Futurama "Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles" Talkback (Spoliers)

[DianaGohan]

Finally, FOX shows a new Futurama episode. And it's one I've been waiting for (When the crew become teenagers). Anywho, this is the talkback where you voice your opinions on the new episode. Hopefully, they'll show a new one next week, and not be a bunch of lazy basterds.

[Killtacular]

Next week is the most important Futurama episode of all-time, "The Why of Fry". And then "The Sting".

[livingfruitvirus]

i never thought i'd see this.

[Terminatah]

I thought this was hilarious. I like how they touched upon all the different aspects of youth. Bender's rebelling, Farnsworth's "I had a few beers, but I'm cool to drive," Zoidberg's sucking blood, etc. And visually, the episode was magnificent. I was laughing every time they hit a new youth stage. Especially Farnsworth and Zoidberg. Little Bender's ears were genius as well.

-Terminatah

[Behonkiss]

Actually, having Bender de-age physically is a screw-up. In the episode where Mom makes the robots of Earth rebel, Bender shows a photo of himself at three weeks-he looks the exact same. But whatever.

The episode itself...I'm sad, because I missed the first half due to dinner.(Because of this, I still don't know what was up with the bird at the end that saved Farnsworth.)What I saw was funny, though. The crew as kids was cute, Farnsworth and Zoidberg were awesome(Farnsworth with an afro=weird), the jokes were good...They basically took every joke about youth they could and hit them spot-on. Typical Futurama goodness, and glad to see it finally aired.

[kaine23]

Great to see this episode aired. This episode rocked.

[Scythemantis]

I loved the different Zoidberg stages. Now we know his whole life cycle.

Coral> Hydra> Urchin> Anglerfish> Lamprey> Clam> Isopod/trilobite-like arthropod> Cuttlefish (definately a cuttlefish, not a squid) > Humanoid squid/lobster. :)

I almost freaked when it appeared he had died. Almost. I knew it was teasing on the writer's part :)

Unfortunately, a stupid boring newscast interrupted the first few minutes.

It was something about the war, but nothing more important than anything they normally reserve for later. They couldn't put it in a bar at the bottom? Maybe some people are trying to watch cartoons to forget about the dismal real world. :p

[DianaGohan]

Next week is the most important Futurama episode of all-time, "The Why of Fry". And then "The Sting".

You mean that FOX will actually be kind an intellegent enough to show TWO new episodes of Futurama in one night? I thought that was just a rumor, but if they do, I hope it won't be the season finale episodes, and they show the rest of the produced episodes this season. Oh well, time for the episode review.

Admittley, I was surprised to find a decent amount of emotion in what I thought would be an all comedey episode. Since all of this is out of production code, it makes more sense to see so many episodes revovling around Leela and her mutant parents. (THe CN premiere of "Leela's Homeworld Last Wendsday, The only other new March Futurama episode "Less Then Hero" and this one). I thought it was very sweet for Leela to want to not grow up and instead stay young and be with her parents. And her scarificing her youth in order to save the crew was very nice as well. I wonder if the writers will have any more stories involving Leela's parents, or will this be it.

While this episode had some emotion, it was still mostly comedey. The first act started great, with Farnsworth's search for his lost Gargoyle. He was in pure senile old man funny mode here, with his comments on women driving, going 35 miles an hour when the ship can go 99% light speed (I thought it could go faster then that though. How else are they able to travel between the planets so fast if they can't even go total lightspeed?! Oh well, plotholes plotholes) and then stopping by that diner in order to get the 2:30 dinner (In the state of Florida. Very funny sign there to "Welcome to the state of Florida Feel free to make fun of Old People, Disney, and Recounts" or something to that extent). The crew trying to get the Professor to get the youth treatment so they wouldn't be irrated by his old age was pretty funny (Espically Leela's "We won't force you until I finish speaking this sentance. Jump him!" was the best part) but I really didn't like the spa treatment. The woman was more intresting to look at then hear, and the gross out joke with Farnsworth's skin seems more Simpsons Season 10-12 then Futurama. The plot got good again though when Bender decided to take over ("Like most of live's primitive movements, pulling is just a form of bending" was a great line) and then causing that oil spill that caused the crew to be young. The storyline then moved great there, with Leela trying to make her parents treat her like a teenager, Farnsworth complaining about being young again, Zoidberg in his evolving stage, Amy's Father making fat jokes about her, Bender being a rebel (It does raise the question though of how he became young. After all, wasn't he born the same way he looks now ((As seen in "Bendless Love")). How could he have aged if robots never really age. Okay, more nitpicking plotholes, but it still dosen't make that much sense) and Fry trying to take Leela on a date (Espically the Star Wars Episode one pod racing sendoff and the Mutated Moose ((From Archie Comics, well the regular Moose anyway) and his girlfriend Mindy. Of course, the plot got even better and funnier when Farnsworth tried to change everyone back to normal, and only made everyone younger and younger. Espically funny were all of Zoidberg's stages of development, the ageomeder hiting 8 and saying happy birthday, and Leela reading stories to the Futurama kids (Which may actually have a little bit more merit then the Fake Saturday Morning Line up says it would have). Leela saying to punish her for instead of letting her go with her friends (Or drink Tequila, which was a fairly funny running joke by Leela's da) and then sneaking out was not only funny, but kind of says a lot about regular teenage relationships, cliched as the saying is. The end was probably the best part. The kid professor taking the Futurama babies to the pool, and Zoidberg getting so old he started to produced his own siblings, which one of them got in the pool because he likes attention was a nice visual and audio gag (Although the visual part ((as seen by LivingFruitVirus)) is kind of sickening, in a funny way). Finally the whole crew becoming their age, and Farnsworth being reunited with his Gargoyle was a nice end. Espically the final scene where the gargoyle explains to his son how he became free, and has nasty plans for the country of France. All in all, a stellar episode that will hopefully become a show classic. A+

[Parallax]

Ooo, I like this one. It was interesting to see their younger selfs and I really found Dr. Zoidbur's forms interesting. BTW, at the age Leela was shouldn't she have braces?

[Digu Volz]

This episode wasn't too funny, but entertaining none the less. I've never really felt Futurama had to be as laugh out loud funny as the Simpsons since it has a wider focus, so I enjoyed it.

[Junkman23]

i didn't understand the ending could someone quote it and explain it, i mean the gargoyle part

[animenologist]

Arrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh! :mad: :mad:
I missed it! And who knows before I can see it again. Oh well, them's the breaks. Also about the 99% speed of light thing, remember in the in the introduction of Q-Bert, Professor Farnsworth stated the the speed of light was increased making it possible to travel between planets at a relatively short time. Whether this was intentional or accidental is beyond me.

[Lonestarr]

The title was a tad off-putting, I admit, but the episode was great. One of my favorites.

The various stages of youth for the characters (especially Farnsworth, or "Dumbsworth") were hilarious. The scenes with Leela's parents were good, too ("No beer 'til you finish your tequila!").

*****

[randomguy]

Really entertaining episode. I liked Hermes' de-evolution the most, though he was kinda shoved into the background.

[Anarky]

I'll have to wait til the last batch of eps hits CN.
FOX's treatment of Futurama has been poor.
The show was on hiatus, then they show an ep, then they air JP2: The Lost World...then they air a new epsiode? Consistency people!!!! BTW, I never saw a commercila for it...nor were there any talkback boards to remind us.

[DianaGohan]

Also about the 99% speed of light thing, remember in the in the introduction of Q-Bert, Professor Farnsworth stated the the speed of light was increased making it possible to travel between planets at a relatively short time.

Actually, I never saw Cubert's debut episode ("The Route Of All Evil" I believe it was called) as well as "A Taste Of Freedom". Like Anarky said, they really do little to any promotion of the show on FOX, so you really have to check and make sure every week there is one, because FOX likes to screw with the Futurama fans and show as little new episodes as they can without getting bombarded with death threats. At least that's how it seems.

[R Chocolate]

Actually, I never saw Cubert's debut episode ("The Route Of All Evil" I believe it was called) as well as "A Taste Of Freedom". Like Anarky said, they really do little to any promotion of the show on FOX, so you really have to check and make sure every week there is one, because FOX likes to screw with the Futurama fans and show as little new episodes as they can without getting bombarded with death threats. At least that's how it seems.

I heard FOX doesn't much care for FUTURAMA as Matt Groening never listened to their notes, suggestions for the shows. Matt wanted complete control and FOX has done it's best to get revenge on him for that. Still, I did catch today's episode and it was pretty good. Seeing
Leela's parents again was nice as was seeing the main cast as kids, plus Zoidberg's evolutionary stages were weird but cool.

[Exatron]

Actually, I never saw Cubert's debut episode ("The Route Of All Evil" I believe it was called)

Cubert first appeared in "A Clone of My Own." "The Route of All Evil" introduced Dwight Conrad, or rather it would have if Fox hadn't held it over until the fifth broadcast season.

[Andy Mancini]

"59? Aww, man. Now I have to get a fake ID if I want to rent ultraporn!"

I really have to get my hands on some of that ultraporn. :)

[DianaGohan]

Cubert first appeared in "A Clone of My Own." "The Route of All Evil" introduced Dwight Conrad, or rather it would have if Fox hadn't held it over until the fifth broadcast season.

Oh, sorry my mistake. Got the wrong kid's name. While were on the subject, I want to ask what does Dwight sound like anyway (Since god knows when FOX will show the episode again and when CN will have the rights to show it) is it like a smaller Hermes or something else to that nature? Just naturally curious.

[Millions Knives]

i didn't understand the ending could someone quote it and explain it, i mean the gargoyle part

I didn't get it either. Was it just random or did I miss something? :confused: Can someone please clarify this for Junkman and myself.

[Terminatah]

I didn't get it either. Was it just random or did I miss something? :confused: Can someone please clarify this for Junkman and myself.Farnsworth did some horrible spaceship driving while hunting for his runaway gargoyle, which is what led to the Planet Express crew wanting to fix his old age. This ties together to the ending, when the gargoyle saves Farnsworth from the Fountain of Aging and is then released. Plotting a reign of terror over France is standard gargoyle fare.

-Terminatah

[sockhead]

I didn't understand the ending either. Thanks, Terminatah. I liked the episode and found myself laughing out loud a number of times. Personally, I like these new Futurama episodes much better than the new Simpsons ones. Can't quite put my finger on why though.

[Terminatah]

I didn't understand the ending either. Thanks, Terminatah. I liked the episode and found myself laughing out loud a number of times. Personally, I like these new Futurama episodes much better than the new Simpsons ones. Can't quite put my finger on why though.I think it's because "Futurama" is superior to "The Simpsons" in every conceivable and inconceivable way.

-Terminatah

[Rurouni]

Wonder of wonders, Fox actually showed a Futurama episode, this one being preempted at least twice. If they're feeling really generous, maybe we'll get another next week, instead of another Simpsons repeat or some cheesy Schwarzenegger action flick.

Wasn't bad, Fry's voice cracking at that age is very much in character. He was just missing the zits though. :) Amy was fat as a kid, somehow I'm not surprised. Hermes wasn't always a super-serious bureaucrat. But Farnsworth had to be the star of this one, I guess 70's fashion's survived even that far into the future.

Leela once again saves the day for the PE crew, even though she gave up her chance to redo her life on her terms. The end with the gargoyles is all the more amusing given the current U.S. attitude toward France. But a solid episode in all, now will they air the remaining episode before the end of summer?

[HomeMoviesFan]

Wonder of wonders, Fox actually showed a Futurama episode, this one being preempted at least twice. If they're feeling really generous, maybe we'll get another next week, instead of another Simpsons repeat or some cheesy Schwarzenegger action flick.

True, true about that, but actually, we are confirmed to be seeing "The Why of Fry" (which is called "one of the most important Futurama episodes in its entire history"), but if rumor goes to truth, King of the Hill doesn't air an episode, we we'll be seeing "The Sting" directly afterwards. But, just remember about the 2-episode thing is a rumor, and very unlikely. But we are defintely seeing "The Why of Fry", but if "The Sting" doesn't air...good bye Futurama until June/July (I suspect July because that's when FOX aired unaired "Family Guy"s in the summer) because after that it is directly into the sweeps...

[raykremer]

Son of a targ, man. The local Fox station (Indianapolis) replaced the new Futurama episode with some special about storms that their 10:00 news weather guy did. Seriously, what the frell is up with that?

[Exatron]

Oh, sorry my mistake. Got the wrong kid's name. While were on the subject, I want to ask what does Dwight sound like anyway (Since god knows when FOX will show the episode again and when CN will have the rights to show it) is it like a smaller Hermes or something else to that nature? Just naturally curious.

I'm not entirely sure since his only major appearance is in "Route of All Evil," the one episode I haven't seen. Stupid Fox policy of putting Futurama in a timeslot where it's constantly preempted, you go squish now!

IIRC, Dwight did appear and sing in the final segment of "Anthology of Interest II," but I can't remember what he sounds like.

[Rurouni]

True, true about that, but actually, we are confirmed to be seeing "The Why of Fry" (which is called "one of the most important Futurama episodes in its entire history"), but if rumor goes to truth, King of the Hill doesn't air an episode, we we'll be seeing "The Sting" directly afterwards. But, just remember about the 2-episode thing is a rumor, and very unlikely. But we are defintely seeing "The Why of Fry", but if "The Sting" doesn't air...good bye Futurama until June/July (I suspect July because that's when FOX aired unaired "Family Guy"s in the summer) because after that it is directly into the sweeps...

I heard something about that, and if it's true, that's great, but since this is Fox, I'll believe it when I see it. I just want Fox to finish burning off the rest of the episodes and get it over with, since they clearly could care less about this show, and there's no Cartoon Network in this area yet, so that's not an option.

[DianaGohan]

According to the T.V Guide, FOX is only airing one new Futurama episode, but it's the "Why Of Fry" episode so at least that's good. Still, I hope that they air the rest of the episodes instead of just waiting till the next season to show them, if at all. After all, FOX dosen't exactly have the best track record with showing Futurama.

[Conan-san]

I heard FOX doesn't much care for FUTURAMA as Matt Groening never listened to their notes, suggestions for the shows. Matt wanted complete control and FOX has done it's best to get revenge on him for that..

Well, It's kinda hard to imagine that he would tone down the show.... That's just plain stupid. And it's his show to start with. I dont want to look upon futureama as the DBGT of Matt's curear.

[DianaGohan]

Well, It's kinda hard to imagine that he would tone down the show.... That's just plain stupid. And it's his show to start with. I dont want to look upon futureama as the DBGT of Matt's curear.

What are you talking about? You're not really making any sense. First off, there is a very huge diffrent between DBGT and Futurama, as Akira Toryiama wanted nothing to do with GT, and only after much begging and pleading from the producers and writers did he submit some character designs for the show. That was all he really did for GT. Matt Groening, on the other hand, did not want any of FOX's input on the show since he had his own ideas and plans, and wanted the show not to be tampered with at all. In fact, FOX was the ones who wanted to "tone down" the show, which they felt was too depressing and dark for the kind of comedey they had in mind. This was the reason why Futurama is getting canceled He was fully committed to it, so I don't see how you get the Akira Toriyama/DBGT comparision. You can't really compare the quality between the shows either, since Futurama is far better then GT, and actually manages to be better overall then Groening's previous work, the Simpsons. That's because Matt had an overall series plan for Futurama, and did not just rush into things blindly and create characters for no apparent reason. And if FOX had managed not to be such jerks to Groening about Futurama, it probably would have been on for at least a few more seasons.

[Master Moron]

I think it's because "Futurama" is superior to "The Simpsons" in every conceivable and inconceivable way.

-Terminatah

Dude, Futurama has a gazillion plotholes, has a sickening amount of violence, has more ridiculous plots than the Simpsons, and the pop culture references don't even make sense in a future setting. And since the Simpsons is a hell of a lot funnier than futurama I don't see how anyone can say that Futurama is superior to the Simpsons.

[Lonestarr]

Dude, Futurama has a gazillion plotholes, has a sickening amount of violence, has more ridiculous plots than the Simpsons, and the pop culture references don't even make sense in a future setting. And since the Simpsons is a hell of a lot funnier than futurama I don't see how anyone can say that Futurama is superior to the Simpsons.

In this order: list at least 750 of them, what violence?!; "The Simpsons" has become way more violent than "Futurama" has ever been, the plots are supposed to be ridiculous, and the pop culture references are hilarious. And since this is one of the most one-sided arguments I've ever been in, I'll be going now.

[Master Moron]

In this order: list at least 750 of them, what violence?!; "The Simpsons" has become way more violent than "Futurama" has ever been, the plots are supposed to be ridiculous, and the pop culture references are hilarious. And since this is one of the most one-sided arguments I've ever been in, I'll be going now.

Well, maybe it's not the number of plotholes that gets to me just the huge size of them. When a series completely rewrites it's own history I consider that a bad thing. I've never seen animals eaten alive on the Simpsons, except in the Odessy parody, which was actually humans turned into animals, which doesn't count and in the Adam and Eve parody, but the animals survived, so that doesn't count either. You may have a point about the plots of both series being ridiculous, but I have gotten into arguments on this board about which series is less ridiculous.

But, I seriously don't see how any fan could find a talking head amusing. The whole concept of heads in jars is just plain stupid, not funny. But it isn't the humor that irritates me as much as the fact that it makes no sense. No one in the year 3000 will have any idea who Martha Stewart or Lucy Liu are nor would they want to keep their heads in jars. I assume the writers feel the need to add pop culture references to the show because they aren't competent enough to actually make a show that takes place in the year 3000, so they need to rely on the same pop culture references that the Simpsons uses, much less effectively due to the fact that they're completely out of place in the year 3000. Of course I've also heard that the heads in jars is due to the fact that Fox pushes to have celebrity guests on shows, but that seems to go against the notion that Matt Groening doesn't listen to the Fox execs.

[Terminatah]

What plot holes? There are no plot holes in "Futurama." It has never rewritten its own history. If you're talking about the Nibbler/Fry thing, that was planned from the very beginning, and you can see proof as far back as the first episode. Same goes for other major revelations such as Leela's origin. It's also totally not ridiculous, because it takes place in the 31st century. When you see something absurd happening, the entire point is that it's a commonplace situation for the characters in the show. And the writers are all very very intelligent. All their "ridiculous" plots are based on grounded scientific ideas. We're talking geniuses here. You want to talk bad writers? You want to talk ridiculous plots? You want to talk sickening violence? You want to talk countless plot holes? You want to talk about a series that completely rewrites its own history? Let's talk about "The Simpsons," Master Moron.

As for the heads in the jars, you don't know how popular Lucy Liu (or anyone else, for that matter) would be in a future world where head-in-jar technology is prevalent. It's also pointless to lecture on what you think is funny and what isn't.

Especially if you still watch "The Simpsons."

-Terminatah

[Brainatra]

Re: pop culture refs on "Futurama":

"Futurama" = "the Jetsons" as "The Simpsons" = "The Flintstones"; the original show (Simpsons/Flintstones) seems to be more popular/successful than the latter version (Futurama/Jetsons), along with the fact that all four shows relied on 20th century pop culture references despite their (besides the Simpsons) non-present day settings. Thus, George Jetson's world was mostly like the 20th century, but more futuristic (complete with "space" pun names for things, like "Las Venus" or "Ed Solarman"''s variety show). "Futurama" is just following along the same path as the "Jetsons" (complete with its own "space"/"technology" pun names--- like a space-train named "Wrath of Khan-rail" or "John Quincy Adding-Machine"). Neither "Futurama" or the "Jetsons" (or the "Flintstones") has apparently ever explained the reason for their settings being pastiches of the 20th century (but I suppose explaining why could be the makings of a potential future plot idea, if one wished)...

-B.

[Terminatah]

I'm sorry, I don't care for that analogy. While Homer and Fred may both represent a proud faction of middle-class America, the Jetsons are a nuclear family unit (like the Flintstones and Simpsons), which the ragtag mod squad of characters on Futurama is anything but. And most importantly, George and Elroy's exploits were never as satirically biting or cleverly innovative as what you'll see on Futurama.

Rosie was some hot metal ass though, as I'm sure Bender would add.

-Terminatah

[Brainatra]

I'm sorry, I don't care for that analogy. While Homer and Fred may both represent a proud faction of middle-class America, the Jetsons are a nuclear family unit (like the Flintstones and Simpsons), which the ragtag mod squad of characters on Futurama is anything but. And most importantly, George and Elroy's exploits were never as satirically biting or cleverly innovative as what you'll see on Futurama.

Rosie was some hot metal ass though, as I'm sure Bender would add.

-Terminatah

I compared the Jetsons as similar to Futurama in both being set in what's basically a "20th century-fied" version of the future (complete with puns/jokes to match), and having similarities to previous, more successful shows from the same producers (the Flintstones/Simpsons). Obviously, the shows' family structures aren't the same, and there's other differences (the Jetsons is also heavily influenced by the comic strip "Blondie")...

BTW: Have there been any on-the-sly cameos by the Jetsons on "Futurama"? Seems like it'd be an amusing joke (plus, the MST3K 'bots showed up)...

-B.

[Master Moron]

What plot holes? There are no plot holes in "Futurama."


Uhhh...are you serious? How many times have they rewritten the whole global warming thing? First Global Warming was cancelled out by nuclear winter, then it never existed, then it has been an ongoing problem that humans have attempted to slow down by putting ice cubes in the oceans.

And what about Bender aging?

As for the heads in the jars, you don't know how popular Lucy Liu (or anyone else, for that matter) would be in a future world where head-in-jar technology is prevalent. It's also pointless to lecture on what you think is funny and what isn't.


Oh, please, name one famous person from the year 1000. People will not remember Lucy Liu 1000 years from now, period. They probably won't remember her 20 years from now.

[Terminatah]

Oh, please, name one famous person from the year 1000. People will not remember Lucy Liu 1000 years from now, period. They probably won't remember her 20 years from now.There's no comparison between a celebrity from this technological era and one from any time in the past -- let alone 1000 years ago. Especially when they can live on as heads in jars. Thanks to the human race's passion for nostalgia and studios' emergent tendencies to gravitate towards major names, not to mention the imminent market for moviegoers who were cryogenically frozen in time, Lucy Liu's celebrity status will be THROBBING in the 31st century.

-Terminatah

[Master Moron]

There's no comparison between a celebrity from this technological era and one from any time in the past -- let alone 1000 years ago. Especially when they can live on as heads in jars. Thanks to the human race's passion for nostalgia and studios' emergent tendencies to gravitate towards major names, not to mention the imminent market for moviegoers who were cryogenically frozen in time, Lucy Liu's celebrity status will be THROBBING in the 31st century.

-Terminatah

Are there really that many people who were cryogenically frozen? I doubt there'd be enough of an audience to make a lot of money of them.

And okay, maybe 1000 years ago is a little too long. But, what about celebrities from just 50 years ago? Why don't they keep heads of Marlene Dietrich or Gary Cooper in jars? I don't recall ever seeing any black and white film star's heads in jars.

[Exatron]

Uhhh...are you serious? How many times have they rewritten the whole global warming thing? First Global Warming was cancelled out by nuclear winter, then it never existed, then it has been an ongoing problem that humans have attempted to slow down by putting ice cubes in the oceans.[/b]

The global warming thing was changed once. Mayor Poopenmyer's comments about it fit the original premise of nuclear winters cancelling it out.

And what about Bender aging?

While the episode contradicts the flashback of Bender being built, it is possible that the chronitons forced his body to regress through obsolete bending unit designs.

[b]Oh, please, name one famous person from the year 1000. People will not remember Lucy Liu 1000 years from now, period. They probably won't remember her 20 years from now.

Given soceity's current trend of recording and recycling everything, it is quite reasonable that Lucy Liu woud be remembered a thousand years from now, especially when the strange technologies invented during Fry's thousand-year stint as a popsicle are factored in. Remember that information wasn't nearly as easy to store or distribute in the year 1000 as it is now.

[Spastic Minnow]

Oh, please, name one famous person from the year 1000. People will not remember Lucy Liu 1000 years from now, period. They probably won't remember her 20 years from now.
What? You don't know William the Bastard? How can you forget a name like that? okay, so I'm about 70 years off.

Anyways, of course the 20th century will be remembered, we're talking about the age of invention and the beginning of recorded entertainment. But really that's besides the point, Futurama is foremost a satire of modern life and the heads in a jar are admitedly a shamesless gimmick.

The best advice I've ever heard about this sort of problem in a comedy was said by Basil Exposition to Austin Powers and the audience: "I suggest you don't worry about this sort of thing and just enjoy yourself... That goes for all of you too."

[Fireswarm]

I have alway considered Futurama as the animated co-worker genre, which most animated shows don't do. Inline with Fish police, Clerks, Dilbert, The Critic. But Futurama deals with the job and relationships with each other. It is more mature than current Simpsons, and level with maturity with the Phil Hartman era of the Simpson. Futurama has that feeling of a good Simpson episode, which hasn't happen in years.

[Craig Marinaro]

Lucy Who?

I know people who hadn't heard of her when this episode aired, let alone 1000 years from now. The thing that amused me most about her appearance was that they brought her back for a one-line cameo the next season. It always seemed like they left her initial episode unresolved for the sake of a cheap laugh, so I appreciated that attention to continuity.

And okay, maybe 1000 years ago is a little too long. But, what about celebrities from just 50 years ago? Why don't they keep heads of Marlene Dietrich or Gary Cooper in jars? I don't recall ever seeing any black and white film star's heads in jars.

Not in major roles, but Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin, Lucille Ball, and Elvis Presley have been seen in background shots. Maybe a few more. Yeah, it's a disproportionate number to all the '70s / '80s / '90s stars we've seen, but they're there.

The global warming thing was changed once. Mayor Poopenmyer's comments about it fit the original premise of nuclear winters cancelling it out.

I think the general concensus is that there were two separate Global Warmings - the one in our time was a fraud / cancelled out by Nuclear Winter, and then the new one in the 2900s that started because of the pollution from Farnsworth's robots.

You also have to remember that the writers don't worry about giving significance to every single joke. I think the Futurama staff has given more attention to continuity than 95% of comedies (for instance, the random references to French language being dead, or to Bender's Mexican heritage). But Dave Cohen freely admits that the writers screw up sometimes, and he actually enjoys the nerdy Internet fans' criticism, as opposed to The Simpsons writers, who usually strike back with an approach along the lines of, "Does anyone care what these people think?"

While the episode contradicts the flashback of Bender being built, it is possible that the chronitons forced his body to regress through obsolete bending unit designs.

That's what I figured. Hence, the reason he eventually devolves into a disc with the plans for the Bender Unit (obviously, he was never *physically* a disc). Also, at one stage he has two ear-like antennas, which were part of Groening's initial design. Seems like the writers' clue that this is an "old Bender design."

-C
The real question is: What is the likelihood that FOX would still be around in 3000?

[Terminatah]

The real question is: What is the likelihood that FOX would still be around in 3000?Someone has to air the 1011th season of "The Simpsons." ;)

-Terminatah