to the original Batman tv series, simultaneous with this the score references Danny Elfman’s Batman theme. Before Mr. Burns shuts off the power to the town in response to the strike, he says, "From Hell's heart I stab at thee" which is a reference to Captain Ahab's curse, from the novel Moby-Dick. The workers' resistance to the power outage, and Mr. Burns's response, is a parody of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The scene where Homer spins on the floor and sounds "woo-woo-woo!" excitedly in response to Mr. Burns' concession to the strike is a reference to Curly Howard's antics on The Three Stooges. Reception In its original broadcast, "Last Exit to Springfield" finished 19th in ratings for the week of March 8–14, 1993, with a Nielsen rating of 13.7, equivalent to approximately 12.8 million viewing households. It was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week. The episode is generally ranked as being one of the best of all time and is on a number of Top 10 lists; the BBC stated it is "frequently cited as the show's best-ever episode". An Entertainment Weekly article from January 2003 looking back at the top 25 episodes of the series chose the episode as the show's greatest, saying "this episode is virtually flawless, the product of a series at the height of its creative powers -- when the satire was savage and relevant" and "the stuff of syndication legend: Burns facing down brilliant labor kingpin Homer Simpson; Homer Simpson facing down his own brain (DENTAL PLAN!/Lisa needs braces!); Grampa rattling on about wearing onions on his belt. Last Exit is a glorious symphony of the high and the low, of satirical shots at unions." In 2020, Al Jean acknowledged "Last Exit to Springfield" as an episode many consider to be a favorite. In his book, Planet Simpson, Chris Turner calls it the best episode of the series, saying "Episode 9F15 of The Simpsons should be taught in schools, in history, economics, social studies, literature and art class. It's flawless". He also called it "the funniest half-hour in TV history", and provided a full analysis of the episode, only criticizing the chalkboard and couch gags. He maintains that he chose the episode as best ever before Entertainment Weeklys list was published. In 2003, to celebrate the show's 300th episode, USA Today published a top 10 chosen by the webmaster of The