A Pharaoh to Remember

"A Pharaoh to Remember" is the forty-ninth episode of Futurama, the seventeenth of the third production season and the seventh of the fourth broadcast season. It aired 10 March, 2002 on FOX. Bender is getting desperate for being remembered when he's gone, and a trip to Osiris 4, where he becomes Pharaoh seems to be just the satisfaction he needs.

Act I: "This is the worst funeral ever."
Bender is outraged when he robs a swimming pool, an act which should land him on the nightly TV news, but no one realizes it was him, with witnesses mistakenly calling the criminal human. He then makes a variety of attempts to become famous, only to be ignored or ridiculed by witnesses. He heads to work, depressed, where the rest of the Planet Express crew try to cheer him up by throwing him a funeral to show how he'll be remembered. He is highly disappointed by the group's efforts and becomes angered by their idiocy. This is especially true with Dr. Zoidberg, who sings Danny Boy, only to be hit in the head with Bender's martini glass. After the disappointing funeral, Bender storms off, outraged that no one will remember him when he dies. The next day, the crew has to deliver a giant sandstone block to the planet Osiris 4. After the block is signed for, they are taken as slaves of the Pharaoh Hamenthotep.

Act II: "Quit giving the slave drivers pointers."
On the boat to the work site, Bender admires the Pharaohs' tombs and realizes that everyone would remember him if he could have a memorial like them. He begins to give the slave drivers pointers on how to make slaves work harder and faster to get the job done sooner. Hermenthotip arrives and is happy with the work of the slaves and just as he is about to free them he is crushed by his statue's nose and killed. It is announced the pharaoh's succesor will be determined the next day after consulting the Wall of Prophecy. The slaves all party in their quarters since only that night they're not slaves of anyone. Bender is upset by the death, but changes the Wall of Prophecy to make it look like he is supposed to be the Pharaoh's successor. After a short ceremony to determine the new Pharaoh looking at the wall everyone believes Bender to be the next pharaoh, so he is chosen, despite his crude drawing on the Wall of Prophecy.

Act III: "Crawl pigs."
Bender becomes a crueler pharaoh than Hamenthotep, and makes the slaves work hard to build a much larger statue (1 Billion cubits tall, or 284,000 miles) of him so he will be remembered for all eternity. Bender is unhappy with the statue because it is so big, people will probably remember the statue instead of him. He demands to have it torn down so that the slaves can start over and build a smaller statue. The slave drivers have had enough of Bender's orders and attack him, tying him up like a mummy and throwing him in his tomb, announcing that he suddenly died. He requests his loyal servants to be entombed with him, and Fry and Leela are thrown in as well.

Act IV: "Let's blow this tomb."
Bender’s tomb turns out to have a working casino in it, along with an eternity's worth of liquor. Fry and Leela try some pomegranate schnapps and determine it is 100% alcohol. Leela wants to use the explosive alcohol to blow the tomb open and escape, but Bender refuses to allow her. Leela and Fry pretend to forget who Bender is, and he then reluctantly agrees. Moving all the liquor to one wall, Leela uses Bender's wrappings as a makeshift fuse and blow the tomb open. The explosion causes the rest of the statue to fall apart, saddening Bender. Leela tells him that he will still be remembered as a tyrannical ruler, even though there is no monument left. As they return home, Bender mentions that he will try to take over Earth next.

Trivia

 * The non-human people of Osiris 4 are based on various Egyptian gods.
 * Fry says, "call it a hunch, but !". This is an oft-used phrase in Star Wars.
 * A cubit is eighteen inches, which means one billion cubits is about 457,200 kilometers, about 36 times Earth's diameter, about 1/3 the diameter of the sun, or a little larger than the distance between the Earth and the Moon.
 * Leela's sandals are shaped like her boots.

Allusions

 * An Elton John parody sings many of John's songs during the funeral of the Pharaoh.
 * Abbott and Costello are inscribed into the wall. The purpose of the drawings was explained when the newly enslaved Leela and Fry are given a tour of the underground.
 * After becoming Pharaoh, Bender enters to address the slaves in the manner of Steve Martin in his famous "King Tut" routine.
 * Fry imitates Costello's scared reaction when he encounters mummy Bender.
 * The snakes beneath the desert are taken from Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Goofs

 * The Pharaoh's aide mention that they travelled to Egypt many years ago, but if that is true, how could they have learnt of space travel from them?
 * One such answer could be that the Egyptians visited them first, and taught them space travel, so they could visit the Egyptians.
 * A more likely answer is that the explanation is merely an allusion to Stargate.
 * Before the building is destroyed Sal is wearing a green shirt. Then in the next scene he is wearing his usual white shirt.
 * Hamenthotep's organs that are lowered into his tomb included four eyes.
 * Hamenthotep wasn't Human, he just looked Human. He might have had eyes somewhere other than his Head.

Alien Language Sightings
Time: 14:30

Location: On the Wall of Prophecy

Language: AL1

Translation: Rock on! Eddie Rosas

Characters

 * Amy
 * Australian Guy
 * Bender
 * Fry
 * Hermes
 * Leela
 * Linda
 * Morbo
 * Debut: Osirian High Priest
 * Debut: Pharaoh Hamenthotep
 * Prof. Farnsworth
 * Sal
 * Scruffy
 * Zoidberg
 * Preacherbot

Episode Credits

 * Writer
 * Ron Weiner
 * Director
 * Mark Ervin
 * Voice Actors
 * Billy West
 * Katey Sagal
 * John DiMaggio
 * Tress MacNeille
 * Maurice LaMarche
 * David Herman
 * Phil LaMarr
 * Lauren Tom
 * DVD Commentary
 * Matt Groening
 * David X. Cohen
 * Rich Moore
 * Ron Weiner
 * John DiMaggio
 * Billy West