A Clockwork Origin

"A Clockwork Origin" is the ninety-seventh episode of Futurama, the ninth of the sixth production season and the seventh broadcast season. Professor Farnsworth, fed up with in New New York, moves to the Robot Planetoid to escape the ignorance of humanity, only to inadvertently create mechanical life which evolved from small robots designed to clean tainted water on the rock. The crew goes with him, but leaves Zoidberg and Cubert on Earth.

Act I: "I don't want to live on this planet anymore."
Professor Farnsworth finds out that his clone Cubert was unable to go to school due to the large mob of Creationist protesters outside. Outraged, he quickly takes the Planet Express Ship to Cubert's school, the Wozniak Nerd Academy. Once there, the Professor gets into a huge argument with the protesters and meets a talking orangutan called Dr. Banjo. The doctor claims that if evolution was possible, then there wouldn't be a "missing link," in the chain between the Great Apes and Homo Sapiens. The professor aims to prove him wrong and has the crew fly to Olduvai Gorge in Africa to find the missing missing link. While in the gorge, Farnsworth finally finds the fossilized skull of a previous unknown hominid that fills in the gap. He names it Homo farnsworth (which is a misnomer, since the hominid was too far back in the chain to actually be from the genus Homo), and takes it back to display at a museum. However, at the museum, Dr. Banjo returns and convinces the patrons that the Homo Farnsworth actually disproves evolution. Upset at everybody's ignorance, he makes the crew (except Zoidberg who stayed on Earth to take care of Cubert) drop him off at a lifeless planetoid where he will spend the rest of his days with only an inflatable shack, four grand pianos, and some pizza. He pours some Nanobots he invented into a nearby pond to eat up all the toxic minerals and give him a fresh source of water. However, before the crew could leave, the nanobots evolve into land mobile Trilobots, which eat the entire Planet Express Ship, thus trapping all of them on the planetoid.

Act II: "Look out for the next thing!"
The crew run into a nearby cave to hide from the matter-eating Trilobots. Having no edible pizza (due to all the pizzas having pineapple on them), the only food they have left is some dehydrated steak that the Professor brought, but they need water. The crew run out of the cave to get to the pond, only to find that the Trilobots have gone and a huge robotic jungle is now growing. They eat some steak, but are then attacked by Robot Dinosaurs which the Trilobots evolved into. Fry is dragged off by a robotic pterodactyl, while the rest are attacked by land dinosaurs. However, they are all saved by a magnetic solar flare, which destroys all the robotic dinosaurs, but was harmless to any biological beings, as well as smaller robots, hiding in caves, such as Bender. The Professor manages to build a new spaceship out of the parts of the dinosaurs, but they must wait to the next day to use it since it is solar powered. However, Leela and Amy are kidnapped by Robo-Cavemen. Meanwhile on Earth, Zoidberg is trying to take over as a father figure for Cubert, but is constantly put down by him. Cubert feels bad about this, so he goes to Zoidberg's dumpster and apologizes, saying that he makes fun of people because he is always getting picked on by bullies. Brett Blob shows up and threatens to beat the two of them up, but Zoidberg protects them by pretending to be as pathetic as possible. In doing so, he gains Cubert's respect.

Act III: "You're under arrest for crimes against science."
The next morning on the planetoid, the crew wake up to discover that Leela and Amy have been captured by robo-cavemen and forced to be their wives. Professor Farnsworth is able to make a slingshot but because it took him twelve hours to do so, they must spend another night on the planetoid before they can rescue the women. However, once they get up, they find that Amy and Leela were already free of their own means and that the cavemen dissappeared. They then meet a fully evolved, sentient, humanlike robot named Dr. Widnar who discovers them as the first carbon-based lifeforms that their society has ever seen. She takes to their Museum of Natural Robo-History, where the Professor gives a speech. However, when he reveals that he invented the nanobots in the first place, he is arrested for speaking against evolution and believing in creationism, and is put to a trial. At the trial in the Superior Gort, Bender replaces Leela as Farnsworth's lawyer and claims that Farnsworth is innocent by terms of insanity. It then all comes down to the jury's opinion, which they wouldn't have decided until the next day. The crew are forced to sleep in the Gort. The next day, the crew discovers that all the robots have further evolved into highly intelligent Robotic gas forms. The gas forms believe that all physical lifeforms are yokels compared to them and that the trial they had was pointless in the grand scheme of things. They allow them to leave the planetoid. Once they return to Earth on the ship made of dinosaur parts, Farnsworth talks to Dr. Banjo and show him holographic pictures he took of the evolution on the planetoid, to prove that it is possible for small lifeforms to evolve into more complex ones. Dr. Banjo counters in saying that evolution on the planetoid was in fact put into action by an intelligent creator: Professor Farnsworth. In the end, they compromise on the fact that both their theories are feasible.

Reception
In its original American broadcast, "A Clockwork Origin" was viewed by an estimated 1.926 million households nearly identical to "That Darn Katz!"

Trivia

 * We learn that Zoidberg is Cubert's godfather.
 * Cubert wears red oven gloves in the final scene, presumably to mimic Zoidberg's claws.
 * Professor Farnsworth indicates that his father wasn't actually his biological father. However, this does not help identify whether it is his mother or the milkman who is the descendant of Yancy.
 * The slogans on the human protesters' signs are:
 * "Nothing ever changes!"
 * "Fake science is real science"
 * "Evolution = False!"
 * The Flying Spaghetti Monster's sign has Evolution in a red "no smoking" circle.
 * The slogans on the robot protesters' signs are
 * "Evolution = True"
 * "Creationism" a la the Flying Spaghetti Monster's sign
 * "I believe in science"
 * "Create this!"
 * Professor Farnsworth's medicated steak dinner ratio is 4mg of steak per 1mg of fixin's.
 * Unlike other robot groups all the citizens of the planet retain the same basic physiological form, having common ancestors.
 * Hinged mouths is a robot feature seen only rarely outside the robot planetoid. Malfunctioning Eddie and the Robot Devil being the only significance examples of this.
 * Unlike other robot groups all the citizens of the planet retain the same basic physiological form, having common ancestors.
 * Hinged mouths is a robot feature seen only rarely outside the robot planetoid. Malfunctioning Eddie and the Robot Devil being the only significance examples of this.

Allusions

 * Before finding the elusive missing missing link in the 'rich vein of missing links', the Professor finds (fossils of Homo erectus erectus),  (an anthropological hoax) and  (a musician). Only the first was actually a missing link, but it wasn't found in the Olduvai Gorge.
 * When Bender makes a "robot" from a bedspring with googly eyes to try to prove robot evolution, the sign says "I Hate Mondays," a reference to.
 * Fry says the Professor's water supply looks like diet, a 21st century soft drink.
 * The "NANDerthal Cave Painting" exhibit at the robot museum is a pun on the, an extinct hominid, and a , a basic electronic logic gate.
 * The "Ascent of Bot" displayed in the robot museum includes, a robot from the Star Wars movies.
 * The iFad is a reference to Apple's.
 * USB Today is a reference to . USB is presumably a shortening for the United States of Bot or similar. USB is also a reference to the USB ports (Universal Serial Bus) for computers. The last assumption is boasted by the current USB logo in the heading of the paper. This could also be a reference to the infamous lack of USB ports and other communication methods in Apple's iPad.
 * The Superior Gort is a play on words, being a reference to both the and, a robot in the science-fiction film . Gort was designed as part of an interstellar police force created to maintain peace in the universe.
 * The Flying Spaghetti Monster is a reference to the god of the Pastafarians. This is a double joke because the FSM and Pastafarianism started with a letter to the Kansas School Board parodying the idea of creationism being taught in schools.
 * Fry's fan dance is a reference to Cdr. Uhura's fan dance in Star Trek.
 * Much of the trial is a reference to.
 * The idea of a manmade society evolving rapidly (eventually beyond current humanity) was explored in, which borrowed from.
 * The way the crew's clothes are ripped references.
 * The evolution of nanomachines may have been inspired by prior science fiction:
 * In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Evolution" (1989), Wesley Crusher creates nanobots called "nanites" which unexpectedly evolve to the point of sentience; initially, an astrophysicist on board expresses skepticism concerning the possibility for machines to evolve.
 * In the 2002 novel "Prey", by Michael Crichton, nanobots evolve to other organisms in a short time. Whenever humans attempt to attack them, the robots have already evolved.
 * The evolution of the robots ends in a higher plane of existence which consists of pure energy is taken from.
 * The way Amy's clothes got ripped was a reference to Fantastic Voyage where Cora's clothes were ripped in the same fashion.
 * With that, Amy's clothes looked like a bikini.
 * The Steak Dinner pills are made by Bristol-Myers Squibb, a bio-pharmaceutical company. This is NOT a reference to Oscar Meyer.

Continuity

 * Cubert uses a Party Board, previously only seen used by Amy.
 * Hermes finds a fossilised dog and says "uh-oh, another one of Fry's dogs", a reference to "Jurassic Bark" in which the crew finds Fry's old dog Seymour Asses fossilised.
 * Amy accidentally cuts off her finger without making a big fuss about it, much when like Fry gets his hands eaten off in "I Dated a Robot".
 * Zoidberg tries to do comedy in front of Cubert. His life-long dream to be a comedian was the main plot to "That's Lobstertainment!".
 * This is the second time the crew is under trial on a planet ruled by robots, the first being in "Fear of a Bot Planet".
 * Although in "Fear of a Bot Planet", Fry and Leela were on trial; this time, only Professor Farnsworth is on trial.
 * Also, Professor Farnsworth said it was an asteroid and not a planet, even though Leela said in the next scene it was a planetoid. (This could be a joke referencing the recent discussion around Pluto's status as a planet).
 * The pizza that the crew brings into the cave is from Cosmic Ray's Original Pizza, which previously appeared in "A Fishful of Dollars".
 * The robot pictured on the box is also the same one who served them in that episode. Because of this it's possible that he's "Cosmic Ray".
 * However, "Cosmic Ray" malfunctioned when Fry ordered a pizza with anchovies, but this may have no bearing as Malfunctioning Eddie makes appearances after malfunctioning consistently.
 * It may be possible that "Cosmic Ray" is a robot that is mass-produced, and that every Cosmic Ray's Original Pizza Restaurant has a similar looking chef.
 * Brett Blob continues to bully Cubert just like he used to do in "The Route of All Evil".
 * Bender quotes the hyperchicken by saying to Professor Farnsworth, "Son, you're in a whole mess of trouble."
 * Bender tries to win the case by using insanity as the cause, which was how the Hyper-chicken won Fry and Bender's case in "Insane in the Mainframe".
 * Dr. Zoidberg paints a mural of himself and Cubert Farnsworth as superheroes, which was a talent Dr. Zoidberg had and previously stated in "The Duh-Vinci Code" when he said his doctorate was in Art History.
 * It's not very good though, so his doctorate was probably more about studying art than creating it.

Goofs

 * The "missing missing link", Homo farnsworth, fills the gap between "apes" and the , and would not fall under the genus Homo, which appeared much later.
 * In the courtroom, when Bender tells the jury to find The Professor not guilty by reason of insanity, Bender can be seen twice when the court gasps. He can be seen both near the jury and between Fry and Leela.
 * When viewing the included picture in the context of the episode, namely while Bender is addressing the judge, it is very clear that the background and foreground were re-used, but they forgot to remove Bender from behind the defense table.
 * Despite what was established in the preceding episode, "That Darn Katz!", the Earth appears to be turning in the right direction again when the Planet Express Ship goes to the Wozniak Nerd Academy.
 * A solution could have been found to return the planet's rotation to normal.

Characters

 * Amy
 * Debut: Dr. Banjo
 * Dr. Ben Beeler
 * Bender
 * Brett Blob
 * Mrs. Blob (mentioned)
 * Cubert
 * Debut: The Flying Spaghetti Monster
 * Fry
 * Hermes
 * Hydroponic Farmer
 * Leela
 * Professor Farnsworth
 * Debut: Robot Farnsworth
 * Debut: Robotic gas forms
 * Debut: Spencer
 * Debut: Superior Gort Judge
 * Debut: Superior Gort Jury
 * Debut: Superior Gort Prosecutor
 * Debut: Dr. Widnar
 * Dr. Zoidberg