Obsoletely Fabulous
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| Futurama episode | |
| "Obsoletely Fabulous" | |
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| Episode no. | 68 |
| Prod. code | 4ACV14 |
| Airdate | July 27, 2003 |
| Writer(s) | Dan Vebber |
| Director | Dwayne Carey-Hill |
| Opening subtitle | You can't prove it won't happen |
| Opening cartoon | unknown |
| Season 4 January 2002 – August 2003 |
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| List of all Futurama episodes... | |
"Obsoletely Fabulous" is the fourteenth episode of the fourth production season of Futurama.
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[edit] Plot summary
Feeling unwanted after Professor Farnsworth buys a new Robot 1-X model, Bender decides to get a personality upgrade so he can be compatible with Robot 1-X. During his upgrade, however, Bender changes his mind and leaps out the window.
He turns a 'No boating' sign into a boat and heads out to sea, only to wash up on an uncharted island. At first he is in desperate need of technology and goes to great lengths to find an energy source for his modern tools he has brought.
Bender wakes one morning to find four outdated robots are living on the island and befriends them. After living with the outdated robots, Bender realises he doesn't need technology anymore. He then orders his companions to replace his metal robotics with a wooden body. Bender leads his friends to New New York in a wooden submersible, where they wage war on technology. The band of five are surprisingly successful, but Bender reveals there is one more thing they need to destroy: Robot 1-X.
They head to Planet Express, and after destroying the powerlines, Bender breaks into the hangar, where he confronts his technologically-stricken former crew. Bender has his robotic friends throw large boulders at Robot 1-X, but they miss and hit the Planet Express ship, which falls and pins the crew down to the floor. A candle falls onto the leaking gas from the ship, causing a ring of fire to form around the crew. Bender tries to reach for the extinguisher, but his wooden body is eaten away by termites. Failing to save his friends himself, Bender orders Robot 1X to save the crew and when it succeeds, he accepts the new robot.
At the end of the episode, it is revealed that Bender's adventure was just a dream he was experiencing during his upgrade. Bender starts to doubt if his life is nothing but a figment of his or someone else's imagination, but finally settles with the idea that "reality is what you make of it", while marching off into a whimsical fantasy land.
[edit] Continuity
- Roberto and Fatbot appear amongst the many robots receiving upgrades. iZac from "A Flight to Remember" also appears in the crowd at the Robot 1-X unveiling.
[edit] Production notes
- The storyboarding of this episode was done around the time of the September 11, 2001 attacks, making much of the team feel awkward during the fire sequences.
[edit] Cultural references
- The title is a reference to the British sitcom Absolutely Fabulous.
- At the robot trade show at the beginning of the episode a small R2-D2 style robot can be seen among other items on the shelves.
- One of the obsolete robots is named Sinclair 2K, a reference to the Timex Sinclair 1000 computer (the American version of the UK Sinclair ZX81), which had 2K of memory; the robot is modelled on Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet.
- The cartridge unit robot is similar to the 2-XL, a talking robot educational toy made by Mego in the 1970s.
- The waterwheel-powered robot is named Lisa, a reference to the Apple Lisa.
- Cast Away is referenced several times.
- Bender references Canadian progressive rock band Rush, known for their lyrics about futuristic fantasy.
- According to the DVD commentary, Robot 1-X's design was inspired by the iMac.
- A cut scene has a robotic band playing at the convention, where the drummer chokes on his own vomit. Although the drummer is named "Keith Moo" (an obvious reference to The Who's drummer Keith Moon) the reference is actually of Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham.
- The Robot 1-X model seems to follow the Three Laws of Robotics much more closely than previous robots seen in the series.
- The episode's plot echoes those of Ambrose Bierce's An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and Robert Sheckley's The Store of the Worlds.
