I think that the episode “Where No Fan Has Gone Before” is one of the best episodes of any animated TV series ever broadcast.
I particularly love the sequence where Melllvar has announced that everyone will take part in a Star Trek Convention…
Leonard Nimoy: “Uh, Melllvar, can you give us some idea of how long this is going to last?”
Melllvar: “Until Time Stops.”
Followed by:
Bender: “Question… Can people who hate Star Trek leave early?”
Walter Koenig (Enthusiastically): “Good Question!”
Melllvar: “No, they have to stay even longer!”
The look on Walter and Bender’s faces as they both groan in disappointment is just priceless.
Also, Walter Takei’s deadpan delivery of the line "I think I’ve done enough conventions to know how to spell “Melllvar” is brilliant, as is William Shatner’s spoken-word version of “The Real Slim Shady”, and Walter Koenig & Melllvar’s commentary thereof:
Walter Koenig: “How can you do a spoken word version of a rap song?”
Melllvar: “He found a way.”
I think Futurama may well be the only prime time comedy to have an entire episode revolve around several characters being raped to death, and to play it as a comedy.
I’m not sure use of the word rape would be entirely accurate in that context, given that there was a lot of willingness on the sex bit (just not on the “to death” bit).
Kif never wanted it, and at times, both Zap (“the spirit is willing, but the flesh is spongy and bruised”) and Fry (“can’t we just cuddle?”) indicated they did not want to partake in the proceedings.
More pertinently, imagine reversing the genders. Three women crash land on a planet of gigantic men. The men disappove of the women’s taunts, and decide, as punishment, the women shall be forced to have sex with the men until their pelvises are crushed. Two of the women relish the prospect, and greet the impending forced fornication with glee. The third woman, however, is horrified. Nevertheless, the men line up, and one by one, drag the women off by their ankles to be gang raped.
Don’t get me wrong - it’s a funny episode. I just find it bizarre, and at some level, kind of creepy, that they could get that much humor out of a rape scenario.
I take your point, Gredbioz. I think that episode says a lot about how our culture perceives the idea of female to male rape (i.e. it doesn’t take it seriously, or indeed really believe it exists).
One of my favorite lines is from the Popplers episode. The Professor is yelling at the group demontrating outside the Planet Express building. I’m paraphrasing here:
Professor: Get off my property.
Demonstrator: You can’t own property, man.
Professor: I CAN own property because I’m not a penniless hippie!
Another favorite (and I’m not sure why, but thinking of it makes me laugh) is when the group goes to visit Amy’s parents on Mars and out of the blue, Zoidberg goes “I broke your TV.”
The ending credits of “Where No Fan Has Gone Before” were one of the best parts of that episode. Especially the last shot of Kif parodying the “evil alien” from “The Corbomite Manuever.” They lampooned just about every Star Trek in-joke they could find, from Takei’s “Oh My” to Shatner’s “KHAAAAAN!”
Yeah, they’re even less prone to take it seriously within the context of parodic animated SF series that’s clearly doing a riff on Amazon Women on the Moon type stuff. Idiots!
When Bender lets Fry move into his apartment:
Fry: “Where’s the bathroom?”
Bender: “The what room?”
Fry: “The bathroom.”
Bender: “The bath what?”
Fry: “The bathroom.”
Bender: “The what what?”
And in an Xmas Story:
Fry (to Leela), “I am gonna buy you SO many lizards!” Love that line, and use it on anyone who’s done me a big favor.
I’m confused. Can someone please cite this? I can’t find it on the web anywhere. I tried Googling terms such as “Futurama rumors debunked” and “No new Futurama episodes” and get no returns. I heard about the DVD’s of course, and heard back in June that new Futurama episodes were supposedly confirmed for broadcast in 2008. But I can’t find anything on the web to reverse or debunk that news. Even Billy West continues to confirm the new episodes (and I know he’s a second-hand source at best, and can only go by what he’s told from David Cohen and Matt Groening). So if you or any other Doper could please provide a link, I would appreciate it.
Demonstrator: It’s wrong to eat anything that can feel pain. (Demonstrator is hit by a thrown brick) OW!!
Bender: (preparing to throw more bricks) Okay, we won’t eat you.
