The Thief of Baghead

"The Thief of Baghead" is the one hundred and eighteenth episode of Futurama, the fourth of the seventh production season and the ninth broadcast season. It aired on 4 July 2012 on Comedy Central. Bender wants to take a photo of an actor whose face has never been seen so he joins the paparazzi.

Plot
Bender takes up photography. He is the last non-digital photographer on Earth, using film due to his preference for the look of film grain. He attempts to photograph Langdon Cobb, an actor called the greatest in the world. Cobb always wears a bag over his head due to his desire to be known for his acting and not his looks. Calculon challenges him for his title, and the two partake in the World Acting Championship, an acting contest to the death.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Planet Express crew have their life forces removed.

Production
In 2012, two revelations concerning the episode were made. On 29 February, CGEF revealed the episode's title, its writer to be Dan Vebber and its director to be Edmund Fong. On 2 May, revealed the episode's plot and air date.

In May, Countdown to Futurama began releasing promotional material for the episode. It has so far released eleven items: A design of a new character, the Mushroom Ego, and part of the storyboard showing the Mushroom Ego chase Bender on 18 May, a promotional picture showing Fry, Hermes and Amy husks and a character design of Fry and Amy zombies on 19 May, a design of another new character, Langdon Cobb, and part of the storyboard showing an excerpt of an All My Circuits episode on 21 May, a video clip featuring Bender making Zoidberg, Hermes, Amy, Fry, Leela and Farnsworth angry as he attempts to take a photograph of them and the third Futurama podcast - which confirmed that a storyline involving Calculon competing in the World Acting Championship that was revealed at the 2011  was from the episode - on 22 May, a character design of Zoidberg and Farnsworth dressed as burglars on 23 May, a promotional picture showing Bender dressed as a tourist on 24 May and the fourth Futurama podcast - which revealed that the reason why Zoidberg and Farnsworth get dressed as burglars is that they break into Langdon Cobb's estate to find some dirt on him - on 29 May.

Allusions

 * The episode's title is a reference to the film .
 * The Monsterey Bay Aquarium is a reference to the.
 * Fry and Amy's zombie appearances are a reference to the aliens in the 1988 science fiction-horror film .
 * Larvae Levin is a parody of, the founder of.
 * Selena Go-Bot is a parody of tween celebrity.
 * Parts Hilton is a parody of celebutante.
 * Us People magazine is an amalgamation of ' and '.
 * Leela mispronounces William Shakespeare's first name as.
 * The "Id" and "ego" are two parts of the psyche.
 * After Langdon Cobb tells his butler, LeRoy, that he wants to relax with his bag off and that LeRoy should leave, LeRoy responds by saying "By Your Command." This is a reference to the catchphrase from the television series.

Continuity

 * Bender's camera makes its first appearance since "The Mutants Are Revolting".
 * Bender's sunglasses were last seen in "Decision 3012".
 * The Tea with Titans segment of Channel √2 News was last seen in Bender's Game.
 * The referee uses the phrase "Ladies and gentlemen and smizmars", previously used by another referee in "Raging Bender".
 * The Professor's device used to scan for life in the year 1000000000 in "The Late Philip J. Fry" is used to scan Fry, Amy and Hermes' husks when their life forces are removed.
 * Fry uses his supposed catchphrase, "Help! Police!" in this episode.

Trivia

 * The topics on the blackboard of the office of Us People include:
 * Hypnotoad paternity suit
 * Morbo's backside blow
 * Harold Zoid's shocking revelation
 * H.G. Blob's botox disaster
 * Langdon Cobb bags Oscar
 * (In Alien Language 1) Earth invasions gone wild

Goofs

 * Langdon Cobb's house had a fifty foot force field around it, so how did his ego get out from its grounds to contest hall?
 * If Bender's camera is simply a none futuristic film camera, then shouldn't the heat of the fire he hid in to take Langdon Cobb's photo, have caused the camera to melt or the film to burn.
 * The Professor explains that looking upon a Quantum Litchen drains any living things life force, so why does it reduce the body, to a deflated husk? Shouldn't the bones, muscle, fat and blood remain?
 * Even for a robot, shouldn't drinking battery acid, corrode their insides?

Characters

 * Amy
 * Antonio Calculon, Jr.
 * Bender
 * Boxy Robot
 * Zapp Brannigan
 * Calculon
 * Scoop Chang
 * Farnsworth
 * Fly Mutant
 * Fry
 * Debut: Selena Go-Bot
 * Hermes
 * Debut: Parts Hilton
 * Debut: Langdon Cobb
 * Leela
 * Debut: Larvae Levin
 * Debut: LeRoy
 * Monique
 * Morbo
 * Debut: Pookie
 * Richard Nixon's head
 * Debut: The Robot boy
 * Debut: Starlet
 * Zoidberg