Mother's Day (Futurama)

"Mother's Day"
Futurama episode
File:Futurama 219 - Mother's Day.jpg Bender and Comrade Greeting Card
Episode no.	Season two
Directed by	Brian Sheesley
Written by	Lewis Morton
Original air date	May 14, 2000
Episode features
Opening cartoon	"Bold King Cole" (1936)

"Mother's Day" is fourteenth episode in the second broadcast season of the American animated television series Futurama. It originally aired in North America on May 14, 2000.

Plot

Every Mother's Day, robots made in Mom's Friendly Robot Company factories around the world give gifts, money, and cards to the owner of the corporation, Mom. Despite extensively promoting the holiday, Mom actually hates the day and is in an even more bitter mood this year, remembering a romantic affair that had ended 70 years prior. Such doomed romance had been with a younger Professor Hubert Farnsworth, then an employee of Mom's Friendly Robot Company. When Mom insisted that the Professor's latest design, a children's toy named Q.T. McWhiskers, be changed to an eight-foot-tall death machine to be sold on the intergalactic arms market, the Professor, enraged, stormed out of the room, and they had not seen each other since.

In revenge, Mom attempts to become the "supreme overlord of Earth" for this Mother's Day, ordering the entire robot population of the planet to rebel and overthrow humanity through a control that transmits to every robot's antenna. Wishing to end the robot rebellion and save humanity, Mom's three sons, Walt, Larry, and Igner, cooperate with the Planet Express crew to obtain the robot control Mom keeps in her bra. Their plan is to bring Mom to her rustic cabin near New New York, have the Professor seduce her, remove her bra, and use the control to end the rebellion.

When the Professor and Mom do meet at the cabin, however, their love is rekindled, and they erupt into sex. Amidst this, everyone else comes in to escape the robots, who have made their way to the cabin. In order for their romantic evening not to be interrupted, Mom decides to finally call off the rebellion. Mom dumps the Professor after learning of the initial plot. Life is then returned to normal.

Cultural references

• The opening subtitle "Larva-Tested, Pupa-Approved" is reminiscent of the slogan for Kix cereal, "Kid-Tested, Mother-Approved!".
• The can of soup Fry tries to open says "Quantum Leek", which is a reference to the TV show titled Quantum Leap.
• The paper the cigarette dispenser-bot is burning is a punched card, recalling draft-card burning during Vietnam War protests.
• The garbage can throwing itself through the window of Sal's Pizzeria is a reference to the Spike Lee film Do the Right Thing.
• When Walt is showing the map of the surrounding area, an area called "Cloakwood Forest" is visible. This is a reference to the Forgotten Realms setting of Dungeons & Dragons.
• The flashback scene of Mom and Farnsworth riding a bicycle is a parody of a similar scene from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The scene also features a mock-up of "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head", which was featured in the original movie scene.
• One of the robots waiting for Mom is a Betamax video recorder.
• Mom's universal robot remote control features the options "Serve Man (Regular)" and "Serve Man (Ironic)", a reference to To Serve Man.

Broadcast and reception

In its initial airing, the episode received a Nielsen rating of 3.9/9, placing it 79th among primetime shows for the week of May 8–14, 2000.

External links

• Mother's Day at The Infosphere.