My Three Suns
| "My Three Suns" | |
|---|---|
| Futurama episode | |
| File:Futurama 107 - My Three Suns.jpg | |
| Episode no. | Season one |
| Directed by | Rich Moore, Gregg Vanzo |
| Written by | David X. Cohen, Matt Groening |
| Original air dates | May 4, 1999 |
| Episode features | |
| Opening cartoon | Grampy in Max Fleischer Studio's "The Impractical Joker" from 1937 |
"My Three Suns" is episode 7 in season 1 of Futurama. It originally aired in North America on May 4, 1999.
Plot
Hermes Conrad threatens to fire Bender, since Bender has no official duties at Planet Express. Inspired by the Neptunian TV chef Elzar, Bender decides to be the ship's cook. Professor Farnsworth sends the crew off on a delivery to the planet Trisol, and Bender serves the crew a meal of almost pure salt.
After the ship lands, Fry is assigned the task of making the delivery trek across the desert under the planet's three blazing suns. When he arrives at his destination, the Trisolian palace, he finds it empty. Stricken with thirst, he grabs a bottle of blue liquid that is sitting on the throne and consumes it.
Armed guards storm the throne room, revealing that the bottle Fry drank was actually the emperor, in liquid form. Rather than being punished, Fry is declared the new emperor.
Fry opens the package (addressed "To: Emperor"), revealing a small sign reading "Please don't drink the emperor". The high priest Merg informs Fry that as part of the coronation, Fry will have to recite the royal oath, under penalty of death if he makes a mistake.
During the pre-coronation party, Leela informs Fry that the average reign of a Trisolian emperor is only one week, as whoever murders (drinks) the old emperor is declared the new one. When Fry refuses to listen to her warning, Leela returns to the ship, vowing not to help Fry again.
At the coronation, Fry recites the oath (with help from some notes written on his forearm), and is sworn in as Fry the Solid. As the suns set, the Trisolians begin to glow, including the former emperor Bunt from inside fry's stomach. Bunt demands that Fry be cut open and drained.
The crew (minus Leela) takes refuge in the throne room, and tries to work out a way to extract the emperor without killing Fry. Bender calls Leela on Fry's behalf, but gets an inconclusive response. After Leela arrives, she begins beating Fry, causing him to cry in pain, extracting the emperor. Once he is out, the emperor beats Fry up, taking turns with the other crew members, and thanks him. With the emperor safely outside Fry's body, the crew is allowed to leave.
Characters
Characters who make their first appearances in this episode are:
Trivia
- This episode, along with The 30% Iron ChefandI share that emotion are the only three episodes in which Bender is shown as being fond of cooking, a homage to an early character design when he was cast as the ship's (horrible) cook.
- This is the first and only time Leela ever wears a lime-green tank top.
- When Fry and the group are held under siege in the castle, Dr. Zoidberg has to stay at the door to plug up the water people. Later, when everyone is "helping" Fry, he is no longer at the door, and the water people should be flowing in.
- At the very end of the episode, when the view zooms out from the Trisolian palace, one of the building's turrets clearly resembles Bender's head as viewed from the side.
References
- The title is a reference to the 1960s sitcom My Three Sons.
- At the beginning of the episode when Bender goes through the robot wash the song Car Wash by Rose Royce plays and Bender sings along with his own version.
- The Neptunian chef Elzar is a spoof of the popular TV chef Emeril.
- Bender cooks wearing a chef's apron bearing the bold text "To Serve Man".