"The Lesser of Two Evils" is the sixth episode in the

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of the American animated television series ''

Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company and later revived by Comedy Central, and then Hulu. The series follows Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1 ...

'', and the 19th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on the

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in the United States on February 20, 2000. It received generally mixed reception from critics.

Plot

While visiting the Past-o-rama theme park, Fry 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 Express ...

repairs him. The robot's name is Flexo, 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 the chin entirely. 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 solely to a bear ...

. Bender and Flexo hit it off, but Flexo soon begins to annoy 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 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 (December 12, 1923 – August 26, 2023) was an American media personality, game show host, and animal rights advocate. He hosted CBS's '' The Price Is Right'', the longest-running game show in North American television ...

'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 crew members that he had seen Bender steal the atom and left to inform Barker. With the atom recovered, and Flexo accidentally imprisoned for Bender's crime due to Barker's disinterest in his identity, the pageant concludes with a giant

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from

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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 Cartoon series, 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 ad ...

Production

In the audio commentary of the episode, David X. Cohen states that this episode was the only one to which he gave his artistic input. Cohen, David. (2002).

season 2 DVD commentary for the episode "The Lesser of Two Evils" (

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

. When Fry, Bender, and Flexo are at a robot

strip club A strip club (also known as a strip joint, striptease bar, peeler bar, gentlemen's club, among others) is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease and other erotic dances including lap dances. St ...

, 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 TV ...

of 4.4/8, placing it 87th among primetime shows for the week of February 14–20, 2000. ''The A.V. Club'' gave the episode a B, stating "There’s a lot of solid laughs, which is really all Futurama needs to manage to keep me watching... Still, a great episode of this show should be more than just some clever ideas scribbled in the margins."

References

External links

"The Lesser of Two Evils"
st TV.com * * The Lesser of Two Evils at

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