Raging Bender

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Raging Bender				Written by Lewis Morton
					Directed by Ron Hughart
==============================================================================
Production code: 2ACV08			Original Airdate: 28-Jan-2000

TV Guide synopsis:
    Bender gets involved in Ultimate Robot Fighting -- but his
    big title match ends up as a rematch between Leela and an
    old adversary.

Title Sequence

Opening theme promotion:
	Nominated for Three Glemmys

Opening theme cartoon:
	[[[A cat of some sort? hanging/bouncing from a tree limb.]]] 

Did You Notice...

... the adolescent robot at the popcorn counter had acne in
    the form of Red LEDs?
... Bender insults the "flabby" female robot in the movie even
    though he has been known to enjoy the company of Rubenesque
    robots such as The Crushinator [1ACV02] and the lap-dancer
    [2ACV06])?
... the tune Bender hums as he kicks the seat in front of him is
    the one sung by Amy in [2ACV07]?
... Smizzmars, whatever they are, are mentioned twice?
... "The Foreigner" has a New New York accent?
... Bender weighs 525 pounds (in a tutu)?

Haynes Lee:
... the winner from last week's Miss Galaxy Pagaent [2ACV06] has
    returned to her home planet Paramacium to boost the morale of
    troops who are assembling to wipe out planet Earth?
... Bender was made by Mom's Friendly Robot Factory in Mexico?

John Plasket:
... the film goes out of frame, an oft-used gag on The Simpsons?

Voice Credits

- Starring
  - Billy West (Fry, Dr. Zoidberg, Prof. Farnsworth)
  - Katey Sagal (Leela)
  - John DiMaggio (Bender)
- Special Guest Voices
   - Rich Little
   - George Foreman
- Also Starring
   - Maurice LaMarche (Calculon)
   - Phil LaMarr (Hermes)
   - Lauren Tom (Amy)

Movie (and other) References

+ Raging Bull (Movie)
  - Title.
  - Slow-motion black & white punch with teeth coming out.
+ Red Dwarf (TV Series)
  - Lurve Toaster -- a relation of Talkie Toaster perhaps?  {af}
+ Star Wars the fictional film
  - Galaxy Wars the historical documentary.  {jp}
+ Planet of the Apes (Movie)
  - Zoidberg wanted to see Planet of the Clams.  {hl}
+ Mystery Science Theater 3000 (TV Series)
  - Crow T. Robot says, "Shh, don't talk during the movie."  {fjb}
  - There's a silhouette of Tom Servo along with Crow.  {jk}
+ James Bond movie intros
  - The intro to All My Circuits:  The Movie
+ Mr. Payback (Movie)
  - Film viewers voting for what happens next.  {jk}
+ Transformers toys, TV show, movies, etc.
  - The Masked Unit's transformation
+ Muppets (TV and Movies)
  - The "flabby" robot kisses like Miss Piggy, saying, "moi."  {jd}
+ Robot Wars (TV Show)
  - Ultimate Robot Fighting is reminiscent of it.  {af}
+ Star Wars and Karate Kid (Movies)
  - Fnog is a bit like a cross between Yoda and Mr. Miyagi.  {af}
+ Fantastic Four (Comic Books)
  - "It's Benderin' Time" from "It's Clobberin' Time."
+ The Simpsons
  - [8F19] The Aleph0-Plex outdoes the Springfield Googolplex.
  - [2F31] Hattie:  "Let's all go to the lobby."
    - This ultimately comes from real intermission cartoons.  {jp}
  - Fry's brainslug dying from malnutrition.  {hl}
    - Brain parasite gags used twice in The Simpsons this season.

Previous Episode References

- [1ACV03] All My Circuits.
           Hattie (the landlady) appears.
- [2ACV03] Brain slugs appear.
- [2ACV06] Miss Universe appears.

Freeze Frame Fun

- Loew's Aleph0-Plex  {my}
  It Came From Planet Earth
  Shaft On Africon-9
  When A Man Loves a Smizzmar
- Movie rating:
  -M-14:  Not Suitable For Aliens From Planet M-14
- Movie credits:
  - 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
- RobotMania XXVII (Robotmania 27)
- T-shirt at fight:  "Bender 3:16"
- CHAMPIONSHIP BOUT:  DESTRUCTOR VS. GENDER BENDER
  - "NO" GAMBLING
- Booing spectators:  Zapp, Kiff, Trisol's emperor, Calculon, Nixon.

Animation, Continuity, and Other Goofs

Any MiSTie knows that Tom Servo sits to Crow's left, not his right.
Also, the human viewer is usually sitting between the robots.  {jk}
- Maybe he was moved over so as not to be obscured by the stupid
  FOX logo?  {jd}

Reviews

Haynes Lee:  A good episode that revealed a little more about the
    characters.  The repeated brainslug jokes were also good.  (B+)

John Plasket:  Bender gets himself into another mess ... winds up
    triumphant ... yadda yadda.  Okay, so it's like other episodes.
    But what separates this from others is execution.  To be short,
    it's not perfect, but it's brilliant.  (A-)  ... and he didn't
    look half-bad in a tutu!

Eric Sansoni:  Frequently hilarious but also curiously unsatisfying.
    The opening at the movies is an outstanding piece of comedy,
    from the refs (Star Wars, a historical documentary) to the
    characters (Bender's rudeness), with a solid lead-in to the plot.
    As in [2ACV04], Leela's flashbacks nicely flesh out her character.
    It's strange how Leela supplies the emotional arc here, but
    the majority of time is spent frivolously on Bender the boxer.
    Every villain here is one to no-dimensional, and the fight
    scenes are paced more for fast jokes than for suspense.  Some
    great one-liners poke fun at the thin, awkward plot, but when
    the gags fail, as with some of the celebrity head banter, we're
    not left with much.  (B)

Comments and Other Observations

Mystery Science Theater 3000

When it comes to sci-fi comedy, Futurama, to me, is second next to
Mystery Science Theater 3000.  A cable show that aired on Comedy
Central and the Sci-Fi Channel, MST3K is about a guy (Joel or Mike,
depending on the season) who is stuck in outer space.  There, he
and his two robot pals (Tom Servo, a robot who resembles a gumball
machine, and Crow, a gold birdlike robot) are forced to watch all
these bad movies.  To keep their sanity, the trio make comical
comments about the movie they are watching.  {jk}

Wrestling and Boxing

WWF and other wrestling federations use stereotypical "heels."
During the Iran crisis it was the Iron Sheik.  There was also
Ted "The Million Dollar Man" DiBiase who threw alot of money
around and Irving R. Shyster the tax collector for the I.R.S.
The effeminate Genderbender reminds me of the late Adorable
Adrian Adonis who wore pink trunks and carried flowers.  {hl}

When I saw Bender in the pink dress and the blonde wig I immediately
thought of "Georgous George," a wrestler from the 1950s who adopted
an exquisite persona that could really get the crowds roaring.  {abw}

Bender's "Float like a floatbot, sting like an automatic stinging
machine" is like Muhammed Ali's "Fly like a butterfly, sting like a
bee."  His "Let's commence preparations for rumbling" is like Michael
Buffer's "Let's get ready to rumble."  {jp}

Quotes and Scene Summary

A meeting at Planet Express.

Prof.: Good news, everyone!  I've taught the toaster to feel love.

The toaster jumps up and licks Bender, like a puppy.  Bender slaps
it against the wall, it whimpers, and out pops some toast.

Hermes returns from vacation with a brain slug on his head.

To avoid brain slugs, everyone ditches Hermes to see a movie.

Zoidberg: [excitedly] I'm seeing a movie with friends!

They go to Loew's Aleph0-Plex.

     Fry: Cool, let's see this one!  [Galaxy Wars]
   Leela: Naah, I'm not in the mood for a historical documentary.
          I've heard good things about Quizblorg, Quizblorg.
     Amy: Guck!  I hate subtitles.  Alien films are so pretentious.
Zoidberg: Fellows, fellows, how about a film we can all enjoy?
          Planet of the Clams:  It's about an upside-down world
          where lobster is slave to clam.
  Bender: Who invited you?  Let's just see All My Circuits:  The
          Movie.
     All: [agreement]
  Bender: Good point, Bender!

Fry and Bender buy stuff at the popcorn counter.

Bender: Gimme a large diet malt liquor and a popcorn with extra
        motor oil.

A newsreel runs before the movie.

Announcer: Glagnar's Human Rinds presents: This Week In the
           Universe.  [footage of propeller airplane]
      Fry: [sarcastically] Ooh, this is real futuristic!
  Crowbot: Shh!  Don't talk during the movie.

Announcer: Dateline: Paramecium Homeworld -- Newly-crowned Miss
           Universe, Gladys Lennox, entertains troops fighting to
           wipe out the human race.  Go get 'em, boys!

Bender cheers The Masked Unit in the newsreel, and then two robots sit
down directly in front of him, blocking his view.

Bender: You mind taking your head off?
 Robot: [soft-spoken]  I'm sorry, sir, but I need it to watch
        the movie.
Bender: [pointing at the other robot]  Just ask flabby over
        here to describe it to you later.
 Robot: Sir, she is as the factory made her.
Bender: Well, they should have stopped making her about halfway through!
-- A lady that fine, you gotta romance first, "Raging Bender"

The movie starts with an M-14 warning:  Not Suitable for Aliens From
Planet M-14.  Two three-eyed aliens leave, muttering bitterly.

 Robot: Sir, I challenge you to fisticuffs!
Bender: Ahh ha ha ha ha ha haaa!
        [the robot transforms into an armored giant with raygun eyes]
Bender: Oh, I'm boned.

Landlady: Let's all go to the lobby!

The soft-spoken robot now has a deep, booming robot voice.

Robot: I'm gonna open a file of whup-ass on you!

But he slips on the oil from Bender's popcorn and is knocked out.
Leela pulls the robot's cover aside, revealing that he's The Masked Unit.
The robot's "flabby" girlfriend attaches herself to Bender and bats her
eyes with a servo sound.

Commissioner: Son, I'm the commissioner of Ultimate Robot Fighting.
              I'm a connoisseur of jerks who pick fights in movie
              theaters, and you're the biggest I've ever seen.
      Bender: You should see me at funerals.
Commissioner: Kid, I want you in the Ultimate Robot Fighting League.
      Bender: Ultimate robot fighting?  Sounds pleasant.  I'll do it.
       Crowd: [cheers]
     Flabbot: My hero!  [kissing]  Moi!

Bender: I'm gonna be the greatest Ultimate Robot Fighter ever.  Float
        like a floatbot, sting like an automatic stinging machine.

Bender: Crippling pain?  That's not covered by my insurance fraud.

Leela rubs Bender's shoulders with Rustoleum.

Referee: Ladies and gentlemen and smizzmars!

Referee: In this corner, from Mom's Friendly Robot Factory in
         America's heartland, Mexico, Bennnderrr!

The crowd goes wild as Bender holds up an APPLAUSE sign.

Referee: In this corner, from and made of parts unknown, The
         Clearcutter!

Leela: Get up, Bender.  You can't quit every time you get an axe in
       the back.  Or a drill through your face.  Now quit scratching
       your axehole and get out there.
-- Axin' for a taxin', "Raging Bender"

Leela: 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?
Prof.: What the hell are you talking about?
Leela: I don't know, but I'm not helping.

 Leela: Bender, let's hit the gym.  I'm going to teach you to fight
        like a girl.
Bender: I'll put on my tutu.

Leela: I mean, cheating in a fake fight.  That's low!
 Fnog: Better than being a girl!  Like you!  Ha ha ha ha!

Bender rallies as Destructor reels.

Bender: It's Benderin' Time!
        [Bender gets bonked on the head]
Bender: I think you misunderstood the concept of "Benderin' Time ..."

Contributors

Capsule authored by Jym Dyer.

{fjb} Frederick J. Barnett
{jd}  Jym Dyer
{af}  Adam Foster
{jk}  Joe Klemm
{hl}  Haynes Lee
{jp}  John (scArA) Plasket
{es}  Eric Sansoni
{abw} Al Weslowsky
{my}  Mark Yasuda