I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot

"I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot"
The Simpsons episode
Bart's robot Chief Knock-a Homer destroys Ralph-o-Cop.
Episode no.	322
Prod. code	FABF04
Orig. airdate	January 11, 2004
Show runner(s)	Al Jean
Written by	Dan Greaney Allen Glazier
Directed by	Lauren MacMullan
Couch gag	The couch is a white cake and the Simpsons are squeezed out like frosting on top of it.
Season 15 November 2, 2003 – May 23, 2004 "Treehouse of Horror XIV" "My Mother the Carjacker" "The President Wore Pearls" "The Regina Monologues" "The Fat and the Furriest" "Today I Am a Clown" "'Tis the Fifteenth Season" "Marge vs. Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples and Teens, and Gays" "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot" "Diatribe of a Mad Housewife" "Margical History Tour" "Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore" "Smart and Smarter" "The Ziff Who Came to Dinner" "Co-Dependent's Day" "The Wandering Juvie" "My Big Fat Geek Wedding" "Catch 'Em If You Can" "Simple Simpson" "The Way We Weren't" "Bart-Mangled Banner" "Fraudcast News" List of all The Simpsons episodes
Seasons 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11 · 12 13 · 14 · 15 · 16 · 17 · 18 · 19 · 20 · 21 · 22 · 23

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

The primary plot is a very accurate telling of Richard Matheson's short story "Steel", which was recently made into the feature film Real Steel (though much less accurately).

Plot

Bart is taunted by Nelson, Jimbo, Dolph and Kearney because he does not have a 10-speed bike like they do. In order to get Homer to buy him a 10-speed bike, Bart gets the bike he already has run over by Dr. Hibbert's Mercedes-Benz G500. Homer buys the 10-speed bike 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 to which Bart names the robot "Chief Knock-a Homer". Unaware of Homer's ruse, Bart enters the robot in the Rumble.

Homer defeats numerous opponents to make it to the finals, but he is physically injured from the battles with the other robots (at which one point he finds a large piece of jagged metal in his arm.) . In the final match against Professor Frink's undefeated super-robot, which looks like the ED-209 enforcement droid from the Robocop films, Bart finds Homer in the bot after the gruelling first round. Caught, Homer apologizes to Bart, but Bart is impressed because of all the pain Homer went through for 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 (despite the fact that a human cannot win under the rules) and Bart is proud of his dad.

Meanwhile, the Simpsons cat Snowball II is run over by Dr. Hibbert's car shortly after Bart's bike is crushed. Lisa is devastated and recites a poem tearfully at Snowball's funeral, where she is buried next to Snowball I. Lisa gets a ginger cat, which she names Snowball III, but he dies in an aquarium. The next cat, Coltrane (Snowball IV), jumps out of a window after hearing Lisa play her saxophone. 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 bowl, let's just 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." A defeated Skinner walks away, acknowledging the new cat as "Snowball II".

Cultural references

• The song playing whilst 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.
• The song playing during the Robot Rumble montage is 'Watching Scotty Grow' performed by Bobby Goldsboro.
• One of the robots advertisied for Robot Rumble is the T-800 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 name Cassius Clay.
• Professor Frink's robot is based on the ED-209 from the film RoboCop and its accompanying series.
• Professor Frink's robot is programmed with Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics.
• Lisa's fourth cat, Coltrane, is named after the influential jazz performer John Coltrane.

External links

The Simpsons portal

• "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot" at The Simpsons.com
• "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot" at the Internet Movie Database