I was just thinking about Futurama. A show I like, but I am not an expert.
But I was thinking about the people tubes. They are all over the place in the opening credits. And I remember them being used in the premier a bit. But after that are they ever used again, or even seen in the body of an episode?
Yes they are. The one epsidoe I remember is the one where Lela and Fry get super powers from an old linament lotion.
Some mugger runs away with a ladies purse and tries to get away in a tube. Fry uses his super powers to out run the mugger then bends the tube so that it deposits the mugger inside the police station.
Yes plenty of times.
3 specific gags that come to mind immediately:
Tubes stuffed to immobility because the population of NNY is growing faster than the mass transit system.
Zoidberg holding one up while ordering at a fast food place.
When Fry and Leela gained superpowers, Fry is running on one while pursuing a criminal who was trying to use it to escape. (I think Bender ended up Bending it to shoot the guy into the police station.)
They show up in the background frequently.
The quickest way to get to Radio City Mutant Hall!
Yes, frequently.
In “A Flight to Remember,” they use the tubes to get to the dock where The Titanic is berthed. Fry loses his luggage, then it comes out of the tube after him and hits him in the head.
In “Less Than Hero,” during the montage after the become superheroes, Fry chases a criminal who escapes in a tube by running along the top of the tube.
In “Raging Bender,” a “This Week in the Universe” segment shown before the “All my Circuits” movie describes how New New York City mayor C. Randal Poopenmeir opened a new tube to decrease rush hour traffic (then cuts to a tube crammed with people barely moving.)
Although in the original airing, it was JFK, Jr. airport. It was changed for syndication and the DVDs, though if you have copies of the few airings from before JFK died (as I do) then you can hear the original line.
The latest comic book had Fry greasing the tubes.
They’re allowed to show that? O_O