Editing Sideshow Bob (section)

===Development===
For [[The Simpsons (season 3)|season three]]'s "[[Black Widower]]", the writers echoed the premise of [[Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner|Wile E. Coyote chasing the Road Runner]] from ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' cartoons by having Bob unexpectedly insert himself into Bart's life and attempt to kill him. Executive producer [[Al Jean]] has compared Bob's character to that of Wile E. Coyote, noting that both are intelligent, yet always foiled by what they perceive as an inferior intellect.<ref name="JeanBW">Jean, Al. (2003). Commentary for "Black Widower", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> For "Black Widower", director [[David Silverman (animator)|David Silverman]] updated the character model to reflect the animation of director Brad Bird.<ref name="SilvermanBW">Silverman, David. (2003). Commentary for "Black Widower", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> A rule for earlier episodes featuring Bob called for a recap of his evil deeds; this was dropped after [[The Simpsons (season 8)|season eight]]'s "[[Brother from Another Series]]" when the chronology became too lengthy.<ref name="Weinstein">Weinstein, Josh. (2006). Commentary for "Brother From Another Series", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete First Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> Another rule established by the show's writers mandated Bob's return to prison at the end of each episode, although this pattern was abandoned in later episodes like "The Great Louse Detective" and "The Italian Bob".<ref name="Weinstein"/>
[[File:Kelsey Grammer - Cropped.jpg|left|thumb|[[Kelsey Grammer]] based Bob's voice on his experiences with actor [[Ellis Rabb]]. |alt=A man wearing a cap smiles broadly.]]
[[Bill Oakley]] and [[Josh Weinstein]], the [[showrunner]]s for the seventh and eighth seasons, believed that every season of the show should contain an episode starring Sideshow Bob. However, by the seventh season, Bob had already been the focus of four episodes, and writers were having trouble developing new ways to include him.<ref>Oakley, Bill. (2005). Commentary for "Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Seventh Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> Weinstein describes Bob's dialogue as difficult to write, due to his unique and refined style of speaking.<ref>Weinstein, Josh. (2005). Commentary for "Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Seventh Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> Despite these challenges, however, creators of ''The Simpsons'' usually look forward to "Sideshow Bob episodes"; the writers consider them enjoyable to write,<ref name="Keeler">Keeler, Ken. (2006). Commentary for "Brother From Another Series", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Eighth Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> and former director [[Dominic Polcino]] describes them as "a treat" to work on.<ref name="Polcino">Polcino, Dominic. (2005). Commentary for "Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Seventh Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> In "Black Widower", Sideshow Bob notes that he is a "life-long [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]".

Kelsey Grammer initially expected Sideshow Bob to be a one-time role, and calls him "the most popular character I've ever played".<ref name="Grammer"/> Grammer usually joins the show's "table readings" (wherein cast members read each script together for the first time),<ref name="JeanCF">Jean, Al. (2004). Commentary for "Cape Feare", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> and former executive producer [[David Mirkin]] described working with Grammer as very pleasant, due to his lively sense of humor. Grammer, Mirkin says, is capable of perfect readings, but noted that the actor dislikes performing Sideshow Bob's evil laugh.<ref name="Mirkin">Mirkin, David. (2005). Commentary for "Sideshow Bob Roberts", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> In a 2007 interview, ''Simpsons'' executive producer [[Al Jean]] listed Grammer as one of his favorite guest stars (second only to [[Phil Hartman]]), saying "his voice is so rich."<ref name="Star">{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/2007/05/20/producer_speaks_out_on_cartoon_cameos.html |title=Producer speaks out on cartoon cameos |work=[[Toronto Star]] |access-date=October 13, 2007 |date=May 20, 2007}}</ref> Writer [[George Meyer]] commented that "writing for Kelsey is great, he can give the kind of purple, florid, melodramatic speeches that most of the characters would never give. And he can sing."<ref name="Guide">{{cite news |last=Rhodes |first=Joe |title=Flash! 24 Simpsons Stars Reveal Themselves |work=[[TV Guide]] |date=October 21, 2000|url=http://simpsonsarchive.com/other/articles/flash.html |access-date=August 15, 2007}}</ref>

The show's writers admire Grammer's singing voice, and try to include a song for each appearance.<ref name="JeanCF"/> [[Alf Clausen]], the primary composer for ''The Simpsons'', commented that "[Grammer] is so great. He's just amazing. You can tell he has this love of musical theater and he has the vocal instrument to go with it, so I know whatever I write is going to be sung the way I've heard it."<ref>{{Cite news |title=The man who makes 'The Simpsons' sing |url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/20/simpsons.clausen/index.html |publisher=[[CNN]] |author=Leopold, Todd |date=September 21, 2007 |access-date=January 3, 2009}}</ref> Clausen composed Sideshow Bob's theme, which is played whenever Bob gets out of prison or is about to commit a sinister action, and was first used in "[[Cape Feare]]". It is based on the score of the film ''[[Cape Fear (1962 film)|Cape Fear]]'', composed by [[Bernard Herrmann]].<ref name="JeanCF"/> The musical score for "Cape Feare" earned Clausen an [[Emmy Award]] nomination for [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series|Outstanding Dramatic Underscore – Series]] in 1994.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.emmys.org/awards/awardsearch.php |title=Primetime Emmy Awards Advanced Search |publisher=Emmys.org |access-date=October 17, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090403022947/http://www.emmys.org/awards/awardsearch.php |archive-date=April 3, 2009 }}</ref>

Bob's prisoner number is often 24601, which is [[Jean Valjean]]'s prisoner number in ''[[Les Misérables]]''.<ref name="Reiss">Reiss, Mike. (2003). Commentary for "Black Widower", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.</ref> Another trademark for Bob is a visual gag of stepping on a rake and being struck in the face with its handle; this joke first appeared in "Cape Feare". To fill time, the writers added nine consecutive iterations of the same joke in quick succession.<ref name="JeanCF"/> The sequence has become known as the "rake joke" and was described by ''Entertainment Weekly'' as showing "genius in its repetitive stupidity."<ref name="EW"/>