# Futurama: A Clockwork Origin **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 13, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-a-clockwork-origin/550190 "2010-08-13T19:57:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-a-clockwork-origin/550190/1 "2010-08-13T19:57:39Z")
An OK episode in my opinion. Had some good gags. I liked the one where Farnsworth and the orangutan doctor kept arguing about missing links all through the night. I loved the design of the robot dinosaurs. Looked like motorized Ray Harryhausen dinosaurs. > [@http://theinfosphere.org](#): > > Professor Farnsworth, fed up with Creationists on Earth, moves to a planetoid to escape the ignorance of humanity. Only to inadvertently create mechanical life which evolved from small cleaner robots designed to clean tainted water on the rock. I give it a 8 out of 10. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-a-clockwork-origin/550190/2 "2010-08-13T20:34:18Z")
I liked it a lot. The reference to “Jurassic Bark” and the cameo appearance by the Flying Spaghetti Monster were hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-a-clockwork-origin/550190/3 "2010-08-13T20:42:03Z")
I give it a 7 out of 10. Many of the gags were funny, but the concept was pretty weak, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-a-clockwork-origin/550190/4 "2010-08-13T21:02:28Z")
I liked it very much. It was fun seeing them put the screws to the creationists. Probably concur with 8/10 rating. ---
**Author:** ![ProudlyDefiant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@ProudlyDefiant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ProudlyDefiant)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-a-clockwork-origin/550190/5 "2010-08-13T21:08:43Z")
Loved Farnsworth’s “I don’t want to live on this planet anymore.” So sad and exasperated. ---
**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:** [August 13, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-a-clockwork-origin/550190/6 "2010-08-13T21:23:53Z")
> [@ProudlyDefiant](#): > > Loved Farnsworth’s “I don’t want to live on this planet anymore.” So sad and exasperated. A sentiment I often find myself agreeing with, except I have no means of escape. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-a-clockwork-origin/550190/7 "2010-08-13T21:24:10Z")
“Go back to Roboklahoma!” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2010, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-a-clockwork-origin/550190/8 "2010-08-14T05:15:08Z")
I’m just watching it now. I thought the flyer resembled Slug’s T-shirt illustration (which I’d link to, only I couldn’t find an image). ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2010, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-a-clockwork-origin/550190/9 "2010-08-14T13:18:03Z")
Sweet robot swan from botswana! ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-a-clockwork-origin/550190/10 "2010-08-14T22:06:14Z")
> [@h.sapiens](#): > > I liked it a lot. The reference to “Jurassic Bark” and the cameo appearance by the Flying Spaghetti Monster were hilarious. I also liked that the hearing was held in the “Supreme Gort”, in much the same way that people are detained in “Commander Rikers Island” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![nachtmusick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ac91a4/32.png) [@nachtmusick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nachtmusick)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-a-clockwork-origin/550190/11 "2010-08-15T02:26:32Z")
> [@h.sapiens](#): > > I liked it a lot. The reference to “Jurassic Bark” and the cameo appearance by the Flying Spaghetti Monster were hilarious. What?Where? The FSM showed up? Damn, I must have gone for a snack. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-a-clockwork-origin/550190/12 "2010-08-15T02:38:32Z")
> [@nachtmusick](#): > > > [@h.sapiens](#): > > > > I liked it a lot. The reference to “Jurassic Bark” and the cameo appearance by the Flying Spaghetti Monster were hilarious. > > What?Where? The FSM showed up? > > Damn, I must have gone for a snack. You must have because he even had a few lines. ---
**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:** [August 15, 2010, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-a-clockwork-origin/550190/13 "2010-08-15T04:12:47Z")
Wosniak Academy: Home of The Flinchers! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-a-clockwork-origin/550190/14 "2010-08-15T04:59:34Z")
I know some people have complained about topical humor this season, but I thought it was great and totally fitting that a sci-fi show devoted a whole episode to exasperated mocking of Creationism, complete with the Flying Spaghetti Monster, an _exhaustive_ review of human evolution that debunks an evolutionary god of the gaps in about 15 seconds, and the absurdity of a hyperintelligent entient ape with a Ph.D. arguing against evolution. And beyond that I liked the inside-out plot, with Farnsworth getting fed up with the Creaturists and then accidentally winding up on the opposite side of the debate (and still being right) on the robot planet. Plus, you know, robot dinosaurs. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-a-clockwork-origin/550190/15 "2010-08-15T06:10:39Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > and the absurdity of a hyperintelligent entient ape with a Ph.D. arguing against evolution. I wonder if that was also an homage to Planet of the Apes. If you remember, Dr. Zaius, who was also an orangutan, got pretty upset at the suggestion that apes evolved rather than being created. ---
**Author:** ![Meltdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Meltdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meltdown)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-a-clockwork-origin/550190/16 "2010-08-17T20:58:00Z")
I remember laughing at the signs the protestors were holding. I think one said something like “Keep Science Out of Science!” ---
**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:** [August 17, 2010, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-a-clockwork-origin/550190/17 "2010-08-17T22:56:55Z")
Dr. Banjo: " Just because you believe in something doesn’t make it true. So sayeth the all mighty Creature in the Sky." ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-a-clockwork-origin/550190/18 "2010-08-20T15:05:12Z")
Bleh, I turned to my husband after watching it and said ‘Well, that was crap,’ and he completely agreed. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-a-clockwork-origin/550190/19 "2010-08-21T09:08:20Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > > [@nachtmusick](#): > > > > What?Where? The FSM showed up? > > > > Damn, I must have gone for a snack. > > You must have because he even had a few lines. Well, he only has one line, but it’s two sentences (or three, depending on how you count.) It’s near the beginning of the show, so Comedy Central has it in their [web teaser](http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=350306&title=evolution-under-attack). The appearance starts at 1:25, but you might as well watch the whole clip, as it ends with the appearance. For those who can’t watch the video, I’ll describe and quote in a spoiler box. [At an anti-evolution rally. a Creationist (DR. BANJO) has just challenged Professor Farnsworth] DR. BANJO: Evolution is just a theory, like gravity or the shape of the earth. [The crowd cheers. We see a Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM) just behind some people in the crowd. It comes to the front. FSM: [eye-talian accent] Hey, Professor! I’m a Flying Spaghetti Monster. You seriously think I’m descended from some type of “flightless manicotti”? PROF: [frustrated, no beat] Yes! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2010, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-a-clockwork-origin/550190/20 "2010-08-21T09:12:41Z")
> [@Meltdown](#): > > I remember laughing at the signs the protestors were holding. I think one said something like “Keep Science Out of Science!” “Read My Lips: No New Taxonomies” was better. It’s in the scene with the FSM. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/futurama-a-clockwork-origin/550190.md?page=2)