"Futurama" Bender Should Not Be Allowed on TV (2003)

Director:

Ron Hughart

Writers:

Matt Groening (creator)
Matt Groening (developer) ...

TV Series:

"Futurama" (1999)

Original Air Date:

3 August 2003 (Season 5, Episode 15)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy | Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Bender becomes a star on his favorite soap opera by forgetting his lines and reverting to character...

Plot Keywords:

Blunt | Watching TV | Bad Influence | Alien | Delivery Boy

Cast

Billy West	...	Philip J. Fry / Prof. Hubert J. Farnsworth / Dr. Zoidberg / TV Announcer / Network President (voice)
Katey Sagal	...	Turanga Leela (voice)
John Di Maggio	...	Bender / Human Friend / Sal / Antonio Calculon, Jr. (malfunctioning) / Cool-o-Meter / Additional Voices (voice) (as John DiMaggio)
Tress MacNeille	...	Monique / Tinny Tim / Linda / Mombot / Emotitron Jr. / Macaulay Culkin / Executive Gamma / Children at Party (voice)
Maurice LaMarche	...	Calculon / Morbo / Executive Alpha / Executive Beta / Additional Voices (voice)
Phil LaMarr	...	Hermes Conrad / Antonio Calculon Jr. (voice)
David Herman	...	Director / Casting Director / Additional Voices (voice)
Kath Soucie	...	Cubert Farnsworth / Casting Director / Emotitron Jr. / Children at Party (voice)
Bumper Robinson	...	Dwight Conrad (voice)

Trivia:

The main theme music is unique in this episode, as the characters' voices vocalize along with the tune.

Quotes:

Calculon: Bender, I want you to meet our director, whose name I never learned.

Movie Connections:

References The Mask of Zorro (1998)

Soundtrack:

TV Party

A mediocre outing for Futurama

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

The Futurama episodes weren't aired in order, and in fact, the show was aired as five seasons when actually just four were made. Considering the episodes in the order they aired, I can't say I'm big on the last four- Bend Her, Obsoletely Fabulous, Bender Should Not Be Allowed on TV, and The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings (which really was the last episode, at least until the movies came out). I'd say Futurama had lost its magic, but in fact, considering the episodes in the order they were made, the makers of the show still had some magic- after all, Bender Should Not Be Allowed on TV came before The Sting, Jurassic Bark and The Farnsworth Parabox.

In this episode, a robot child actor on TV malfunctions and Bender inexplicably auditions for the part and gets it. He soon breaks character and plays himself on TV, and becomes a sensation. (In depicting Bender as being popular, the makers of the show are complimenting their own efforts to make Bender cool.) But the Professor and Hermes begin to worry he's become a bad influence to their kids.

Setting aside the issue of whether the plot works- Bender's too old for his part- we can note the basic idea has been done before any way. Fear that television or movies are a bad influence on kids has been covered by other shows. The Simpsons did it with Itchy and Scratchy and Marge (season 2) and South Park did it with South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut. This might not be a problem, except Futurama doesn't really have much new to say on the matter. This episode also brings Hypnotoad back but he's not as funny as he was in the pet show, maybe because now he doesn't seem to work- Fry apparently doesn't like him any more. On the other hand, the cancer joke works because it's insensitive. This isn't a bad episode, but I wouldn't have cared if it were never made.