"Bender Should Not Be Allowed on TV" (also known as "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on Television")
is the sixth episode in the
fourth season of the American animated television series ''
Futurama
''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years a ...
''. 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 an ...
in the United States on August 3, 2003. The episode's plot revolves around
Bender's outlandish behavior on the television program ''
All My Circuits
This article lists the many characters of ''Futurama,'' an American Cartoon series, animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the a ...
''; after he lands a spot on the show, he is quickly criticised by members of the public for setting a poor example for children. Bender eventually sees the critics' point of view after he realizes children imitated his behavior and stole his belongings, and sets out to put a stop to his own behavior.
Plot
After a robot actor on ''All My Circuits'' malfunctions, an open casting call is held for a replacement.
Bender attends the audition and while the other actors are on, he boos them and chants his own praises through the door. Easily swayed, Calculon gives him the part.
On the air, Bender sings, dances, drinks, smokes, and steals. His behavior boosts the show's ratings; kids, such as
Dwight Dwight may refer to:
People
* Dwight (given name)
* Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969), 34th president of the United States and former military officer
*New England Dwight family of American educators, military and political leaders, and authors
* ...
,
,
The Cookieville Orphans and
Tinny Tim, begin to emulate his on-screen antics. Disgusted by this,
Professor Farnsworth
Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth, commonly referred to in-show as either Professor Farnsworth or simply Professor, is a fictional character in the American animated television series '' Futurama''. The mad scientist proprietor of the Planet Expres ...
and
Hermes
Hermes (; grc-gre, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travellers, thieves, merchants, and orato ...
start a
protest
A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one.
Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...
group called "Fathers Against Rude Television" (FART).
Dwight and Cubert are desperate to become cool after no one shows up to their joint birthday party, and find that drinking and smoking only make them sick, so they mimic Bender's thieving instead, stealing all of Bender's belongings and using them to throw a party at the Planet Express office. Hermes, Farnsworth, and Bender walk in on the party. Bender is indifferent until he realizes that the things they stole belonged to him. Annoyed that he inspired his own robbery, Bender leads F.A.R.T. in a crusade to get himself off TV. Invading the set, Bender is held at gunpoint by both F.A.R.T. and the network executives to quit the show and shoot the scene, respectively. Bender distracts the network president and Farnsworth and grabs their guns from them. Ordering the cameraman to film, he begins railing against irresponsible behavior on TV, but changes his mind midway through and segues into a speech on parental responsibility which Calculon agrees is good enough to broadcast.
At Planet Express, Farnsworth realizes that sometimes you just need to turn off the TV for a while. However, after browsing through channels and finding nothing good on, they continue to watch when they stop on ''Everybody Loves Hypnotoad''.
Broadcast and reception
In its initial airing, the episode received a
Nielsen rating
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...
of 2.7/6, placing it 79th among primetime shows for the week of July 28 – August 3, 2003.
[
]
''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
''s Zack Handlen gave the episode a B, writing: "There’s some satirical bite in the idea that Bender’s random jackassery would be such an immediate hit, but it’s not really explored. It really only exists so Dwight and Cubert can be inspired to steal Bender’s stuff, which in turn inspires him to join the group (Fathers Against Rude Television) to protest himself. Which has a certain appealing surrealness to it, but nothing in this episode lasts long enough for it to register. Yes, it would’ve been more predictable if we’d spent more time building up Dwight and Cubert, or if Bender had really gotten invested in his television career, but sometimes predictability isn’t a bad thing. The structures that ''Futurama'' spends so much time skewering serve a purpose, and while the show doesn’t need to adhere to them unironically, if it’s going to spend so much time tearing them down, it ought to have something to erect in their place."
References
External links
*
Bender Should Not Be Allowed on Television
"Bender Should Not Be Allowed on TV" (also known as "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on Television")
is the sixth episode in the fourth season of the American animated television series '' Futurama''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the Un ...
at
The Infosphere
''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
.
*
{{Futurama episodes, 4
Futurama (season 4) episodes
2003 American television episodes
Television episodes about censorship