The Inhuman Torch

Bender becomes a famous firefighter, but the crew suspects him of arson.

Story
People have begun mining helium from the sun.

Production
On 17 January 2012, Futurama writer Eric Rogers revealed that the episode was being written. On 7 February, an image of the episode's production script cover was posted to, revealing the episode's title. On 11 December, executive producer David X. Cohen revealed the episode's plot in an interview with.

On 5 February 2013, released a preview clip for the tenth broadcast season, which contained footage from the episode.

Trivia

 * The title caption mentions Futurama's namesake, the 1939 New York.
 * Fry asks if they picked a new pope. was elected exactly 17 weeks before this episode aired.
 * After Bender saves Hattie, a journalist can be seen holding a camera just like his.
 * The helium abundance outside the core of the Sun is not very different from that of interstellar gas, so helium mining in the Sun is probably not practicable.
 * Even if the force field of the helium mine could block out the searing plasma, the photons emitted would surely have fried the miners.
 * The photosphere of the Sun, from which Flamo claims to be from, is in fact one of its coolest parts. Thermonuclear fusion occurs in the core of the Sun, at temperatures reaching 106 K; in comparison, the photosphere is merely 6000 K, hardly hot enough for any nuclear burning to happen. Photons produced deep inside the Sun diffuse slowly outward until they reach the photosphere; here, the density is low enough for the photons to escape outward directly. When we look at the disk of the Sun, it is these photons that are reaching our eyes.

Allusions

 * The episode's title may be a reference to either the or the, both members of the fictional superhero team the . It can also be a reference to the , who was actually a robot.
 * The plot is very similar to an episode of the science-fiction series  called "The Fire Within". In the episode a sentient flame follows the characters, with the intention of burning everything on Earth.
 * The name "Count Bankula" is a reference to the literary villain Count Dracula.
 * Above the door to the meat market, there is a sign that reads "K", in Alienese. This may be a reference to the discount store.
 * In Bender's locker, there is an issue of Gorts Illustrated, a reference to the robot and to the media franchise .
 * Flamo may be a reference to the fire demon Calcifer, from the 1986 fantasy novel .

Goofs

 * Bender's voice should not be affected by the helium in the doom chamber as he doesn't have vocal cords.
 * The sound of his mechanical voice would travel faster through helium, making it sound higher.
 * In the scene where Bender walks in after coming back from the meat market, Amy's suspenders are switching from on to off between 2 frames.
 * Fry's bed is incorrectly layered (time: 17:08).
 * One of Leela's breasts is off-model in one frame.

Continuity

 * The fing-longer last appeared in "Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences".
 * The New New York Times was first seen in "Reincarnation", as the NNY Times.

Characters

 * Amy
 * Mrs. Astor
 * Debut: The bank vampire
 * Dr. Beeler
 * Mrs. Beeler
 * Bender
 * Calculon
 * Professor Farnsworth
 * Debut: Flamo
 * Fry
 * Hattie
 * Debut: The helium miners
 * Hermes
 * The Hypnotoad (heard only)
 * Kif
 * Leela
 * Linda
 * Morbo
 * Debut: The mystic aldermen of the sun
 * Nibbler
 * Mayor Poopenmeyer
 * The pope
 * The queen of Yonkers
 * Randy Munchnik
 * The Robot Devil
 * Ruth and Esther
 * Scruffy
 * Scoop Chang
 * Smitty
 * Stephanie
 * URL
 * Zapp Brannigan
 * Zoidberg

Places

 * The accusing parlour
 * Apartment 00100100
 * The Arctic Ocean
 * Cairo
 * Debut: Count Bankula Vampire Bank
 * Debut: Farnsworth Lanes
 * Debut: The meatery
 * The Planet Express attic
 * The Planet Express employee lounge
 * The Planet Express conference room
 * The Planet Express headquarters
 * The Planet Express lobby
 * The Planet Express sub-basement
 * Robot Arms Apartments
 * Robot Hell
 * Debut: The solar helium mine
 * The sun

Miscellaneous

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