"I don't want to live on this planet anymore," says Professor Farnsworth, as his discovery of the missing missing link (Homo Farnsworth) between primate and human is mocked by believers in Creaturism. But his attempts to live his exile on a lifeless asteroid prove a bit more complicated than expected, and a planetoid of robots takes grave objection to his view of their evolution story. Nothing is sacred - or what it seems - in "A Clockwork Origin", the ninth episode of the sixth season of Futurama, and yet another reminder of why Futurama is far more than just an animated comedy show.

Farnsworth takes exception to the Creaturism protesters (including a flying spaghetti monster), who claim that all life was founded by a wise old alien creature. Farnsworth's attempts to use science to disprove Creaturism turn up naught, when his opponent, Dr. Banjo (a talking, sentient orangutan voiced by David Herman) shows a picture of Farnsworth's Homo Farnsworth frolicking with dinosaurs. In disgust, the Planet Express crew (save Zoidberg and Cubert) leave Earth and attempt to start life anew on an asteroid. They get more than they bargained for, as Farnsworth's water-purifying nanobots evolve into all-consuming trilobots (much to the delight of Bender and the chagrin of the professor), which then evolve into all-consuming dinosaur-bots. Just when things go Jurassic Park for the team, the dinosaurs are wiped out by a solar flare ("convenient", as Leela says), and life beings again on the asteroid - this time with humanoid robots, amazed to discover the presence of sentient carbon-based life-forms on their planet. Farnsworth attempts to take credit for the creation of the robot world, and then things go really wrong.

Every animated comedy, from The Simpsons to South Park has done their take on the evolution vs. creationism debate, and Futurama is no exception (weighing in with the surprisingly open-minded "Godfellas" in 2002). At times, it seems like "A Clockwork Origin" is an attempt to redress the balance - creationists are crazy! Evolutionists are enlightened! But Futurama has always been about far more than taking the easy way out, and seeing One Million, B.C., Jurassic Park and Inherit the Wind (and Star Trek, of course) sent up so intelligently and creatively in just twenty-one minutes is another reminder of why this show is so great. That everybody gets skewered - the creationists are indeed crazy, but the evolutionists are shown not be that much higher up the ladder - is a welcome thumb in the eye for how many times animated comedies patted themselves at the back for another crack at religion.

But lest ye fear, the jokes are good, too. Farnsworth takes two hours to build a spaceship, but a slingshot takes 12 hours of creation. The episode really takes off in the final act, when Dr. Widnar takes the crew back to the Museum of Natural Robo-History and when Everyone v. Farnsworth is heard by the Supreme Gort. Farnsworth arguing with his robot counterpart, the jury giving up on the trial because they've evolved to non-corporeal life-forms that couldn't be bothered with the affairs of physical beings (there are too many awesome things about super-evolved beings telling your main characters to "to get the hell out", Star Trek influences or not) give the episode not just the thought-provoking edge to take it beyond other entries in the creationism vs. evolution debate, but make it infinitely funnier than the other attempts at making creationists look stupid - simply by making the evolutionists look foolish as well.

The subplot - Zoidberg babysitting Cubert - doesn't work as well. Dr. Zoidberg is one of the most wonderfully pathetic characters of all time, and there are good moments between the two of them - Zoidberg boiling baseball gloves and then asking Cubert to teach him the facts of life (and his miserable "Fatherman away!" is a joy) - but the predictable mending of their relationship doesn't work. Zoidberg (literally) gets the last word, though, insisting that Cubert is a terrible person. And we know all is well with the world.

"A Clockwork Origin" is another good reason why the continued existence of Family Guy is both baffling and depressing, while Futurama languished for years without a network. The source material may not be original, but writer Dan Vebber's treatment of it is brilliant, and the humor is, as usual, dead on. Fry is always the star of Futuram, and even though he's a minor character in this story, he gets the best scene, menaced by a water-dwelling robot-dinosaur, savaged by a Tyrannosaurus-bot, knocked over by a Tricycletops, and finally stolen by a pterodactyl-bot. It is, as he says, the most awesome way to die. 4.0/5