Futurama Season 7 Discussion Thread

[JD]

Christopher wrote:

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The thing that bugged me the most was the way the episode embraced the lazy, ignorant stereotype of Africa = jungle and animals. Africa is the most diverse continent on Earth in geography, climate, culture, and ethnicity. It has plenty of major, modern cities, so there's no reason 31st-century Africa couldn't have looked as high-tech and urbanized as most other locations they visit. At the very least, Kenya's ecosystem is savannah and steppe, not jungle.

I did like the continuity nod to Bender's Big Score -- that they figured out time travel by finding a record of the code Bender used in that film.

I had the same thought when they went to Africa. I was expecting some kind of Africa themed city, and all we got was a hospital in the middle of a jungle. I thought the rest of the episode was pretty good, although I do agree that it probably won't hold up real well in years to come due to all of the current events based humor.

[shivkala]

^
I, too, was hoping that they'd advert the sterotypical view of Africa. I half expected the Planet Express shuttle to clear the leaves and find a fully futuristic city.

On the other hand, I loved the beginning with the "Free Beer" opening gimmick.

[RJDiogenes]

Temis the Vorta wrote:

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And I think RJDiogenes needs to invest in a trusty DVR. Set and forget!

You're definitely right. More capacity than VHS, too.

[Reverend]

shivkala wrote:

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^
I, too, was hoping that they'd advert the sterotypical view of Africa. I half expected the Planet Express shuttle to clear the leaves and find a fully futuristic city.

On the other hand, I loved the beginning with the "Free Beer" opening gimmick.

^Yeah, I expected them to hack their way out to find they'd parked in the only patch of jungle in the middle of a massive cityscape.

Anyway, I thought there weren't any jungles on Earth anymore. Was this one transplanted over from Mars?

[Disruptor]

The Thief of Baghead

Homer gets a new job as a...wrong show. Hard for them not to overuse Bender.

Not too shabby. The part about Bender using a camera that still uses film. Cheap jokes like Selen Go-Bot and Parts Hilton amused me. The mysterious actor was an interesting foil.

Wait, is

Calculon still dead?

[Ar-Pharazon]

^ Well, with Futurama's strict adherence to continuity, yes, Calculon must

stay dead

[Disruptor]

I wouldn't care if he did, he was never that interesting. Though at least he isn't a one-note, instantly dated creation like Elzar.

Speaking of continuity...
Continuity error: Zoidberg and The Professor were in commando attire, then when the monster had Zoidberg and Farnsworth in its clutches, they were back in their regular clothes.

Upcoming episode titled "Viva Mars Vegas"...wasn't Mars just thrown out of its orbit?

[Christopher]

I found this a mostly mediocre episode that didn't hold together very well. I mean, if the plan was to "help" Calculon win the acting contest, they didn't really do anything to help. All they did was ask him to help them. And then they just stood there and let Cobb's ego get inflated by the audience acclaim -- at least they could've booed him from the side of the stage, or better yet, tried to undermine his performance by sabotaging the lights or curtains or distracting him somehow. Given how much was at stake, the gang made virtually no attempt to turn things in their favor, and that's just lazy writing.

The one thing I really liked was the part where Calculon did Romeo's death scene and they let Maurice LaMarche actually play it straight instead of doing his usual Calculon ham routine. It was a good showcase for LaMarche as an actor, though a questionable fit to the character.

[TemporalFlux]

"Welcome... to Jurassic Tank."

The writers have hit a stride again. I was starting to think Futurama would never again consistently be what it was in its hey-day; but 3 out of the last 4 episodes have been solid classics!

[JD]

Not horrible not great. I can't really think of any specific comments other than that it was ok.

[Temis the Vorta]

Eh, another off episode. Hope next week they're back to form.

[Showdown]

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Decision 3012
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There was an editing mistake during the angry mob scene. I don't remember the exact words, but here is sort-of what was said and my response.

Senator Travers: I am from earth.

Angry Mob Member: Show us your long form earth certificate!

Senator Travers: What would it take to convince you people?

Me: Um, what they just asked for? You know, that earth certificate they just mentioned a few seconds ago.

About the ending... The "Mary Sue" senator wins the election. Then, he won't go back in time, and Nixon wins. When that happens, shouldn't that cause Travers to go back in time and win the election? But then, he won't go back in time again, causing Nixon to win. It is an infinite time loop. Captain Janeway says it best. "I hate temporal paradoxes."

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Thief of Baghead
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I think Calculon should have won. I believe he will be back. Many robots have a back up unit.

[Emh]

I really liked "The Thief of Baghead," especially of the film photography jokes. Here's hoping Calculon stays dead but I'm not holding my breath.

[OmahaStar]

Emh wrote:

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I really liked "The Thief of Baghead," especially of the film photography jokes. Here's hoping Calculon stays dead but I'm not holding my breath.

Why would he? As previously established, they like their continuity. It wasn't long ago that they established that when a robot "dies" their memories are downloaded into a new, duplicate body. Bender doesn't have that ability, but other robots do. Why wouldn't Calculon just download into a new body and continue acting like usual?

[Disruptor]

OmahaStar wrote:

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Why would he? As previously established, they like their continuity. It wasn't long ago that they established that when a robot "dies" their memories are downloaded into a new, duplicate body. Bender doesn't have that ability, but other robots do. Why wouldn't Calculon just download into a new body and continue acting like usual?

Yeah...that "back up" unit reveal raised some continuity questions.

Odd that earlier Bender thought he was a disabled robot and toured with Beck...bringing attention to disabled robots everywhere.

Why wouldn't the robots just "die" and download into new fully functioning bodies?

What about the robots that are "born" not manufactured? How can they be downloaded into a duplicate body?