TV Review: FUTURAMA – Season 7A – “The Bots and the Bees”

By CARL CORTEZ / Contributing Writer

Posted: June 21st, 2012 / 10:28 AM

Stars (voices): Billy West, Katey Sagal, John Di Maggio, Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, Phil LaMarr, Lauren Tom, Dave Herman
Writer: Eric Horsted
Director: Stephen Sandoval
Network: Comedy Central, Wednesday nights
Airdate: June 21, 2012

FUTURAMA returns for the first half of Season 7 with fun new episode titled “The Bots and the Bees” which shows a somewhat softer side to Bender (John Di Maggio).

When Planet Express installs a new beverage vending machine named Bev (voiced by Wanda Sykes), a love/hate relationship develops between her and Bender which results in some rough mechanical sex.

Very quickly, a little hybrid robot is born (it has something to do with technology allowing robots to mate) and Bev decides to abandon her little child named Bend. Now Bender has to raise the child on his own (and the robot grows at an alarming rate). Bender takes to the tyke and also sympathizes when he realizes his child has the inability to Bend like his father.

It’s rare to see Bender care about anything or anyone but himself, but the episode gives him a tiny bit of growth – and the design of the baby bot is really cool.

Other developments in this episode include Fry (Billy West) going overboard on the vending machines’ Slurm Loco drunk to the point that he’s a glowing night light.

Like all FUTURAMA episodes, there are a ton of fast-moving jokes and great little flourishes that continue to make it one of the most entertaining animated programs outside of SOUTH PARK. I particularly liked the video that shows how robots can reproduce. It’s classic FUTURAMA.

Unfortunately, “The Bots and the Bees” is not as funny as it probably could have been. Yet, that’s par for the course of FUTURAMA which tends to mix the broad with the intellectual (sometimes in the same episode, sometimes spread across a season). It’s a great start to Season 7 nonetheless, and the second half of the season premiere “A Farewell To Arms” is even better.

Related: TV Review – FUTURAMA – Season 7A – “A Farewell To Arms” – Season Premiere

AGREE? DISAGREE? LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD – COMMENT BELOW!

Related: Futurama Season 6B review – “Reincarnation” – Season Finale

Related: Exclusive Interview with David X. Cohen on the future of FUTURAMA – Part 2

Related: Exclusive Interview with David X. Cohen on Season 6B of FUTURAMA – Part 1

Related: Review of FUTURAMA – Season 6B – “The Tip of the Zoidberg”

Related: Review of FUTURAMA – Season 6B – “Fry Am The Egg Man”

Related: Review of FUTURAMA – Season 6B – “Mobius Dick”

Related: Review of FUTURAMA – Season 6B – “All The Presidents’ Heads”

Related: Review of FUTURAMA – Season 6B – “Yo Leela Leela”

Related: Review of FUTURAMA – Season 6B – “Silence of the Clamps”

Related: Review of FUTURAMA – Season 6B – “Law & Oracle”