"The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings" is the eighteenth and final episode in the fourth season of the American

animated television series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have eith ...

Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years ...

'', and the finale of the original run. 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 ...

in the United States on August 10, 2003. The episode was written by Ken Keeler and directed by

Bret Haaland Bret John Haaland (born August 10, 1964) is an American animator, storyboard artist, director, and producer. Awards and nominations Won Emmy Award Outstanding Children's Animated Program All Hail King Julien (2014) Won Emmy Award Outstanding ...

, and it guest stars

Dan Castellaneta Daniel Louis Castellaneta (; born October 29, 1957) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for voicing Homer Simpson on the animated series ''The Simpsons'' (as well as other characters on the show such as Abraham "Grampa" ...

, who reprises his role as the

Robot Devil 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 l ...

. Keeler was nominated for an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for this episode, while the song "I Want My Hands Back" was nominated for an

Annie Award The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in cinema and television. Originally de ...

. Set in a

retro-futuristic Retrofuturism (adjective ''retrofuturistic'' or ''retrofuture'') is a movement in the creative arts showing the influence of depictions of the future produced in an earlier era. If futurism is sometimes called a "science" bent on anticipatin ...

31st century, the series follows the adventures of the employees of Planet Express, an interplanetary delivery company. In this episode, Fry makes a deal to swap hands with the Robot Devil so he can better play the holophonor, an instrument he believes can help him express his true feelings for Leela. The episode contains several cultural references and it was well received by critics. At the time, this episode was the

series finale A series finale is the final installment of an episodic entertainment series, most often a television series. It may also refer to a final theatrical sequel, the last part of a television miniseries, the last installment of a literary series, or ...

, as Fox had not renewed the series for any further seasons. The episode was produced with this in mind and as such, it contains references to the series' ending and almost all of the series' recurring characters were added into the episode. However, the show returned on March 23, 2008, for a fifth season that consisted of four

direct-to-DVD Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

films. Seasons six and seven were then produced for Comedy Central before the series ended for a second time on September 4, 2013. The show is set to return on

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television series ...

in 2023.

Plot

Bender discovers that Fry is attempting to play the holophonor so he can woo Leela. After a disastrous recital, Bender recommends Fry enlist the help of the

to improve his holophonor skills. The Robot Devil strikes a deal with Fry to trade hands with any robot in the world. The Robot Devil uses a carnival wheel to select which hands Fry would trade with. It stops on the Robot Devil himself, much to his disbelief and horror. With his new, nimble hands, Fry becomes a skilled holophonor virtuoso. He is commissioned by

Hedonismbot 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 ...

to write an opera. Fry, in an attempt to win Leela's heart, bases the opera on her life. Upset at getting the raw end of the deal, the Robot Devil decides he has to get his own hands back. He begs Fry, but Fry refuses, reminding him they made a deal. The Robot Devil tries to make a deal with Bender for his hands. When Bender refuses, the Robot Devil then makes another deal, in which he trades Bender a stadium

air horn An air horn is a pneumatic device designed to create an extremely loud noise for signaling purposes. It usually consists of a source which produces compressed air, which passes into a horn through a reed or diaphragm. The stream of air cause ...

for his "crotch-plate" so that he can annoy people. When Bender uses the air horn on Leela, it causes her to go deaf. Leela refuses to tell Fry, afraid that Fry will stop writing the opera, so she attends the premiere pretending she can still hear the performance. During the intermission, the Robot Devil offers Leela robotic ears in exchange for one of her hands at a time of his choosing. Desperate to hear the opera, Leela accepts the offer. After the opera insults the Robot Devil, he interrupts and demands that Fry give him back his hands. When Fry refuses, the Robot Devil says that he will take Leela's hand in marriage. Fry decides that he has no choice but to trade the Robot Devil's hands back for his own. Because Fry can now no longer play so expertly, the entire audience storms out sans the sympathetic Leela, who requests that he finish as she wants to know how "it" ends. Playing an improvised finale, Fry produces crude, cartoonish images of himself and Leela. To a simplistic yet sweet

bansuri A bansuri is an ancient side blown flute originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is an aerophone produced from bamboo and metal like material used in Hindustani classical music. It is referred to as ''nadi'' and ''tunava'' in the ''Ri ...

tune, the created Fry and Leela kiss and then walk into the distance hand-in-hand.

Production

While this episode may not have been conceived as the final episode of the series, the production crew did include references to the series' likely ending, as the show had not been renewed by the end of production. The episode's opening subtitle was "See You On Some Other Channel", referring to the

broadcast syndication Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States wher ...

that many shows enter after cancellation as this was the last episode at the time of production. Earlier that year, the series began airing on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...

block, running until the end of 2007, and was bought by Comedy Central to air in 2008. New episodes started airing in 2010. Because this episode was being produced with the thought that it could be the final episode of the series, there was a concerted effort to include the entire cast of the show, and most of its recurring characters. Due to the ending of the series, and the loss of

Katey Sagal Catherine Louise "Katey" Sagal (; born January 19, 1954) is an American actress and singer. She is known for playing Peggy Bundy on '' Married... with Children'' (1987–1997), Leela on ''Futurama'' (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2023), Cate Hennes ...

's co-star

John Ritter Johnathan Southworth Ritter (September 17, 1948 – September 11, 2003) was an American actor. Ritter was a son of the singing cowboy star Tex Ritter and the father of actors Jason and Tyler Ritter. He is known for playing Jack Tripper on the ...

on another show on which Katey was starring at the time, '' 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter'', there was difficulty in recording the final line of the episode, which is uttered by Sagal: "I want to hear how it ends". In the audio commentary, it is stated that it took nearly six months to record the line.

Cultural references

According to David X. Cohen, the episode's title comes from the saying "Idle hands are the Devil's playthings". In keeping with the episode's focus on

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" al ...

(

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

in particular), the plot is loosely based on the story of ''

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroa ...

''. The Holophonor was inspired by the Visi-Sonor, an instrument played by the

Mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two po ...

Isaac Asimov yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...

's ''

Foundation and Empire ''Foundation and Empire'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Isaac Asimov originally published by Gnome Press in 1952. It is the second book in the ''Foundation'' Series, and the fourth in the in-universe chronology. It takes place in ...

''. In Robot Hell, the Robot Devil plays an iteration of "

The Devil Went Down to Georgia "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" is a song written and performed by the Charlie Daniels Band and released on their 1979 album '' Million Mile Reflections''. The song is written in the key of D minor. Vassar Clements originally wrote the basic m ...

" by The Charlie Daniels Band.

Broadcast and reception

Writer Ken Keeler was nominated for an

in 2004 for "Outstanding Music and Lyrics" for the song "I Want My Hands Back" and for an

for "Music in an Animated Television Production". The episode was ranked number 16 on IGN's list of the top 25 ''Futurama'' episodes in 2006. ''Science Fiction Weekly'' rated the episode as their "A Pick" for its original airing in 2003, calling the episode a "superbly funny ending to the series".

's performance as the Robot Devil in this episode along with the episode " Hell Is Other Robots" has been described as a "

bravura In classical music a bravura is a style of both music and its performance intended to show off the skill of a performer. John Alexander Fuller-Maitland, ''A dictionary of music and musicians (A.D. 1450-1889)'p. 271-272/ref> Commonly, it is a virt ...

appearance". The episode was called an "instant classic" by a reviewer for the Asia Africa Intelligence Wire. In 2013, it was ranked number 2 "as voted on by fans" for Comedy Central's "Futurama Fanarama" marathon.

References

External links

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The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings" is the eighteenth and final episode in the fourth season of the American animated television series ''Futurama'', and the finale of the original run. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United St ...

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:Devils Hands Are Idle Playthings, The Futurama (season 4) episodes 2003 American television episodes Musical television episodes Works based on the Faust legend Hell in popular culture Fiction about the Devil Television episodes written by Ken Keeler