Futurama: "Mother's Day"

"Mother's Day," Futurama. First aired 14 May 2000. Fox TV, Production number 14, episode 2.19 (#19 in season 2 . Brian Sheesley, dir. Lewis Morton, script.

"Mother" here is the founder of Mom's Friendly Robot Company, and her really big day will be her take-over of Earth. To further this nefarious scheme, "Mom" has installed antennas and remote command units in all of her robots and can order them to rebel simultaneously. Since most appliances and technological devices generally are Mom's products, this means a real threat of robot take-over—with this SciFi cliché nicely both used and mocked. Note the cynical Bender's sentimental love for Mom: with this cliché mainly just mocked.