Futurama

Work Title: Futurama
Medium: TV Episode
Episode Title: I, Roomate
Year: 1999
Writer(s): Eric Horsted
"Original" Writer: Yes Own work?: No
Summary:

from imdb.com When it is discovered that Philip has been living in the Planet Express office, he is forced to move out. Trying to sleep standing up in Bender's closet-sized apartment doesn't work, so they go looking for a place both can be comfortable. Unfortunately, Bender is incompatible with the ideal apartment they do find until he has a radical... modification which makes him less than happy. Written by Jeff Lindstrom

Era/Year of Portrayal: distant_future
Distinctive characteristics of the world in portrayal:

Cars fly, robots are common, differernt species coexist, not just humans live on earth.

Technology

  • Name of portrayed presence-evoking technology: Bender
  • Description of the technology: from wikipedia.org In the program, Bender is a robot built by the Mom's Friendly Robot Company at its plant in "America's heartland", Tijuana, Mexico, circa 2998. He is a Bending-Unit 22 (Originally created by Professor Hubert Farnsworth in his early years), serial number 2716057, chassis number 1729. As his name indicates, he was created for the task of bending metal girders. In fact, without his personality (which can be copied onto a 3.5 inch floppy disk or a futuristic device of identical appearance), his responses and actions are limited to saying "I am Bender. Please insert girder." He curses, fights, argues, smokes cigars, drinks, and gambles. He needs alcohol to run properly. He acts sort of mean, but is a loyal friend, helpful. He acts human, and people geranlly treat him as such, although his appearence is clearly robotic.
  • Nature of task or activity: Conversation, wokring together, living together.
  • Performance of the Technology: works well.
  • Description of creator(s): A company created him.
  • Major goal(s) of creator(s): To help humans by accomplsihing meial tasks.
  • Description of users of technology: Frye interacts the most with Bender - he is a white man in his 20s, from the year 1999, but now lives in the future.
  • Type(s) of presence experience in the portrayal: social_presence
  • Description of presence experience: Gernally pleasent - until Bender's antenna interfers with the TV signal, causing the TV to only display static.
  • User awareness of technology during experience: yes.
  • Valence of experience: generally enjoyable.
  • Specific responses: involvement, intense parasocial relationship, friendship
Long-term consequences:

Bender mutilates himself by removing his antenna to better fit in with the humans - Frye realizes how unhappy Bender is and moves so that they can live together and Bender can keep his antenna.

Other:

Coder name: Amanda Scheiner
Coder email: amandags@temple.edu
Coder affiliation: Temple Unversity