Mother's Day (Futurama)
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| Futurama episode | |
| "Mother's Day" | |
 Bender and his Robotic Greeting Card. |
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| Episode no. | 27 |
| Prod. code | 2ACV14 |
| Airdate | May 14, 2000 |
| Writer(s) | Lewis Morton |
| Director | Brian Sheesley |
| Opening subtitle | Larva-Tested, Pupa-Approved |
| Opening cartoon | "Bold King Cole" |
| Season 2 November 1999 – December 2000 |
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| List of all Futurama episodes... | |
"Mother's Day" is episode fourteen in season two of Futurama. It originally aired in North America on May 14, 2000.
[edit] Plot
Every Mother's Day, robots made in Mom's Friendly Robot Company factories around the world give gifts, money and cards to the owner of the corporation, Mom. However, this year, Mom, bitter about a romantic affair that had ended 70 years prior, orders the entire robot population of Earth to rebel and overthrow humanity through a control that transmits to every robot's antenna. This doomed romance had been with a younger Professor Hubert Farnsworth, then an employee of Mom's Friendly Robot Company. When Mom insisted that the Professor's latest design, a children's toy named Q.T. (Cutie) McWhiskers, be changed to an eight-foot-tall death machine to be sold on the intergalactic arms market, the Professor, enraged, stormed out of the room, and they hadn't seen each other since.
Wishing to end the robot rebellion and save humanity, Mom's three sons, Walt, Larry, and Ignar, cooperate with the Planet Express crew to obtain the robot control Mom keeps in her bra. Their plan is to bring Mom to her rustic cabin in the Bronx (though on the map provided it is actually in Queens), have the Professor seduce her, remove her bra, and use the control to end the rebellion. They give the crew a valuable non-computer-drawn map to their destination. Because of the distance, and the complete dependence on hover technology, Fry designs & builds a wagon (with oval wheels) to carry the Professor, but is then forced to pull it to the cabin.
When the Professor and Mom do meet, however, their love is rekindled, and they erupt into sex. Amidst this, everyone else comes in to escape the robots, who have made their way to the Bronx. Mom decides to call off the rebellion, but her bra is nowhere to be found. After searching, it is found to be hanging on a robotic fan which refuses to return it. Fortunately, Bender arrives and Mom asks him to recover her bra. While he initially refuses, when his card states that in the post-rebellion "robot worker's paradise" (Communist state) there will be no liquor, Bender angrily destroys the card and fetches the bra from the fan.
Mom uses the remote control to stop the rebellion, but dumps the Professor after learning of their plot. Life is then returned to normal. In order for the Professor to remember Mom, he sends out his albino shouting gorillas to yell her name from the roof-tops.
[edit] Cultural references
- The opening subtitle "Larva-Tested, Pupa-Approved" is reminiscent of the slogan for Kix cereal, "Kid-Tested, Mother-Approved!".
- The can of soup Fry tries to open says "Quantum Leek," which is a twist on the TV show title "Quantum Leap" (DVD commentary).
- The robot rebellion is a parody of communist revolution. This is particularly evident from the dialogs between Bender and the electronic greeting card in which common elements of the Marxist lexicon are uttered by the latter, notably comrade and bourgeoisie.
- The paper the cigarette dispenser-bot is burning is a punched card.
- The garbage can throwing itself through the window of Sal's Pizzeria is a reference to the Spike Lee film Do the Right Thing.
- A later dialog between Bender & the Electronic Greeting Card brings up 'the boring peaceful kind of taking to the streets', and shouts 'in your face, Gandhi'. This is in reference to the non-violent independence movement initiated by Gandhi in India.
- When Walt is showing the map of the surrounding area, an area called "Cloakwood Forest" is visible. This is a reference to the Forgotten Realms setting of Dungeons & Dragons.
- The flashback scene of Mom and Farnsworth riding a bicycle in happier times is a parody of a similar scene from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The scene also features a mock-up of "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head", which was featured in the original movie scene.
- One of the robots waiting for Mom is a Betamax video recorder.
- In Isaac Asimov's short story Reason, there is a robot whose robotic name is QT-1 and is called by humans "Cutie".
- Mom's fatsuit retracts and disappears from view in a manner similar to various science fiction robotic mechanisms, such as the headpieces of the Horus Guards in Stargate or Transformers.
[edit] Trivia
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Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- This episode was rated TV-14 for suggestive dialogue (D), sexual situations (S), offensive language (L), and violence (V) on FOX, however, on Adult Swim, it was rated TV-14 for suggestive dialogue (D)
- Attack Music, a song by Machinae Supremacy, contains a sample from this episode.
- The Slurm machine in Mom's cabin dispenses empty Slurm cans.
- Bender gives Mom a Mother's Day card, yet in Xmas Story, he says a robot arm is his mother (and in Bendless Love, it's revealed that Bender was built in a Mexican factory).
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