A Head in the Polls

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Futurama episode
"A Head in the Polls"
Episode no.	16
Prod. code	2ACV03
Airdate	December 12, 1999
Where	United States
Writer(s)	J. Stewart Burns
Director	Bret Haaland
Opening subtitle	From The Makers Of Futurama
Opening cartoon	"Koko's Earth Control"
Guest star(s)	Claudia Schiffer

Season 2 November 1999 – December 2000
I Second That Emotion Brannigan Begin Again A Head in the Polls Xmas Story Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love? Lesser of Two Evils Put Your Head on My Shoulders Raging Bender A Bicyclops Built for Two A Clone of My Own How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back The Deep South Bender Gets Made Mother's Day The Problem with Popplers Anthology of Interest I War is the H-Word The Honking The Cryonic Woman
List of all Futurama episodes...

'A Head In The Polls" is episode 3 in season 2 of Futurama. It originally aired in North America on December 12, 1999.

1 Plot
2 Political parties
3 Trivia
4 Cultural references

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The election race for President of Earth is in full swing, with two clones (Jack Johnson, and his "bitter rival" John Jackson) serving as candidates for the dominant Tastycrat and Fingerlican parties. Meanwhile, a mining disaster sends the price of titanium through the roof, and Bender seizes the opportunity to make a quick buck by pawning his body (which is 40% titanium).

Now merely 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's head ruins Bender's illusions about the glamor 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. Bender's body is located when Nixon's head announces its candidacy for President of Earth, using Bender's body to escape a Constitutional provision that "nobody can be elected more than twice" (wording that is not in fact in the current 22nd Amendment).

Fry, Leela, and Bender's head take off to Washington, D.C. 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. 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. His millennium as a head in a jar has caused him to go mad, and his domestic policy has followed suit. However, Bender's head has recorded the conversation. 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, and Leela and Fry forgot to vote against him. The episode ends with Nixon on a rampage through Washington D.C., escorted by Secret Service agents into the White House.

[edit] Political parties

Tastycrats
Fingerlicans
One Cell, One Vote
Green Party (composed entirely of green aliens)
Brain Slug Party
Dudes for Legalation [sic] of Hemp
Bull Space Moose Party
NRA (National Ray-Gun Association)
Rainbow Whigs
Antisocialists
Voter Apathy Party
People for the Ethical Treatment of Humans

[edit] Trivia

The Clinton monument is a penis joke, referring to Bill Clinton's sexual nature by saying he would find the Washington Monument a threat, and want to build one of his own.
As the group is walking in the head museum, Leela and Bender's head pass by Katey Sagal's head, who is the voice of Leela.
In Bender's dream, a two does appear in the lower right part of the screen. The binary code in the final frame before the bigger numbers appear can be translated into the sentence "get a life". A three also appears in the lower right part of the screen too.
When the trio go bowling, the bowling ball Leela gets is white and only one black finger hole is visible, making it look just like her one eyeball.

[edit] Cultural references

The television show The Scary Door, a parody of The Twilight Zone, that Fry and Bender watch at the beginning of the episode is a parody of the episode "Time Enough at Last". One of the books seen behind the man in the library is called "2984", a reference to George Orwell's novel 1984.
In the voter registration convention, the "one cell one vote" booth is a reference to the one man one vote slogan, used to protest against election restrictions. The "Bull Space Moose Party" is a reference to the bull moose party and to the Space Moose comic strip. The "National Ray Gun Association" is a reference to the NRA. The "people for the ethical treatment of humans" is a reference to PETA.
Bender orders his Martini "Shaken, not stirred" a reference to James Bond.
Nixon sings the song White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane.
The sign outside of the presidential debate reads :"Tomorrow night: Vice-Presidential "Your momma so fat" Contest" Referring to the mud slinging nature of the vice presidential debate.
The episode contains numerous references to Richard Nixon's political career. In addition to part of it taking place at the Watergate Hotel:
- During his rampage Nixon shouts "Who's kicking who around now?", a reference to the famous statement he made after he lost the 1962 gubernatorial race in California: "You won't have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore. Because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference."
- Nixon makes a reference to his dog Checkers, the subject of a 1952 speech, whose head is seen in another jar.
- Bender's mention of audio tape references the use of recorded conversations in the Watergate investigation. Nixon's anguished cry of "Expletive deleted!" refers to the editing of transcripts of those tapes, in which Nixon casually and frequently used obscene language.
- Nixon refers to Gerald Ford (whose head is seen earlier in the episode) as a pardon-granting "sissy", in light of Ford's blanket pardon of Nixon for all Watergate-related charges.
- During the episode Leela makes the joke that they give you a discount room at the Watergate Hotel if you’ve been there before. This is an obvious reference to the infamous Watergate Scandal; though strictly speaking Nixon wasn’t physically inside the Watergate Hotel during the incident.
In the Head Museum's Hall of Presidents, Jesse Ventura's head is displayed. His jar is labeled "Jesse "The Head" Ventura", a parody of his nickname "The Body".
John Quincy Adding-Machine, which according to Leela was the first robot to be elected as the president of Earth, is a reference to the real former President of the United States, John Quincy Adams.