Fear of a Bot Planet

"Fear of a Bot Planet" was the fifth episode of Futurama and of the first season. It aired on 20 April, 1999 on FOX. It is the first episode not to establish important facts for the show, except perhaps Bender's idea of humans. The episode tells the tale of Bender gaining the fame he ever wanted on a planet filled with human hating robots, but in the end, he realises his true friends are Fry and Leela.

Act I: "From up here, the entire world can seem insignificant."
Fry and Leela are in the cockpit of the Planet Express Ship, admiring the view. They're gazing out at a green, ringed planet, which then splatters on their windshield.

Act II: "You humans are so scared of a little robot competition!"
Fry, Leela, Farnsworth, Bender, and Zoidberg are at a Blernsball game. They start talking about great players, and Bender brings up Wireless Joe Jackson from the Robot leagues. They argue about whether it's right to exclude literal Blern-hitting machines from the human league. Hermes calls them back to the office for a mission to Chapek 9, "a world where humans are killed on sight." Bender tries to get out of work claiming a Robot holiday, Robanukah. Bender, being asked to actually do something for the first time since working at Planet Express, cries discrimination. They make him go anyway, and he is captured by the native robots.

Act III: "Death to humans!!!"
Fry and Leela disguise themselves as robots and venture onto the planet to try and rescue Bender. Fry blows their cover, and they run and hide in a movie theatre. The movie is a cheesy horror film about a human who breathes fire and eats robots. When the robots gather for their daily human hunt, they finally locate Bender - declaring his intention to destroy all humans!

Act IV: "Got you, you murderous flesh piles!"
On the human hunt, Leela and Fry talk to Bender. Bender tells them he wants to stay, but that they should leave. When they are all three caught, Bender pretends he was capturing them. They are tried for the crime of being human. When convicted, they are taken before the council of robot elders. The elders try to get Bender to kill them himself. He refuses, and they then turn on all of them. In an unusual display of cunning, Fry helps them escape by scaring the elders, threatening to breathe fire on them. The package turns out to be a box of desperately-needed lug nuts, and the robots cheer and break off their pursuit. Back on the ship, they all celebrate Robanukah, which Bender admits is made-up.

Trivia

 * The names listed in Leela's scoring card are:
 * Karis
 * Adler
 * Horsted
 * Verrone
 * Keeler
 * Burns
 * Cohen
 * Kaplan
 * Morton
 * Costanza
 * Maris
 * Zork
 * Zork Jr.
 * QZDJLYD
 * Lombard
 * Gore
 * Raspberry
 * Jones with Clemens' Arm

Quotes

 * Bender: Oh, so just because a robot wants to kill humans that makes him a 'Radical?'
 * Prosecutor-Bot: Your honor, I intend to demonstrate beyond 0.5% of a doubt that these humans before us are guilty of the crime of being humans. Come to think of it, I rest my case.
 * Bender: Admit it, you all think robots are just machines built by humans to make their lives easier. Fry: Well, aren't they? Bender: I've never made anyone's life easier, and you know it.
 * Billboard at Chapek 9: "GOT MILK? THEN YOU'RE A HUMAN AND MUST BE DESTROYED"
 * Fry: Is the puppy mechanical in any way? Guard-bot: No! It is the bad kind of puppy!

Real-World References

 * The title is a reference to the Public Enemy album "Fear of a Black Planet".
 * The planet Chapek 9 is named after Karel Čapek, who is credited with inventing the word "robot".
 * The story is based on a short story by Stanislaw Lem in which a human crash-lands on a planet full of robots and disguises himself as one, only to find out eventually that all the robots are indeed humans in disguise.
 * Hermes shows up in the form of a hologram, much like Princess Leia in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
 * A movie called "Buffbot the Human Slayer" is advertised on a Chapek 9 theatre marquee, referencing "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".
 * Just after Leela sneezes, a robot points and lets out a shriek. This is a reference to the 1978 version of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"

Goofs

 * When Bender is adding butter to his popcorn, a man in the background is missing his eyes.
 * In one scene, the robot elder on the far left changes its eye- and teethcolor from red to yellow.

Characters
(In alphabetical order)
 * Bender
 * Debut: Computer Judge
 * Dr. Zoidberg
 * Fry
 * Hermes
 * Leela
 * Prof. Farnsworth
 * Debut: Robot Builder
 * Debut: Robot Cleaner
 * Debut: Robot Elders
 * Debut: Robot Guards
 * Debut: Robot Human
 * Debut: Robot Mayor

Episode Credits

 * Writers
 * Evan Gore
 * Heather Lombard
 * Directors
 * Ashley Lenz
 * Chris Suave
 * Voice Actors
 * Billy West
 * Katey Sagal
 * John DiMaggio
 * Tress MacNeille
 * Phil LaMarr
 * Maurice LaMarche
 * Dave Herman
 * Tom Kenny