Benderama

"Benderama" is the one hundredth and fifth episode of Futurama, the seventeenth of the sixth production season and the second of the eighth broadcast season. It aired 23 June, 2011, immediately following "Neutopia".

Story
The Professor invents a machine that takes in any object and creates two half-sized copies, consuming matter provided to it in order to do so. He uses the machine to create a number of sweaters suited to his shrunken, old-aged self and sets Bender on the task of folding them. Bender looks for a shortcut and creates duplicates of himself using the machine to do the job for him. This soon escalates and eventually there are trillions of increasingly smaller copies of Bender creating copies of themselves until eventually they threaten to consume all of the matter on Earth.

Production
According to the table read, "Benderama" will feature a new episode of The Scary Door and introduce the unattractive giant monster, a character voiced by special guest Patton Oswalt.

During May and June 2011, Countdown to Futurama released six items of promotional material for the episode: concept art of the unattractive giant monster (together with confirmation that he will be voiced by Patton Oswalt) on 9 May, a promotional picture featuring various copies of Bender on 10 May, part of the storyboard showing the Planet Express crew prepare to deliver a package to the monster on 11 May, a promotional picture featuring three Benders riding a bicycle on 12 May, a promotional picture featuring a fight between a giant Bender and the monster on 13 May, and a video clip featuring the crew discussing the many Benders by the conference table on 15 June.

On 21 June, posted another video, this one featuring the monster destroying New New York.

Reception
In a preview of "Neutopia" and "Benderama", Katie Schenkel from CliqueClack TV commented that these two episodes "[weren't] [her] favourite". Reflecting on "Benderama", Schenkel commented that the end of the episode had its own plot, after the main plot had been resolved, as if the main plot wasn't long enough, in addition, Schenkel commented that she felt that the guest star, Patton Oswalt – while excellent in his performance – was given a throwaway role. Of the two episodes, Schenkel preferred "Benderama" over "Neutopia".

Trivia

 * It is among the few one-word titled media.
 * "Benderama" is one of only three season 6 episodes to include the full opening sequence, the other two being "Rebirth" and "That Darn Katz!". In the other episodes, the opening sequence is abridged and the opening cartoon is cut to save time.

Allusions

 * The title is a pun of Bender and Futurama.
 * The Scary Door narrator says "A picture of yourself in a boat on a river", a play on the first line of ' song "" - "Picture yourself in a boat on a river".
 * Bender says, "Hi, I'm Bender, this is my robot Bender and this is my other robot Bender." This is a reference to the TV series , specifically the character of Larry and his brothers Darryl, whom he always introduced, "Hi, I'm Larry, this is my brother Darryl and this is my other brother Darryl."

Continuity



 * A new episode of The Scary Door appears. The Scary Door was first seen in "A Head in the Polls".
 * Braino, a respected genious and one of the Professor's idols, appears on the $30 bill. Braino previously appeared mentioned, on a bust and on a Vincian statue in "The Duh-Vinci Code".
 * Two of the multiplied Benders are made of gold. Bender has previously shown interest of the idea of coating himself in gold, to the degree that he once flipped a coin deciding if he would do it or not. It came up tails and so he didn't do it, but to the parallel Bender in "The Farnsworth Parabox" it came up heads, and so he did it.
 * When the Professor shows the mathematical formula, showing how the Benders multiply, the only ones understanding it are Amy and Hermes. Amy has studied advanced mathematics and physics at university, and became a doctor of applied physics in "That Darn Katz!". Hermes is a bureaucrat and is often seen calculating.
 * The fembot Ruth, who previously appeared alongside another fembot in "The Futurama Holiday Spectacular", appears in minimal size, tricking a small Bender into purchasing her promiscuous services, only to have him killed by a mousetrap. Seeing as "The Futurama Holiday Spectacular" in entirety was non-canon, this is her first canon appearance.

Characters

 * Amy
 * Bender
 * Debut: Bender duplicates
 * Braino
 * Debut: Dr. Judy Lesterman
 * Fry
 * Debut: The unattractive giant monster
 * Galactic entity (voice only)
 * Hermes
 * Kif
 * Leela
 * Linda
 * Morbo
 * Professor Farnsworth
 * Ruth
 * The Scary Door narrator
 * Scruffy
 * Zapp
 * Zoidberg