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Mother Simpson
Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming
The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular

Trivia[]

  • The episode was credited to Spike Feresten, who penned the famous "Soup Nazi" episode of Seinfeld (and had a short-lived late night talk show in the mid-to-late 2000s alongside the final season of MADtv). However, Spike's script was heavily re-written from its initial draft, and very little of Spike's material remained in the final episode. Bill Oakley said it was one of the most arduous re-writes in the history of the show.
  • The scene showing Rupert Murdoch in prison was originally asked to be cut by the FOX censors, but Rupert Murdoch himself asked for it to be kept in because he found it funny.

Cultural References[]

  • After Sideshow Bob demands that all TV must go, Dr. Hibbert says, "Surely he doesn’t mean VH1".
  • While setting up the nuclear device, Sideshow Bob is whistling 'We'll Meet Again', a song used in the 1964 film, "Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb", a film about nuclear deterrence which ends in the world being destroyed by nuclear weapons. The "War Room" seen in this episode is also based on the one from that film.
  • When Chief Wiggum says "Where's that guy who eats people and takes their faces?", this is possibly a reference to the popular horror film series The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, specifically the way the film's main antagonist is a cannibal and wears his victims' faces as masks.
  • The title of the episode is a pun on a line from The Star-Spangled Banner: “What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming.”
  • When Bob is watching Krusty's show in prison, Krusty can be seen literally mopping the floor with Sideshow Mel. Shortly before the episode aired, a woman named Awilda Lopez was arrested for child abuse resulting in her adoptive daughter's death which included, among other things, using her head to mop the floor.
  • Colonel Hapablap shouts "What is your major malfunction, Sideshow Bob?" a la Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (also played by R. Lee Ermey) in Full Metal Jacket.
  • The title of the episode is a pun on this line in “The Star-Spangled Banner”: “What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming.”
  • Professor Frink, during the war room scene, is drawn to resemble Dr. Strangelove, complete with wheelchair.
  • Colonel Hapablap quotes John Gillespie Magee, Jr.`s High Flight "I have slipped the surly bonds of earth ... and touched the face of God" at the beginning of his second appearance on the podium.
  • Doctor Who and Steve Urkel made appearances.
  • When Sideshow Bob detonates the bomb, a scene where Maggie picks the petals of a flower (and later zooms in into Maggie's eyes which cuts into an explosion) was seen. The aforementioned scene is reference to the famous "Daisy" attack ad of Lyndon Johnson during the 1964 United States election.
  • The scenes before Maggie showing various people of Springfield going about their daily lives with the zooming in on them and the scenes freezing in anticipation of the explosion is also a reference to the ending of "FailSafe".

Goofs[]

  • Westminster Abbey has sundials, not clocks.
  • Lisa wants to meet the first female stealth bomber pilot (also named Lisa) who apparently bombed seventy mosques during Operation: Desert Storm in the early 1990s Gulf War. In reality, the first female B-2 pilot wasn't certified until 2002 and women weren't allowed into combat in the U.S. military until 2013.
  • Homer drinks six glasses of alcohol-free Duff, which are stated to cost $6 each. However, he is charged $48 instead of $36.
  • The Colonel is wearing a star on each shoulder, which is the insignia of a Brigadier General. A Colonel would have an eagle instead of a star.
  • When Sideshow Bob is regretting his choice of bomb, part of his neck repeatedly turns orange like his clothes.
  • When Sideshow Bob appears on the Tyranno-Vision to make his threat, the raise in his voice pitch due to the helium is noticeable. When he comes back on to point out the irony of his threat and when he's watching Springfield's TV stations go off the air, his voice is clearly normal. He could have been pushing it out of the way, similarly to when Lisa figures out where he is.
  • When Chief Wiggum finds Sideshow Bob, he appears to have a neck for a frame, which is inconsistent with his design.
  • The "severe tire damage" sign is on the wrong side of the fence.
  • When Homer, Marge, and Lisa chase Sideshow Bob and Bart, Maggie is nowhere in sight. However, she is present when Bob is captured.
  • The computer terminal is in the blimp's airbag rather than in the gondola.
  • At the end of the chase scene (when Bart tries to jump onto the car), Marge's necklace appears to be white for a second.


Season 6 Season 7 References/Trivia Season 8
Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two)Radioactive ManHome Sweet Homediddly-Dum-DoodilyBart Sells His SoulLisa the VegetarianTreehouse of Horror VIKing-Size HomerMother SimpsonSideshow Bob's Last GleamingThe Simpsons 138th Episode SpectacularMarge Be Not ProudTeam HomerTwo Bad NeighborsScenes from the Class Struggle in SpringfieldBart the FinkLisa the IconoclastHomer the SmithersThe Day the Violence DiedA Fish Called SelmaBart on the Road22 Short Films About SpringfieldRaging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in "The Curse of the Flying Hellfish"Much Apu About NothingHomerpaloozaSummer of 4 Ft. 2
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