‘Simpsons’ joke not by the book

There was a joke on “The Simpsons” Sunday night in which the cartoon character Lisa consulted a real-life book about the show’s episode-by-episode history to check whether they had already done that night’s story before. They hadn’t. But if she’d checked further, she would have found another apparent error in the script.

In an episode focusing on Krusty the Clown’s long-delayed bar mitzvah, the clown stated his given name as Herschel Pinchas Yoracham Krustofsky. And as anyone who remembers the Wanted poster that was issued after Mr. Burns was shot in 1995 knows only too well, Krusty’s name is Herschel Shmoikel Krustofsky.

Did the producers goof? No, says Fox spokeswoman Jill Hudson: “They just wanted to see if anyone was paying attention.”