A Pharaoh to Remember

"A Pharaoh to Remember" is episode seventeen of Futurama's third season. It originally aired on March 10, 2002. The episode's title references the title of the 1957 film An Affair to Remember and the 2002 film, A Walk to Remember.

Plot

Bender becomes worried that his name will not live in infamy after a heist he pulled is attributed to a human crook. Despite other attempts to make his name known, Bender's efforts are rendered futile. The Planet Express crew attempt to arrange a mock funeral to show Bender he would be remembered, but the event ends badly.

Professor Farnsworth tasks the crew with the delivery of a sandstone block to the planet Osiris IV, whose population is similar to that of the Ancient Egyptians. The crew is immediately put to work as slaves alongside the rest of the population, constructing a funeral pyramid for their current Pharaoh, Hamenthotep. Bender, amazed with the means of memorializing the Pharaoh, becomes a workaholic and far exceeds the pace of the other slaves or his friends.

Hamenthotep arrives to inspect the completed work, and ready to release the slaves but is killed when the monument's nose falls and crushes him. After Hamenthotep is buried, the priests plan to determine their next Pharaoh using the "Wall of Prophecy" the next day; Bender spends the night modifying the wall so that the next day, he is selected as the new Pharaoh. At his coronation, he immediately declares a new reign of terror over Osiris IV and orders the construction of a "one billion cubits tall" statue of himself, and tasks the slaves and his friends to complete the work quickly. When it is finished, he expresses displeasure at it and requests it be rebuilt. The high priest, tired of dealing with Bender's demands, entomb him, Fry, and Leela.

With Fry and Leela running out of air, they propose to use explosive Schnapps stored in the tomb to blast a hole and escape, but Bender refuses to allow them to destroy the statue. Fry and Leela eventually turn Bender to their cause, and they are able to create a crack in the foot of the statue to escape to the Planet Express ship and escape. As they flee, their explosion ignites the rest of the materials in the tomb, causing it to explode in a giant fireball. Bender becomes depressed that without his statue, he will be forgotten, but Leela assures him that he will be remembered for his brief reign of terror.

Broadcast and reception

In its initial airing, the episode received a Nielsen rating of 3.0/4, placing it 97th among primetime shows for the week of March 4–10, 2002.^[1]

References

External links

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• A Pharaoh to Remember at The Infosphere.