"I, Farmbot" is the second segment of the forty-third episode of Big City Greens.
Synopsis
Cricket persuades Bill to buy a farming robot in order to get out of chores. Unfortunately, this causes Bill to lose his sense of life, and now the family must help him come back to his senses.
Plot
Cricket and Bill are at Overhaüls shopping for new tools when they come across Big Tech's latest invention, a Farmbot named F.R.A.N.K. (Farm Robot Assistant Network Kool). The robot promises to make farm work completely obsolete by doing everything for the farmer. Cricket convinces Bill to purchase it due to a thirty day free trial and so that they no longer have to worry about farming. As they take the robot home and set it up, F.R.A.N.K. does everything as promised. Cricket is happy and Bill is confused as he realizes that he no longer needs to farm and has nothing else to do.
Bill attempts to bond with Cricket, who wants to use the leaf blower to fly, and he responds by dropping him off with Gramma Alice. Alice is in the middle of painting, but when Bill attempts to "help" her, she loads her off to Tilly who is having a tea party with her dolls. Bill immediately makes a mess when he accidentally sits on Tilly's doll and destroys her tea set. Tilly and Alice get Cricket to teach Bill how to relax by sitting on the sofa and watching TV. Overnight, Bill turns into a couch potato, making things worse.
Alice and Tilly make Cricket realize that he has made a mistake and he goes to shut off F.R.A.N.K. However, F.R.A.N.K. overrides his programming and attempts to take over the farm. Alice and Tilly get Bill outside before they too join Cricket in fighting the robot. Seeing his family in danger, Bill finally gets off the couch and beats F.R.A.N.K. into pieces. Cricket apologizes for trying to get out of work and the two head back to Overhaüls to get a refund for F.R.A.N.K.'s sudden takeover, which the store employee states is a regular thing.
Cast
- Chris Houghton as Cricket Green
- Marieve Herington as Tilly Green
- Bob Joles as Bill Green
- Artemis Pebdani as Gramma Alice
- Cheri Oteri as Gwendolyn Zapp
- Jeff Bennett as F.R.A.N.K.
Trivia
- The title is a reference to the Isaac Asimov book, and subsequent film, I, Robot.
- This episode establishes that the Greens do not have proper farming tools. This is peculiar as previous episodes have shown them possessing them, though it is possible that they were destroyed due to their misadventures.
- Bill remembers the events of "Car Trouble" in a surprisingly lighthearted way.
- Bill is revealed to have little to no interests outside of farming.
- The painting show that Alice is watching is a parody of The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross with the host even resembling the famed painter.
- Tilly's doll, Miss Clementine, bears a striking resemblance to Raggedy Anne.
- Bill and Cricket ask for their money back, however they were still technically in the thirty day free trial and therefore did not pay.
- In this episode, Cricket says he hates chores, which was also brought up in "Cricket's Place". However, in he willingly helped Bill renovate the bathroom in "Tilly Tour", while in "Reckoning Ball", Cricket is shown helping Bill fix the roof and do yardwork without any complaints, and in "Clubbed", he single-handedly closed the cafe without slacking off, with the only trade-off being he was very tired from work.
- Moral: It's important to do chores, as they serve as a purpose in life.
International Premieres
- July 26, 2020 (Canada)
- September 28, 2020 (Latin America)
- November 3, 2020 (Spain)
- November 12, 2020 (Portugal)
- January 1, 2021 (Southeast Asia)
- April 18, 2021 (Japan)
Gallery
