Futurama: 12 Greatest Bender Episodes
Bender's future may be unclear, but is past will always be classic.
While it never quite reached the heights of The Simpsons in terms of popularity or longevity, Futurama has earned for itself a loyal army of fans over the years. There have even been times that the show was genuinely as good, if not even better than Matt Groening’s flagship show.
Following the misadventures of 20th century man Fry shot 1000 years into the future, he found himself a new family consisting of aliens, mutants, and nephews older than any man should have ever lived to be. His best friend however, and arguably the most popular character in the entire show, was Bender.
For ten seasons, the hard drinking robot carved out a place in every single Futurama fan’s heart. However, even with the exciting news of a Futurama revival coming to Hulu, Bender’s role is in question as John DiMaggio is the only member of the main cast not yet confirmed to be returning.
Whether he is recast, or just doesn’t appear, the show simply will not be the same. There is then, no better time to look back on Bender’s best episodes, knowing that there may be no more new ones to enjoy in the future.
12. The Honking (S3E1)
Let’s just ignore for a second the questions raised about Bender’s family, and if he was built how it’s possible that he has an Uncle, and instead appreciate that this was a great episode of Futurama with the robot front and centre. Who doesn’t like a dabble with the supernatural?
Of course, this is the supernatural 1000 years in the future, so even this has evolved. Instead of werewolves, the world now carries the threat of were-cars. Bender joined this long line when he was run over at his Uncle’s mansion, and with Fry and Leela he tried to stop it.
Tracing the lineage of the were-car all the way back to Calculon and the car made up of the most evil car parts in history, the episode had an epic final battle in which Bender fulfilled the prophecy of trying to kill his best friend. It’s strange, but this was actually quite a nice moment between Fry and his robot BFF.
Within the setting of New New York, Futurama had the ability to tell stories about literally anything, and it wouldn’t feel out of place. However, there was still room for a fresh new take on a classic story, based of course around Bender.