American History X-cellent

[2] In this episode, Mr. Burns is arrested for possessing stolen art and Smithers is chosen to run the nuclear plant—only to turn into a misanthropic slave driver when his subordinates begin taking advantage of his kindness.

The episode features references to Stephen King's The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption.

Mr. Burns throws a Fourth of July party for himself, forcing his employees to wait on him and perform a musical number without pay.

Burns is placed in a cell with another white-collar criminal but demands to be moved when he discovers his cellmate was educated at Dartmouth College and the University of Virginia.

But when he joins Homer, Lenny and Carl for beer at Moe's, he overhears them making fun of him.

The episode was written by Michael Price and directed by Bob Anderson, his second credit of the season after "Rednecks and Broomsticks".

Sideshow Bob makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in this episode in where he is put in a dryer.

[3] The episode also parodies elements from The Shawshank Redemption, by the same author, including the prison and the warden.

Another reference to Shawshank Redemption is that the felon tears a Rita Hayworth poster off the wall, uncovering a cross.

Club gave the episode a B, saying "I like Mr. Burns as a character enough, and I like the way the show tells stories about him enough to give this a mildly approving grade."