The Bots and the Bees

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Season 7 episode
Broadcast season 9 episode
The Bots and the Bees
The Bots and the Bees screenshot.png
Bender and his son, Ben, as seen in a video released by Countdown to Futurama.[1]
No.115
Production number7ACV01
Written byEric Horsted
Directed byStephen Sandoval
Title caption"Not sure if new episode or just rerun of episode I watched drunk"[2]
First air date20 June 2012[3]
Broadcast numberS09E01
Title referenceThe phrase "the birds and the bees"
Special guest(s)Wanda Sykes[4]
Additional
Commentary
(Transcript)
Transcript
AnimaticStoryboard

Pictures

Season 7
  1. The Bots and the Bees
  2. A Farewell to Arms
  3. Decision 3012
  4. The Thief of Baghead
  5. Zapp Dingbat
  6. The Butterjunk Effect
  7. The Six Million Dollar Mon
  8. Fun on a Bun
  9. Free Will Hunting
  10. Near-Death Wish
  11. 31st Century Fox
  12. Viva Mars Vegas
  13. Naturama
  14. Forty Percent Leadbelly
  15. 2-D Blacktop
  16. T.: The Terrestrial
  17. Fry and Leela's Big Fling
  18. The Inhuman Torch
  19. Saturday Morning Fun Pit
  20. Calculon 2.0
  21. Assie Come Home
  22. Leela and the Genestalk
  23. Game of Tones
  24. Murder on the Planet Express
  25. Stench and Stenchibility
  26. Meanwhile
← Season 6Season 8 →
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This article is about a future episode.
Content may change rapidly as the broadcast date draws near.

"The Bots and the Bees" is the one hundred and fifteenth episode of Futurama and the first of the seventh production season and the ninth broadcast season. It is scheduled to air on 20 June 2012[3] on Comedy Central. Planet Express gets a new soda machine and Bender impregnates it.[5]

Plot

Bender's son Ben is born - however, due to his mother not having arms, he lacks his father's talent in bending.[6] After drinking too much Slurm Loco, Fry starts glowing.[7] The Planet Express crew rush to register Ben at Bending State University, but extremely thick fog gets in their way.[8]

Production

On 20 December 2011, Volume 6 was released and, with it, a part of the animatic for the "The Bots and the Bees" was also released,[9] hinting that "The Bots and the Bees" was 7ACV01. In 2012, a few revelations concerning the episode were made. On 25 January, Eric Rogers revealed that the episode would air in June.[10] On the next day, he revealed that the production team had just seen the first full-color animation for the episode, calling it, "Un. Be. Lievable."[11] On the day after that, Aimee Steinberger revealed that the full-color animation had been screened on the Fox lot, that it received "lots of yays",[12] that she could not go due to her work on "7ACV14", that she watched it nonetheless and that she found it "lovely".[13] On 18 February, Eric Rogers revealed that the episode "Probably" was titled "The Bots and the Bees".[14] On 29 February, CGEF confirmed that it was and revealed its writer to be Eric Horsted and its director to be Stephen Sandoval.[15][16] On 25 April, MSN TV revealed the episode's air date.[3] On 3 May, Aimee Steinberger revealed that the episode was one of those which she had worked on.[17]

In May, Countdown to Futurama began releasing promotional material for the episode. It has so far released ten items: A version of the part of the animatic for the episode released with Volume 6 in color, but smaller and with different music, on 1 May,[1] two character designs for the new character Bev on 2 May,[4] a character design for an alien pet on 3 May,[18] two promotional pictures on 4 May,[19] two more character designs, the first for an aging Ben and the second for both Bender and Ben, on 5 May,[20] part of the storyboard showing the portion of the part of the animatic for the episode released with Volume 6 where Bender helps Ben rob the Bank of NNY on 6 May[21] and part of the storyboard showing Fry and Bender cheer up Ben on 7 May.[22]

Comedy Central's website released two other promotional pictures, the first showing Bender and Ben in a scene from the animatic and the second showing Bev, Bender and Ben in the Planet Express employee lounge.[23]

South Coast Today published an article about the Futurama season premiere on 16 June, revealing certain details about the episode.[8] Entertainment Weekly released another preview clip of the episode on 18 June.[24]

Image gallery

Reception

In 2012, the episode was praised twice. On 30 January, Eric Rogers revealed that his favourite episode from the ninth broadcast season was either this one, "A Farewell to Arms" or "31st Century Fox".[25] On 3 May, Aimee Steinberger said that Wanda Sykes - who Countdown to Futurama, on the previous day, revealed would voice Bev[4] - "[had done] a great job on Bev's voice".[17] Talking about the casting of Sykes, David X. Cohen stated: "We needed somebody who had kind of a, uh, forceful personality, who is very funny but also kind of forceful to stand up to Bender in their love scenes."[7] Brittany Frederick of Starpulse gave the episode a positive review, writing: "This may be one of Futurama's best episodes, because it's another episode that is as moving as it is funny. The show has the ability to be both hilarious and genuinely affecting, such as in the tear-jerking story of Seymour, Fry's dog, in "Jurassic Bark". Likewise, your eyes won't be dry at the end of 'The Bots and the Bees.' If you don't get choked up by what happens to Ben, you should check yourself for a pulse."[2]

Additional information

Trivia

  • BoozMart, the market which Bender and Ben rob, was originally called "Liquors" - according to the animatic. Its final name was first seen in the video released by Countdown to Futurama.

Allusions

Quotes

    Leela: Bender, I was wrong. You're a fine parent, and I want to apologise.
    Bender and Ben: Leela was wrong! Leela was wrong!

    Farnsworth: I hate to crush a boy's dreams, but... [upbeat] What the heck!

    Bender: Awh, I'm gonna call him Ben, after the first half of me, Bender!
    [Ben lets out a small, flaming burp.]
    Bender: That's my bastard!

    Farnsworth: He has only one expansion slot, and it holds his memory card! This robot will never bend.
    Bender: Don't tell my son what he can and can't do. You may know what's in his head, but you don't know what's in his heart!
    [The Professor opens Ben's chest compartment and looks inside.]
    Farnsworth: There's no slot in there either.
    Bender: I said shut up!

Goofs

  • In this episode, it is apparent that Bender does not know how "robot reproduction" works. However, in [[5ACV05, 5ACV06,

5ACV07, 5ACV08|The Beast With a Billion Backs]], Bender makes a deal with the Robot Devil, trading his own firstborn for the devil's Army of the Damned.

    • Indeed, Bender seems to be completely unaware of robot sex in the first place, even though he's dealt with many a hookerbot before.

Characters

(In alphabetic order)

References

  1. ^ a b Matt Tobey (01 May 2012). Countdown to Futurama: Here’s Your First Look at the Season Premiere! (Video). (Comedy Central Insider.) Retrieved on 01 May 2012.
  2. ^ a b Frederick, Brittany (13 June 2011). "'Futurama' Season 7 Premiere Advance Review: Is Bender The Father?". Starpulse. Retrieved on 14 June 2011.
  3. ^ a b c Futurama - Episode Guide. (MSN TV.) Retrieved on 26 April 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d Matt Tobey (02 May 2012). Countdown to Futurama: Bev Character Design. (Comedy Centrl [sic].) Retrieved on 02 May 2012.
  5. ^ "'The episode we just recorded, which I believe but can't guarantee will be the season premiere in 2012, Planet Express gets a new soda machine, so that's breaking news, and Bender impregnates it. So I think that will be the premiere for 2012.'"Cohen, David X.
    Cohen, David X. (23 June 2011). Futurama's David X. Cohen Speaks From The World of Tomorrow!. Retrieved on 23 June 2011.
  6. ^ Animatic:The Bots and the Bees.
  7. ^ a b c Comedy Central (06 May 2011). iTunes - Podcasts - Futurama: Countdown to Futurama by Comedy Central. (iTunes Store.) Retrieved on 10 May 2011.
  8. ^ a b c DeArruda, James (16 June 2024). Spoiler alert!: Season premiere of 'Futurama' delivers just what the doctor ordered. Retrieved on 19 June 2024.
  9. ^ 20th Century Fox (25 December 2011). Futurama Bots and The Bees Sneak Preview. (YouTube.) Retrieved on 01 March 2012.
  10. ^ Eric Rogers (25 January 2012). Kitchelfilms. (Twitter.) Retrieved on 26 January 2012.
  11. ^ Eric Rogers (26 January 2012). Kitchelfilms. (Twitter.) Retrieved on 26 January 2012.
  12. ^ Aimee Steinberger (27 January 2012). aimeekitty. (Twitter.) Retrieved on 27 January 2012.
  13. ^ Aimee Steinberger (27 January 2012). aimeekitty. (Twitter.) Retrieved on 27 January 2012.
  14. ^ Eric Rogers (18 February 2012). Kitchelfilms. (Twitter.) Retrieved on 18 February 2012.
  15. ^ Episode Guide: 7 ACV. (CGEF.) 29 February 2012. Retrieved on 29 February 2012.
  16. ^ "Just Fan" (29 February 2012). "Futurama: Futurama News (pre-season 7)". (PEEL.) Retrieved on 29 February 2012.
  17. ^ a b Aimee Steinberger (03 May 2012). aimeekitty. (Twitter.) Retrieved on 03 May 2012.
  18. ^ a b Matt Tobey (03 May 2012). Countdown to Futurama: Alien Pet Design. (Comedy Centrl.) Retrieved on 03 May 2012.
  19. ^ Matt Tobey (04 May 2012). Countdown to Futurama: Glowing Fry and Wrecked Cockpit Stills. (Comedy Centrl.) Retrieved on 04 May 2012.
  20. ^ Matt Tobey (05 May 2012). Countdown to Futurama: Ben Aging and Bender Bike Sketches. (Comedy Centrl.) Retrieved on 05 May 2012.
  21. ^ Matt Tobey (06 May 2012). Countdown to Futurama: Ben and the Bank Storyboard. (Comedy Centrl.) Retrieved on 06 May 2012.
  22. ^ Matt Tobey (07 May 2012). Countdown to Futurama Bonus: Cheering Up Ben Storyboard. (Comedy Centrl.) Retrieved on 07 May 2012.
  23. ^ Michelle Rosenblatt. Comedy Central Press | Futurama. (Comedy Central.) Retrieved on 05 June 2012.
  24. ^ a b Snierson, Dan (18 June 2024). "'Futurama': Bender impregnates a soda machine! -- EXCLUSIVE VIDEO". EW.com. Retrieved on 18 June 2024.
  25. ^ Eric Rogers (30 January 2012). Kitchelfilms. (Twitter.) Retrieved on 31 January 2012.