Difference between revisions of "Raging Bender"

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*The ad announcing Bender's persona change to "The Gender Bender" starts with Bender standing on the planet Earth with an [[Old Freebie]] flag waving behind him. This pose is identical to the George Reeves Superman pose at the start of each episode of the 1950s television series ''The Adventures of Superman''.
*The ad announcing Bender's persona change to "The Gender Bender" starts with Bender standing on the planet Earth with an [[Old Freebie]] flag waving behind him. This pose is identical to the George Reeves Superman pose at the start of each episode of the 1950s television series ''The Adventures of Superman''.
*[[Hattie McDoogal|Hattie]] says "{{w|Let's All Go to the Lobby|let's all go to the lobby}}".
*[[Hattie McDoogal|Hattie]] says "{{w|Let's All Go to the Lobby|let's all go to the lobby}}".
*Whilst fighting Destructor, Bender adopts the Jin Ji Du Li (golden rooster stands on one leg) aka the crane stance. This is used in several martial arts as well as by the Karate Kid.


==== Ultimate Robot Fighters ====
==== Ultimate Robot Fighters ====

Revision as of 00:18, 2 July 2015

Season 2 episode
Raging Bender
Raging Bender.jpg
Bender "fighting" Destructor
No.21
Production number2ACV08
Written byLewis Morton
Directed byRon Hughart
Title captionNominated for three Glemmys
First air date27 February, 2000
Broadcast numberS02E12
Title referenceThe 1980 film Raging Bull
Opening cartoon"Hollywood Capers"
Special guest(s)Rich Little
Additional
Commentary
(Transcript)
Transcript

Pictures

Season 2
  1. I Second that Emotion
  2. Brannigan, Begin Again
  3. A Head in the Polls
  4. Xmas Story
  5. Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?
  6. The Lesser of Two Evils
  7. Put Your Head on My Shoulders
  8. Raging Bender
  9. A Bicyclops Built for Two
  10. A Clone of My Own
  11. How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back
  12. The Deep South
  13. Bender Gets Made
  14. Mother's Day
  15. The Problem with Popplers
  16. Anthology of Interest I
  17. War Is the H-Word
  18. The Honking
  19. The Cryonic Woman
← Season 1Season 3 →

"Raging Bender" is the twenty-first episode of Futurama, the eighth of the second production season and the twelfth of the second broadcast season. It aired on 27 February, 2000, on Fox. It guest-stars Rich Little as himself in a jar. After accidentally beating up the Masked Unit, Bender becomes the new favourite at Ultimate Robot Fighting League.

The Story

Act I: "Just walk around not wearing a helmet"

Hermes returns from his vacation and seems to have acquired a unique souvenir: a Brain Slug. As the rest of the crew wants to evade any possibility of assimilation, they all go to the movies. After some discussion, they decide to see All My Circuits: The Movie. Bender is angry about another robot with an exceptionally high head sitting in front of him and teases him continuously, until the stranger's patience is exhausted. He changes into a fighting monstrosity and chases Bender across the theatre, but when he has him cornered he slips on Bender's dropped popcorn (with extra motor oil) and is knocked out. It turns out the stranger was The Masked Unit, a member of the Ultimate Robot Fighting League. As it happens, the Commissioner of the URFL is present and enrols Bender on the spot to fight in the League.

Act II: "Bender the Offender"

Bender is very proud of being a member of the league, until he learns that Ultimate Robot Fighting is the most brutal form of competition in the galaxy. He wants to chicken out, but Leela stops him from doing it and tells a story about her youth in the orphanarium. When she was training Arcturan Kung Fu, she had a sexist trainer, Master Fnog, who deemed her inappropriate for championship because she was female, because women lacked the "Will of the Warrior". She wants Bender to seize his chance to be a champion and takes on the task of training him up for the big fight. At his first big night, Bender wins the fight after a bad start and against his expectations, and is told afterwards that all the fights are rigged and the most popular robot wins. As Bender is not only popular, but lowest-common-denominator, a great career starts. As Bender the Offender, he easily knocks out every fighter of the league, and as he knows the secret of success, he neglects his training, to the dismay of Leela. As his popularity drops, however, the league changes his persona to The Gender Bender and orders him to lose next week's title match. As his opponent is the robotic armoured tank Destructor, Bender reluctantly agrees, but he begs Leela to help him win this fight. At first, she refuses because Bender didn't want her help earlier, but as she learns that Destructor's trainer is none other than her tormentor Fnog, she is eager to train Bender and teach him to fight like a girl.

Act III: "It's Bendering Time!"

The great title match takes place at Madison Cube Garden, with commentaries by Rich Little and George Foreman. Fnog is making his little jokes, making Leela even more determined to beat him somehow. The fight does not go well, as Destructor is punching Bender at will and without remorse. Leela finally gives in and calls for Fnog to call his pupil off, then notices that Fnog has disappeared and a little antenna has taken his place. She locates Fnog under the ring, wearing a cybersuit that makes Destructor mimic his exact movements. She is enraged, especially as he teases her again, and attacks him. However, Fnog manages to take the offensive and is just about to deliver the final blow. Leela blocks that punch and manages to divert his fist to the ground, and accordingly, Destructor does the same. The fist goes through the floor of the ring and knocks Fnog out. As he falls over, so does Destructor, flattening Bender in the process - Bender has lost the fight. But Leela is still proud of him, as she got to beat up someone who hurt her feelings in high school.

Additional Info

October - 2007 Calendar

Trivia

  • Among the movies in the theatre are the following:
  • "All My Circuits: The Movie" credits include
    • Directed by Directing Unit 4
    • Written by Writing Unit 5 and Writing Unit 12 & Joe Eszterhas
    • Based on Original Characters by Original Character Unit 17
  • This is the second time Hermes has been attacked by Brain Slugs, the first being a brief attachment in "A Head in the Polls".
  • Leela uses Rust-O-Leum to prepare Bender for his first fight.
  • Near the end of the episode when Amy says "Fry, where's your brain slug?", her voice is a bit lower than it usually is.
  • Aliens from Planet M-14

Continuity

Goofs

  • Destructor continuously changes size (seen through comparisons) throughout the episode.
  • Bender says in another episode that he weighs two tons, yet in this he is said to weigh 520 pounds.
    • Since in "A Flight to Remember" Leela says "two metric tons overweight", tons could be a different amount than metric tons in the future.
      • The ship was overweight when both Bender and the Countess de la Roca were holding onto the ship. So it is possible that the countess weighed two metric tons or even more.

Allusions

  • The title caption says that Futurama is "Nominated for three Glemmys", an allusion to the Emmy Awards.
  • The movie theatre's name is Loew's aleph-null-plex, including the aleph-null mathematics symbol.
  • All of the movies at the theatre are spoofs of popular movies from the 20th century:
    • Planet of the Clams is a reference to Planet of the Apes about "an upside down world where lobster is slave to clam".
    • Galaxy Wars is a parody of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
    • Quizblorg, Quizblorg, a foreign film with subtitles. Probably a reference to Rochelle, Rochelle, a fictional film often referred to in Seinfeld.
    • When a Man Loves a Smizmar, a reference to When a Man Loves a Woman. Also, a Smizmar is a term used in Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch to describe the person who caused the feelings allowing a male of Kif's species to become pregnant.
    • Shaft on Africon-9 is a spoof of Shaft in Africa.
    • The opening of All my Circuits: The Movie is similar to those of James Bond films.
    • The robot outline who speaks to Fry in the theater is taken from Mystery Science Theater 3000.
  • The Ultimate Robot Fighting is a reference to the UFC, in name, although the actual product is much more similar to professional wrestling, given the characters, ring, merchandising, character changes and predetermined outcomes that are shown.
  • The characters who serve as Bender's opponents are typical of many professional wrestling characters.
  • Bender's change to the Gender Bender bears a passing resemblance to Gorgeous George, one of professional wrestling's first "gimmick" characters.
    • The robo-wrestler that the Masked Unit melts during the old-timey newsreel is called "Gorgeous Gonks", whose name, build, and outfit also resemble Gorgeous George.
  • "RobotMania XXII" is a parody of WrestleMania.
  • "Bender 3:16" is a parody of a popular wrestling catchphrase "Austin 3:16", which in turn is derived from the Biblical reference John 3:16.
  • Rich Little is commentating at the Ultimate Robot Fighting matches and doing an impression of Howard Cosell. George Foreman is the co-host and makes reference to his George Foreman Grill.
  • Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo from Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) appear in silhouette in the movie theatre (as they normally do on their TV show). Crow's harsh demand Fry not talk during the movie is an ironic statement since the entire crux of their show is to talk during the movie. Neither Joel Robinson nor Mike Nelson can be seen though, and Crow is not voiced by either Trace Beaulieu nor Bill Corbett.
  • The ad announcing Bender's persona change to "The Gender Bender" starts with Bender standing on the planet Earth with an Old Freebie flag waving behind him. This pose is identical to the George Reeves Superman pose at the start of each episode of the 1950s television series The Adventures of Superman.
  • Hattie says "let's all go to the lobby".
  • Whilst fighting Destructor, Bender adopts the Jin Ji Du Li (golden rooster stands on one leg) aka the crane stance. This is used in several martial arts as well as by the Karate Kid.

Ultimate Robot Fighters

Quotes

    Professor Farnsworth: Good news, everyone! I've taught the toaster to feel love. And Hermes returns from his vacation today.
    Hermes: [With Brain Slug on his head, monotonously.] Good morning people.
    Amy: So how was the Spleef Nebula?
    Hermes: The flight had a stopover at the Brain Slug Planet. Hermes liked it so much he decided to stay of his own free will.
    Fry: Hermes has all the fun! [He notices Brain Slug.] Wait a second! He's got a Brain Slug on his head!
    Leela: Shhh! You're gonna get us all assimilated!
    Amy: Just act normal and switch to a garlic shampoo.
    Hermes: On to new business. Today's mission is for you all to go to the Brain Slug Planet.
    Zoidberg: What are we going to do there?
    Hermes: Just walk around not wearing a helmet.

    Bender: Float like a floatbot, sting like an automatic stinging machine!

    Bender: Let's commence preparations for rumbling!

    Leela: No, you've got to do it. I don't care how suicidal it is.
    Fry: Hey, how come that when I want to do fun stuff that will kill me, you're against it?
    Leela: This is more important than that marble eating contest, Fry.

    Bender: You mean I'm not a great fighter? I just won cause I'm popular?
    Commissioner: Bingo!
    Bender: Woo-hoo, I'm popular!
    Commissioner: In fact, you're more than popular - you're pure lowest common denominator!
    Bender: Go Bender! Go Bender! Go Bender!

    Fry: Man, I thought Ultimate Robot Fighting was real, like pro-wrestling, but it turns out it's fixed, like boxing.

    Destructor: I will destroy you! YAAARGH! And stop calling me!

    Fnog: You were an excellent student. Too bad I was a lousy teacher!

    The Foreigner: [Taunting the crowd.] I am not from here! I have my own customs! Look at my crazy passport!

    Bender: It's one thing to win a fixed fight there's dignity in that. But to lose? And in this atrocity? I can't do it! Leela, you gotta train me to win.
    Leela: No way! If you wouldn't take my help when you didn't need it, why should I give it to you now when you do need it?
    Professor Farnsworth: What the hell are you talking about?
    Leela: I don't know. But I'm not helping.

Characters

(In alphabetic order)

Episode Credits