When Bender is paralyzed in a tragic can opener accident, he discovers his musical washboard skills and goes on tour as a member of Beck's folk-rock band, acting as a voice for broken robots everywhere. Fry, Leela, Amy, and Zoidberg tag along in Fry's antique 1960s VW Van.
WAR
47
Wins Above Replacement
“Bendin In The Wind” ranks #34 of 170 Futurama episodes on the Humor Index, scoring 81.8 — Elite. The episode packs 55 scored jokes at 3.5 per minute, averaging 6.8 on craft and 6.9 on impact, with Unknown landing the most laughs. Every joke is ranked below with its individual craft and impact scores.
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Top Jokes
Bender: Last time, that magnetic psycho nearly cut my head off! Plus the magnet impairs your inhibition unit and makes you sing folk songs.
Bender Character Comedy Setup/Punchline ★ Rewatch Bender: I'd get up to shake hands and steal your wallet, but my body crapped out.
Bender Character Comedy Setup/Punchline ★ Rewatch Unknown · Unknown · Unknown: Gas was an environmental disaster. We use alternative fuels. - Like what? - Whale oil.
Fry: We can't just dump him in the gutter like Grandma's ashes.
Fry Dark/Subversive Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Fry · Unknown · Bender: Mind if I take this old van? Sure. You wanna dump the corpses out of there, it's yours. Yeah, I've gotten used cars before.
All Jokes — 55 analyzed
Show all ↓ Hide ↑ Fry: Oh, my God! They dug up a bag of olestra chips from my time!
Fry Observational Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Unknown · Unknown: Is that one of those Led Zeppelins? - No, it's an old Volkswagen van!
Fry · Unknown · Bender: Mind if I take this old van? Sure. You wanna dump the corpses out of there, it's yours. Yeah, I've gotten used cars before.
Unknown · Fry: What's that? One of those Jefferson Starships? It's called a van. And in light of the fact it's not rocking, I invite you to come knocking.
Fry · Unknown: It's a triumph of German engineering! The speedometer only goes up to 80. It can't go faster than 80,000 mph?
Unknown: No, but it's got a driver's-side floor and an eight-track player!
Unknown · Unknown: Where's the device that lets you speed or slow the passage of time? Under the seat.
Fry · Unknown · Bender: Why won't it start? - It needs gas. Wrong again, idiot. There is no gas. Petroleum reserves ran dry in 2038.
Unknown · Unknown · Unknown: Gas was an environmental disaster. We use alternative fuels. - Like what? - Whale oil.
Bender: Last time, that magnetic psycho nearly cut my head off! Plus the magnet impairs your inhibition unit and makes you sing folk songs.
Bender Character Comedy Setup/Punchline ★ Rewatch Bender: What? Who said anything about me secretly wanting to be a folk singer?
Bender Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Bender: It's time to take life by the cans.
Bender Wordplay/Pun Character Comedy Unknown: It's toe-tappingly tragic!
Doctor · Fry · Doctor: This is the worst part of the job. - Good news? Bender, your hydraulics are shot. You'll never move again.
Bender · Doctor: You mean...? - Sorry, you'll have to get a new one.
Fry · Leela: Poor Bender! - Well, let's drag him to the curb.
Fry: We can't just dump him in the gutter like Grandma's ashes.
Fry Dark/Subversive Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Patch Cord Adams: Why do they use Windows 3000 as a prison guard? Because it always locks up.
Bender: For God's sake, somebody kick his ass!
Bender Reaction Beat Character Comedy Bender: Hey, the blues! The tragic sound of other people suffering. That's kind of a pick-me-up.
Bender Character Comedy Dark/Subversive ★ Rewatch Bender: I'd get up to shake hands and steal your wallet, but my body crapped out.
Bender Character Comedy Setup/Punchline ★ Rewatch Beck: I used to miss my body too... but then I fished this mannequin out of the 92¢ Store dumpster.
Beck Observational Visual Gag ★ Rewatch Beck: Try and scrape it across your chest like a knife on burnt toast.
Beck Observational Setup/Punchline Bender · Beck: Why, 'cause I made an annoying noise? - I use those all the time in my music.
Fry: Kudos, Bender! You got mangled, and now you're a singer. Both our dreams came true.
Fry Observational Irony/Sarcasm Leela: I don't know, Fry. I think I'm too poor to follow a band around in a van.
Leela Observational Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Zoidberg · Unknown: Bad news, friends. My shell ran. - Zoidberg, you idiot!
Zoidberg · Unknown · Unknown · Unknown · Zoidberg: My outfit! It's... - Kind of cool! - I like it! - Me too, now that I'm used to it. Then it was all on purpose! You're lucky to have me as a friend.
Zoidberg: But cross me, and I'll turn on you like that!
Server · Customer: One bowl of Jell-O knuckles. That'll be three pictures of George Washington.
Fry · Unknown · Bender: Oh, no! My beautiful money! - It got ruined in the wash! - Mine too, even my change.
Vendor · Unknown · Vendor: Get lost, you moneyless hippies! You heard him, freaks! We don't like your type around here! These are the types we like.
Fan: That was the best 40-minute washboard solo I've ever heard. The parts when I was awake blew my mind!
Fan Setup/Punchline Observational Broken Robot: I don't believe my broken eyes! It's Bender, the washboard player!
Bender · Bender: That's so wrong! They can't just melt down broken robots! - Not right when they're kissing my ass.
Bender · Beck: Yeah, I could write a song! With real words, not phony ones like 'odelay.' - Odelay is a word. Look it up in the Becktionary.
Bender Beck Setup/Punchline Character Comedy ★ Rewatch Bender: I'm working on my song. Hand me the Becktionary. No, the rhyming Becktionary.
Bender Callback Escalation ★ Rewatch Callback Bender: I'd like to raise awareness about broken robots... but what can I do? I only weigh 8 pounds.
Bender Character Comedy Setup/Punchline Amy: Can we crash here? The colors in the van keep us awake.
Amy Absurdist Observational Amy: Can we crash here? The colors in the van keep us awake.
Amy Absurdist Character Comedy TV Announcer: A portion of the proceeds might go to help broken robots.
TV Announcer: A portion of the proceeds might go to help broken robots.
Unknown · Bender: Bender! You can move! You're cured! - Oh, crap! It's a miracle.
Bender: That's like Christina Aguilera singing in Spanish.
Bender Observational Setup/Punchline Amy · Leela · Amy · Zoidberg: They're beautiful! - You're touching them! I've never seen pearls like this. You're amazing! - I am? At last! Recognition!
Hippie · Zoidberg: Look at the colors! These will go great with my soul. Glad you like them. I've been making fine jewelry for years, apparently.
Beck: That song doesn't usually last three hours... but we got into a serious thing, and then I forgot how it ended.
Beck Observational Deadpan/Understatement ★ Rewatch Beck: here's a big cardboard check for $14,000.
Beck Visual Gag Observational Crowd · Crowd · Crowd: You big fat fraud! - You're not really broken! - But you will be!
Unknown: What is this, the Year of the Jerk?!
Bender: What is this, the Year of the Jerk?!
Bender Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm ★ Rewatch Fry · Leela · Fry: I forgot it's a hoverbridge! - I forgot this isn't a hover car! - Is that a problem?
Bender: Someone fat, get in my way!
Bender Character Comedy Physical/Slapstick Beck: That's some played-out horsecrap! But I know you don't mean it. Apology accepted.
Beck Character Comedy Setup/Punchline Bender: Well, it was worth a shot.
Bender Deadpan/Understatement Character Comedy