"A Head in the Polls" is the third episode in the second season of the American animated television series '' Futurama''. It originally aired on the

Fox network The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations ...

in the United States on December 12, 1999. The episode was written by J. Stewart Burns and directed by

Bret Haaland Bret John Haaland (born August 10, 1964) is an American animator, storyboard artist, director, and producer. Awards and nominations Won Emmy Award Outstanding Children's Animated Program All Hail King Julien (2014) Won Emmy Award Outstanding ...

Claudia Schiffer Claudia Maria Schiffer (; born 25 August 1970) is a German model and actress based in the United Kingdom. She rose to fame in the 1990s as one of the world's most successful models, attaining supermodel status. In her early career, she was compa ...

makes a guest appearance as herself. The title is a pun on the common phrase "Ahead in the

poll Poll, polled, or polling may refer to: Figurative head counts * Poll, a formal election ** Election verification exit poll, a survey taken to verify election counts ** Polling, voting to make decisions or determine opinions ** Polling places o ...

s".

Plot

The election race for President of Earth is in full swing, with two identical

clones Clone or Clones or Cloning or Cloned or The Clone may refer to: Places * Clones, County Fermanagh * Clones, County Monaghan, a town in Ireland Biology * Clone (B-cell), a lymphocyte clone, the massive presence of which may indicate a pathologi ...

as the only candidates. Leela, appalled by the apathy of the Planet Express crew, exhorts them to register to vote. Meanwhile, a mining disaster sends the price of

titanium Titanium is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resista ...

through the roof, and Bender seizes the opportunity to make a quick buck by

pawning A pawnbroker is an individual or business (pawnshop or pawn shop) that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as Collateral (finance), collateral. The items having been ''pawned'' to the broker are themselves c ...

his 40% titanium body. As a head with a pile of cash, Bender begins enjoying his new lifestyle. During a trip to the Hall of Presidents in the New New York Head Museum,

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

's head ruins Bender's illusions about the glamour of a life without a body. The next day Bender heads off to the pawn shop to retrieve his body, but it has been sold. Later, Nixon's head announces its candidacy for President of Earth, using Bender's body to escape a constitutional provision that "no''body'' can be elected more than twice". Fry, Leela, and Bender take off to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

to stop Nixon and recover Bender's body. Directly confronting Nixon fails to recover Bender's body, so the crew infiltrates Nixon's room at the

Watergate Hotel The Watergate complex is a group of six buildings in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C., in the United States. Covering a total of 10 acres (4 ha) just north of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the buildings incl ...

. Leela successfully separates the sleeping head from the robot body, but Fry accidentally wakes Nixon. Confronting the intruders, Nixon begins ranting about his future plans for Earth, such as breaking into people's homes and selling their children's organs to zoos. However, Bender records the conversation and knowing that the tape would ruin his election chances if released, Nixon trades the body for the tape. On Election Day, Nixon wins by a single vote. He regained the robot vote by replacing Bender's body with a giant war robot. Meanwhile, Leela and Fry forgot to vote against him. The episode ends with Nixon on a rampage and crashing through the exterior walls.

Continuity

Nixon's head would continue to be president throughout the series and into the four direct-to-video feature films. However, he does not use the superbot body he had at the end of the episode ever again. The episode features the first appearance of the recurring Brain Slugs.

Cultural references

This episode is the first to heavily feature the character of Richard Nixon's head. Although Nixon is often remembered only as "Tricky Dick" the writers for this episode not only mocked his "ruthless drive" but also showed his resilience and relevance. The comment about Nixon and audio tapes are references to the secret recordings of discussions in the Oval Office which Nixon made, which were a significant factor in his downfall. The head of Gerald Ford deems voting overrated, a reference to the fact that he is the only unelected American president. This episode also showcases the

show-within-a-show A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which a character within a story becomes the narrator of a second story (within the first one). Multiple layers of stories within stories are sometimes ...

''The Scary Door'', a

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

of ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, sup ...

'' featured in multiple episodes. At the beginning of this episode the classic ''Twilight Zone'' episode "

Time Enough at Last "Time Enough at Last" is the eighth episode of the American television anthology series ''The Twilight Zone''. The episode was adapted from a short story written by Lynn Venable. The short story appeared in the January 1953 edition of the scien ...

" is spoofed. Next to the

Washington Monument The Washington Monument is an obelisk shaped building within the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, once commander-in-chief of the Continental Army (1775–1784) in the American Revolutionary War and th ...

a similarly shaped but larger " Clinton Monument" is seen. The scene where Bender's head uses a remote-controlled car to travel around Planet Express headquarters is reminiscent of the introductory sequence of '' Bobby's World''.

Appearances in other media

A sample from this episode was used in the

Devin Townsend Devin Garrett Townsend (born May 5, 1972) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He founded extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad and was its primary songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist from 1994 to 2007. He has also ...

song "Bend It Like Bender!" from his album, '' Addicted''. It features Bender saying "Game's over losers, I have all the money".

References

External links

*
A head in the Polls
at The New York Times Movies * A Head in the Polls at

The Infosphere ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Head in the Polls, A Futurama (season 2) episodes 1999 American television episodes Cultural depictions of Richard Nixon Television episodes about elections