A Clockwork Origin
Encyclopedia
"A Clockwork Origin" is the ninth episode of the sixth season
of the animated sitcom, Futurama
. It aired on Comedy Central
on August 12, 2010. In the episode, Professor Farnsworth leaves Earth after being frustrated by anti-evolutionists' belief in "Creaturism", a form of Creationism
. He and the Planet Express crew arrive at a lifeless planet and the Professor introduces nanobots into the environment. The nanobots rapidly begin evolving into mechanical organisms, allowing the crew to witness a whole new evolutionary history that unfolds before their eyes.
The episode was written by Dan Vebber
and directed by Dwayne Carey-Hill
and received mostly mixed reviews from critics.
protesters at Cubert
's school. Despite his many scientifically backed arguments, he is forced to argue with Dr. Banjo, a hyper-intelligent orangutan who believes in "Creaturism," a form of creationism
that posits that a wise, all-knowing "creature" from outer space created all life on Earth as it exists today only 7,000 years previous. In an attempt to prove evolution did occur, the Professor excavates the lost missing link
, which he dubs Homo farnsworth. While they search, Bender
asserts that robots are also a product of evolution, which the Professor dismisses. At the Professor's presentation of his findings at the Museum of Natural History, Dr. Banjo depicts Homo farnsworth anachronistically riding a dinosaur
in an attempt to support his Creaturist beliefs. Seeing that the crowd support Dr. Banjo's inane ideas, the Professor becomes fed up and resolves to leave Earth. He takes the rest of the crew with him to an abandoned planet to live in solitude, but leaves Cubert in the care of his godfather, Dr. Zoidberg, back on Earth. During this time, Dr. Zoidberg tries unsuccessfully to win Cubert's affection, only for them to eventually bond over Cubert's victimization by bullies and Dr. Zoidberg's ability to elude them. However, by the end, Zoidberg rejects Cubert, finding him to be "a terrible person."
After the crew helps the Professor set up his home on the new planet, he inserts nanobots
into the nearby pond to clean the water. However, in rapid time, the nanobots group into larger organisms, forming into trilobots that devour the ship and everything else. The crew is stranded and flee inside a cave, with Bender insisting that this proves the theory of robot evolution. The next day, the crew goes outside and sees a newly grown mechanical forest. The nanobots have continued to rapidly evolve into flora and fauna. Robotic versions of dinosaurs attack the crew, but a solar flare
short circuits the dinosaur robots, causing a mass extinction of every robot creature except for "small mammalian robots" that were hiding in caves, including Bender. Within two hours, using the remains of the dinosaurs, the Professor manages to build a working space ship to help them return to Earth, but must let it charge overnight.
The next day, the crew wakes up to find both Leela and Amy
kidnapped by caveman
-like robots. Bender again points out that this demonstrates evolution via survival of the fittest
and the Professor makes a slingshot to fight the robot caveman. It takes him twelve hours to make the slingshot, so everyone agrees to rescue the women the next day. When they wake up, they find that Leela and Amy are free, because the robot cavemen have since evolved into a completely civilized, modern robot society. They encounter a robot naturalist
named Dr. Widnar, who is astounded to find her theories on organic creature evolution proven, and presents the crew at the Museum of Natural Robo-History. While giving a speech to the crowd of robots, the Professor states that he is proud of the nanobots' growth after he dumped their ancestors in a pond a few days ago. The robots, who believe unquestioningly in robot evolution, are angered by Farnsworth, and state their Earth took eons, not days, to be created. The Professor explains that relative to them, it was eons, but in reality, only a few days had passed. As proof, he shows a picture of a robot (Bender) riding a robot dinosaur at the start of their creation, which would seemingly contradict their beliefs. The angry robots then arrest Farnsworth and put him on trial for "crimes against science". Bender represents him in court and in his arguments, states that the Professor is not arguing against evolution, but only claims a small role in beginning it by providing the materials necessary (the nanobots). The jurors leave to deliberate overnight.
The crew wakes up to find that the robots have now evolved into a state of incorporeal transcendent higher consciousness. They are no longer concerned with the Professor any more, finding corporeal beings altogether irrelevant. The crew then takes their makeshift spaceship home. There, the Professor explains his findings to Dr. Banjo, who accepts that what happened was some form of evolution, but also points out that it was set in motion by a wise and all-knowing creator (Farnsworth), just as Creaturism posits. The Professor and Dr. Banjo reconcile their differences, acknowledging that both theories have some plausibility and even some correlation. However, they quickly proved to does not learned the lesson of tolerate others' views and beliefs, as they refused to listen Bender's theory that this entity may be a robot, despite having already proved his point in this episode (and this last is supported by the fact that Bender met God in person
).
. The episode includes several cultural references related to depictions of evolutionary history and the debate between evolution and creationism. The crew's encounters with the robotic dinosaurs and Amy's two-piece cavewoman outfit are parodies of the 1940 fantasy film
, One Million B.C.
The trial held in the episode also parodies the Scopes Monkey Trial. During the anti-evolution rally, a Flying Spaghetti Monster
—a satirical symbol used by people who accept evolution to argue against teaching creationism in public schools—appears, arguing against evolution.
. In its original American broadcast, "A Clockwork Origin" was viewed by an estimated 1.926 million viewers with a 1.3 rating/2% share in the Nielsen ratings
and a 1.0 rating/3% share in the 18-49 demographic, nearly identical to the previous week's episode, "The Late Philip J. Fry
".
The episode received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Merrill Barr of Film School Rejects gave the episode a mixed review, calling it "[a] 50/50 episode of Futurama." He stated, "There were parts I loved, and parts I hated. That is all." He also criticized the Zoidberg and Cubert subplot saying, "while on his own Cubert is a funny character, paring [sic] him with a character like Zoidberg is a bad idea." Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club
gave the episode a B+, saying, "It mostly worked, but I was mildly disappointed by the end, because I keep waiting for the episode to move from good to great." Sean Gandert of Paste
gave the episode a score of 7.9/10, writing "'A Clockwork Origin' was still a good, fun episode, but was a more disposable piece of entertainment than the show can be at its absolute best."
Robert Canning of IGN
gave the episode a strong, positive review, rating it a 9.0/10. Canning praised the episode's pacing as the season's best describing "A Clockwork Origin" as "a very funny, very solid episode." Danny Gallagher of TV Squad gave the episode a positive review as well, saying "It's far from the best episode of the season, but that's still saying a lot for a show that has managed to find new ways to stay fresh while it's been in the can for so long." He also called the robot dinosaur world a perfect parody of "One Million B.C.
".
Futurama (season 6)
Futurama sixth production season originally aired on Comedy Central from June 24, 2010 to September 8, 2011 and consisted of 26 episodes. The season marks the change of networks from Fox to Comedy Central.David X...
of the animated sitcom, Futurama
Futurama
Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
. It aired on Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
on August 12, 2010. In the episode, Professor Farnsworth leaves Earth after being frustrated by anti-evolutionists' belief in "Creaturism", a form of Creationism
Creationism
Creationism is the religious beliefthat humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe are the creation of a supernatural being, most often referring to the Abrahamic god. As science developed from the 18th century onwards, various views developed which aimed to reconcile science with the Genesis...
. He and the Planet Express crew arrive at a lifeless planet and the Professor introduces nanobots into the environment. The nanobots rapidly begin evolving into mechanical organisms, allowing the crew to witness a whole new evolutionary history that unfolds before their eyes.
The episode was written by Dan Vebber
Dan Vebber
Dan Vebber is a writer best known for his television work on animated shows such as Futurama, Daria, and American Dad!. He was also a writer on Buffy the Vampire Slayer....
and directed by Dwayne Carey-Hill
Dwayne Carey-Hill
Dwayne Carey-Hill is an American animation director, currently working on the Comedy Central series Drawn Together. Prior to Drawn Together, he worked on Futurama, as Susie Dietter's assistant director and then promoted to a director and directed the episode "Obsoletely Fabulous"...
and received mostly mixed reviews from critics.
Plot
Professor Farnsworth finds himself arguing against anti-evolutionEvolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
protesters at Cubert
Cubert Farnsworth
Cubert Farnsworth is a fictional character, Professor Farnsworth's clone from the animated television series Futurama. He was created from a growth on Professor Farnsworth's back in 2989. Cubert differs from the Professor in appearance due to his nose being squashed up against the wall of his...
's school. Despite his many scientifically backed arguments, he is forced to argue with Dr. Banjo, a hyper-intelligent orangutan who believes in "Creaturism," a form of creationism
Creationism
Creationism is the religious beliefthat humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe are the creation of a supernatural being, most often referring to the Abrahamic god. As science developed from the 18th century onwards, various views developed which aimed to reconcile science with the Genesis...
that posits that a wise, all-knowing "creature" from outer space created all life on Earth as it exists today only 7,000 years previous. In an attempt to prove evolution did occur, the Professor excavates the lost missing link
Missing Link
Missing link is a nonscientific term for any transitional fossil, especially one connected with human evolution; see Transitional fossil - Missing links and List of transitonal fossils - Human evolution.Missing Link may refer to:...
, which he dubs Homo farnsworth. While they search, Bender
Bender Bending Rodríguez
Bender Bending Rodríguez, designated Bending Unit 22, is a fictional robot character in the animated television series Futurama. He was created by series creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen and is voiced by John DiMaggio. In the series, Bender plays the role of a comic anti-hero, and is...
asserts that robots are also a product of evolution, which the Professor dismisses. At the Professor's presentation of his findings at the Museum of Natural History, Dr. Banjo depicts Homo farnsworth anachronistically riding a dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
in an attempt to support his Creaturist beliefs. Seeing that the crowd support Dr. Banjo's inane ideas, the Professor becomes fed up and resolves to leave Earth. He takes the rest of the crew with him to an abandoned planet to live in solitude, but leaves Cubert in the care of his godfather, Dr. Zoidberg, back on Earth. During this time, Dr. Zoidberg tries unsuccessfully to win Cubert's affection, only for them to eventually bond over Cubert's victimization by bullies and Dr. Zoidberg's ability to elude them. However, by the end, Zoidberg rejects Cubert, finding him to be "a terrible person."
After the crew helps the Professor set up his home on the new planet, he inserts nanobots
Nanorobotics
Nanorobotics is the emerging technology field of creating machines or robots whose components are at or close to the scale of a nanometer . More specifically, nanorobotics refers to the nanotechnology engineering discipline of designing and building nanorobots, with devices ranging in size from...
into the nearby pond to clean the water. However, in rapid time, the nanobots group into larger organisms, forming into trilobots that devour the ship and everything else. The crew is stranded and flee inside a cave, with Bender insisting that this proves the theory of robot evolution. The next day, the crew goes outside and sees a newly grown mechanical forest. The nanobots have continued to rapidly evolve into flora and fauna. Robotic versions of dinosaurs attack the crew, but a solar flare
Solar flare
A solar flare is a sudden brightening observed over the Sun surface or the solar limb, which is interpreted as a large energy release of up to 6 × 1025 joules of energy . The flare ejects clouds of electrons, ions, and atoms through the corona into space. These clouds typically reach Earth a day...
short circuits the dinosaur robots, causing a mass extinction of every robot creature except for "small mammalian robots" that were hiding in caves, including Bender. Within two hours, using the remains of the dinosaurs, the Professor manages to build a working space ship to help them return to Earth, but must let it charge overnight.
The next day, the crew wakes up to find both Leela and Amy
Amy Wong
Amy Wong, voiced by Lauren Tom, is a fictional character, one of the main characters from the Fox and Comedy Central television animated series Futurama. She works as an intern at Planet Express...
kidnapped by caveman
Caveman
A caveman or troglodyte is a stock character based upon widespread concepts of the way in which early prehistoric humans may have looked and behaved...
-like robots. Bender again points out that this demonstrates evolution via survival of the fittest
Survival of the fittest
"Survival of the fittest" is a phrase originating in evolutionary theory, as an alternative description of Natural selection. The phrase is today commonly used in contexts that are incompatible with the original meaning as intended by its first two proponents: British polymath philosopher Herbert...
and the Professor makes a slingshot to fight the robot caveman. It takes him twelve hours to make the slingshot, so everyone agrees to rescue the women the next day. When they wake up, they find that Leela and Amy are free, because the robot cavemen have since evolved into a completely civilized, modern robot society. They encounter a robot naturalist
Naturalist
Naturalist may refer to:* Practitioner of natural history* Conservationist* Advocate of naturalism * Naturalist , autobiography-See also:* The American Naturalist, periodical* Naturalism...
named Dr. Widnar, who is astounded to find her theories on organic creature evolution proven, and presents the crew at the Museum of Natural Robo-History. While giving a speech to the crowd of robots, the Professor states that he is proud of the nanobots' growth after he dumped their ancestors in a pond a few days ago. The robots, who believe unquestioningly in robot evolution, are angered by Farnsworth, and state their Earth took eons, not days, to be created. The Professor explains that relative to them, it was eons, but in reality, only a few days had passed. As proof, he shows a picture of a robot (Bender) riding a robot dinosaur at the start of their creation, which would seemingly contradict their beliefs. The angry robots then arrest Farnsworth and put him on trial for "crimes against science". Bender represents him in court and in his arguments, states that the Professor is not arguing against evolution, but only claims a small role in beginning it by providing the materials necessary (the nanobots). The jurors leave to deliberate overnight.
The crew wakes up to find that the robots have now evolved into a state of incorporeal transcendent higher consciousness. They are no longer concerned with the Professor any more, finding corporeal beings altogether irrelevant. The crew then takes their makeshift spaceship home. There, the Professor explains his findings to Dr. Banjo, who accepts that what happened was some form of evolution, but also points out that it was set in motion by a wise and all-knowing creator (Farnsworth), just as Creaturism posits. The Professor and Dr. Banjo reconcile their differences, acknowledging that both theories have some plausibility and even some correlation. However, they quickly proved to does not learned the lesson of tolerate others' views and beliefs, as they refused to listen Bender's theory that this entity may be a robot, despite having already proved his point in this episode (and this last is supported by the fact that Bender met God in person
Godfellas
"Godfellas" is the twentieth episode of the third production season of Futurama. It was first shown in North America on March 17, 2002, as the eighth episode in the fourth broadcast season. The episode was written by Ken Keeler and directed by Susie Dietter. It features Bender becoming the god of...
).
Cultural references
The title is a reference to the book A Clockwork OrangeA Clockwork Orange
A Clockwork Orange is a 1962 dystopian novella by Anthony Burgess. The novel contains an experiment in language: the characters often use an argot called "Nadsat", derived from Russian....
. The episode includes several cultural references related to depictions of evolutionary history and the debate between evolution and creationism. The crew's encounters with the robotic dinosaurs and Amy's two-piece cavewoman outfit are parodies of the 1940 fantasy film
Fantasy film
Fantasy films are films with fantastic themes, usually involving magic, supernatural events, make-believe creatures, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered to be distinct from science fiction film and horror film, although the genres do overlap...
, One Million B.C.
One Million B.C.
One Million B.C. is a 1940 American fantasy film produced by Hal Roach Studios and released by United Artists. It is also known by the titles Cave Man, Man and His Mate, and Tumak....
The trial held in the episode also parodies the Scopes Monkey Trial. During the anti-evolution rally, a Flying Spaghetti Monster
Flying Spaghetti Monster
The Flying Spaghetti Monster is the deity of the parody religion the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster or Pastafarianism...
—a satirical symbol used by people who accept evolution to argue against teaching creationism in public schools—appears, arguing against evolution.
Broadcast and reception
"A Clockwork Origin" originally aired August 12, 2010 on Comedy CentralComedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
. In its original American broadcast, "A Clockwork Origin" was viewed by an estimated 1.926 million viewers with a 1.3 rating/2% share in the Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
and a 1.0 rating/3% share in the 18-49 demographic, nearly identical to the previous week's episode, "The Late Philip J. Fry
The Late Philip J. Fry
"The Late Philip J. Fry" is the seventh episode of the sixth season of the animated series Futurama. It originally aired on Comedy Central on July 29, 2010. In the episode, Fry attempts to make it on time to a birthday dinner date for Leela. He is sidetracked by Professor Farnsworth and Bender,...
".
The episode received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Merrill Barr of Film School Rejects gave the episode a mixed review, calling it "[a] 50/50 episode of Futurama." He stated, "There were parts I loved, and parts I hated. That is all." He also criticized the Zoidberg and Cubert subplot saying, "while on his own Cubert is a funny character, paring [sic] him with a character like Zoidberg is a bad idea." Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
gave the episode a B+, saying, "It mostly worked, but I was mildly disappointed by the end, because I keep waiting for the episode to move from good to great." Sean Gandert of Paste
Paste (magazine)
Paste is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine published in the United States by Wolfgang's Vault. Its tagline is "Signs of Life in Music, Film and Culture."-History:...
gave the episode a score of 7.9/10, writing "'A Clockwork Origin' was still a good, fun episode, but was a more disposable piece of entertainment than the show can be at its absolute best."
Robert Canning of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave the episode a strong, positive review, rating it a 9.0/10. Canning praised the episode's pacing as the season's best describing "A Clockwork Origin" as "a very funny, very solid episode." Danny Gallagher of TV Squad gave the episode a positive review as well, saying "It's far from the best episode of the season, but that's still saying a lot for a show that has managed to find new ways to stay fresh while it's been in the can for so long." He also called the robot dinosaur world a perfect parody of "One Million B.C.
One Million B.C.
One Million B.C. is a 1940 American fantasy film produced by Hal Roach Studios and released by United Artists. It is also known by the titles Cave Man, Man and His Mate, and Tumak....
".
External links
- "A Clockwork Origin" at MSNMSNMSN is a collection of Internet sites and services provided by Microsoft. The Microsoft Network debuted as an online service and Internet service provider on August 24, 1995, to coincide with the release of the Windows 95 operating system.The range of services offered by MSN has changed since its...
See also
- Ascension
- Grey gooGrey gooGrey goo is a hypothetical end-of-the-world scenario involving molecular nanotechnology in which out-of-control self-replicating robots consume all matter on Earth while building more of themselves, a scenario known as ecophagy .Self-replicating machines of the macroscopic variety were originally...
- Technological singularityTechnological singularityTechnological singularity refers to the hypothetical future emergence of greater-than-human intelligence through technological means. Since the capabilities of such an intelligence would be difficult for an unaided human mind to comprehend, the occurrence of a technological singularity is seen as...