I, (Annoyed Grunt)-bot

"I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot", also known as "I, D'oh-Bot", is the ninth episode of The Simpsons' fifteenth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 11, 2004. This episode represents a milestone in the history of the series as Snowball II is killed off, which, excluding the death of Homer's mother in season 19's "Mona Leaves-a", is to date the closest thing to an actual Simpson family member actually being killed off.

"I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot"
The Simpsons episode
Bart hugs "Chief Knock-a-Homer".
Episode no.Season 15
Episode 9
Directed byLauren MacMullan
Written byDan Greaney
Allen Glazier
Production codeFABF04
Original air dateJanuary 11, 2004
Episode features
Couch gagThe couch is a white cake and the Simpsons are squeezed out like frosting on top of it.
CommentaryMatt Groening
Al Jean
Allen Glazier
Matt Selman
Michael Price
Tom Gammill
Max Pross
Matt Warburton
Nancy Cartwright
Lauren MacMullan
Alan Sepinwall

The primary plot is based on Richard Matheson's short story Steel.

Plot

Bart is taunted by school bullies Nelson, Jimbo, Dolph and Kearney, because he does not have a 10-speed bike as they do. In order to get Homer to buy him one, Bart has his current bike run over by Dr. Hibbert's Mercedes-Benz G500. Homer buys the 10-speed for Bart, but refuses to pay the small assembly fee and builds it himself. Bart is happy since it looks great and works perfectly at first, but it falls apart when he moons the bullies. Homer, wanting Bart to be proud of him, tries to build a battle robot for the "Robot Rumble". He fails to construct one, but then decides to build a robot with himself in it; Bart names the robot "Chief Knock-a Homer". Unaware of Homer's ruse, Bart enters the robot in the Rumble.

Meanwhile, Dr. Hibbert's car runs over and kills the Simpsons cat Snowball II shortly after crushing Bart's bike. A devastated Lisa recites a poem tearfully at the funeral, where Snowball II is buried next to Snowball I. Lisa gets a ginger cat, which she names Snowball III, but he drowns in the fish tank. The next cat, Coltrane (Snowball IV), jumps out of a window after hearing Lisa play her saxophone. Because of this the owner of the cat sanctuary refuses to give Lisa any more cats. As Lisa sits outside brooding over the recently deceased cats, the Crazy Cat Lady shows up, screams nonsense and hurls a cat (which has a striking resemblance to Snowball II) at her. At first Lisa tries to drive it away, fearing it will meet the same fate as her other cats, but this cat proves to be more durable, when an oncoming car driven by Gil Gunderson swerves and crashes into a tree (this proves good for Gil because he has insurance). Lisa elects to keep the cat and says "You're Snowball V, but to save money on a new dish, we'll call you Snowball II and pretend this whole thing never happened". In an instance of meta-humor, Principal Skinner then stops by and asks Lisa "That's really a cheat, isn't it?" Lisa replies "I guess you're right, Principal Tamzarian." Skinner walks away defeatedly, acknowledging the new cat as Snowball II.

Homer defeats numerous opponents to make it to the finals, but he is physically injured from the battles with the other robots, and at one point he finds a large piece of jagged metal in his arm. In the final match against Professor Frink's undefeated super-robot, an ED-209 look-a-like, Bart finds Homer in the bot after the grueling first round. Caught, Homer apologizes to Bart, but Bart is impressed because of all the pain Homer went through to win his son's admiration. In the second round, ED-209 squeezes Homer out of the robot, but immediately stops as soon as it sees him. Frink explains that the robot follows Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics and "is programmed never to harm humans, only to serve them". ED-209 sets out a comfy seat for Homer and pours him a martini. Homer wins and Bart is proud of his dad.

Cultural references
  • The title of the episode includes the phrase "(annoyed grunt)" which is how Homer's catch-phrase "D'oh!" is written in episode scripts. Making the episode title read "I, D'oh-bot" - a play on Isaac Asimov's I, Robot
  • Robot Rumble evokes the televised robot combat shows of Robot Wars and BattleBots.
  • Homer's robot, Chief Knock-a Homer, is a reference to the former Atlanta Braves mascot Chief Noc-A-Homa.
  • The song playing while Bart and Milhouse are cycling is "Magic Carpet Ride" performed by Steppenwolf.
  • During one of the Robot Rumble matches, one of the commentators states that one robot is "killing him softly with his saw," a reference to the Roberta Flack song.
  • Dr. Hibbert has a Kool and the Gang air-freshener in his car.
  • The song playing during the Robot Rumble montage is "Watching Scotty Grow" performed by Bobby Goldsboro (The same song played in the Season 3 episode "Saturdays of Thunder" as Homer was helping Bart build a soapbox racer). Homer also sings part of this song when delirious from blood loss and a concussion.
  • One of the robots advertised for Robot Rumble is the T-800 endoskeleton from the popular Terminator film series.
  • Professor Frink's robot is named 'Smashius Clay' a.k.a. 'Killhammad Aieee', based on the boxer Muhammad Ali and his former real name Cassius Clay.
  • Professor Frink's robot is based on the ED-209 from the film RoboCop and its accompanying series.
  • Lisa's fourth cat, Coltrane, is named after the influential jazz performer John Coltrane.
  • The robot Circuit Ray Leonard is based on the boxer Sugar Ray Leonard.
  • The song playing while Homer fights Professor Frink's robot is "...In A Bag" by Static-X.
  • While Lisa is preparing food for Snowball III, she sings a song with the same melody as the Hokey Pokey song.

Reception

DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson was critical of the episode, saying it "starts pretty well but droops before too long. The robot theme is too silly, and the cat sequences are too morbid. Some of the battle bots bits amuse, but they're not enough to overcome the episode's general flaws."

gollark: We are perfectly able to notice weird radio things like pulsars.
gollark: You're wrong, actually.
gollark: If it's high-power enough someone will notice it.
gollark: That's the electrical engineers' problem.
gollark: Something something radio, I don't care.
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