RoboCop is an American cyberpunk multimedia franchise. It is set in a dystopian near-future and tells the story of Alex Murphy, a police officer who is killed in the line of duty and subsequently resurrected as the title character RoboCop, a cyborg law enforcement officer. The central plotline of the franchise is RoboCop/Murphy's quest to regain his humanity while he contends with criminals, corrupt corporate executives, and other technology such as the Enforcement Droid Series 209 (ED-209), which becomes a recurring antagonist.
The franchise began in 1987 with the release of the original film. It was a box office and critical success, and sequel films appeared in 1990 and 1993. The franchise has also spawned animated and live-action television series, video games, and several comic book series, including crossovers with Terminator. In 2014, a remake of RoboCop appeared and did well at the box office.
In addition to its storytelling, the RoboCop franchise is noted for its satire of 1980s and 90s pop culture, particularly in its in-universe newscasts, advertisements, and television programs. Among of the best-known of these are the "I'd Buy That for a Dollar" segments, where a man finds himself in risqué situations while manic-sounding music plays in the background. Then, when the implications of the situations become clear (or are escalated), the man looks directly into the camera and lasciviously says, "I'd buy that for a dollar!" The segments became a running gag in the original three movies, and were referred to in other RoboCop media such as the comic books and the 2014 remake.
The RoboCop franchise has been referred to several times in The Simpsons media.
References
Television episodes
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Season
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Episode number
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Episode name
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Reference
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3
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42
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"Treehouse of Horror II"
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In the "Homer's Nightmare" segment, Mr. Burns and Smithers put Homer's brain into a robot body. When Homer wakes up following the procedure, he has gridlines superimposed over his vision and sees Mr. Burns standing over him and talking to him, both of which are reminiscent of Murphy's awakening scene in RoboCop.
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11
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246
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"Last Tap Dance in Springfield"
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Homer watches a TV show called The Cyborganizer, which is a spoof of RoboCop.
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13
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270
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"Treehouse of Horror XII"
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In a deleted scene from the "House of Whacks" segment, Chief Wiggum is menaced by RoboCops who want to know where their pension money went.
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15
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322
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"I, (Annoyed Grunt)-bot"
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Two of the entries in Robot Rumble are references to RoboCop:
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16
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512
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"Future-Drama"
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Chief Wiggum and the rest of the Springfield police force are shown to have become RoboCops in the future.
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18
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398
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"Stop, or My Dog Will Shoot!"
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When Santa's Little Helper begins training to become a police dog, Bart envisions SLH becoming a dog version of RoboCop.
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23
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495
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"Holidays of Future Passed"
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Snake Jailbird is shown to have become a RoboCop-like cyborg in the future, with machine-gun arms like the ED-209.
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26
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565
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"Walking Big & Tall"
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In the future version of the Simpson family seen at the end of the episode, Bart bears a strong resemblance to RoboCop.
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32
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688
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"Treehouse of Horror XXXI"
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During the opening sequence, in the nightmarish future that results from Homer failing to vote, several ED-209 droids are seen walking through the ruins of Springfield.
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Comic stories
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Comic issue
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Story name
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Reference
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Bart Simpson #31
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Handy Pop Culture Quotes for All Occasions!
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In his list of tips for using pop culture quotes, Comic Book Guy cites the "I'd buy that for a dollar!" line from RoboCop as being appropriate for "appreciating the finer things" — namely, watching a pretty girl walk by on the sidewalk in front of his store.
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Chief Wiggum's Felonious Funnies 1
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Future Cop!
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In Chief Wiggum's dream of being a cop in the future, an anti-drug poster at police headquarters reads "Talk to Your Kids about Nuke", which was the designer drug being produced and sold by the villain's gang in RoboCop 2.
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Murphy is a former partner of Wiggum's and is upset that Wiggum doesn't keep in touch. Murphy also appears to be friends (or partners) with an ED-209.
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Video Games
| Picture
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Game
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Reference
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The Simpsons Game
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In the Xbox and PS3 versions, the Bart Simpson playable character's shield item is a metal head to turn into "Robo-Bart", a robotic version of himself.
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Common cast and crew
Cast
Crew
External links
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