User Reviews

Where else but Futurama could you have an episode about Nixon's head on a robot's body running for the presidency of Earth in the year 3000? It's an odd portrayal of a dead president whose corruption in real life makes him a ideal villain in a cartoon. In Futurama, as we know, historic figures can be preserved alive indefinitely as heads in jars. How this is possible is never explained, and in fact, this is done even for people who are already dead, like George Washington, and of course, Richard Nixon, who died five years before Futurama began. Perhaps they've been cloned. At any rate, when Bender sells his body, Nixon buys it and runs for the presidency, but Bender, Fry and Leela try to get the body back.

This episode allows for some political satire, about lack of variety among electoral candidates, elderly voters, and voter apathy. But it also becomes a treat for those of us who know American history, with jokes about Ford and voting, Bill Clinton and sex, and Nixon and Cambodia and Watergate. We have an exaggerated portrayal of Nixon as evil, someone who might steal candy from a child, who might sell children's organs, who might break into private homes. It's a personal attack on a dead guy but one we don't have to feel particularly bad about since Nixon really was corrupt. The icing on the cake is a masturbation joke about Fry. This is an episode worth watching.

When titanium prices skyrocket after a mining accident Bender sees it as an opportunity to make some money... his body is 40% titanium so he pawns it! Now bodiless he tires of life amongst the bodied so goes to the head museum where he ends up telling President Richard Nixon his story... not long afterwards Nixon is out of the museum with his head attached to a shiny new body... Bender's body! Not only is he out he is running for the presidency of Earth! Fed up of not having a body Bender gets Leela and Fry to help him break into Nixon's hotel suite at the Watergate building to steal it back.

This was a classic Futurama episode despite its Earthbound setting; this is largely down to Nixon although laughs are also provided by his friend Morbo and the regular cast. Of course many of the jokes require some knowledge of his presidency and its end. There are plenty of non-political jokes too though so even somebody who had never heard of Nixon will have plenty to laugh at... the character would have been almost as funny even if he'd been entirely fictional. One question never raised is 'how the heads of long dead people preserved and why are there no heads of people who weren't known at the time the show was made?'... That is a minor quibble though and any attempt to explain might distract from the humour of the show.

I really like this episode. It's really funny. I love that it has the theme of President Of Earth, I just love that.

In this episode, everyone's ready to vote in the election for President Of Earth. Eventually the head of Richard Nixon goes into the running. Bender decides to sell all of his body for some quick cash, but then feels lost without it. Well, he should, he was literally only a head. Nixon ended up buying the pawned body, which got the vote of robots everywhere. In the end, Bender got his body back, and Nixon became President Of Earth.

Title Card: From the makers of Futurama.

Fun Fact: Katey Sagal is featured as one of the heads displayed in Head Museum's TV Stars. Her hit sits next to people such as Tim Allen, Jerry Seinfeld, and Lucille Ball.

Overall, I give this episode a 7 out of 10, which in my ratings book is: Great.