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"Kill all humans, kill all humans, must kill all humans..."
"Bender, wake up!"
"Wh-uh? I was having the most wonderful dream! I think you were in it!
"
Bender and Fry

"I, Roommate" is the third episode of production Season 1 and the third broadcast episode of Futurama. It originally aired in North America on April 7, 1999.

The episode was written by Eric Horsted and directed by Bret Haaland, and focuses on Fry and Bender's search for an apartment after deciding to become roommates, as well as the various difficulties they have in finding a place that is acceptable to both of them.

Plot[]

I, Roommate (Main Episode) - 52

Bender shows Fry his incredibly tiny apartment.

Since his arrival in the future, Fry has been living in the Planet Express offices, and due to this, Hermes arranges an immediate agenda meeting regarding their workplace's conditions: his habits of eating everything, attracting owls with crumbs, using the emergency chemical burns shower irresponsibly and drying his hair with the ship's engines, giving him huge doses of radiation at the cost of throwing off the calibration of their output, making it known that Fry's presence is disrupting business. When the group comes to talk with Hubert J. Farnsworth about Fry's living arrangements, the last straw is cut when Fry eats the Professor's alien mummy of Emperor Nimbala - who is noted to taste like beef jerky - and is utterly upset, as it was he who was going to eat it. Due to the events of this morning, it is decided that Fry has to go. After being physically removed from the office, Fry decides to move in with Bender.

Several days later, Fry decides that he can't take living in Bender's 2 cubic meter apartment, and the two begin a search for a living space that will satisfy them both. But ultimately, they are unsuccessful until one of Professor Farnsworth's colleagues dies. Fry and Bender lease his old apartment, with Bender living in the closet.

I, Roommate (Main Episode) - 88

"Please, Bender. Have some malt liquor. If not for yourself, then for the people who love you."

At the housewarming party - Leela gives Fry a mini fruit tree, Doctor Zoidberg brings caviar and Professor Farnsworth gives him a teriyaki-style mummy - they watch All My Circuits, and each time Bender is in the room, the television doesn't work. Bender gets the landlady (Hattie McDoogal), and after four failed attempts to find the cause, she finally finds the cause: Bender's antenna.

After discovering that his antenna interferes with the building's televisions, Bender is forced to relocate back to his old residence, but Fry stays put. Distraught at the separation from his friend, Bender goes on a self-destructive sobriety binge, eventually cutting off his own antenna to live with Fry.

Out of concern for Bender, Fry moves back into Bender's old apartment (after Smitty recovers Bender's antenna). Fry then discovers that Bender's over-sized closet (bigger than a human-sized bedroom) has more than enough room for a human to live comfortably.

Ongoing Themes[]

  • The Professor makes his first reference to news, but it's "sad, sad, terrible, gruesome news" in this episode.
  • Bender says "Fun on a bun" for the first time.

Fry & Leela[]

  • Leela is concerned by Fry subjecting himself, for the sake of his appearance, to large amounts of radiation.
    • Although part of her concern is apparently due to the irritation of later having to recalibrate the engine.
  • Fry flirts with Leela for the first time, on-screen at least. Leela responds with an exasperated sigh.
  • Leela is the first to request, of the Professor, that Fry moves out of the Planet Express Building. She does not do this out of malice, however.
  • Leela makes it plain that she likes Fry, considering him a "nice guy", though not in a romantic or sexual way.
  • Fry rudely ignores Leela when she first attempts, tactfully, to encourage him to move out of the Planet Express Building.
  • Leela is concerned about Fry's welfare after his uncomfortable week living with Bender.
    • She is later similarly concerned about Bender's wellbeing, after he and Fry stop living together. As such, this previous concern for Fry may not be evidence of any particular affection for him.
  • Fry again flirts with Leela, insinuating that she might let him move in with her. She rejects him with an exasperated sigh, but she does remark that she likes his optimism.
  • Leela agrees to help Fry and Bender find a new, larger apartment.
  • Along with the rest of the crew, Leela attends Fry and Bender's housewarming party.
  • Leela reprimands Fry for his poor treatment of Bender. Fry rudely responds with an immature and vaguely misogynistic comment about men not being compromised by emotions unlike women. Overall, Fry is very dismissive, not to mention disrespectful, of Leela. This disrespect continues with Fry's calling Leela's attempts to help "meddling".
  • For a man who is often snobbish, and is shown to care little for the state of his abode or property, Fry takes an inordinate amount of care with the fruit-salad tree which Leela gifted to him. This suggests that he places particular value on the gift, and therefore particular value on Leela.

Hermes & Zoidberg[]

  • It is in this episode that Hermes and Zoidberg are first seen to be at odds. Though Hermes initially enjoys the crab/lobster claws Zoidberg brought to Fry and Bender's housewarming party, he gags and spits out the one he was eating when Zoidberg mentions that he made them himself, though he is polite enough to avoid doing this while Zoidberg is watching, waiting until the doctor's back is turned.
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