"Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming" is the ninth episode of the seventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 26, 1995. In this episode, Sideshow Bob attempts to rid Springfield of television by threatening to detonate an atomic bomb. When that backfires, he attempts to kill Bart once again, but this time along with Krusty the Clown. The episode was written by freelance writer Spike Feresten, and features the fifth major appearance of Sideshow Bob. Although Feresten received credit for the episode, the writing staff completely rewrote the episode and very little of Feresten's original script was left in the finished version. It was the first episode of The Simpsons to be directed by Dominic Polcino, who described it as being very difficult to direct. R. Lee Ermey, known for his role in Full Metal Jacket, guest stars as Col. Leslie "Hap" Hapablap while Kelsey Grammer reprises his role as Sideshow Bob. The episode is a parody of "'60s-era nuclear war movies" and contains several references to Cold War films, including Twilight's Last Gleaming, Dr. Strangelove, and Fail-Safe. In its original broadcast, the episode finished 49th in ratings for the week of November 20–26, 1995, with a Nielsen rating of 8.7 and a 13 share of the audience. The episode received generally positive reviews by critics. Plot At Springfield Minimum Security Prison, Sideshow Bob is disturbed when he hears the other inmates laughing at the inane antics of Krusty the Clown's television show. Believing that television is a fountain of "mindless drivel" and wanting to rid the world of it, Bob escapes while on work duty at a local Air Force Base. He gains access to a restricted area of the hangar, where he steals a 10-megaton nuclear weapon. As the Simpsons and other residents of Springfield are attending an air show held at the base, the signal on the big screen is interrupted by Bob, who threatens to detonate the bomb unless Springfield disables all of its television broadcasts. Upon hearing the announcement, everyone flees the airfield in panic, except for Bart and Lisa. Unable to locate Bob, Mayor Quimby decides to give in to Bob's ultimatum. Krusty, refusing to submit to Bob's demands, takes refuge in a civil defense shack in the desert, which he uses to transmit a heavily improvised show. Lisa deduces