Snore. Snore!
~ Sideshow Mel from Four Great Women and a Manicure
Melvin Van Horne aka Sideshow Mel is Krusty the Clown's current sidekick on The Krusty the Clown Show and the replacement for Sideshow Bob.

When not in character, Mel speaks in a grandiose British/Shakespearean accent and owns many poodles.


Mel joined the cast of the Krusty the Clown Show to replace Sideshow Bob, who was sent to prison for attempting to frame Krusty for armed robbery.

Sideshow Mel uses a slide whistle to communicate on camera. When not in character, Mel speaks in a grandiose British/Shakespearean accent and owns poodles. His main accomplishment so far has been successfully removing Waylon Smithers from suspicion of having shot Mr. Burns. Off-screen, Mel is generally very eloquent, educated, poetic and intelligent, with a beautiful singing voice-it is implied that, as with Sideshow Bob before him, his true talents are wasted on Krusty's show. He attended Cornell University. When Lisa Simpson won the "Entertainer of the Year Award,"it was revealed that Melvin also won the award previously for his portrayal of Biff in Death of a Salesman, but his desire to keep his stardom eventually led him to become the sidekick he is today. He was once forced to conduct an orchestra of kazoo-playing monkeys. When he pleaded with Krusty to not force him to do it, Krusty simply shouted at him to "shut up and conduct!"

Sideshow Mel has won the "Award of entertainment of the year"

Religion and Education

Little is known about Mel. He is a Cornell University graduate. It is also shown that Mel could be a recovering alcoholic as he had attended several Alcoholic Anonymous meetings. Although he is occasionally seen at the Presbylutheran church, Mel was retroactively an atheist until the episode Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass where he converted to religion after watching Ned's home movies depicting Bible stories


Aside from the bone, Mel has a light blue curly hair in a sort of the beehive-like style similar to Marge's only shorter and rounded at the top, his hair also appears to be "fashioned/poised/set" in an upward position because it seems to sit atop his head showing that he has no sideburns or even a hair "tail". Mel perpetually wears a bone in his hair which may or may not be permanently affixed. He once warned Lisa not to use a bone to try and get gum out of her hair, as he did and it became permanently stuck there. However, he was once seen removing the bone and using it as a weapon during a duel. When Springfield was trapped under a dome by the EPA, he was also seen removing the bone and whacking it at the dome. Bart also took the bone out of his hair to prank Martin Prince in which he afterwards has long flowing hair. Homer also took the bone out of his hair and used it as a murdering weapon. He indicated that he could feel meteorological conditions in the bone, such as incoming storms. Before he got his bone, Mel was famous in both London and Hollywood and was able to comb his hair.


It was revealed in Bart Gets Famous that Sideshow Mel was lactose-intolerant when Bart gave him a grilled cheese sandwich.


He may be married to or living with a woman named Barbara, who may or may not be Krusty's sister with whom he wished to purchase a house from Marge Simpson. Mel once complained that Barbara no longer pleasured him with the French Arts. Mel's last name of Van Horne, along with his accent, may suggest his family is of South African origin. It is also revealed that he has at least one child as he quotes Krusty please, my wife is giving birth as we speak." He has also been seen with a son, Warren, a daughter, Becca, and several unnamed children. Mel also has a deceased father, who's funeral he attend shortly before preforming at an icerink with Krusty. He once said his father was a monster.

Mel may be divorced from Barbara or another wife or girlfriend. The papers say he is having a contentious custody battle with the mother of at least one of his children ("Homerazzi").

Krusty reveals to Mel that he has been secretly having an affair with Mel's wife, and that he wants to dump her after 11 years since the thrill is gone.

Other Jobs

After Krusty's show was cancelled following the rise of Gabbo, Mel worked at a fast food restaurant where he initially refused Krusty's pleas to return to his show.


In a comic it is revealed he was a racer and got 15 trophies, maybe even more.

Behind the Laughter

As said in "Midnight Rx", he could have been married to Marge. He had his own comic story of how he became a sideshow. His house and parents are in it.


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Simpson Family

Major Characters
Ned Flanders | Apu Nahasapeemapetilon | Moe Szyslak | Krusty the Clown | Chief Clancy Wiggum | Seymour Skinner | Edna Flanders | Groundskeeper Willie | Lenny Leonard | Carl Carlson | Barney Gumble | Professor Jonathan Frink | Comic Book Guy | Waylon Smithers | Dr. Julius Hibbert | Cletus Spuckler | Timothy Lovejoy, Jr. | Kent Brockman | Milhouse Van Houten | Nelson Muntz | Martin Prince | Ralph Wiggum | Judge Roy Snyder | Horatio McCallister | Gary Chalmers | Sideshow Mel | Scratchy

Minor Characters
Lou | Eddie | Disco Stu | Otto Mann | Hans Moleman | Jeremy Freedman | Kirk Van Houten | Luann Van Houten | Duffman | Rainier Wolfcastle | Rod Flanders | Todd Flanders | Akira | Lindsey Naegle | Luigi Risotto | Rabbi Herman Krustofsky | Dr. Nick Riviera | Marvin Monroe | Database | Allison Taylor | Jasper Beardly | Elizabeth Hoover | Arnie Pye | Troy McClure | Kumiko Nakamura | Bumblebee Man | Radioactive Man | Santa's Little Helper | Mr. Teeny | Plopper the Pig

Flanders Family | Van Houten Family | United Federation of Homers Through History | Marge Simpson's Book Club
