"The Simpsons" mourns a death in season premiere

Fans who fretted and speculated about a much-hyped character death on "The Simpsons" found their questions answered in the show's season 26 premiere.

[Spoiler warning: Don't read on until you've watched Sunday night's episode, "Clown in the Dumps."]

It wasn't Homer, or Krusty (as some had speculated, based on the episode's title) -- it was Krusty's father, Rabbi Hyman Krustofski, a minor but memorable character voiced by Jackie Mason.

The death caused additional anguish for Krusty after his father's final words to him were, "If you want to know my honest opinion of you, you've always been... eh." In the end, he finds peace with his father's passing (and his dad's assessment of him and his comedy) by imagining a musical number set in "Jewish Heaven."

"That the last word that Krusty heard from his dad was 'eh,' and that he had to try to reconcile himself with that, and try to find an answer for this lifetime relationship," "The Simpsons" executive producer Al Jean told Entertainment Weekly. "I thought we did it in a way that I hope is touching but is real and is just the little ways that people make peace with their past."

Jean added that this doesn't mean viewers will never see Rabbi Krustofski again. "We told the actor that didn't mean the end of his part in the show," he said. "He certainly could come back as a memory of Krusty."

The show also played with the hype over the death in the episode's opening sequence, showing Bart writing on the chalkboard, "Spoiler Alert: Unfortunately, My Dad doesn't die."