Main cast: Nancy Linari (Jeanette), Ben Giroux (Automated Customer Service Operator), and Brian Keane (Bill)
Director: Meat Dept

Set in a lovely future, Automated Customer Service takes place in Sunset City, a senior living community where everyone is waited upon by intelligent machines. I personally question why such a place will have a morbid name that will only remind its folks of their impending demise, but hey, I’m not a brilliant scriptwriter so what do I know.

For Jeanette, her problems begin when her home-cleaning unit starts to insist that her family photo must be placed in a position to its liking, not hers. Before long, it is trying to kill her, her dog, and everything and anything else in its path.

The gag here is that she keeps trying to call the customer service line as she scurries and runs around for her life, only to keep getting the automated response system. This is one gag that has been played out many times before, and the whole episode feels wholly been there, done there before as a result. Robots gone wild? Come on, every sci-fi story invariably shoves that theme down my throat!

While the animation is fine and the dog is cute, this episode feels wholly generic, and a big let down of a second season-opener when compared to the first season. Sure, it’s watchable, but at the same time, this one feels like a big leap backward.