Short Summary A Tale of Two Santas First aired 12/23/01 Rank: 71/124 Reviews: 151 Rating: 80% Bender is declared the new Santa when evil Santabot is discovered frozen on Neptune. On his way to town he gets to feel how resentful people can be.

#1 by The Baz The original Xmas Story was a hillarious spin on the twisted holiday of the Future. It remains on of my favorite episodes. But the Tale of 2 Santa's may very well replace it. The Tale of 2 Santa's was fast and funny. Great gags and a nice plot even though it sounded cliche. Another great Futurama song was added rivaling Hermes's own anthem. Coolio as Kwanzaa-bot was a very funny tie in with the overshadowed holiday. "I'm dreaming of a red Xmas!" The episode wasn't as violent as I though but it sure did earn a TV14. Great Xmas episode, and classic Futurama episode of all time. I hope they continue the tradition of great Xmas centered shows. A+ The Baz gave 5 points 24.12.2001

#2 by mtvcdm Only the second episode I ever gave an F to, the first, as you all know, being 'Flight To Forget'. I hate to say it, but... Fox was right in moving it. I hated Flight To Forget for being too lovey-dovey, and we just saw the other extreme end of the spectrum. Fire, buzzsaws, fine in robot fighting, but Santa probably should have toned it down a bit. But it did have some good parts, though not enough to pull it out of the F range. You had the 'Tresspassers Will Be Shot' coupled with cheery Christmas music, you had the word 'bastards' in a very weird cheery-sounding Xmas song. About it. Ah well, shrug it off and wait for the next episode, which should be better. mtvcdm gave 1 point 24.12.2001

#3 by Chris Didn't think it was that great. Don't think my face stretched to a smile more than a few times. Chris gave 3 points 24.12.2001

#4 by MXs I don't know what happened, but these new episodes don't have that much "laugh till it hurts" effect as many of the older first season episodes. It might be that they are reserving some of the good jokes for upcoming episodes so they don't run out. This season when compared to the first/2nd season, seems to have lost much of it's comedic punch. Some of the jokes weren't funny is this episode and in fact they seem rather ill. (Leela running with the bomb and the diaper shower) I wonder what happened to the originality and intelligence of the scriptwriters? I still love Futurama and am still hopeful. Hope this helps. MXs gave 3 points 24.12.2001

#5 by Andrea Huckstep I hope Bender didn't really fall to his doom at the end of the episode. I kinda liked the episode. I like John Dimaggio's Santa voice better than John Goodman's. The Mario Bros. are always there to support Bender... Andrea Huckstep gave 4 points 24.12.2001

#6 by reed A good, solid episode. Far from perfect but enjoyable none the less and worth the wait. I have to admit I agree with FOX for not showing it that early(Farnsworth DID use the shotgun a BIT too much for that timeslot) but then they shouldn't have a timeslot this early anyway. Unfortunately the jokes weren't as free flowing as the best eps and the plot seemed to lack depth and went places it shouldn't have(Bender getting arrested and going to court was pretty dull). Also, while he did a great job, Coolio had absolutely no effect on the plot and seemed to just be slotted in there for the cameo. Why couldn't we see more of him? I know I sure wanted to! But there WAS plenty to enjoy in this episode, especially the excellent song which was both funny and catchy. I also have to agree that John DiMaggio did a great job as Santa. It sounded exactly like John Goodman's 1999 version. In the end, Futurama needed a solid episode to attract viewers who were in in time to see it at this prime time slot and it delivered. Hopefully now FOX will, too... reed gave 4 points 24.12.2001

#7 by rick Wonderful! I don't really understand why it was banned last year, but I think it did deserve a TV-14. The funniest things in the episode were Farnsworth shooting Bender with the shot gun (several times), the bird lawyer telling the lttle girl she had nothing to be afraid of and then almost pecking her, the new Christmas song, and the bike hitting the little girl. I hope the show keeps up all the good episodes like they have been doing so far. A+. rick gave 5 points 24.12.2001

#8 by Bop Monroe With Futurama being moved around so much because of Fox's football schedule, it was great to see it again. Did no one feel moved & I mean EXTREMELY moved, by the last 10 seconds freezeframed of the cast huddled together after the Doctor sez "Hold me."...? A pure post-9/11 image/reference/emotion that needed to be addressed somehow. I knew the Simpson's wouldn't really let that type of serious reality into the dysfuctional Springfield "reality". ..but this Futurama episode, I don't know what else to say. Haven't felt like that since the Peanuts kids sang in 1965. My throat tightened, I wanted to cry. I'm trying to describe it to my friends. F'Rudolph & Frosty. Thanks Matt & Fox. Bop Monroe gave 5 points 24.12.2001

#9 by Garth I didn't think this episode was nearly as funny as the season premire, but it wasn't nearly as bad as some of the previous shows. My favorite part was the song, but because of the stupid ending, I'm rating it below average. Garth gave 2 points 24.12.2001

#10 by [-mArk-] (haha) Why you selfish little bastards! Do you want the kids to think that Santa is just a (what?) empty handed jerk!? I rewound the vcr four times to hear bender's verse of the elf song. superb *delivery*! as for the rest of the ep, it was funny, but not laugh out loud funny. I don't know what some of you are talking about, it was not THAT violent. Oh, and did anyone else think Leela's "logic" was flawed? merry xmas! [-mArk-] (haha) gave 4 points 25.12.2001