"The Lesser of Two Evils" is the sixth episode in the second season of '' Futurama''. It originally aired on the

Fox Network The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations a ...

in the United States on February 20, 2000.

Plot

While visiting the Past-o-rama theme park,

Fry Fry, fries, Fry's or frying may refer to: Food and cooking * Frying, the cooking of food in hot oil or fat ** French fries, deep-fried potato strips ** Frying pan, cookware for frying Businesses and organizations * Fry (racing team), a Britis ...

runs over a robot with an uncanny resemblance to Bender. They bring him back to the Planet Express building, where

Professor Farnsworth Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth, commonly referred to in-show as either Professor Farnsworth or simply Professor, is a fictional character in the American animated television series ''Futurama''. The mad scientist proprietor of the Planet Expres ...

repairs him. The robot's name is

Flexo Flexography (often abbreviated to flexo) is a form of printing process which utilizes a flexible relief plate. It is essentially a modern version of letterpress, evolved with high speed rotary functionality, which can be used for printing on a ...

, and like Bender, he is a bending unit. The only physical difference between the two is that Flexo has a

goatee A goatee is a style of facial hair incorporating hair on one's chin but not the cheeks. The exact nature of the style has varied according to time and culture. Description Until the late 20th century, the term ''goatee'' was used to refer sol ...

. Bender and Flexo hit it off, but Flexo soon begins to grate on the nerves of Fry, who suspects him of being evil, despite his behavior being similar to Bender's. The Professor reveals an atom of the fictional element Jumbonium, which the crew is to deliver to the Miss Universe pageant, to be held on Tova 9. Due to the value of the atom, the Professor hires Flexo as additional security. Leela assigns Fry, Bender, and Flexo shifts guarding the atom, but when Fry's shift comes up he falls asleep due to staying up during all of Flexo's shift, and the atom is stolen. Fry not only suspects Flexo, but believes he has disguised himself as Bender. After Bender re-establishes his identity, Fry, Leela, and Bender head off to inform pageant host

Bob Barker Robert William Barker (born December 12, 1923) is an American retired television game show host. He is known for hosting CBS's ''The Price Is Right'' from 1972 to 2007, making it the longest-running daytime game show in North American telev ...

's head of the theft. They burst into the contest in pursuit of Flexo, and he and Bender start to fight. At the end of the fight, Bender's chest cavity door is knocked open, revealing the atom. Flexo tells the rest of the crew that he had seen Bender steal the atom and left to inform Bob Barker. With the atom recovered, and Flexo accidentally imprisoned for Bender's crime due to Bob Barker's disinterest in his identity, the pageant concludes with a giant

paramecium '' ''Paramecium'' ( , ; also spelled ''Paramoecium'') is a genus of eukaryotic, unicellular ciliates, commonly studied as a representative of the ciliate group. ''Paramecia'' are widespread in freshwater, brackish, and marine environments and ...

(from

Vega 4 Vega4 was a four-piece alternative rock band formed in London consisted of Johnny McDaid (lead vocalist and songwriter), Bruce Gainsford (guitar), Gavin Fox (bassist) and Bryan McLellan (drummer). McDaid is from Northern Ireland and Fox is fro ...

) being crowned Miss Universe, only after Leela is mistakenly crowned first due to a miscommunication from judge

Zapp Brannigan This article lists the many characters of ''Futurama,'' 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 ...

Production

In the audio commentary of the episode,

David X. Cohen David Samuel Cohen (born July 13, 1966), better known as David X. Cohen, is an American television writer. He began working on ''Beavis and Butt-Head'', has written for ''The Simpsons'', and served as the head writer, showrunner and executive pro ...

states that this episode was the only one to which he gave his artistic input. When Fry, Bender, and Flexo are at a robot

strip club A strip club is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease or other erotic or exotic dances. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or bar style, and can also adopt a theatre or cabaret-style. Am ...

, a robot stripper with a strange gear oriented design can be seen. Cohen explains that he drew the robot himself and took great pride in doing so.

Broadcast and reception

In its initial airing, the episode received a

Nielsen rating Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...

of 4.4/8, placing it 87th among primetime shows for the week of February 14–20, 2000.

References

External links

"The Lesser of Two Evils"
st

TV.com TV.com was a website owned by Red Ventures that covered television series and episodes with a focus on English-language shows made or broadcast in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Origina ...

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The Lesser of Two Evils "The Lesser of Two Evils" is the sixth episode in the second season of '' Futurama''. It originally aired on the Fox Network in the United States on February 20, 2000. Plot While visiting the Past-o-rama theme park, Fry runs over a robot with an ...

The Infosphere ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lesser Of Two Evils, The Futurama (season 2) episodes 2000 American television episodes fr:Le moins pire des deux