A Pharaoh to Remember
Encyclopedia
"A Pharaoh to Remember" is episode seventeen of Futurama
' s third season. It originally aired on March 10, 2002.
on the side of a building, saying "Bender Lives Large and Kicks Butt." The building is demolished, and his phrase is reduced to "Bender Licks Butt" in the style of a MAD Magazine fold-in page. Bender returns to the office to find out that the crew had staged a "funeral" for him, to show that he will be remembered, but it ends badly. The Professor assigns the crew a new mission: to deliver a giant sandstone
block to the planet Osiris IV.
Upon their arrival, Bender, Fry
and Leela find a desert world whose society is modeled after ancient Egypt
and who they claim introduced interstellar travel to them (a reversal of the ancient astronaut theories). The crew is enslaved to work on the building of the funeral pyramid
of Pharaoh
Hamenthotep. Their job is to work alongside the other slaves, moving heavy stone blocks manually. Bender, impressed by the Osirin Pharaohs' method of ensuring their place in history, becomes a workaholic
, working so fast the slavedrivers cannot even keep up with him.
Pharaoh Hamenthotep arrives to inspect his newly completed pyramid, and as he was about to set everyone free, he is killed when the nose falls off a giant statue of himself. The priests entomb Hamenthotep, and the next day they consult their wall of prophecy to select the new pharaoh. While the slaves celebrate over their few hours of freedom, Bender sneaks out and makes a few surreptitious modifications to the wall, ensuring he is declared the new pharaoh. As Bender becomes the pharaoh, he states "Citizens of me! The cruelty of the old pharaoh is a thing of the past! Let a whole new wave of cruelty wash over this lazy land!"
Newly crowned Pharaoh Bender demands a statue of himself, one billion cubit
s tall, so that he will be remembered forever. Construction proceeds, with Bender quickly establishing himself as an excessively dictatorial and ruthless pharaoh, and the massive statue is soon completed. Nonetheless, when it is unveiled, Pharaoh Bender announces that he is displeased with it, and wants it to be torn down and rebuilt. The high priests, disgusted and tired with Bender, wrap him for burial, and entomb him, declaring that their leader has died, along with Fry and Leela for human sacrifices, at Bender's request.
With a limited oxygen supply running out, Fry and Leela want to blast their way out using the explosive Schnapps
from the tomb's distillery; but Bender objects, worried that he will not be remembered if the statue is destroyed. After Fry and Leela make a show of not remembering Bender, he finally agrees to let them destroy his work. After blasting a crack in the statue's foot, Fry, Leela, and Bender escape and run back to the ship. As the ship departs from Osiris IV, the statue explodes in a gigantic fireball. Bender is distraught, but Leela consoles him with the knowledge that his reign of terror will be remembered longer than any statue (which would be unlikely evidenced by the fact that the explosion may have destroyed all life on Osiris IV). Satisfied, Bender tells the crew to set course for Earth. As the ship approaches an Earth-like planet, Bender begins to laugh evilly. Leela points out that the planet is not Earth and Bender stops laughing. The ship flies away from the planet, ostensibly towards Earth.
Futurama
Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
Plot
After a pool heist Bender committed is attributed to a human felon, Bender grows concerned that he will be doomed to obscurity, and sets off to rectify the situation. He tries many schemes including a futile effort to convince people that his foot is trapped in a mailbox, trying to introduce a new rollerblading dance to a gang, and spraying graffitiGraffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
on the side of a building, saying "Bender Lives Large and Kicks Butt." The building is demolished, and his phrase is reduced to "Bender Licks Butt" in the style of a MAD Magazine fold-in page. Bender returns to the office to find out that the crew had staged a "funeral" for him, to show that he will be remembered, but it ends badly. The Professor assigns the crew a new mission: to deliver a giant sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
block to the planet Osiris IV.
Upon their arrival, Bender, Fry
Philip J. Fry
Philip J. Fry, known simply as Fry, is a fictional character, the main protagonist of the animated science fiction sitcom Futurama. He is voiced by Billy West using a version of his own voice as he sounded when he was 25.-Character overview:...
and Leela find a desert world whose society is modeled after ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
and who they claim introduced interstellar travel to them (a reversal of the ancient astronaut theories). The crew is enslaved to work on the building of the funeral pyramid
Pyramid
A pyramid is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a single point. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, meaning that a pyramid has at least three triangular surfaces...
of Pharaoh
Pharaoh
Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...
Hamenthotep. Their job is to work alongside the other slaves, moving heavy stone blocks manually. Bender, impressed by the Osirin Pharaohs' method of ensuring their place in history, becomes a workaholic
Workaholic
A workaholic is a person who is addicted to work.The term generally implies that the person enjoys their work; it can also imply that they simply feel compelled to do it...
, working so fast the slavedrivers cannot even keep up with him.
Pharaoh Hamenthotep arrives to inspect his newly completed pyramid, and as he was about to set everyone free, he is killed when the nose falls off a giant statue of himself. The priests entomb Hamenthotep, and the next day they consult their wall of prophecy to select the new pharaoh. While the slaves celebrate over their few hours of freedom, Bender sneaks out and makes a few surreptitious modifications to the wall, ensuring he is declared the new pharaoh. As Bender becomes the pharaoh, he states "Citizens of me! The cruelty of the old pharaoh is a thing of the past! Let a whole new wave of cruelty wash over this lazy land!"
Newly crowned Pharaoh Bender demands a statue of himself, one billion cubit
Cubit
The cubit is a traditional unit of length, based on the length of the forearm. Cubits of various lengths were employed in many parts of the world in Antiquity, in the Middle Ages and into Early Modern Times....
s tall, so that he will be remembered forever. Construction proceeds, with Bender quickly establishing himself as an excessively dictatorial and ruthless pharaoh, and the massive statue is soon completed. Nonetheless, when it is unveiled, Pharaoh Bender announces that he is displeased with it, and wants it to be torn down and rebuilt. The high priests, disgusted and tired with Bender, wrap him for burial, and entomb him, declaring that their leader has died, along with Fry and Leela for human sacrifices, at Bender's request.
With a limited oxygen supply running out, Fry and Leela want to blast their way out using the explosive Schnapps
Schnapps
Schnapps is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage. The English word schnapps is derived from the German Schnaps , which can refer to any strong alcoholic drink but particularly those containing at least 32% ABV...
from the tomb's distillery; but Bender objects, worried that he will not be remembered if the statue is destroyed. After Fry and Leela make a show of not remembering Bender, he finally agrees to let them destroy his work. After blasting a crack in the statue's foot, Fry, Leela, and Bender escape and run back to the ship. As the ship departs from Osiris IV, the statue explodes in a gigantic fireball. Bender is distraught, but Leela consoles him with the knowledge that his reign of terror will be remembered longer than any statue (which would be unlikely evidenced by the fact that the explosion may have destroyed all life on Osiris IV). Satisfied, Bender tells the crew to set course for Earth. As the ship approaches an Earth-like planet, Bender begins to laugh evilly. Leela points out that the planet is not Earth and Bender stops laughing. The ship flies away from the planet, ostensibly towards Earth.
Broadcast and reception
In its initial airing, the episode received a Nielsen rating of 3.0/4, placing it 97th among primetime shows for the week of March 4-10, 2002.External links
- A Pharaoh to Remember at The Infosphere.