| Futurama episode | |
| "A Tale of Two Santas" | |
 Bender and Robot Santa |
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| Episode no. | 35 |
|---|---|
| Prod. code | 3ACV03 |
| Airdate | December 23, 2001 |
| Writer(s) | Bill Odenkirk |
| Director | Ron Hughart |
| Opening subtitle | This Episode Performed Entirely By Sock Puppets |
| Opening cartoon | Box Car Blues |
| Guest star(s) | Coolio as Kwanzaabot |
| Season 3 January 2001 – December 2002 |
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| List of all Futurama episodes... | |
"A Tale of Two Santas" is the third episode in season three of Futurama. It originally aired in North America on December 23, 2001.
Contents |
Plot
It is Xmas again and everyone is locking down for the arrival of Robot Santa. The Professor sends the crew to deliver children's letters directly to Santa at his fortress on Neptune. After reading some of the letters, begging Santa not to wreak havoc on the writers, Fry decides it's time to bring Christmas back to the way it was in the past. They land at Jolly Junction, Neptune and enlist the aid of a pair of Neptunians in sneaking into the fortress.
The crew confronts Santa, and Leela presents him with what she (falsely) believes to be a logical paradox (it is in fact a syllogism the conclusion of which is that the Santa robot should self destruct — since it leads to this single conclusion, not two contradictory conclusions it is not a paradox) intended to destroy him. Unfortunately, Santa proves immune to paradoxes; and he takes off after them with a missile launcher. The crew escapes the fortress, and are about to leave in the ship; but Santa grabs the engine and prevents the ship from taking off. The heat from the engine melts the ice under Santa's feet, and he sinks in; it refreezes around him.
With Santa frozen in ice, Bender takes over and toy-making resumes in Jolly Junction. Bender heads to New New York where he gets a less than welcome reception from citizens expecting a blood-thirsty killer. While taking a beer break, Bender is arrested and put on trial for Santa's crimes. Bender is found guilty and sentenced to execution by magnetic dismemberment.
Fry and Leela rush back to Neptune to bring in the real Santa to prove Bender's innocence. They carve Santa out in a large block of ice; but the ice melts due to pollution from the toy factory, and Santa is freed. Fry and Leela escape in the ship, but Santa has hitched a ride back to Earth. The Planet Express crew tries one last attempt to save Bender, with all of them pretending to be Santa and Zoidberg pretending to be "his friend, Jesus". Their effort fails, and the execution device is activated.
Moments later, the real Robot Santa bursts through the wall. He rescues Bender and the two go on a proper Xmas rampage. As the Planet Express crew huddle in fear of their lives, Fry concludes he has somewhat succeeded in bringing back the old spirit of Christmas, even if it's fear that's bringing people together instead of love. At the end of the spree of destruction, Santa tells Bender that if he tries a stunt like that again, he will kill him, and pushes Bender off the sleigh amid the burning buildings.
Production
John Goodman, who voiced Robot Santa in the previous episode "Xmas Story" was unavailable to reprise his voice role for this episode; the voice was provided by John DiMaggio.[1] Dan Castellaneta, who voiced the Robot Devil in "Hell is Other Robots" and "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings", was busy with The Simpsons; his voice was provided by Maurice LaMarche in the short scene where a robot prisoner tells Bender to tell The Robot Devil that he's coming to see him -- and Bender conveniently stopping by The Robot Devil's prison cell (next to the prisoner who told Bender in the first place) to relay the news.
Broadcast and reception
Futurama executive producer David X. Cohen referred to this episode as Futurama's lost episode due to the delays in its initial broadcast. Fox Network decided the episode was not appropriate for its 7 p.m. time slot (due to the scenes of violence, though, according to the DVD commentary, the only extreme violence in this episode are the scenes of destruction when Bender and Robot Santa are terrorizing New New York) and the episode was delayed for a year before being scheduled to air in a later time slot on December 23, 2001.[2]
In its initial airing, the episode received a Nielsen rating of 4.1, placing it 77th among primetime shows for the week of December 17-23, 2001.[3]
Characters
Characters appearing for the first time in this episode:
- Kwanzaabot—voiced by guest star Coolio.
References
- ^ ""Meet the X-man who keeps Futurama's future secure"". Sci Fi Weekly. October 30, 2000. http://www.scifi.com/sfw/interviews/sfw6203.html. Retrieved 2007-06-18.
- ^ ""David X. Cohen boards the Planet Express to find meaning in Futurama"". Sci Fi Weekly. December 17, 2001. http://www.scifi.com/sfw/interviews/sfw7897.html. Retrieved 2007-06-18.
- ^ "Nielsen ratings; 'CSI' tops rating's list.". Dubuque Telegraph-Herald. Associated Press. 2001-12-28. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-17256091.html. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
External links
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