Sideshow Mel

Sideshow Mel is Krusty the Clown's sidekick. He replaced Sideshow Bob after Bob was incarcerated for framing Krusty for armed robbery. Mel's hiring was never explicitly shown in the series and his full name was only revealed when he announced himself whilst trying to solve the mystery of who shot Mr. Burns in the episode, "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" and in the episode All About Lisa on the portait of Sideshow Mel in the past. Little is known about Mel. He is a Cornell University graduate, and a former Gulp 'n Blow employee. Sideshow Mel uses a slide whistle to communicate on camera just like Bob. When not in character, Mel speaks in a grandiose British/Shakespearean accent and owns poodles. When Springfield inhabitants form an angry mob, Mel often takes a leading role. Mel perpetually wears a bone in his hair which was revealed in "22 Short Films About Springfield" to be from a failed attempt to remove gum from his hair, however, in Bart of War he takes it out of his hair and uses it as a weapon. He also uses it to bat at the dome in The Simpsons Movie almost immediately after it is first laid over the town. It is also revealed he has a son, who looks just like him except without a bone in his hair. In "I'm With Cupid", he reveals he has a wife called Barbara, who appears in "Realty Bites". He also has children, though their names are unknown.