Godfellas
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| Futurama episode | |
| "Godfellas" | |
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| Episode no. | 52 |
| Prod. code | 3ACV20 |
| Airdate | March 17, 2002 |
| Writer(s) | Ken Keeler |
| Director | Susie Dietter |
| Opening subtitle | PLEASE TURN OFF ALL CELL PHONES AND TRICORDERS |
| Season 3 January 2001 – December 2002 |
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| List of all Futurama episodes... | |
"Godfellas" is the twentieth episode of the third season of Futurama. It won the first-ever Writer's Guild award for Animation. Series creator Matt Groening cites it as one of the best episodes of the series. [1].
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[edit] Plot
During a space pirate attack, Bender—while napping in the torpedo tube—is launched into interstellar space beyond the reach of Fry and Leela. After an asteroid crashes into him, a microscopic civilization grows on Bender and begin worshipping him as God. Bender realizes that being God is difficult after he makes many mistakes that hurt his followers. Because of this, the Shrimpkins (the civilization living on him) on his backside felt their prayers were unheeded and became atheists. Eventually the civilization is destroyed when opposing factions build atomic weapons out of Bender's nuclear pile. Bender soon meets a cosmic being who may be the real God, who empathizes with him.
During this time, Fry and Leela search for a way to find Bender, which leads them to a sect of monks who use a giant telescope to search for God in space. After several days of searching, Fry sends a message to Bender and God without realizing it, which shows God where Earth is. God flings Bender back to Earth, and the trio is reunited. Bender, convinced from his encounter that God does nothing to help people, saves the monks from a closet they were locked in. The show cuts back to God, and he repeats the advice he gave to Bender - "When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all", alluding to the thoughts of Bender.
[edit] Goofs
- Bender puts on a Rolex watch from his swag bag and taunts the universe with it. In the next shot the watch is gone and never appears again.
- When Bender drifts through an Asteroid Field, a small fragment flies through his forehead and leaves a hole. When he is seen later and through-out the episode, the hole is gone. In addition, the Pioneer Plaque is gone a few scenes after he scratched it.
[edit] Cultural references
- The title is a pun on the title of the film Goodfellas, referring to the space pirates who set the episode's plot in motion, and Bender's newfound identity as a deity.
- Bender floating in space to Also sprach Zarathustra and to the Blue Danube Waltz is a reference to 2001: A Space Odyssey.
- Much of the plot is similar to Alan Dean Foster's short story Gift Of A Useless Man.
- The symbols that Bender carves into himself are similar to those on The Pioneer Plaque, except with Bender shown threatening the Human figures.
- The beer brewed by the Shrimpkins is Lordweiser, a reference to Budweiser.
- Bender speculates that the intelligence he meets might be "The remains of a space probe that collided with God." This most likely refers to either V'Ger from Star Trek: The Motion Picture or Nomad from the Star Trek episode "The Changeling".
- The opening subtitle "PLEASE TURN OFF ALL CELL PHONES AND TRICORDERS" refers to the Star Trek invention. The message itself is a parody of the announcement commonly made in theatres before a show begins, and on airplanes before takeoff.
- The tune that Bender plays on the piano while he sings is Chopin's Polonaise in C minor.
- When the robot "Helper" tries to cheer up Fry he tells him that Bender is back, he explains that Fry was happy for a brief moment; this resembles the Isaac Asimov short story "Liar!"
[edit] Production notes
- An early draft of this episode featured a story that had Bender land on Omicron Persei VIII and solve Lrrr and Ndnd's marriage problems. This story was later used in the fourth season episode "Spanish Fry".
- Coolio, who guest starred in the early 3rd season episode "A Tale of Two Santas", appears on the 2996 quarter. This was seen as a tribute to Coolio for being a great guest star.
- Billy West states on the audio commentary that the voice of "God" was based on the opening announcer from The Outer Limits.
