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.

The Story
Professor Farnsworth, fed up with Creationists on Earth, moves to a planetoid to escape the ignorance of humanity. Only to inadvertently create mechanical life which evolved from small cleaner robots designed to clean tainted water on the rock. The crew goes with him but leaves Zoidberg and Cubert on Earth.

Trivia

 * We learn that Zoidberg is Cubert's godfather.

Allusions

 * Fry says the Professor's water supply looks like diet, a 21st century soft drink.
 * Scenes in which the crew fights and tries to escape from robot dinosaurs are in reference to the novel turned movie.
 * 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 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 Lt. Uhura's fan dance in.

Continuity

 * Cubert uses a hoverboard, 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 of her finger without making a big fuss about it, much 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.
 * Bender suggests that a robotic entity could have started life on earth. This might be because he knows of the Galactic Entity ("Godfellas"), which seemed capable of such acts.
 * The pizza that the crew brings into the cave is from Cosmic Ray's Original Pizza, which previously appeared in "A Fishful of Dollars".
 * Brett Blob continues to bully Cubert just like he used to do in "The Route of All Evil".
 * Ben Beeler is seen again at the World Bone Premier who had found Fry's fossilized dog in Jurassic Bark and was in line for the eyePhone in Attack of the Killer App.
 * 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".

Goofs

 * In the courtroom, when Bender tells the jury to find The Professor guilty for 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.

Characters

 * Amy
 * Debut: Dr. Banjo
 * Dr. Ben Beeler
 * Bender
 * Brett Blob
 * Cubert
 * Professor Farnsworth
 * Debut: Flying Spaghetti Monster
 * Fry
 * Hermes
 * Hydroponic Farmer
 * Leela
 * Debut: Superior Gort Judge
 * Debut: Superior Gort Prosecutor
 * Zoidberg
 * Debut: Evolutionist scientist fembot