I, Roommate Totally Explained

Everything about I Roommate totally explained

"I, Roommate" is the third episode of season one of Futurama. It originally aired in North America on April 6, 1999. The episode was written by Eric Horsted and directed by Bret Haaland.

Plot

Fry has been living in the Planet Express offices; however, this is disrupting business; and when Fry eats the Professor's alien mummy and is frequently using the building's burn shower to get clean, it's decided that Fry has to go. Fry moves in with Bender in his robot apartment, a two cubic meter stall. His apartment number (and all the others in his building) are binary numbers from the ASCII code. There in his tiny stall, the differences in personal hygiene needs between humans and robots are underscored in the dialogue following Fry asking Bender where his bathroom is — Bender: Bath what? - (Fry: "Bathroom.") Bender: What room? - ("Bathroom!") Bender: What what? (Fry: "Ah, never mind."). Several days later, Fry decides they need to move; and the two begin a search for living space that will satisfy them both. After searching for apartments with no good luck, one of Professor Farnsworth's colleagues dies violently; and Fry and Bender are able to lease his full furnished enormous apartment. Bender plans to live in the apartment's tiny closet. To the theme of The Odd Couple, Fry and Bender make themselves at home. During the housewarming party, where they intend to watch the wedding in robot soap opera All My Circuits on the apartment's gigantic television, they discover that Bender's antenna interferes with the building's televisions (he transmits on the same frequency as the TVs' satellite signal); and the landlady (Hattie McDoogal) insists that Bender leave. Fry wishes to stay, so Bender returns to his old apartment, but becomes upset by Fry's abandonment of him and embarks on a self-destructive sobriety binge, eventually cutting off his own antenna so that he can move back in with Fry.
When Fry realizes that a robot's antenna is an extremely important part of his self-esteem, he helps Bender locate and reattach it, then moves back into Bender's old apartment with him. Fry is concerned that the miniature fruit salad tree which Leela bought them as a housewarming present won't get enough light in Bender's windowless apartment, but Bender tells him that there's a window in the closet, and opens a hidden door which reveals a complete living suite more than large enough for Fry to live comfortably. Bender is confused that Fry would want to live in his closet, and remarks that humans are eccentric.

Trivia

The beer Bender is drinking is LöBrau, which is the same brand of beer Fry is drinking when he's frozen on New Year's Eve, 1999 in "Space Pilot 3000". The tune Bender whistles at one point in this episode is the same one he whistles in his fantasy at the end of "Obsoletely Fabulous". Calculon, Monique, Hattie McDoogal and Boxy all make their first appearances in this episode.
In this episode it's suggested Bender's antenna has no use, apart from his self esteem being damaged without it. In the episode Mother's Day it's revealed to be part of a mind control system over him and all other Terran robots. All My Circuits, the soap opera that Bender and Fry were watching in this episode, is also a parody of the American soap opera All My Children.

Production

According to Futurama executive producer David X. Cohen, Farnsworth's mention of the mummified remains of "Zevulon the Great," is a reference to his college roommate, Zev (according to the audio commentary). Bender's room number is 00100100 which is the binary equivalent of the $ symbol in ASCII (It can also be converted to 36 in base 10).

Broadcast and reception

After two weeks airing in the prime Sunday night time slot between The Simpsons and The X-Files this episode was the first to be shown in Futurama's regular slot on Tuesdays as part of a block consisting of four cartoon sitcoms. As expected this move resulted in a drop in the ratings for the show. The initial airing was fourth place in households with a share of 5.7/10 and third among adults 18-49 with a share of 4.0/12, a build of 18% off its lead-in King of the Hill. In the DVD commentary for this episode, it's revealed that FOX rated this the worst episode of Futurama ever.

Cultural references

One of the apartments Fry and Bender look at is a parody of an M. C. Escher design. The episode title is a spoof on the short story collection I, Robot by Isaac Asimov, although the plot of the episode has little to do with the original stories.

Further Information

Get more info on 'I Roommate'.

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