Fear of a Bot Planet
Encyclopedia
"Fear of a Bot Planet" is the fifth episode in season one of Futurama
. It originally aired in North America
on April 20, 1999. The episode was written by Heather Lombard and Evan Gore and directed by Peter Avanzino
and Carlos Baeza
.
The episode focuses on a delivery the Planet Express Crew must make to a robot planet named Chapek
9. The robot inhabitants hate all humans and Bender decides to join them because he is tired of robots being treated like second class citizens. The episode is a light-hearted satire on racism, an idea reinforced by the title, a reference to Public Enemy's 1990 album Fear of a Black Planet
.
blernsball game at Madison Cube Garden, Leela explains to Fry
that blernsball is a "jazzed up" version of baseball
. Bender is offended that humans will not let robots compete. Hermes
calls and tells the crew to report back to the office for a delivery mission. The delivery is to Chapek 9, a planet inhabited by human-hating
robot separatists who kill humans on sight, so Bender is assigned the duty of delivering the package. Bender claims that it is a robot holiday, Robanukah, and refuses to work. Hermes, however, insists that Bender must go, on the grounds that Bender has already used up all his time off.
Upon arriving at the planet, a resentful Bender is lowered to the surface. Meanwhile Fry and Leela decide to throw a Robanukah party for Bender to show their appreciation. They receive a rushed message from Bender: the robot separatists found out he worked for humans, and he has been captured. In order to avoid being killed on sight, Fry and Leela disguise themselves as robots and infiltrate the robot society.
After hiding out in a robot movie theater, Fry and Leela blend in with the crowd at the opening ceremonies of the daily human hunt. There they discover Bender is alive and playing the robots' prejudice for his own benefit, claiming he has killed a million billion humans on Earth.
Fry and Leela reunite with Bender in an abandoned robot porn shop, but he refuses to be rescued. Before Fry and Leela can leave, the other robots arrive, and the two are placed on trial for being human. They are immediately found guilty of the charge and are sentenced to a life of tedious robot-type labor. A trap door opens and they fall into a hidden room where they meet the five Robot Elders. The Robot Elders reveal that the trial was for the mass population and command Bender to kill Fry and Leela, but Bender refuses, stating that the pair are his friends, and that humans pose no threat to robots. The Robot Elders reveal that despite being aware of this, humans provide them with a useful scapegoat to distract the population from their actual problems: lug nut
shortages and an incompetent government of corrupt Robot Elders.
The Robot Elders decide the three know too much and must be killed. Fry threatens to breathe fire on the robot elders, throwing them into a state of confusion. None of the elders can remember if humans can do that or if it was something they made up. The crew flees, pursued by a horde of robots. As the crew escapes on the winch, the robots stack on top of each other, keeping pace with the winch. Bender remembers that he never actually delivered the package, and puts it into the hands of the robot on top. The unbalanced tower topples to the ground. The package bursts open, showering the robots in much-needed lug nuts. The robots then renounce their human-hating ways. The crew, headed back to Earth, celebrate Robanukah with Bender, who confesses the holiday is fictitious.
, a Czech writer who coined the term "robot".
Futurama
Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
. It originally aired in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
on April 20, 1999. The episode was written by Heather Lombard and Evan Gore and directed by Peter Avanzino
Peter Avanzino
Peter Avanzino is an American animation director. He has directed several episodes of Futurama, and currently serves as supervising director on the 6th season of the series. He has also directed episodes of Drawn Together, Duckman, The Wild Thornberrys, Sit Down, Shut Up, and The Ren and Stimpy Show...
and Carlos Baeza
Carlos Baeza
Carlos Baeza is an animation director. He has worked for The Simpsons and Futurama.- The Simpsons episodes :He is credited with directing the following episodes:*"Lisa's Pony"*"Radio Bart"*"Bart the Lover"*"Treehouse of Horror III"...
.
The episode focuses on a delivery the Planet Express Crew must make to a robot planet named Chapek
Karel Capek
Karel Čapek was Czech writer of the 20th century.-Biography:Born in 1890 in the Bohemian mountain village of Malé Svatoňovice to an overbearing, emotional mother and a distant yet adored father, Čapek was the youngest of three siblings...
9. The robot inhabitants hate all humans and Bender decides to join them because he is tired of robots being treated like second class citizens. The episode is a light-hearted satire on racism, an idea reinforced by the title, a reference to Public Enemy's 1990 album Fear of a Black Planet
Fear of a Black Planet
Fear of a Black Planet is the third studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released April 10, 1990, on Def Jam Recordings and Columbia Records. Production for the album was handled by the group's production team The Bomb Squad, who expanded on the dense, sample-layered sound of the...
.
Plot
While attending a New New York YankeesNew York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
blernsball game at Madison Cube Garden, Leela explains to Fry
Philip J. Fry
Philip J. Fry, known simply as Fry, is a fictional character, the main protagonist of the animated science fiction sitcom Futurama. He is voiced by Billy West using a version of his own voice as he sounded when he was 25.-Character overview:...
that blernsball is a "jazzed up" version of baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
. Bender is offended that humans will not let robots compete. Hermes
Hermes Conrad
Hermes Conrad is a fictional character in the Futurama animated series. He is voiced by Phil LaMarr.- Appearance and personality :Born in 2959, Hermes is a grade 36 bureaucrat from Jamaica. He manages the Planet Express delivery business with responsibilities that include paying bills, giving out...
calls and tells the crew to report back to the office for a delivery mission. The delivery is to Chapek 9, a planet inhabited by human-hating
Misanthropy
Misanthropy is generalized dislike, distrust, disgust, contempt or hatred of the human species or human nature. A misanthrope, or misanthropist is someone who holds such views or feelings...
robot separatists who kill humans on sight, so Bender is assigned the duty of delivering the package. Bender claims that it is a robot holiday, Robanukah, and refuses to work. Hermes, however, insists that Bender must go, on the grounds that Bender has already used up all his time off.
Upon arriving at the planet, a resentful Bender is lowered to the surface. Meanwhile Fry and Leela decide to throw a Robanukah party for Bender to show their appreciation. They receive a rushed message from Bender: the robot separatists found out he worked for humans, and he has been captured. In order to avoid being killed on sight, Fry and Leela disguise themselves as robots and infiltrate the robot society.
After hiding out in a robot movie theater, Fry and Leela blend in with the crowd at the opening ceremonies of the daily human hunt. There they discover Bender is alive and playing the robots' prejudice for his own benefit, claiming he has killed a million billion humans on Earth.
Fry and Leela reunite with Bender in an abandoned robot porn shop, but he refuses to be rescued. Before Fry and Leela can leave, the other robots arrive, and the two are placed on trial for being human. They are immediately found guilty of the charge and are sentenced to a life of tedious robot-type labor. A trap door opens and they fall into a hidden room where they meet the five Robot Elders. The Robot Elders reveal that the trial was for the mass population and command Bender to kill Fry and Leela, but Bender refuses, stating that the pair are his friends, and that humans pose no threat to robots. The Robot Elders reveal that despite being aware of this, humans provide them with a useful scapegoat to distract the population from their actual problems: lug nut
Lug nut
A lug nut is a fastener, specifically a nut, used to secure a wheel on a vehicle. Typically, lug nuts are found on automobiles, trucks , and other large vehicles utilizing rubber tires.-Design:...
shortages and an incompetent government of corrupt Robot Elders.
The Robot Elders decide the three know too much and must be killed. Fry threatens to breathe fire on the robot elders, throwing them into a state of confusion. None of the elders can remember if humans can do that or if it was something they made up. The crew flees, pursued by a horde of robots. As the crew escapes on the winch, the robots stack on top of each other, keeping pace with the winch. Bender remembers that he never actually delivered the package, and puts it into the hands of the robot on top. The unbalanced tower topples to the ground. The package bursts open, showering the robots in much-needed lug nuts. The robots then renounce their human-hating ways. The crew, headed back to Earth, celebrate Robanukah with Bender, who confesses the holiday is fictitious.
Cultural references
Chapek 9 is named after Karel ČapekKarel Capek
Karel Čapek was Czech writer of the 20th century.-Biography:Born in 1890 in the Bohemian mountain village of Malé Svatoňovice to an overbearing, emotional mother and a distant yet adored father, Čapek was the youngest of three siblings...
, a Czech writer who coined the term "robot".
External links
- Fear of a Bot Planet at The Infosphere.