jewish comedian Jerry Lewis, who starred in the 1959 version of the film. The Jazz Singer is referenced when Rabbi Krustofsky states, "Oh, if you were a musician or a jazz singer, this I could forgive!" Lisa tells Homer there are many Jewish entertainers, including Lauren Bacall, Dinah Shore, William Shatner and Mel Brooks. In Krusty's flashback, he and his father walk down the street in a parody of a scene from The Godfather Part II. In the Simpsons house, Krusty plays The Concert for Bangladesh. In Krusty's studio, there are pictures of him with Alfred Hitchcock and The Beatles. At the end of the episode, Krusty and his father sing "O Mein Papa", a 1952 song originally by Eddie Fisher. Bart quotes a passage from Sammy Davis Jr.'s 1965 autobiography Yes, I Can. Reception In its original broadcast, "Like Father, Like Clown" finished 34th in ratings for the week of October 21–27, 1991, with a Nielsen rating