Hell Is Other Robots

Did You Know?

• The episode's title is a parody of the line "Hell is other people" from Jean-Paul Sartre's play No Exit.
• The "Fairness in Hell Act" and the fiddle contest are taken from The Charlie Daniels Band song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia".
• Jokes poking fun at New Jersey are included because writer Cohen and actor DiMaggio both grew up there.

Plot

Bender's troubles begin after a Beastie Boys show when he goes to a party with an old friend, a giant guitar amp named Fender. There, he and other robots start "jacking on," abusing electricity, and Bender gets hooked. A near-fatal jolt from an electrical storm makes him realize he needs help, so he joins the Temple of Robotology, which teaches that sin leads to eternal damnation in Robot Hell. The Reverend Lionel Preacherbot baptizes him in oil and welds the religion's symbol onto his casing. Bender's newfound piety annoys his co-workers Fry and Leela, who want the old Bender back. They trick him by faking a delivery to Atlantic City, New Jersey, tempting him with alcohol, prostitutes, and easy theft targets. Bender gives in, tears off the Robotology symbol, and tosses it away, where it starts beeping ominously.

Later, while seducing three female robots in his room at the Trump Trapezoid, a knock at the door interrupts him. He opens it and gets knocked out. When he wakes up, he's in Robot Hell facing the Robot Devil, who reminds him that joining Robotology meant agreeing to punishment for sinning. Fry and Leela notice Bender is missing and track him using Nibbler's sense of smell, eventually finding the entrance to Robot Hell in an abandoned amusement park. A musical number begins as the Robot Devil explains Bender's punishment. Fry and Leela arrive and try to reason with him. The Robot Devil says the only way to get Bender's soul back is to win a fiddle-playing contest, as required by the "Fairness in Hell Act of 2275." He goes first, playing Antonio Bazzini's "La Ronde des Lutins." Leela, who plays drums, tries to respond but only manages a few screeching notes before declaring it's time for a drum solo and smacking the Robot Devil with the fiddle. As the trio flees, Bender steals wings from a flying torture robot, attaches them to his back, and airlifts Fry and Leela to safety. Leela drops the heavy golden fiddle on the Robot Devil's head, lightening them enough to escape. Bender promises to never be too good or too evil, but to stay as he was before joining the Temple of Robotology.

Production

The episode "Hell Is Other Robots" uses Bender's addiction to poke fun at drug dependency and religious conversion. During the DVD commentary, David X. Cohen, Matt Groening, and Eric Kaplan mentioned that by this point they felt confident enough with the Futurama cast to push them into weirder territory. Cohen pointed out that Bender's problem worked because he was a robot; a human character could not have gotten away with the same material. One studio employee refused to work on the episode, objecting to how some of the religious elements were depicted. Cohen also observed that the writing team had started to relax more during this installment, giving it a vibe closer to later episodes. According to Kaplan, the unedited version contained enough footage for a three-part story. To secure the Beastie Boys for voice work, Cohen and Ken Keeler flew to New York. They spent three days waiting for the band to confirm they were ready to record, then gave up and went back to Los Angeles. The audio was eventually captured later. Since Adam "MCA" Yauch could not make the session, only Adam "King Ad-Rock" Horovitz and Michael "Mike D" Diamond voiced themselves, with Horovitz also providing Yauch's lines. The Beastie Boys contributed three songs: "Intergalactic," "Super Disco Breakin," and a short a cappella rendition of "Sabotage." The producers had initially asked for "Fight for Your Right," but the group turned that down. This episode also marked Futurama's first original musical number. Eric Kaplan and Ken Keeler wrote the lyrics for "Welcome to Robot Hell," while Keeler and Christopher Tyng composed the music. In the audio commentary, John DiMaggio, who voices Bender, said the hardest part of singing that song was hitting the lower octave, not keeping up with its fast tempo.

Themes

The religious side of the Futurama universe takes center stage in this episode, a rarity since most of the year 3000's inhabitants, including the Planet Express crew, are shown as largely non-religious. It marks the first appearances of two recurring religious figures: the Robot Devil and Reverend Lionel Preacherbot. Preacherbot, whose speech patterns mimic stereotypes of inner-city African-American pastors, successfully converts Bender to the faith known as Robotology. What follows mirrors many real-world conversion experiences. According to Mark Pinsky, the episode offers a "double-edged portrayal of religion," showing both a genuine improvement in Bender’s behavior and the "less pleasant characteristics of the newly pious." After Bender falls back into sin, the Robot Devil appears. Pinsky notes that the devil’s argument for claiming Bender’s soul echoes logic familiar to Southern Baptists. When Bender tries to plead his case, the devil responds, "You agreed to this when you joined our religion. You sin, you go to robot hell – for all eternity." By the episode’s end, Bender abandons his attempts at extreme virtue or vice, declaring he will no longer try to be too good or too bad. This stance parodies and contradicts the Book of Revelation’s warning against being lukewarm in one’s faith.

Reception

"Hell Is Other Robots" appears in the Monster Robot Maniac Fun Collection DVD set, which gathers four episodes that Matt Groening selected as his favorites from the first four seasons. That DVD includes audio commentary from Groening and John DiMaggio, plus a full-length animatic of the episode. The Winston-Salem Journal called it one of Futurama's best episodes. Dan Castellaneta voiced the Robot Devil in this episode and in "The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings," a performance described as a "bravura appearance." The South Wales Echo, reviewing the first-season DVD, singled out this episode and "Fear of a Bot Planet" as "crazy episodes." Brian Cortis of The Age gave it three out of four stars. Andrew Collins, writing in The Observer after Futurama's U.S. debut but before it aired in the U.K., praised the series and highlighted this episode along with "Love's Labors Lost in Space," noting that the jokes "come thick and fast." John G. Nettles of PopMatters wrote that the episode is "a terrific introduction to Bender and Futurama's irreverent humor, sly social satire, and damn catchy musical numbers." TV Squad said the series' funnier material appears in "Robot Hell – after Bender is 'born again' in the Temple of Robotology." David Johnson of DVD Verdict was less enthusiastic, calling it "not one of my favorites" and criticizing its heavy focus on Bender, though he gave it a "B" rating. The episode also inspired a Dark Horse Comics book titled Futurama Pop-Out People: Hell Is Other Robots.