| "Crimes of the Hot" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Futurama episode | |||
| Episodeno. | Season 4 Episode 8 | ||
| Directed by | Peter Avanzino | ||
| Written by | Aaron Ehasz | ||
| Production code | 4ACV08 | ||
| Original air date | November 10, 2002 (2002-11-10) | ||
| Guest appearance | |||
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| Episode features | |||
| Opening caption | Known To Cause Insanity InLaboratory Mice | ||
| Opening cartoon | "Much Ado About Mutton" byFamous Studios (1947) | ||
| Episode chronology | |||
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| Futuramaseason 4 | |||
| List of episodes | |||
"Crimes of the Hot" is the eighth episode in thefourthseason of the American animated television seriesFuturama, and the 62nd episode of the series overall. It originally aired on theFox network in the United States on November 10, 2002. The episode was written by Aaron Ehasz and directed byPeter Avanzino.Al Gore guest stars ashis own preserved head in a jar, his second appearance in the series. The episode tackles the topic ofglobal warming as the Planet Express crew is sent to retrieve Earth's yearly ice supply in order to keep the planet cool. When they are unable to retrieve the ice, the Earth is forced to search for other ways to solve their global warming problem. In 2003, the episode was nominated for anEnvironmental Media Award.
On Earth, the days are getting hotter and hotter. The crew, looking for an explanation, watch an old movie about global warming. The film explains a temporary solution for global warming was found by dropping a mountainous slab of ice into the ocean on a regular basis to cool it. The Planet Express crew is assigned the task of gathering a new slab of ice to drop in the ocean.
The crew goes toHalley's Comet, but finds that it is out of ice. With no ice left, the world's top scientists are called to a conference inKyoto, Japan.Ogden Wernstrom uses a giant mirror to deflect 40% of the sun's rays, but a stray asteroid causes it to reflect the rays into a highly destructive beam.Professor Farnsworth reveals that robots, with their high-pollution emissions, are the cause of the crisis. The scientists, led by Wernstrom, decide to destroy all the robots on Earth.
Meanwhile,Bender is moved to tears after witnessing a news report on themigration of turtles due to the heat and decides to rescue one from Holland. When questioned by the crew Bender says he has many things in common with the turtle. He claims that both have a tough outer shell but a rich inner life. More importantly, he also confides the inability to get up if he falls directly on his back. Earth PresidentRichard Nixon's head organizes a party for the unsuspecting robots on the remoteGalapagos Islands, where he plans to destroy the entire robot population with anelectromagnetic blast from an orbiting EMP cannon made from Wernstrom's mirror. Bender, who was at the meeting of scientists and thus knows of the plan, decides, for the sake of the turtles, that he will accept his fate and attend the party.
At the party, Bender is overheard saying that all the robots are doomed, causing panic. Farnsworth arrives withFry andLeela and delivers a solution to the robots; every last one needs to blast their exhaust vents at the same time, straight up in the sky, in order to push the Earth farther from the Sun, thus cooling the Earth and causing the EMP cannon to miss its target. During the panic Bender and the turtle are knocked onto their backs and cannot get up, leaving not enough exhaust to move the Earth. As Bender is lamenting his fate, the turtle rocks from side to side and rolls to its feet. Shocked and inspired, but not to be shown up, Bender does the same, allowing him to release his massive exhaust, just barely saving the robots from the EMP. Farnsworth receives a medal of pollution for his work, and the extra week caused by the new orbit of the Earth is declared Robot Party Week.
The episode focuses on global warming in part becauseDavid X. Cohen's father had insisted upon it; however, Cohen jokes that his father was disappointed with the episode.[1] Halley's Comet was originally going to be white and snowy in this episode, since that was what the staff's idea of a comet looked like; however, they later realized that, since the comet was "out of ice", it should be brown.[1] The location chosen for the robot party was the Galapagos Islands because the writers thought that, if they were actually going to push the Earth out of orbit, they would need to be near theequator.[1]
Al Gore was unable to attend the table reads of the script, soMaurice LaMarche read his lines. He notes in the DVD commentary that Gore's daughterKristin, who wrote forFuturama, was also at the table read, and he jokes that this was one of the highlights of his career.[2] Additional voice roles in the episode includeTress MacNeille asJoan Rivers' preserved head in a jar and LaMarche as the headless body ofSpiro Agnew.[1]Billy West, who voices Nixon's head, says that his impression of Nixon is not meant to be an accurate impression but it intentionally plays up certain quirks and flaws.[3] West also voices theC-3PO-esque robot which appears early in the Professor's flashback. He accomplished the voice effect by speaking into a coffee cup during the recording of the lines.[3]
This episode was nominated for an Environmental Media Award in the television episodic-comedy category in 2003, it lost to theKing of the Hill episode "I Never Promised You An Organic Garden".[5] The episode has been used to highlight the dangers of global warming, particularly the retro-stylepublic service announcement shown to the Planet Express employees at the beginning of the episode. A short clip from the episode was later used inAn Inconvenient Truth to humorously explain how global warming works.[6] Gore's appearance onFuturama is considered to be a part of his "carefully choreographed" reemergence after his loss in the2000 Presidential election.[7] The appearance also allowed him to show a different side of himself rather than the "personified synonym for woodenness"[6] he had previously been known for in order to promote his bookJoined at the Heart.[8]
The episode received a "B" rating fromSci Fi Weekly noting that, while the episode was not one of the best in the series, it was still a solid effort and was "funny and irreverent".[9] The reviewer praised the voicing in the episode, particularly Gore's performance, calling him "a stitch". He noted that there were many humorous moments in the episode, but overall it was too "scattered".[9]
