Them, Robot
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- "Meet the future masters of the human race!"
- ―Mr. Burns
"Them, Robot" is the seventeenth episode of the season 23.
Contents
Synopsis
Mr. Burns replaces all of Springfield Power Plant's employees with robots but decides to keep Homer as the sole human worker. With unemployment at an all-time high and mechanical arms operating the workplace, Springfield becomes a dismal and humorless place. But when Homer's machine-programmed peers start to turn on the community and his former real-life employees come to the rescue, they all realize that robots can't replace human friends.
Plot
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Smithers informs Burns that they require to keep one human worker and he decides to keep Homer, to sign for packages etc. Burns also replaces Smithers with a A900 Robot. Meanwhile, Homer begins to dislike his new job as he has no one to talk to and the robots won't interact with him. Later, at Moe's Tavern, Homer learns that all the redundant Power Plant workers have still not found new jobs and are struggling to make ends meet. The next day, Homer, while messing around, accidentally breaks one of the robots. He reads up in the A9000 Repair and Maintenance Manual and discovers that he can make the robots interact with him. After several failed attempts at this (as seen by several destroyed robots), Homer manages to activate "conversation mode" on Robot D39 and befriends it.
Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie pay a visit into town and see that all the local businesses are closing down. Marge reminiscences about how nice of a man Mr. Burns was when he moved to Springfield. In a flashback, a young Marge watches a street parade, where Mr. Burns announces the opening of his power plant and the abundant of jobs he is creating. Back in the present, we are shown how several of Springfield's residents are dealing with their new-found poverty:
- Lenny has taken up being a windscreen cleaner
- Smithers is now a substitute teacher
- Barney is a struggling stripper.
At the plant, Homer is having more fun at work since he has befriended Robot D39. As Homer converses about his life, D39 deduces that he is having family problems. Homer announces it is time to go to Moe's but D39 informs him that the automated workers are not able to leave the plant. It then tells Homer that their programming restricts their movement to the yellow guidance lines incorporated into the floor. This gives Homer an idea - he spray paints a new yellow line across town to the baseball field, where he and the bots all play a game.
Production
The episode was written by Michael Price and directed by Michael Polcino. Brent Spiner, of Star Trek fame, guest stars as the A9000 Robots.
Gallery
Promotional image
