Crimes of the Hot

"Crimes of the Hot" is the sixty-second episode of Futurama, the eighth of the fourth production season and the first of the fifth broadcast season. It aired 10 November, 2002 on FOX. It guest stars Al Gore as himself in a jar. The method for combating global warming is in need of renewal, Al Gore arranges a climate conference in Kyoto, Japan, where Farnsworth reveals the cause of global warming.

Act I: "This could mean the end of the Banana Daquiri as we know it!...Also life."
The city of New New York is haunted by a heat wave, and the Planet Express crew intend to go swimming in an outdoor pool. Unfortunately Nibbler drinks the water all in one go and then burps out a cloud of chlorine, nearly poisoning everyone but Bender, who is merely seriously corroded. The Professor shows them a movie, "Global Warming, or None Like it Hot!", in which the phenomenon of global warming is explained in a strange 1950s style, and the solution to counter it - dropping a giant ice cube into the ocean every now and then. It now seems that the time has come for this measure, as Richard Nixon's head calls for the crew to fly to Halley's Comet to obtain the necessary ice. As they arrive there, however, they learn that the ice resources of the comet are depleted, leaving Earth with a serious problem.

Act II: "Morbo is pleased, but sticky!"
Earth is now experiencing the effects of intense global warming. The polar icecaps melt, causing floods, and the intense heat is making African turtles migrate to Holland. Bender travels there to help and bring back with him a turtle that has fallen on its back, out of sympathy - because they share the same weakness: Bender cannot get up either when he lies on his back. This fact is immediately tested to the extreme by the crew and proves to be true. Meanwhile, a Civil Defense Van comes and announces a scientific conference called to Kyoto to solve the problem of global warming by the combined brainpower of Earth's scientific community. The Professor seems very reluctant to go, but does so eventually. Al Gore calls for the saving of Earth and offers a bag of Moon saphires as reward. The first contestant is Dr. Ogden Wernstrom who presents his solution for the problem - a giant space-borne parabolic mirror that reflects 40% of all sunlight and thus cools off Earth. However, the mirror is struck by a passing meteorite which causes it to turn and reflect the sun light onto Kyoto, frying part of the conference center away - obviously this is not the optimal solution. The next speaker, though reluctantly, is Professor Farnsworth, who admits that he caused the current global warming problem by creating the alcohol-powered Sport-Utility Robot, the ancestor of all modern robots that cause pollution by burning alcohol and building up greenhouse gases. As a solution, Wernstrom now calls for the destruction of all robots, to the dismay of Bender.

Act III: "Tonight: Great Robot Party, Tomorrow: Great Scrap-Metal Giveaway"
Richard Nixon's head is throwing a party for all robots on Earth on the Galápagos Islands, and Bender is attending to it, although he knows it is a trap. All robots on the planet are congregating on the remote island, to be killed by Wernstrom's giant mirror that has been modified to fire a gigantic electromagnetic pulse on the Galápagos Islands. As Bender is telling his favourite turtle of Nixon's plan, the other robots learn of it and a panic ensues. At this moment, the Planet Express Ship with Leela, Fry and the Professor on board arrives, for the Professor has thought of a solution: all robots must turn their exhaust vents upwards and fire one great blast of exhaust straight up, to move Earth further away from the sun. Every robot must join in, or else it will not work. Every robot obeys, except Bender who has fallen on his back in a scuffle with Preacherbot and can't get up. The huge blast does not have the desired effect at first, and Wernstrom is zeroing his mirror in on Galapágos. Bender then watches his favourite turtle, which lay on its back as well, rock itself upright and copies its maneuver. Then he too joins in in the exhaust blast, and with his help, the blast is strong enough to move the planet. This throws Wernstrom's mirror off target, and the EMP blast misses Earth. For saving Earth and foiling his plan, Richard Nixon's head presents Professor Farnsworth with the Earth's new highest honour - the Polluting Medal of Pollution. Now that the problem is solved, there is only one thing still to think of - how to name the additional week in the now longer Earth year. It is declared "Robot Party Week" by the President.

Trivia

 * In the Professor Farnsworth's flashback, Mom's hair is dark grey instead of just grey as in 2ACV14.
 * More or less every robot on the show has a little cameo appearance on the Galápagos Islands (with the exception of Flexo, the Robot Elders, and Robot Santa Claus).
 * The horned wizard who is interested in the Moon Sapphires (and subsequently, the opening of the Gate of Garash) is based on Tim the Enchanter from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
 * The "Global Warming or none like it hot!" newsreel in this episode is featured in Al Gore's documentary, 'An Inconvenient Truth'.
 * The "Curious Pussycat" sign in Kyoto translates to "I love you more than your mother does".
 * Morbo's quote "Windmills do not work that way!" is referenced by the Neopets virtual item "The Way Windmills Work", with the description: Windmills do, in fact, work that way.
 * The scientist with the degree in homeopathic science has his degree from the Evergreen State College, where creator Matt Groening went to college.
 * Physics-minded fans have calculated that the professor's plan of pushing the Earth further from the sun, making the year one week longer, would reduce the amount of solar radiation striking the Earth by about 2.5%. Some experts have suggested that this would be enough to halt global warming in its present state.
 * Wernstrom's space mirror, by blocking 40% of the sun's rays, would cause a catastrophic ice age.

Outside References

 * One of the first robots Farnsworth designed at Mom's Friendly Robot Company was based on the Droid C-3PO from Star Wars.
 * Later in the episode, the professor says "Ooh, the Jedis are going to feel this one..."
 * The medal ceremony is very reminiscent of the scene in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
 * The conference at Kyoto is a spoof of the UN climate conference held there.
 * Fry's mention about spilling a cup of McDonald's coffee on his lap to cool himself off is an allusion to the controversial lawsuit case of an elderly woman who accidentally did just that.
 * Curious Pussycat is a parody of Hello Kitty.

Goofs

 * Seen from space, the exhaust blast from the robots is, in some shots, not coming from Galápagos.
 * Somehow it is odd that around the PE building, which is right in downtown New New York at the waterside and therefore close to the ocean, the water has not risen at all with the severe flooding reported on the news.
 * It was referenced in an earlier episode that global warming was canceled out by nuclear winter.
 * The Mirror is over America and cools them despite the fact that they are in Japan.

Characters

 * Headless body of Agnew (debut)
 * Al Gore
 * Amy
 * Bender
 * Civil Defense Van (debut)
 * Dark Wizard (debut)
 * Professor Farnsworth
 * Fry
 * Hermes
 * Joan Rivers' head
 * Kif
 * Leela
 * Linda
 * Mom
 * Morbo
 * Nibbler
 * Richard Nixon's head
 * Randy Munchnik
 * Wernstrom
 * Zoidberg

Robots
Essentially every robot that's been seen before (except Flexo, the Robot Elders, and Robot Santa Claus) is seen in this episode. Besides Bender, among the Robots seen at the Galapagos Island "party" are:


 * Barrier Bots
 * Billionaire Bot
 * Boxy Robot
 * Calculon
 * Chain Smoker
 * Clearcutter
 * Crushinator
 * Daisy Mae 128k
 * Destructor
 * Fatbot
 * Fender
 * Gearshift
 * The Hookerbots
 * Hedonism Bot (debut)
 * The jacking-on robots from "Hell Is Other Robots"
 * Keg Robot (debut)
 * A Killbot
 * Lulubelle 7
 * Malfunctioning Eddie
 * Masked Unit
 * Monique
 * Officer URL
 * Oily
 * The Robot Chef from "A Fishful of Dollars"
 * The Postman-Bot from "A Bicyclops Built for Two"
 * Reverend Lionel Preacherbot
 * Roberto
 * The Robo-Rooter from the ad in "Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?"
 * Robot Demons
 * Robot Devil
 * The Robot Dog owned by Robot Santa Claus
 * The Robot Mafia
 * Clamps
 * Donbot
 * Joey Mousepad
 * Sinclair 2K (unofficial debut)
 * Soda Machine Robot
 * Stripperbot
 * A Sunset Squad Robot
 * The Teenage Popcorn-selling Robot from "Raging Bender"
 * Tinny Tim
 * iZac
 * A robot that resembles the R.O.B. accessory from Nintendo Entertainment system.

Episode Credits

 * Writer
 * Aaron Ehasz
 * Director
 * Peter Avanzino
 * Voice Actors
 * Billy West
 * Katey Sagal
 * John DiMaggio
 * Frank Welker
 * Lauren Tom
 * Phil LaMarr
 * DVD Commentary
 * Matt Groening
 * David X. Cohen
 * Rich Moore
 * Ron Weiner
 * Ken Keeler
 * David Goodman
 * Peter Avanzino
 * Billy West
 * Maurice LaMarche
 * Special Guests
 * Al Gore