Raging Bender

"Raging Bender" is the twenty-first episode of Futurama, the eighth of the second production season and the twelfth of the second broadcast season. It aired 27 February, 2000 on FOX. It guest stars Rich Little as himself in a jar. After accidentally beating up the Masked Unit, Bender becomes the new favourite at Ultimate Robot Fighting League.

Act I: "Just walk around not wearing a helmet"
Hermes returns from his vacation and seems to have acquired a unique souvenir: a Brain Slug. As the rest of the crew wants to evade any possibility of assimilation, they all go to the movies. After some discussion, they decide to see All My Circuits: The Movie. Bender is angry about another robot with an exceptionally high head sitting in front of him and teases him continuously, until the stranger's patience is exhausted. He changes into a fighting monstrosity and chases Bender across the theatre, but when he has him cornered he slips on Bender's dropped popcorn (with extra motor oil) and is knocked out. It turns out the stranger was The Masked Unit, a member of the Ultimate Robot Fighting League. As it happens, the Commissioner of the URFL is present and enrols Bender on the spot to fight in the League.

Act II: "Bender the Offender"
Bender is very proud of being a member of the league, until he learns that Ultimate Robot Fighting is the most brutal form of competition in the galaxy. He wants to chicken out, but Leela stops him from doing it and tells a story about her youth in the orphanarium. When she was training Arcturan Kung Fu, she had a sexist trainer, Master Fnog, who deemed her inappropriate for championship because she was female, because women lacked the "Will of the Warrior". She wants Bender to seize his chance to be a champion and takes on the task of training him up for the big fight. At his first big night, Bender wins the fight after a bad start and against his expectations, and is told afterwards that all the fights are rigged and the most popular robot wins. As Bender is not only popular, but lowest-common-denominator, a great career starts. As Bender the Offender, he easily knocks out every fighter of the league, and as he knows the secret of success, he neglects his training, to the dismay of Leela. As his popularity drops, however, the league changes his persona to The Gender Bender and orders him to lose next week's title match. As his opponent is the robotic armoured tank Destructor, Bender reluctantly agrees, but he begs Leela to help him win this fight. At first, she refuses because Bender didn't want her help earlier, but as she learns that Destructor's trainer is none other than her tormentor Fnog, she is eager to train Bender and teach him to fight like a girl.

Act III: "It's Bendering Time!"
The great title match takes place at Madison Cube Garden, with commentaries by Rich Little and George Foreman. Fnog is making his little jokes, making Leela even more determined to beat him somehow. The fight does not go well, as Destructor is punching Bender at will and without remorse. Leela finally gives in and calls for Fnog to call his pupil off, then notices that Fnog has disappeared and a little antenna has taken his place. She locates Fnog under the ring, wearing a cybersuit that makes Destructor mimic his exact movements. She is enraged, especially as he teases her again, and attacks him. However, Fnog manages to take the offensive and is just about to deliver the final blow. Leela blocks that punch and manages to divert his fist to the ground, and accordingly, Destructor does the same. The fist goes through the floor of the ring and knocks Fnog out. As he falls over, so does Destructor, flattening Bender in the process - Bender has lost the fight. But Leela is still proud of him, as she got to beat up someone who hurt her feelings in high school.

Trivia

 * Among the movies in the theatre are the following:
 * It Came from Planet Earth
 * Shaft on Africon-9
 * When a Man loves a Smizmar
 * Quizblorg Quizblorg (alien movie)
 * Galaxy Wars (a historical documentary)
 * Planet of the Clams (apparently a Decapodian movie)
 * All My Circuits: The Movie
 * "All My Circuits - The Movie" credits include
 * Directed by Directing Unit 4
 * Written by Writing Unit 5 and Writing Unit 12 & Joe Eszterhas
 * Based on Original Characters by Original Character Unit 17
 * This is the second time Hermes has been attacked by Brain Slugs, the first being a brief attachment in "A Head in the Polls".
 * Leela uses Rust-O-Leum to prepare Bender for his first fight.
 * Near the end of the episode when Amy says "Fry, where's your brain slug?", her voice is a bit lower than it usually is.

Continuity

 * It came from Planet Earth already had an appearance in "Fear of a Bot Planet".
 * The term Smizmar is first used here, although its meaning is not established.
 * The newsreel mentions the "newly crowned Miss Universe." She was crowned two episodes earlier, in The Lesser of Two Evils.

Allusions

 * The movie theatre's name is Loew's -plex.
 * All of the movies at the theatre are spoofs of popular movies from the 20th century:
 * Planet of the Clams is a reference to Planet of the Apes about "an upside down world where lobster is slave to clam".
 * Galaxy Wars is a parody of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
 * Quizblorg, Quizblorg, a foreign film with subtitles. Probably a reference to Rochelle, Rochelle, a fictional film often referred to in .
 * When a Man Loves a Smizmar, a reference to When a Man Loves a Woman. Also, a Smizmar is a term used in Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch to describe the person who caused the feelings allowing a male of Kif's species to become pregnant.
 * Shaft on Africon-9 is a spoof of Shaft in Africa.
 * The opening of All my Circuits - The Movie is similar to that of James Bond.
 * The Ultimate Robot Fighting is a reference to the UFC, in name, although the actual product is much more similar to Professional Wrestling, given the characters, ring, merchandising, character changes and predetermined outcomes that are shown.
 * The characters who serve as Bender's opponents are typical of many pro wrestling characters.
 * Bender's change to the Gender Bender bears a passing resemblance to, one of professional wrestling's first "gimmick" characters.
 * "RobotMania XXII" is a parody of WrestleMania.
 * Bender 3:16 is a parody of a popular wrestling catchphrase Austin 3:16.
 * Rich Little is commentating at the Ultimate Robot Fighting matches and doing an impression of Howard Cosell. George Foreman is the co-host and makes reference to his George Foreman Grill.
 * Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo from Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) appear in silhouette in the movie theatre (as they normally do on their TV show). Crow's harsh demand Fry not talk during the movie is an ironic statement since the entire crux of their show is to talk during the movie. Neither Joel Robinson nor Mike Nelson can be seen though, and Crow is not voiced by either Trace Beaulieu nor Bill Corbett.
 * The ad announcing Bender's persona change to "The Gender Bender" starts with Bender standing on the planet Earth with an Old Freebie flag waving behind him. This pose is identical to the George Reeves Superman pose at the start of each episode of the 1950s television series The Adventures of Superman.
 * When Hattie says "let's all go to the lobby", it is a reference to "".

Ultimate Robot Fighters

 * The Masked Unit (A parody of The Masked Superstar)
 * The Clearcutter (A parody of Hacksaw Jim Duggan)
 * Gorgeous Gorx (A parody of Georgous George)
 * Billionaire Bot (A parody of Ted Dibiase)
 * The Foreigner
 * The Chain Smoker (A parody of The Sandman)
 * Destructor
 * Sgt. Feces Processor (A Parody of Sgt Slaughter)
 * Bender the Offender/Gender Bender

Characters

 * Debut: Abner Doubledeal
 * Amy
 * Bender
 * Bont
 * Debut: Billionaire Bot
 * Calculon
 * Debut: Chain Smoker
 * Debut: The Clearcutter
 * Debut: Destructor
 * Professor Farnsworth
 * Debut: Floozies
 * Debut: Fnog
 * Debut: The Foreigner
 * Debut: George Foreman's Head
 * Fry
 * Gladys Lennox
 * Hattie McDoogal
 * Hermes
 * Kif Kroker
 * Leela
 * Debut: Rich Little's Head
 * Debut: The Masked Unit
 * Monique
 * Richard Nixon's head
 * Mayor C. Randall Poopenmeyer
 * Sal
 * Debut: Teenbot
 * Zapp Brannigan
 * Zoidberg

Episode Credits

 * Writer
 * Lewis Morton
 * Director
 * Ron Hughart
 * Voice Actors
 * Billy West
 * Katey Sagal
 * John DiMaggio
 * Tress MacNeille
 * Phil LaMarr
 * Maurice LaMarche
 * Lauren Tom
 * David Herman
 * Tom Kenny
 * Russ Leatherman
 * DVD Commentary
 * Matt Groening
 * David X. Cohen
 * Rich Moore
 * Lewis Morton
 * Ron Hughart
 * Christopher Tyng
 * Billy West
 * Special Guest
 * Rich Little