Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge

"Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge"
The Simpsons episode
The SpringShield commercial
Episode no.	Season 13 Episode 22
Directed by	Pete Michels
Written by	Dana Gould
Production code	DABF17
Original air date	May 22, 2002 (2002-05-22)
Guest appearance
Joe Mantegna as Fat Tony
Episode features
Couch gag	The Simpsons run to the couch, and find The Blue Man Group performing.
Commentary	Al Jean Matt Selman Dana Gould Carolyn Omine Joe Mantegna Pete Michels
Episode chronology
← Previous "The Frying Game" Next → "Treehouse of Horror XIII"
The Simpsons season 13
List of episodes

"Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge" is the twenty-second and final episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 22, 2002. In the episode, a massive heatwave causes the residents of Springfield to install large air conditioning devices in their homes. This leads the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant to overload, causing two town-wide blackouts to occur. The Springfield Police Department are unable to face the riots that follow, prompting Homer, dissatisfied with the police's incompetence, to start his own security company, called SpringShield.

"Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge" was directed by Pete Michels and written by Dana Gould, who also pitched the idea for the episode. It features American actor Joe Mantegna as recurring character Fat Tony, and includes references to Dragnet, High Noon and The Sopranos.

In its original broadcast, the episode was seen by approximately 5.3 million viewers, finishing in 53rd place in the ratings the week it aired.^[1] Following its home video release on August 24, 2010, the episode received mixed reviews from critics.

The episode was dedicated to the memory of Stephen Jay Gould who died two days before it aired. He had voiced himself in the ninth-season episode "Lisa the Skeptic".