======================================================================== ============= THE FUTURAMA CHRONICLES ==== EPISODE CAPSULE ============= ======================================================================== Official Title: Hell is Other Robots Episode Number: 1ACV09 (#9) First Airdate : Tuesday, May 18th, 1999 Written by : Eric Kaplan Directed by : Rich Moore ======================================================================== = Additional tidbits =
Opening theme promotion : Condemned by the Space Pope Opening theme cartoon : Unknown "Betty Boop" cartoon 18-May-99 Nielsen ranking: [Unknown] MPAA rating : TV-PG-L Length minus commercials : [21:17] ======================================================================== = Foxworld Synopsis =
After a Beastie Boys Heads concert at Madison Cube Garden, Bender goes on a bender and gets hooked on power surges. His life begins a downward spiral until he finds salvation at the Temple of Robotology. Having found religion, his polite behavior becomes so irritating to his friends that they begin to tempt him with his old vices. When he finally succumbs and returns to his old ways, he is banished to Robot Hell where, in a musical extravaganza, he faces the Robot Devil and endures tortures unimaginable to man.
======================================================================== = Minutiae =
- Among the "Beastie Boys" audience members are a blue, humanoid
rhinocerous, a man wearing an oxygen mask (or whatever other gas he
needs to breathe) and a green, three-eyed alien.
- The guy at the concert sitting next to Leela has a wrist computer
almost identical to hers. {hh}
- The Beastie Boys have wireless headphones that can apparently survive
in water and whatever other preservatives are in the heads' jars.
- Leela's wrist communicator can determine the success rate
of busting mad rhymes. {ds}
- As Leela defends herself against the other moshpitters, there is a
man standing on another man's shoulders behind her.
- The three illuminating aliens at the concert have cat-like eyes and
webbed feet.
- Jack-In-The-Box is still in business in 3000. {jk}
- Fender who makes 20th century musical instruments and amplifiers is
still in business. {hl}
- When Fender wants to whisper, he apparently must turn his volume
control down manually.
- Jack den looks like an opium den. {hl}
- Some people claim that Bender's line "There's no booze and only one
hooker" is a cleverly veiled pun. See "Final Thoughts / Comments."
- When Fry and Bender visit the "rough part of town", a homeless man is
lying inert in one of the travelling tubes. {vy}
- The clock in bumtown has a millenium counter (and it's a bit past 3).
{ds}
- The "Good Book" (ver. 3.0) is on an Iomega Zip Disk. {vy}
- Did you notice there was a sharp drop in the electricity use just
before Bender started abusing it? {hh}
- The restroom is next to the chemical burn shower Fry used to shower
in. {hh}
- Fry has trashed the Planet Express ship again (trash scattered
on the floor). {ds}
- There's a can of Slurm sitting on the ship's console. {hh}
- Bender is restored with replacement "Robot Legs and Thighs," found in
a crate next to the table.
- Bender ran a pornography ring? {ds} - I'm actually surprised that the population of 3000 is enlightened
enough to know what a "witch hunt" is, and still use the term.
- The Baptism ceremony is actually pretty short. {jr}
- Robotology symbol is a resistor from circuit diagrams. {hl}
- Bender, although a robot, is ticklish. {hh}
- Bender baptised in high viscosity oil (but not Mom's!). {hl}
- Elzar's Fine Cuisine has security cameras. {ds}
- Fry holds his fork with his right hand. {vy}
- Hermes talks about "a green snake in a sugar cane field" twice. {ds}
- In the season finale, at the restaurant where Bender bought them
dinner, I thought it looked like Amy was wearing a Jackie Kennedy
outfit. {mm} (See "Final Thoughts / Comments.")
- Dr. Zoidberg opens his eyes briefly during Robot Grace.
- By the time Bender finishes saying Robot Grace, the candle in the
center of the table is melted away, and the other tables are empty,
with their chairs stacked upside-down on top of them.
- When everyone backed away from Bender's offer of a group hug, I was
expecting his arms to extend around them like Inspector Gadget's.
- The Planet Express delivery ship is of an interstellar
classification. {ds}
- Atlantic City still has old-fashioned mailboxes.
- Hookerbot 5000 has a quarter slot. {jk}
- Strange that a few "skin-tubes" enjoy seeing the fem-bots' bare
circuits as well.
- Bender wears a towel when answering the door to hide his shame. {ds}
- Hotel room doors in the future don't have a peephole. {jr} - Notice the pun when Leela asks "What in hell happened to Bender?"
- The title of the Robot Hell brochure is the same as the title of the
episode. {jk}
- Apparently, Nibbler has a pretty good sense of smell if he was able
to track down a robot. {sam}
- Robot Hell has an above ground entrance with a sign that says "The
Inferno." {ds}
- When Leela, Fry and Nibbler enter "the inferno" there is a heart
carved in the lower right corner with "H.S. + M.B." and we all know
what that stands for! {bk} (If you've been living under a rock for
a decade, see "Other References.")
- Nibbler gets left behind when Fry and Leela fall through the trapdoor
into Robot Hell. They never go back for him! :( {pm}
- On the floor in Robot Hell there is a pair of extension cords that
has been disconnected, and some wretched sinner units imprisoned
under bars in the ground.
- Fry is about to sign the Fiddle Contest waiver the very second it's
shoved in front of him, but Leela knocks the pen out of his hand just
in time.======================================================================== = Parallels to Science Fiction =
~ "Starcraft" (video game)
- The [flying robots] looked to me like the Zergs (sp?) in Starcraft.
{ct} + "Star Trek: Generations" (movie)
- Bender screaming at the universe is just like a scene from Star
Trek: Generations. {hh} ~ "Star Wars: A New Hope" (movie)
- The Robot Hell is somehow reminiscent of the robot holding area in
Star Wars: A New Hope when C3PO and R2-D2 are captured by the Jawas
and see several robots being tortured. {vy}======================================================================== = Other References =
+ 1940's detective stories (that rhymes!)
- The phrase "hooker with a heart of gold" is a 1940s detective
fiction clich�. {jf}+ "1999" (song) {hl} - Fry quotes a line from this Prince song ... and adds "again" to it.
+ "The Beastie Boys" (music group)
- The guys in black suits holding their heads dance similar to the
Beastie Boys in their "Intergalactic" video. Beastie Boys songs
featured are "Intergalactic" and "Disco Breakin'" from Hello Nasty
and an acapella rendition of "Sabotage" from Ill Communication.
{vy} ~ "Bernstein Bears" (childrens' books)
- Fry marvels at seeing an "actual, factual" Hell. In the Bernstein
Bears franchise of books there is an Actual Factual Bear who
dispenses educational tidbits. (Or, at least there was twenty-odd
years ago.) {br} + "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" (song/video)
- The Charlie Daniels Band released "Million Mile Reflections" in
1979, containing "The Devil Went Down to Georgia " describing a
fiddle contest with the devil for a solid gold fiddle. I'd say
it's pretty clear where the inspiration came from. (If you want to
hear the song, go to <http://charliedaniels.com>.) {jl}
- The "fiddle contest with the Devil" is an old folktale. There are
references to it in traditional USA country folk music records in
the 1920s, and it probably goes back a good deal further. (The
theme of battling the Lord of the Underworld for a soul with
contests of skill can be found in Midaeval Christian European
stories and Classical Mythology.) {cm} + "Divine Comedy" (poem by Dante Aligheri)
- Victims are sent to varying levels/degrees of hell.
- The three parts are Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso, with 'hell'
being only the first part of the three. (Sidenote: Dante's vision
of hell had 7 main tiers, for each of the seven deadly sins. IIRC,
Bender only reached the first five levels.) {rdb}+ "Godfather" (movies) - Sicily 9, the kiss of death. {hl}
+ "Halleujah Chorus" from The Messiah by Handel (song) {ds} - Plays during the crew's escape from Robot Hell.
+ Jean Paul Sarte (comedian)
- The Robot Devil hands Bender a brochure that says "Hell is Other
Robots." This is also the episode title.
- Jean Paul Sarte said this, I think. Only about people. {jr} ~ Jesse Jackson (reverend)
- The Robotology preacher is modelled after the reverend Jesse
Jackson. {vy} ~ "Magic: The Gathering" (franchise)
- Robot Hell looks a lot like Phyrexia from the popular fantasy card
game. Phyrexia is a hellish plane of existence filled with
mechanical and undead creations and run by demons who often are
partly mechanical themselves. Phyrexia, like Robot Hell, is ruled
by a powerful mechanical demon and its denizens torture mechanical
constructs. {sam} ~ "Monty Python's Flying Circus" (TV show)
- Specifically, the Spanish Inquisition skit ("Noooooooobody expects
the Spanish Inquisition!"), where the punishments they dish out are
forcing people to sit in comfortable chairs and undergo pleasant
massages. {vy} ~ "Red Dwarf" (TV show)
- On Red Dwarf the robots (or mechanoids) are programmed to believe
in silicon heaven because if it didn't exist "where would all the
little calculators go?" {tk} + "Starfox 64" (video game)
- Those hornets that shoot rings of lasers at the escaping Bender,
Fry, and Leela are very similar to the robotic hornets located in
the Asteroid Belt of Starfox 64. {sam} + "Street Fighter" (video game)
- It looked like Leela's 360 spin kick in the mosh pit was one of the
moves from the video game Street Fighter. I think Ryu and the Ken
guy both do it the same way, with one leg down and the 360 spin.
{th}======================================================================== = Freeze Frame Fanaticism =
- BEASTIE BOYS
in concert
INTERGALACTIC TOUR- SPARKY'S DEN
- Elzar's FINE COUSINE
- welcome
to ATLANTIC
CITY- POWER STRIP
- TRUMP TRAPEZOID
- RECKLESS [] TED'S F U N L A N D
- CARN DOGS
- The Inferno
3
MILLENIUM -
4- ROBOT LEGS AND THIGHS
10 SIN 20 GOTO HELL
HELL IS OTHER ROBOTS
- PARBOIL
- FRICASEE
- SAUTE
- PLEASANT MASSAGE
- DEEP-FRY
- BAKE
======================================================================== = Goofs =
- If the people of the year 3000 consider rap music to be classical
music (1ACV06), shouldn't they treat the music of the Beastie Boys in
the same way and not as "old school beats?" {sam}
- A three-eyed alien in the "Beastie Boys" audience has white eyes,
which turn to black between shots.
- For a brief second during the moshpit, the controls on Leela's
wristpad disappear.
- AD-ROCK's 5-o'clock shadow disappears in his close-up.
- As of 1999, the Beastie Boys actually have more than five albums (Fry
mentions "all five of their albums"). Including the 5 major ones,
"Licensed to Ill," "Paul's Boutique," "Check Your Head," "Ill
Communication," and "Hello Nasty," there is the "Root Down" remix
album (follow up to "Ill Communication") and "Some Old Bullshit" (old
tracks). There may be more I'm not sure of. {vy}
- The restroom wasn't where it was in 1ACV05, where Farnsworth and
Hermes entered through an unmarked door.
- When Bender reenters the bathroom, the door closes too fast. This is
a half-goof, as the machine could have been malfunctioning.
- Bender crouches in the corner of the ship's cockpit biting his nails
... but what nails?
- The ship looks much smaller in relation to Bender than it should be,
as he stands on top of it. - From the back of the Robotology church, we see a door leading in to
where the altar should be, but there is no door behind the altar.
- Right after Bender hugs Fry, Amy doesn't have a hat. Earlier, she
did, and she does again when they all cower (after Bender finishes
his speech). {jr}
- When Bender is tacking his Robot Fish onto the Planet Express ship,
where is the religious logo that was welded to his body? It was
in the previous scene and reappears in the following scene. {rxs}
- The robot preacher has to weld the Robotology symbol onto Bender's
chest, but Bender later peels it off with no effort. (Well, he _is_
a bender, after all ... ) {hh}
- The actually is no "Do Not Disturb" sign outside Bender's apartment.
Either he's too drunk to realize this or someone outside swiped it
off. - When Bender pickpockets the robot-devil's wallet, he rips off
Bender's arm, then Bender falls through a chute, and his arm is back.
{rdb}
- The piece of land on which Leela and the Robot Devil perform their
fiddle contest changes from a small platform to a huge valley.======================================================================== = Extended Goofs / Technical Nitpicks =
Jeremy Reaban: In the Robot Minister's speech, he should says sinners will be uploaded to Robot Hell, not downloaded.
Rich Bunnell: While by the actual terms of "uploading" and "downloading" you're correct, "downloading" sounds like a much more appropriate term referring to hell, since it's usually thought of as down.
Ted Marshall: Actually, if you consider "robot hell" as the server, then sending a file/robot soul to it would be uploading.� You download from a server to your PC, you upload from your PC to the server.
J.L. Stolm: One goof that keeps popping up is with the heads from the past ... they all look like they do today, so does that mean that the heads are to be preserved sometime in the near future? Or perhaps that in the future they have ways (plastic surgery) to _really_ make one look young again?
Vince Yim: That's what really had me worried. If major celebs have their heads in jars a thousand years from now, they'd likely have to die within the near future in order to look the way they do. Either that, or the formeldahyde in the jars helps them become younger.
Jeremy Reaban: Also, while in "hell," none of the Beasties are in their jars.
Vince Yim: That was likely intentional. How else are they able to make the scratchy-scratchy sounds with the hard drive if their heads are incased in jars?
Derek Robb: We've seen several occasions in which heads weren't in jars. Nixon's head knocked about outside its jar during the pilot episode. I'd guess the jar is not necessary to keep the head alive (i'd guess it's the doojobby around the neck), but is used to keep it preserved. Maybe.
Or maybe it's a cartoon.
Troy Miller: I'm a little disturbed by the final episode. We have seen before that if Bender does not drink alcohol he becomes "sober" -- the effects on him being that of human drinking. But tonight he gave up drinking but it had a very different effect on him. Any thoughts?
Jason Barrerra: Mineral oil must be a non-alcoholic fuel cell charger, just as nutritious as good old fasioned alcohol.
======================================================================== = Reviews =
Haynes Lee: The season ended too soon with secondary characters barely introduced (and some have yet to make an appearance). With this episode in particular the jump between Roboology and Robot Hell was abrupt and did we have to end the season on a musical number? (A-)
Jeremy Reaban: Funny episode. Lots of great Bender lines. I give it an: (A)
Matt Rose: It was great until ... the SONG. Ugh! Why does Groening insist on throwing these completely extraneous pseudo-Broadway numbers in? My only thought is that they just want another Emmy. Other than that, an episode that was sidesplittingly funny for the first 15 minutes ... I think it's safe to say Bender is the star of the show. (B+) (solid A without the song)
Vince Yim: After last week's hilarious Armageddon/Deep Impact parody, any following episode would be hard pressed to top it. However, it is notable for having the first song-and-dance number for Futurama (it was bound to happen) and a guest appearance from the Beastie Boys (I own a couple of their albums). Still, it did have its moments. (B+)
Yours Truly: While at first glance this seemed to be the best episode yet, looking back, it just isn't as memorable when compared to everything else the series has given us so far. It was still funny and well-plotted, but I didn't find the subject matter all that interesting, and on a whole it seemed more like an episode of "The Simpsons" than "Futurama." My favorite scene was Bender vs. the universe. (B+)
Average Grade: [17/5=3.4] (A-) ======================================================================== = Final Thoughts / Comments =
Jeremy Reaban: Despite Benders statement "What kind of party is this? There's no booze and only one hooker," none of the robots present really looks like a hooker.
Steve Van Devender: Listen carefully -- he says "hookah," not "hooker."� Note the appearance of the apparatus all the other robots are jacking on with.
Jeff Foster: That pun slipped by you? The thing off which they were all taking hits was a hookah. It even bubbled like one.
Jeremy Reaban: Well, I knew it was a hookah, but I would have sworn he said "hooker," not "hookah."
Plus, why would he be disappointed in only one hookah (or the robotic equivalent of such), if he didn't want to jack on using one? (He did have to be talked into it). OTOH, it's a running joke that Bender loves hookers.
Ed Stewart: If you listen to all the .wav files on the web now, he does say "hooker" -- going back to the original post commenting that not of the bots present looked like a hooker ... maybe he thought the hookah bong thing in the middle was a hooker?
Michael Morbius: In the season finale, at the restaurant where Bender bought them dinner, I thought it looked like Amy was wearing a Jackie Kennedy outfit.
Michael Choi: Nah. Pillbox hat, yes. Shoulder fins, no. (Though, who knows how Chanel will update the look in 1,000 years?) Also, I think the one you're thinking of was pink, at least the one worn on that day in Dallas.
Michael Morbius: Are those in style in the year 3000? Does anyone still know who Jackie was?
Jay Seals: Perhaps. If they have Richard Nixon's head in a jar (1ACV01), then it may not be unlikely that her head's sitting on a shelf somewhere.
Dave Sweatt: The Jesus Fish appears on many cars here in the southern United States, as do many variations such as Jesus spelled in Hebrew. There are also variations for Hindu, Budda, etc. I've even seen mock variations including one that says 'Darwin' and is in the shape of a creature with legs, as to promote evolution from the fishes of the sea.
Mark Riley provides the lyrics to the Robot Hell bonanza. (A more detailed version, complete with scene descriptions, can be found in the "Quotes and Scene Summaries."):
[D=Devil; B=Bender; Y=Beastie Boys; F=Fry; L=Leela]
D:Cigars are evil; you won't miss 'em. We'll find ways to simulate that smell. What a sorry fella, rolled up and smoked like a panatella. Here on level one of Robot Hell!
D:Gambling's wrong and so is cheating, so is forging phony IOU's. Let's let lady luck decide what type of torture's justified. I'm pit boss here on level two.
D:Ooh! Deep-fryed robot!
B:Just tell me why! D:Please read this fifty-five page warrant. B:There must be robots worse than I! D:We checked around, there really aren't. B:Then please let me explain; My crimes were merely boyish pranks. D:You stole from boy scouts, nuns, and banks! B:Aw, don't blame me, blame my upbringing! D:Please stop sinning while I'm singing!
D:Selling bootleg tapes is wrong. Musicians need that income to survive. Y:Hey Bender gonna make some noise With your hard drive scratched by the Beastie Boys! That's whatcha, whatcha, whatcha get on level five!
F:I don't feel well. L:It's up to us to rescue him. F:Maybe he likes it here in hell. L:It's us who tempted him to sin. F:Maybe he's back at the motel. L:Come on Fry, don't be scared, I'm sure at least one of us will be spared. So just sit back; enjoy the ride. F:My ass has blisters from the slide.
D:Fencing diamonds, fixing cockfights, Publishing indecent magazines. You'll pay for every crime, Knee-deep in electric slime. You'll suffer 'till the end of time, Enduring tortures, most of which rhyme. Trapped forever here in Robot Hell!
Haynes Lee: Robotology sounds like Scientology but the full immersion Baptismal ceremony is more like the Baptists.
Steven Aaron Monroe: If Bender wanted to avoid the pain of the tortures in Robot Hell, why couldn't he turn off his emotions, kind of like what Data did in the movie Star Trek: First Contact?
Jeremy Dennis: [Beelzebot]'s obviously a mechanized version of beelzebub, which I heard is another name to call Lucifer. I have only heard it in Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, but that's where his name comes from.
======================================================================== = Fun Stuff =
TV Guide ad (not in actual episode): "IF SIN: THEN HELL!"
The Robotology symbol is _not_ part of an alien language. See "Minutiae."
None, as usual.
- [1ACV03] Hermes indicates company stats with a shocking graph
- [1ACV03] Bender enters Planet Express in a cheerful mood, singing
or whistling
- [1ACV05] Robots' love for blasts of searing-hot resin
- [1ACV05] Crummy-looking robot makes encore appearance as a junkie
- [1ACV07] Essence of Elzar, c.f. Elzar's Fine Cuisine {ds} "Church of the Poison Motherboard" {ds}
"Fortified-Wine-Bent and Hellbound" {ds}
"Hepped up on Spaceballs" {ds}
"Robo Act 2: Back Outta Habit" {jl2}
"When Good Sinners Go Bad"======================================================================== = Voice Credits =
Billy West ........................... Fry, Dr. Zoidberg, Farnsworth,
Preachers' Helper, Churchgoer 2,
Waiter
Katey Sagal ................................................... Leela
John DiMaggio ................................................ BenderMike Diamond ............................................ Robot Devil Adam Horovitz ................................. his own head in a jar Dan Castellanetta ............................. his own head in a jar
Tress MacNeille ....................... Churchgoer 1, Hookerbot 5000,
Lady with Purse
Lauren Tom ............................................. Amy, Nibbler
Phil LaMarre .................... Announcer, Fender, Preacher, Hermes