Raging Bender
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Futurama episode | |
"Raging Bender" | |
Bender wrestling as "The Gender Bender". |
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Episode no. | 21 |
Prod. code | 2ACV08 |
Airdate | February 27, 2000 |
Writer(s) | Lewis Morton |
Director | Ron Hughart |
Opening subtitle | Nominated For Three Glemmys |
Opening cartoon | "Hollywood Capers" |
Guest star(s) | Rich Little as himself, Russ Leatherman as Moviefone announcer |
Season 2 November 1999 – December 2000 |
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List of all Futurama episodes... |
"Raging Bender" is episode the eighth episode in the second production season of Futurama. It originally aired in North America on February 27, 2000 as the twelfth episode of the second broadcast season. The episode was written by Lewis Morton and directed by Ron Hughart. The story focus on Bender becoming a professional wrestler as he is initially successful and then his downfall as his popularity wanes.
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[edit] Plot
At the morning Planet Express meeting, the crew discovers Hermes has been assimilated by the brain slugs. To avoid Hermes' slack-jawed stare and being assimilated themselves, the rest of the staff takes off for the movies.
While watching All My Circuits, The Movie, Bender picks a fight with a robot that turns out to be Ultimate Robot Fighting champion The Masked Unit. The Masked Unit trips on Bender's oil-soaked popcorn, and is knocked out by the fall. Coincidentally, the commissioner of Ultimate Robot Fighting is at the movie, and hires Bender on the spot.
After training with Leela, Bender has his first fight against a chainsaw-equipped robot called The Clearcutter. By a stroke of luck, Bender defeats his opponent, causing The Clearcutter to explode into a pile of parts. However, Bender runs into the robot backstage, and the commissioner reveals that Ultimate Robot Fighting is fixed, and that the most popular robot always wins.
Bender spurns further training from Leela, and proceeds to win several fights, but eventually his popularity wanes, and he is told that he can either take a dive in his new role as 'The Gender Bender', or be killed by his giant opponent, Destructor. Bender asks Leela for help, but she initially refuses. When she discovers that Destructor is being trained by Arcturan kung-fu Master Phnog, she changes her mind. The male chauvinist and sexist Master Phnog had ruined Leela's dream of competing in the Arcturan Kung-fu junior championships years ago, and Leela still holds a grudge.
While Bender is being thrashed by Destructor (Bender asks Fry to throw in the towel he finds out that Fry has a Brain Slug on his head -- it is found dead at the end), Leela discovers that Destructor is being controlled remotely (using motion capture and virtual reality) by Phnog. They proceed to fight, but just as Funog is winning, Leela uses Phnog's own fist to force Destructor to punch him, knocking them both out. Destructor, however, fell on and flattened Bender, thus winning the match anyway. After the fight, Fry and Leela roll up the flattened Bender and carry him home.
[edit] Production
- According to the DVD commentary, Hermes was supposed to have the brain slug for the rest of the season but they decided to scratch the idea and have the later episode "How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back" instead.[citation needed]
- This is one of the first episodes that references (indirectly) Fry's lack of the Delta-Brain Wave, which is first mentioned in the episode "The Day the Earth Stood Stupid".
[edit] Ultimate robot fighters
- The Masked Unit, a classic Masked Wrestler robot.
- The Clearcutter, a lumberjack based wrestler.
- Gorgeous Gorx
- Billionaire Bot, a stereotypical billionaire based wrestler.
- The Foreigner, designed to resemble a matador from Spain, comes with his own "cazy passaport!" as he describes it.
- The Chain Smoker, designed to look like a pack of cigarettes, he always has a cigarette and several cigars in his mouth.
- Destructor, a giant war robot.
- Sgt. Feces Processor
- Bender the Offender/Gender Bender, Bender, his first persona has a wrestling suit and his second persona has a tu-tu and a blonde wig.
[edit] References
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[edit] External links
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