A Pharaoh to Remember
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| Futurama episode | |
| "A Pharaoh to Remember" | |
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|---|---|
| Episode no. | 49 |
| Prod. code | 3ACV17 |
| Airdate | March 10, 2002 |
| Writer(s) | Ron Weiner |
| Director | Mark Ervin |
| Opening subtitle | PSST... BIG PARTY AT YOUR HOUSE AFTER THE SHOW |
| Opening cartoon | Unknown |
| Guest star(s) | None |
| Season 3 January 2001 – December 2002 |
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| List of all Futurama episodes... | |
"A Pharaoh to Remember" is episode seventeen of Futurama's third season. It originally aired on March 10, 2002. The title is a reference to the 1957 film An Affair to Remember.
[edit] Plot
Bender grows concerned that he will be doomed to obscurity, and sets off to rectify the situation. One of these schemes includes spraying graffiti on the side of a building, saying "Bender Lives Large And Kicks Butt." The building is demolished, and his phrase is reduced to "Bender Licks Butt". Bender returns the office to find out that the crew had staged a "funeral" for him but it turns out bad. The Professor assigns the crew a new mission: deliver a giant sandstone block to the planet Osiris IV.
Upon their arrival, they find a desert world whose society is modeled after ancient Egypt, who they claim introduced interstellar travel to them, in defiance of known history. The crew is enslaved to work on the building of the funeral pyramid of Pharaoh Hamenthotep. Their job is to work alongside the other slaves, moving heavy stone blocks manually. Bender, impressed by the Osirin Pharaohs' method of ensuring their place in history, becomes a workaholic, working so fast the slavedrivers can't even keep up with him.
Pharaoh Hamenthotep arrives to inspect his newly completed pyramid, and as he was about to set everyone free, he is killed when the nose falls off a giant statue of himself. The priests entomb Hamenthotep, and the next day they consult their wall of prophecy to select the new pharaoh. While the slaves partied over their few hours of freedom, Bender sneaks out and makes a few surreptitious modifications to the wall, therefore, declaring him the new pharaoh.
Newly crowned Pharaoh Bender demands a statue of himself, one billion cubits tall, so that he will be remembered forever. Construction proceeds, and the statue is completed. But when it is unveiled, Pharaoh Bender announces that he is displeased with it, and wants it to be torn down and rebuilt. The high priests, disgusted and tired with Bender, wrap him for burial, and toss him into the tomb, along with Fry and Leela for human sacrifices.
Fry and Leela want to blast their way out using the explosive Schnapps from the tomb's distillery, but Bender objects, worried that he won't be remembered if the statue is destroyed. Fry and Leela make a show of not remembering Bender, and he relents. After blasting a crack in the statue's foot, Fry, Leela, and Bender escape and run back to the ship. As the ship departs Osiris IV, the statue explodes in a gigantic fireball. Bender is distraught, but Leela consoles him with the knowledge that his reign of terror will be remembered longer than any statue. Satisfied, Bender tells the crew to set course for Earth and laughs evilly. However, Leela points out the planet before them isn't Earth.
[edit] Cultural references
- The singer at the previous Pharaoh's funeral greatly resembles Elton John, who emotionally sang at Princess Diana's funeral. The songs he sings are parodies of the songs "Daniel" "Benny and the Jets" and "Crocodile Rock", spoofing John's reworked version of "Candle in the Wind".
- Fry says "I've got a bad feeling about this", a common reference to the Star Wars series.
- The Osirians mention being taught space travel and pyramid building by Earth's Egyptians - the book Chariots of the Gods suggests that the Egyptians were taught both by aliens.
- The comedians referenced in what the Osirians learn from the Earth Egyptians are Abbot and Costello, in particular their movie Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy.
- Bender's tomb is completely sealed off, except tunnels through which thousands of snakes may enter - a reference to the Indiana Jones film Raiders of the Lost Ark.
- The picture of Bender turning into a butt is a reference to Mad Magazine Fold-ins.
- After being named Pharaoh Bender "Walks like an Egyptian", a reference to the dance/song made popular in the 1980s by the The Bangles. His entrance (and the musical cue used) is also a slant reference to Steve Martin's 1978 cult hit "King Tut."
- One of the slave masters is wearing a shirt that says "What would Pharaoh do?" in reference to the popular "What would Jesus do?".
- The man with the bird face is in similar appearance to Thoth. The guards which Bender distracts by making them chase an object while barking like dogs look similar to Anubis.
[edit] Continuity
- There is an Australian slave among the slaves on Osiris IV. He is the same Australian man who was a slave (and soon after Hermes' arrival, the only slave) on Spa 5 in "How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back".
