# Futurama/Nixon question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 23, 2010, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-nixon-question/565228 "2010-12-23T22:44:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-nixon-question/565228/1 "2010-12-23T22:44:54Z")
Ok–I get why, on Futurama, they keep having the head of President Nixon say “Sock it to me”…but they also have him express happiness with a weird sort of dog-howl sound (“Aroo!”). He does it at least once per episode where he appears. Am I missing a cultural reference here, or are they just doing it because it’s funny and it’s not riffing something Nixon actually did? (For what it’s worth, it’s funny as hell–I just want to know if there’s another layer I’m missing) I put it here rather than CS because there’s a factual answer and I need Nixon/history nerds, not Futurama nerds. 😃 Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-nixon-question/565228/2 "2010-12-23T22:46:15Z")
Hypothesis: the “aroo” thing is making fun of his jowls, which I think are distinctly exaggerated on the show. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-nixon-question/565228/3 "2010-12-23T23:09:22Z")
It’s just something that Billy West came up with back when he was a teenager. At least, according to Billy West on an NPR “Fresh Air” segment. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-nixon-question/565228/4 "2010-12-23T23:15:23Z")
There used to be a comedy show called _Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In_, and “sock it to me” was one of their catchphrases. Nixon appeared on the show and said the line, and everyone talked about it. ---
**Author:** ![Goofus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7feea3/32.png) [@Goofus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Goofus)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2010, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-nixon-question/565228/5 "2010-12-23T23:23:24Z")
The DVD commentary for “A Head in the Polls” (the episode where Nixon gets his head attached to Bender’s body) says they’re just doing it because it’s funny. > [@http://theinfosphere.org/Commentary:A\_Head\_in\_the\_Polls](#): > > Billy explains that Nixon’s “Aroo” came from Billy thinking that Nixon would change into a werewolf. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-nixon-question/565228/6 "2010-12-24T04:15:42Z")
If you do a google or at least a Youtube search of Nixon “sock it to me” you’ll see where he appeared. Laugh In was absolutely hilarious. I can’t describe it…you had to be there. Kind of like a liberal west coast Hee Haw, mixed with the Daily show and Saturday Night Live Now Get OFF of my Lawn!!! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-nixon-question/565228/7 "2010-12-24T04:19:22Z")
Here he is on _Laugh-In_. It was a frequent catchphrase on the show, and his shocked recitation of the line was pretty funny at the time, given his stuffy image: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFEhmF-cSi8) ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-nixon-question/565228/8 "2010-12-24T13:46:54Z")
From the OP: > [@](#): > > **I get why** , on Futurama, they keep having the head of President Nixon say “Sock it to me” He’s not wondering where the “sock it to me” phrase comes from. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-nixon-question/565228/9 "2010-12-24T14:57:07Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > Ok–I get why, on Futurama, they keep having the head of President Nixon say “Sock it to me”…but they also have him express happiness with a weird sort of dog-howl sound (“Aroo!”). He does it at least once per episode where he appears. > > Am I missing a cultural reference here, or are they just doing it because it’s funny and it’s not riffing something Nixon actually did? Can’t cite a direct relationship but two buttons popular among us “counter-culture” types back then were one showing Nixon with an exaggerated nose saying something like “Beat Nixon’s Nose Into a Plowshare” and another with exaggerated jowls and ears making him a sort of bloodhound saying something like “You can’t hide from Tricky Dick”. I always assumed the Futurama thing had something to do with the latter. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-nixon-question/565228/10 "2010-12-24T17:59:08Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Here he is on _Laugh-In_. It was a frequent catchphrase on the show, and his shocked recitation of the line was pretty funny at the time, given his stuffy image: > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFEhmF-cSi8&feature=related](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFEhmF-cSi8&feature=related) Nixon said that it won him the 1968 election. And Hubert Humphrey, his Democratic opponent was also asked to be filmed saying “Sock it to me,” and declined. He said that that may have cost him the election. That’s what George Schlatter is quoted as saying that he believed, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2010, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-nixon-question/565228/11 "2010-12-25T01:34:00Z")
> [@Goofus](#): > > The DVD commentary for “A Head in the Polls” (the episode where Nixon gets his head attached to Bender’s body) says they’re just doing it because it’s funny. In some commentary or other, he also says his Nixon is more an imitation of Anthony Hopkins in the Oliver Stone _Nixon_ movie than the actual president. I always thought that explained the howling a little bit; it’s easier to imagine that as an exaggeration of a film performance than as something that comes from Nixon himself. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2010, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-nixon-question/565228/12 "2010-12-25T03:16:58Z")
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:4, topic:565228”] There used to be a comedy show called _Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In_, and “sock it to me” was one of their catchphrases. Nixon appeared on the show and said the line, and everyone talked about it. [/QUOTE] Yeah…why did you tell us this? We got that part. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-nixon-question/565228/13 "2010-12-25T18:49:58Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Yeah…why did you tell us this? We got that part. Because I misread the OP.