Less than Hero

"Less than Hero" is the fifty-eighth episode of Futurama, the fourth of the fourth production season and the sixth of the fifth broadcast season. It aired 2 March, 2003 on FOX. When Fry and Leela discover a mysterious cream that gives them unusual powers, they form a Superhero team along with Bender.

Act I: "Ready for your big trip to the surface?"
Leela's parents are going to visit the surface the next weekend, and as they are mutants who are not allowed above ground for legal reasons, Leela visits Citihall to get them special one-day surface permits. Meanwhile, the Professor, who has gone temporarily insane, is getting a supercollider from πkea, which turns out to be exhausting to assemble - Fry and Leela are sore all over and receive treatment by Zoidberg with genuine Miracle Cream. The supercollider super explodes, and the Professor asks Leela and Fry to take it back.

On the way to return the collider they are attacked by a mugger who attempts to kill them, but are able to defeat him with powers usually not found with humans. They find out that the Miracle Cream temporarily causes superpowers in humans, including invulnerability, super strength and "lickety speed". A fourth power, the ability to command the loyalty of sea creatures, is not expressed and Zoidberg refuses to obey them. As they have super powers and are Americans, they decide to form a team of super heros, including Bender who provides the costumes and as a robot already has some sort of super powers.

They choose appropriate names: Fry becomes Captain Yesterday, Bender is Superking and Leela chooses to be Clobberella - thus the New Justice Team is forged and fights crimes all over New New York. The team becomes well known but all three are anxious to protect their real identities, although sometimes Fry needs reminding.

Act II: "Attention, all crooks, lowlifes and lawbreakers!"
In civilian guise, the crew returns to Citihall pick up the special one day permits for Leela's parents. While they are talking with the Mayor, he learns of a dastardly plot. He uses a secret button to call for the New Justice Team, so they have to make a quick exit to reappear in their super hero costumes.

The Mayor warns them that at precisely 9 A.M. tomorrow, the Museum of Natural History will be robbed by the super villain Zookeeper and his gang of highly trained animals. Their target: the priceless Quantum Gemerald. Leela makes good use of the timing, and arranges for her parents to meet her at the museum at 10 A.M., an hour after the robbery.

The next morning the Zookeeper and his gang turn up an hour late. The New Justice Team foils his attempt to steal the Gemerald, but the Zookeeper escapes while they are protecting it. Leela's parents witness the action, but since she is still in costume she cannot talk to them without revealing her secret identity. They return to the sewers disappointed, thinking their daughter is too ashamed of them to meet in public.

Act III: "Mom, Dad - I'm Clobberella!"
Seeing their disappointment, Leela visits her parents in the sewers to offer an excuse. Her attempts backfire, and further anguish her when her parents see through her excuses and suggest they fully understand her shame. She's finally guilted into revealing her secret identity.

Morris's bragging inadvertently reveals the team's identities to the Zookeeper, who kidnaps Leela's parents to coerce the New Justice Team into stealing the Quantum Gemerald for him. This is complicated by the fact that they have run out of Miracle Cream, and they have to pull off the heist without their super powers. They deliver the gem to the Zookeeper, and Leela's parents are released. As they have now committed a crime and are out of Miracle Cream anyway, Bender and Fry commit a few more crimes under the cover of their super hero identities.

Trivia

 * The phone number of Leela's parents is 1566.
 * This could just be the last four digits of the number.
 * Assembling the supercollider requires a hammer, a screwdriver, and a bending unit.
 * Bender uses his left hand as a circular saw.
 * The binary that pops up when Bender is punched by the kangaroo translates to the letter J.

Allusions

 * SewerCom is a reference to SkyCom.
 * πkea is a spoof of, a Swedish furniture manufacturer known for its do-it-yourself products that are sometimes shoddy or missing the parts required to assemble it.
 * The "ability to command the loyalty of sea creatures" power that Leela surmises she and Fry have gained (and ultimately they do not have) is a nod to Aquaman, who is (in)famous for having this as one of his main abilities.
 * The song at the end credits names "Superking, Clobberella, and all the rest" even though there was just Captain Yesterday left. This may be a reference to the original, which names all the characters and then "the rest" even though only the Professor and Mary Ann are left. The same reference is made in "Rebirth".

Continuity

 * The title caption for this episode says that Futurama is "soon to be a major religion". Star Trek, which is referenced in nearly every episode, will be revealed to have become a religion centuries ago in "Where No Fan Has Gone Before".
 * Superking's crown looks suspiciously like the one Bender stole from the statue in "A Bicyclops Built for Two".
 * Two mermaids, presumably from the "The Deep South", are seen as Fry chases down the purse snatcher.
 * The Zookeeper's gigantic, land-walking piranha is seen wearing Dr. Wernstrom's patented reverse scuba suit, sans the rubber suit and air tank (which would have obscured its menacing piranha visage otherwise). This suit was first seen in "A Big Piece of Garbage".

Goofs

 * On the πkea box is the letter ', which is common in Danish, Faroese and Norwegian but not in Swedish (which uses ' for the same sound).
 * This is actually a common mistake in portraying any written Scandinavian language.
 * When the New Justice Team is fighting the Zookeeper and his animals in the museum, the clock reads 9:35 when it should be after 10:00 as Leela says.
 * The clock could just be wrong, though.

Alien language sightings
Time: 4:40 Location: Miracle cream Language: AL1 Translation: Keep out of reach of children under the age of five hundred. For best results, sacrifice a small mammal xanroc, then apply evenly to interior of eyeball. Would you like to sell Dr. FlimFlam products? Contact a representative at a covered wagon near you.

Characters

 * Debut: πkea Robot
 * 7¹¹ Clerk
 * Debut: Andrew
 * Hermes
 * Amy
 * Professor Farnsworth
 * Fry
 * Bender
 * Leela
 * Turanga Morris
 * Turanga Munda
 * Randy Munchnik
 * Organ Dealer
 * Petunia
 * Mayor C. Randall Poopenmeyer
 * Debut: Tour Guide
 * Debut: 'tude Guard
 * Leg Mutant
 * Raoul Inglis
 * Debut: The Zookeeper
 * Zoidberg

Episode Credits

 * Writer
 * Ron Weiner
 * Director
 * Susan Dietter
 * Voice Actors
 * Billy West
 * Katey Sagal
 * John DiMaggio
 * Maurice LaMarche
 * Tress MacNeille
 * David Herman
 * DVD Commentary
 * Matt Groening
 * David X. Cohen
 * Rich Moore
 * Ron Weiner
 * Susie Dietter
 * Billy West
 * Maurice LaMarche