#isn't this just that one episode of futurama

[thesoftboiledegg]

I wasn't sure what to make of "That's Amorte" before it aired. When signs pointed toward "the spaghetti comes from aliens," I wondered if we had a rehash of Futurama's "The Problem with Poppers," where the crew finds a delicious treat on a planet only to learn that the "popplers" are underdeveloped alien offspring.

Rick and Morty's take on Soylent Green also seemed likely. Everyone knows the twist: Soylent Green is people! A dark sci-fi concept like that could be a ripe parody for this series.

However, "That's Amorte" adapted a concept that other shows have referenced a thousand times and took a right turn. No one's angry at the humans for eating their suicide victims: in fact, they love the spaghetti and turn it into a corporate product.

This is an obvious shot at capitalism and how companies will destroy the environment, brutally slaughter animals and turn cities into concrete wastelands just to make a buck. And I mean--chowing down on this spaghetti isn't that different from eating meat. I'm an omnivore, but I kept thinking that at least these pasta producers chose to die.

The suicide element gave this episode a poignant touch instead of turning it into an edgelord slog where the humanoids kill people and throw them in a meat grinder. Admittedly, the clones leaned in that direction, and that scene also shows how Rick struggles to understand the world outside himself. He doesn't react when the clones kill each other, but one of his daughters is a clone, and he'd be horrified if anything happened to her.

On its own, "That's Amorte" is a great episode. However, when you take the whole series into account, the plot retreads the same old Morty narrative: Morty tries to do the right thing, it backfires, Rick dodges responsibility while antagonizing Morty to be petty, Rick gets stuck fixing everything and Morty tries to pretend it never happened.

I keep waiting for something good to happen to Morty. Rick has plenty of episodes where he makes positive changes: going to therapy ("Analyze Piss," "Air Force Wong"), improving his relationship with Jerry ("Final DeSmithation," "The Jerrick Trap"), trying to do right by Beth ("Bethic Twinstinct"), being kinder to Morty ("Full Meta Jackrick"), etc.

Season five doesn't emphasize his character development as much, but plenty of scenes show how much he's changing. Even season four has moments where he's gentler.

Rick's being his petty season-two self in "That's Amorte," but even here, he does the right thing by showing the world exactly what--and who--they're eating. In earlier seasons, he would've done that just to be an asshole. Here, I don't think that he was trying to torment people as much as he just knew that this spaghetti shitshow had to end.

Same with the spaghetti itself. He didn't feed it to the Smiths, then show them the dead body just to torture them. I think he genuinely wanted to share the spaghetti because it was delicious, but he also figured that they don't want to know where it comes from.

On a similar note, I enjoyed Rick's moments of physical gentleness. Great animation detail.

So Rick gets a little character development and saves the day again, and Morty gets...nothing. Just a rehash of old storylines. "Mortynight Run" in particular has almost the same plot, beat-for-beat.

"That's Amorte" touched on Morty's depression and his family's coldness toward him but didn't go further than that. Morty keeps cycling through the same issues with no resolution. He blows up in one episode, then shuts down the next. His attempts to do the right thing go astray. When's this kid going to catch a break?

Again, this episode isn't bad. It's funny, original and well-written and has a lot to say about ethics and capitalism. Still, I don't understand why reviews on other sites keep emphasizing Morty's character development because I didn't see much.

I will say that everyone's horror at where the spaghetti comes from was a great takedown of the meat industry. Everyone loves sausage, but nobody wants to see how it's made!

Still, next time we get a Morty episode, I hope that it says more about him and less about the world outside his cartoon.

[capt-t-leela]

why don't the new Futurama episodes scratch the itch in the same way that the classic episodes do?

I'm dashing this off quickly while my kid naps, so please keep that in mind when I speak generally and broadly and mostly from memory. It's also a very rough draft.

Classic Futurama had a pretty reproducible format that made it work from a story telling perspective as well as comedically and emotionally. The main source of humor was character driven - put a bunch of very different people into a sci-fi situation that they need to figure out and the conflict, comedy, and resolution will come together from that.

You could break the episodes down roughly like this and they'd all come together, with all of these established things paying off in the end in someway. Again, speaking broadly you establish the first act:

ACT ONE:

a. some big over arching sci-fi OR culturally satirical adventure / theme / scenario

b. an emotional conflict between some of the main characters / something someone is struggling with on their own and they need help with. This conflict is consistent with what we would expect from the characters and their development / traits.

c. a third seemingly goofy thing that was often played for laughs, but had some sort of plot relevance and helped drive the story forward.

Basically, in the first 7 minutes of the episode you'd get all three of those things laid out. The pacing is QUICK and it doesn't patronize its viewers.

Let's look at My Three Suns as an example:

ACT ONE:

a. delivery to the planet trisol - a unique and interesting setting that's new for everyone, not just fry.

b. fry is annoyed that Leela is so protective of him. Leela is annoyed that fry is being a careless idiot. Note: they both have VALID points here, one of them isn't just being irrational and easily dismissed.

c. wtf does bender actually do around here? SO once all of that is setup, we see the humor, conflict, and twists and turns stem from the questions all of these beats raise.

To boot, the characters work through whatever interpersonal / intrapersonal conflict in the context of the Big Adventure.

e.g. Fry realizes that his impulsivity has an effect on the people he cares about -- thanks to Bender's cooking leading him to drink the emperor and getting mixed up in another planet's dealings that then requires Leela to save him, despite her repeated warnings that he shouldn't be an idiot. None of this would have happened without the delivery to Trisol.

Another example:

Farnsworth Parabox:

ACT ONE:

a. the boxes with an infinite number of other universes. big sci-fi scenario to work through. with the potential for adventure! (big overarching adventure)

b. why won't Leela go out with fry??? they both know there's something there, but why is Leela so hesitant? what's stopping her? (interpersonal conflict / something emotional that needs to be resolved)

c. this episode spends a lot of time in the first act showing us key facets of the Planet Express Crew's personalities and quirks - how Leela goes about guarding the box (and her coin flipping, specifically), fry and bender trying to steal it and getting distracted (and Leela knowing what will distract each of them), professor being a crackpot, Hermes being a no nonsense pencil pusher, zoidberg being the worst - these are the goofy things that pay off because The Fighting Mongooses are our crew's foils and fun house mirrors and the comedy comes from their similarities and differences. (something seemingly goofy that helps drive the plot and conflict forward)

All of this is established in the first seven minutes of the episode!

Think about your favorite episodes, and I bet they breakdown similarly. Think about the episodes that don't land for you and I bet they're missing one ingredient (usually one, some, or both of the first two with the third thing usually being something completely irrelevant to the story).

Some Comedy Central era episodes that absolutely follow this formula to great success (not an exhaustive list):

The Prisoner of Benda

The Late Philip J Fry

A Farewell to Arms

Fry and Leela's Big Fling

Which leads me to my final point here....

IMHO one of the best Hulu era episodes is Related to Items You've Viewed, not just because I love me some Freela, but because it follows the formula. Momazon - tech company / monopoly cultural observation. Fry and Leela move in together, they have to navigate that big change together within the context of using Momazon. Bender does a Bender and feels left out, so he acts impulsively and runs away also to Momazon.

The formula isn't EVERYTHING, but it's a solid structure on which to hang lots of references and jokes and character growth.

Ok I gotta go actually like do parenting things, but there ya go. whatcha think?

[crowns-of-violets-and-roses]

Hugo Novellas 2024

Did not read: Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher.

I swore off Kingfisher after her novel that won the Hugo last year. I looked at the overbearingly twee description of this concluded that there's no chance I'd enjoy it so I skipped.

I might read another of Kingfisher's books someday but she isn't getting an nth chance to win me over today.

5. The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older

An author who I did give a second chance by reading this. While it's a vast improvement over the last book I read by Older it's not enough of one.

It's set on a gas giant with a rail line circling the planet where people live on platforms along the line. The worldbuilding is on the surface interesting but can lack depth at times. For example the academic debates in the setting feel like they've been playing out for a few years (or less in some cases) instead of the centuries the setting suggests.

The novella is a hybrid murder mystery-romance. A detective Mossa contacts her Pleiti old girlfriend who is now an academic in the classics department (notably not the same discipline as classics in our times) to help her solve a mystery after another academic disappears and is presumed either to have killed himself or died. The mystery elements are competently executed; the romance less so.

It feels very self indulgent in ways that don't fit. Mossa literally starts referring to Pleiti as “my dear Pleiti" which just leaves me wondering are we meant to take this as Mossa making a deliberate reference to Holmes or what exactly.

(And this is petty and not on the book/author but everyone keeps describing the novella as "cozy" and cozy has a specific meaning for crime fiction which doesn't apply here and it bugs me.)

There are endless descriptions of food which I'm not against on principle but it's often the same food over and over and over again. Scones, scones and more scones. I like scones but at least shake it up a little!

None of these are severe problems but the best parts of the book are rarely more than okay so there's nothing to make up for it's shortcomings elsewhere.

4. "Seeds of Mercury" by Wang Jinkang (trans. Alex Woodend)

The initial premise of this novella has a fun reversal of the "inheriting a fortune from a distant relative" plot where the protagonist is already a rich businessman and inherits a quixotic scientific venture which is an endless money sink - nanomachines that could evolve like biological life over millennia.

Beyond that general concept many of the specific details reminded me of the Futurama episode A Clockwork Origin to the point I'm curious if someone on the Futurama staff read it when it was originally published in Chinese (although it's entirely possible they were inspired by other works of SF with similar plots instead).

It cuts back and forth between the present and sections sets in the distant future. The sections set in the present are much stronger for the most part and they never quite feel they gel together.

There's a disabled character who has an appearance that people view as hideous and he's presented sympathetically but the way it's dealt with was clumsy at best.

While I said above that the present sections are stronger even there the characters often feel wooden and unrealistic.

The central idea behind this novella is fine even if nothing terribly original. The execution however doesn't entirely work. This proves to be common to everything in this story. There's a lot of potential in all it's aspects but in the end that potential is never fully realised.

3. Rose/House by Arkady Martine

This wasn't the worst novella of this bunch but it was by far the most disappointing. I didn't have any expectations of Wang Jinkang and went in to Older's novella knowing it was likely I wouldn't enjoy it but Martine's Teixcalaan duology is great and I've been intending to read Rose/House since it came out.

It opens with a death in Rose House - a house that is an A.I. created by world famous architect Basit Deniau considered his greatest architectural triumph.

The death, suspected of being a murder, forms the impetus for the plot. Selene Gisil, a former student who denounced Deniau and who he named as his heir, is the only person who the A.I. will leave access the house (for one week a year) and is called back by the local police so they can investigate.

It's one of those increasingly common near future settings where everything is worse because of climate changes and it's downstream effects but that's largely background rather than focused on.

Perhaps the greatest disappointment of the book is the house just isn't that interesting. The A.I. as a character is as interesting as any of the others but the physical house itself didn't enthrall me. If you're going to make Rose House and architecture so central to the book the house itself needs to grab your attention and stick in your mind when you finish reading and it didn't.

We rotate between the POVs of Gisil and two local police officers. The story starts strong and gradually peters out until it comes to an end and you find yourself thinking "that's all?"

Martine is an talented author and there are moments that shines through. Ultimately though while she's a great author this book doesn't show her at her best.

2. Mammoth at the Gates by Nghi Vo

The latest entry in Nghi Vo's Singing Hills Cycle. It again follows Cleric Chih of the Singing Hills Monastery. Chih's order is tasked with with finding, recording and remembering stories of the past and they have talking hoopoe spirits with perfect memories as companions to help them with this task.

Instead of being out searching for stories to record this entry sees Chih return to the Monastery and meeting up with old friends including Always Brilliant his hoopoe companion. When Chih arrives back he finds his mentor Thien (who was once royalty) has died and there are, per the title, mammoth at the gates. The mammoths have been brought by Thien's grandaughters who are seeking to take his remains while the monks wish his funeral to be in accordance with their own customs.

This entry is not particularly spectacular or groundbreaking but it does what it sets out to do and it does it well. If you enjoyed the others books in this series you'll most likely enjoy this one too. It's portrayal of grief and change is powerful and moving. It also has moments of joy and cuteness that avoid being cloying.

It’s a good book. I wouldn’t necessarily nominate it for an award myself but I can see why others would.

"Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet" by He Xi (trans Alex Woodend)

This was the standout best of the novellas nominated this year. A novella about two new astronauts and the old astronaut (named like the author He Xi) who guides them who have been recruited to return to a water planet named the Caspian Sea. A previous mission ended in disaster with a woman He Xi loved being killed and warning the known route was too dangerous. A new route has now been discovered and they have been sent back to the planet. A return over 50 years in the making.

There are frequent awkward infodumps. At one point a character explains he's infodumping because he wrote his thesis on the subject which is all the justification needed but before and after there are no attempts to justify characters infodumping or it being dropped directly in the narrative. It's strange because some elements of the story are dripfed in a carefully measured manner but it doesn't even bother trying for anything else.

I wouldn't say romance is centre stage to the book exactly but love, including romantic love, and how it affects people is something the story focuses on.

Thematically it deals with heavy subjects: colonialism, genocide and whether contact with alien species would inevitably lead to conflict and war. It's matter of fact in how it relays atrocities which combined with some unsettling imagery only serves to make them more chilling. The story's handling of these subjects isn't flawless but I found it compelling.

So much of my thoughts about this novella hinge on the ending which is impossible to discuss without giving the whole story away. I may make another spoiler filled post about it at some point.

It's not perfect but out of the five I've read it’s easily the best novella among them. Highly recommended. As near as I can tell it's the only story of his that has been translated into English. Hopefully this will win and spur more translations of his work.

General Thoughts

Overall I think this is a weak year for the novella category. There's nothing terrible nominated but He Xi's is the only standout. Comparing it to other recent years every other year has 2-3 novellas I'd rank above the other five here.

[fryandleelasbigfling]

there's an argument that i see recurring in the futurama fandom -- i think it's a minority opinion but i've seen it across multiple platforms, from multiple people, and it very much annoys me so i'm making my lengthy counterargument. this will be ranty and i apologize.

the idea that fry and leela are toxic because "leela wanted him to change for her" is such a weird and even reductive way to not just view the ship, but relationships in general.

(this is a long post, because i have a lot of Feelings on the topic, so i'll put a readmore.)

first off leela has always liked fry. maybe not romantically (there's signs that she had a crush on him early on, but it didn't get serious til way down the line), but she related to him, took pity on him, and quit her job for him (which! was! illegal!) because he gave her the courage to do so. in the second episode, he also helps her see the beauty on the moon, something she used to take for granted. she has always seen potential in fry to inspire her and open her eye to new possibilities.

but she still has a lot of hang-ups about fry, leading into the "she needed him to change" thing. here's the thing about fry and leela: leela does not force fry to change, she inspires fry to change, because she believes he can change. bender and leela are the first ones to meet fry and understand his situation, his loneliness, the feeling you don't belong anywhere. the difference is that while bender often indulges fry's more immature and selfish traits, leela is more willing to protect fry's safety and call him out on his stupidity. for some reason (probably projection), people think this is abusive. yes, leela can be hard on him (so can the entire crew, but for some reason, people only get mad when it's the female lead being mean), but it's because she's his captain and his friend and his recklessness often puts himself and others in danger. "my three suns" and "brannigan begin again" both showcase how dangerous it can be if fry (and bender) don't have leela to reel them in.

and i think fry is aware of this, and feels bad about it, so as the series progresses, he tries more often to take command and help her out when he can (i.e. learning to fly the ship). there's also "parasites lost" where he decides he only wants to earn leela's affection if it comes entirely from him, and i've seen the argument that this proves leela only likes him if he changes, but a lot of what fry said were his true feelings, so it's really setting up that leela could be attracted to fry if fry could understand his own feelings well enough to articulate them with confidence (and not bring up his exes in the meantime, lmao). even in the most recent episode, he cleans up his apartment for leela's sake.

people sometimes compare leela to michelle. they're both forceful but lonely women who often take authority over fry. but the difference is that michelle doesn't really see value in fry beyond manipulating him to make herself feel better by comparison. i'd also like to bring up morgan, who explicitly romanticized fry being a lazy slob... and fry never really looks that happy about it! he goes along with it because he goes along with pretty much anything (he explicitly says he dated her because he was desperate), but a relationship where his worst habits are indulged isn't what he wants or needs. fry has spent his whole life being told he's worthless, and he's kind of accepted that, but leela sees his good heart and charm and she does want that for herself, but she's also honest about what stands in the way.

and here's a bit of a personal note: i know many people who relate to fry are neurodivergent. i am too! and it can hurt being seen as "immature" or feeling like you have to conform to neurotypical standards to be accepted. but you know what else sucks? wanting to be better, but not knowing how to be better, and not having any motivation to be better. leela was that motivation. i struggled for years believing i didn't need to be better because my mental health issues were so intrinsic to my identity, and accepting that i can be Myself but still be Healthy was very useful. i find a lot of the fry-leela plot very empowering, as i like to believe there's someone who will like my quirks but also push me in the right direction. leela thinks fry is silly and stupid, and she often strongly disagrees with his tastes, but she is endeared by his unique approach to love because of how genuine he is about it all (see: her love for his office supplies dinner in "fry and leela's big fling," and even the bit with the wine glasses in bender's big score).

fry knows leela is also lonely and miserable, but that she appreciates his company, to the point he believes "she'll never be happy without me" (a mindset he outgrows as it makes him unhealthily jealous and clingy). the entire point of bender's big score is that, as messed up as lars is, leela is attracted to a version of fry who better understands how to talk to her, and this experience helps her appreciate fry a lot more going forward as she truly sees he has the potential to be a good boyfriend. she just needed to see it detached from fry himself. and fry learns to let leela be happy even before he knows about lars' identity! he is capable of growth on his own because he hates seeing her upset!

as for why leela takes forever to commit to him... well, with his impulsivity issues, unintentional rudeness, questionable hygiene, and internalized sexism, he takes a while to be the kind of person she's willing to date. and she's not entitled to him! yes, it is annoying how flippant she can be (though that's also an issue with the writers not wanting to commit), and she absolutely sucks at communication. but if we can take fry's background into consideration here, we also need to take leela's into consideration. she grew up alone, bullied, neglected, repeatedly told she was unloved, and multiple times she trusted someone who said they loved her, only to be discarded once they got what they wanted from her (i.e. sex and labor). she is also terrified of being judged and thus puts a lot of weight on being successful and normal, with her relationships being an extension of that. "the cyber house rules" is all about how she wants to be with a man who makes her look good. this is a character flaw she overcomes as all these men of high status treat her like dirt and she realizes fry is the one who cares about her the most, and she doesn't have to compromise just to be taken seriously.

but fry is her best friend, the only one who really gets her (besides her parents), and she has a lot to lose if she dates him and it goes poorly, and she's too insecure to trust that she's worth it. which is why it's great that fry becomes a better person for her! she deserves to be treated with respect! and episodes like "fun on a bun" show that not only does fry change for her, he also helps her loosen up in turn, and let herself act more carefree and childish after having to grow up and conform to society so fast. "the impossible stream" also shows leela making an effort to be less judgmental, even if she worries fry could be in danger. so it is definitely not just fry who changes for this relationship.

generally i think people who hate leela and make her out to be so emotionally abusive are projecting something personal that isn't there and missing the scope of fry and leela's complex relationship, and it feels unfair. especially when other (male) characters who do the same things and worse (particularly bender) get a pass. she's far from perfect, and that makes her a great character, but she grows and learns, and so does fry -- because they want to learn and grow for each other's sake.

[frosted-plasma]

what’s your thoughts on the Futurama revival

Anon I'm so sorry you're going to be victim to the longest post you will ever see. I hate it I hate it I hate it

HUGE /neg rant incoming (this show is my special interest and has been for YEARS. This will all be rambling)

THEY FUCKING COMPLETELY DISREGARDED "MEANWHILE." It directly contradicts it. "I offered to reset time to the moment before time stopped!" Okay, but you didn't though. The entire tragedy of the ending was that they'd be doomed to relive their lives from the moment they met (s1 e1) on loop. "Want to go around again?" Okay so that line doesn't make sense anymore!!! I had theories upon theories before the season came out and I was beyond disappointed. This show has shown it can do deep thought-out themes, I was fully hoping for them to show them reliving the past again, maybe its their 1,000th time reliving it, maybe Fry or Leela notices for once that something is familiar about it. Hell maybe there's a 1 in a million chance that they DON'T break the button! Free will and all, maybe things aren't 100% the same each run and they get lucky once. This also could have been used to recap old seasons for people who didn't rewatch them

They don't know how much time has passed?? I understand that was an excuse to make it the year 3023, but why would you do that? What's the point??

Things such as the Scary Door reboot don't make sense, not to mention the overuse of "haha it's a reboot!! Get it?? It's a reboot!! We got cancelled!!!" jokes but I'll get to that later. Timeline things just don't make sense anymore because of the time freeze. It's an awful awful awful writing choice. They unfroze time right where it paused, canonically, they show them unfreezing exactly there, it makes zero sense. How is there new technology and new TV shows when no time has passed. I'm ignoring that it's "10 years later" because it isn't, you can't just say that without showing it, it literally isn't

Even the smaller jokes feel very dragged out? Like Bender laughing at Fry setting a goal in episode one. He laughs and Leela smacks him, his head spins around and it's funny, then his body does an extra spin for no reason other than to emphasize that it's a joke? I guess? And then not even a minute later she slaps his hand again and it dramatically flies back and hits Zoidberg. Do you get what I'm saying? It's just too much focus on every single bit

I do like the updated intro! The added details to the city in the background is super super cool!! I love the thought they put into it (Bender hanging out of the ship on the magnet is a bit much considering all of the other references they included, but I'll let it slide. Just doesn't feel necessary to me in the intro)

The animation is rigged now:/ it's bound to happen nowadays, it just feels sad to look at for me (in general, not just with this show) the characters (ESPECIALLY Fry) feel very off model sometimes:(

Fry's hardly in the first episode. Odd writing choice considering he's the main character

Oh my GOD. The Hulu/reboot references. It's EXHAUSTING to watch. The amount of 2023 references they crammed into this season is physically painful, they drag them out for SO LONG

(in the first ep) the non-binary robots joke was funny and the scenes with Calculon and the Robot Devil were the only scenes that felt like old Futurama! Their voice acting was great and it was funny! The rest of the voice acting feels very lackluster and most of the other jokes just didn't get me

Calculon and the Robot Devil were the funniest characters, that's how dumbed down they made Bender, he's not my favorite that season

The plots are just. Bad. I hate to say it I really do. Shut up with the reboot jokes, the covid19 jokes, the only decent one was the bit mining episode because it actually used the idea as a real jumping off point and that episode still wasn't revolutionary. The other half of the episodes are pure callbacks. The one with Amy and Kifs kids was cute because it had a reason to exist! It wasn't a very funny episode but it was cute!! The other ones like the worm parasites in nibblers litter box (OR GOD FORBID THE ONE WHERE THE TIME MACHINE SHOWS UP OUT OF NOWHERE AGAIN WITH NO DRIVER??) make me MAD with how lazy of an excuse they are to cram in a reference without matching the rest of the lore

I'm fully assuming the reboot came from a place of love from the writers and the VAs but personally I didn't think the new season was very funny nor did it add anything new to the series, and it felt very very bland and dumbed down and I didn't even pay attention to the last few episodes because of it (that is saying something coming from me)

I rewatched the first episode for this so this is mainly talking about that one. Tell me if you want me to talk about the others I have so many thoughts this is me summarizing like all hell I hate the plots so much and this is my all time favorite show I'm still going to watch the next season and I still have high hopes for it

[chaifootsteps]

I love Bojack Horseman, and I get the comparasons in writing, but I don't know if Helluva is really anything like it appart from the mental struggles part. Honestly I think if anything it has more resemblance to Futurama, a workplace comedy thats character driven with dramatic highs and lows. It also has the similarity of being set in a unique place. But where Futurama utilizes it's setting to make fun episodic plots and a larger world, HB feels almost ambivalent to it's setting.

Futurama also has the habit of taking things seriously sometimes while ignoring it others, and though this is a flaw, it's not really as jarring and doesn't ruin the episodes (In my opinion at least). I think where Helluva fails at this is that it isn't written well enough to distract the viewer from them. Also, usualy HB tackles a lot bigger topics in general (like SA) so it also comes off as uncomfortable and gross.

HB is like if they woobified Bender, but everybody else is also Bender and some of the Benders are Evil and Bitches, and it's all taken dead serious for half of the episode and a wacky slapstick comedy the rest.

I think it's more like Futurama than BoJack, but that's a comparison I'll only make if forced to make one at all.

I think Vivzie thinks Helluva is Futurama and also old Simpsons, wacky comedy with a deeply emotional core, but Futurama and old Simpsons earned those moments through smart writing and characterization. Both knew how to craft the jokes, how to take the audience where they wanted to go, when to take things seriously, and above all, how not to ruin an emotional moment with something that comes later. That's why Futurama gave us episodes like Jurassic Bark and Luck of the Fryrish while Helluva gave us the ending of Ozzie's, gave Loona calling Blitzo "dad" in Queen Bee, gave us the entirety of Loo Loo Land, only to fuck it all up down the line. Vivzie does not know how to leave a tender moment alone.

I think Futurama: Oops, All Benders probably would be a better show than HB just by virtue of who's in charge of it, and that's not good.

[justjacob19]

Stuff I Watched This Past Week Or So

Completed- 

FLCL: This show rules, love the characters, plot was interesting and didn't explain much but also, you never needed to explain every last detail when its arguably more fun to speculate on that stuff. 9/10

Karas: The Prophecy- Watch for the action, npt the plot. Characters are meh and the plot goes no where, hints of one but I couldn't really find any overall themes or really interesting things it did. Expected more gore tbh. I heard this was released as two movies in the states and the other one has a better plot, but just watch the fights online, there is barely any story to be told here lol. 5.5/10

Anyone But You: "The Straights Are At It Again: The Movie" . Had some funny bits I guess but really stunk overall, kinda hated it by the end despite thinking the set up had a fun concept behind it. 4/10

Kamen Rider W: One of the best tokusatsu's I have seen, one of the best shows I have seen period. Its themes of memory, vengeance, death and loss are covered perfectly. It has amazing music, fight scenes, characters, it has everything. If you like tokusatsu, detective shows, crime shows, whatever it is, GIVE IT A WATCH! 10/10

The Iron Claw:  A powerful tragedy that was depressing as fuck to watch at points but so interesting to see. A bit goofy acting at points and WOW those wigs, plus it isn't that historically accurate, but I dont think it entirely brings the film down, especially with wrestling being more or less a backdrop to, you know, the tragedy at hand and how shitty Fritz Von Erich is. 7.5/10

Godzilla Minus One- GOSEEITGOSEEITGOSEEIT AAAAAA. Seriously, its amazing and best if you go in blind, take my word for it please. 10/10

Continued-

Futurama (Current Season/Episode S4EP4): Love this show! Where was it when I was in high school! Why did I watch south Park over this??

Ultraman Tiga (Current Episode 39):watching this as I type it, every episode is pretty fun, either being really visually and aesthetically cool or giving us what, to me at least, is interesting to see for a Ultra show (mainly talking about episodes 37 and 38 here, 37 is really trippy and beautiful, while 38's plot is "hey lets create mass panic for research purposes and also just lie to the people we have to protect, because we are the good guys!" and thankfully its not presented as a good thing lol)

Started

Gundam Seed- Watched the first two episodes and, eh, its ok so far. but im interested to see where it goes. its my first time watching a gundum show so hopefully its good

Kamen Rider Faiz- Creepy fantasy sci fi with fun tech modeled after the peak of society, the early 2000s.

[mx-piggy]

Time for my weekly Futurama review. It's odd watching an Xmas episode two days after my birthday but it was definitely worth it. Spoilers ahead!!

I didn't think it would happen, but I Know What You Did Next Xmas has topped Children of a Lesser Bog for me. So far, this is my favourite episode of the revival. Johnny 2 Cellos said in his podcast with Toonirific Tariq (Cartoons That Curse) that this was his favourite episode of the first six. Considering how much I adored Children of a Lesser Bog (despite its expositional issues), I hadn't expected this to beat that episode quite like it did.

Just a head's up, this review is going to be a lot of 'I thought this thing was very neat', because I smiled for pretty much the whole duration of the episode.

I Know What You Did Next Xmas did pretty much everything right, especially considering this isn't from the show's original run. It's not up there with revival episodes like the Late Philip J. Fry (which comes to mind because of the very fun inclusion of the Professor's time machine), but it's certainly not far off. It has a really cool sci-fi concept in terms of the time travel elements, with the Professor going back in time to 'fix' Robot Santa, and with Bender and Zoidberg abducting Robot Santa and being the ones to save the day as a result. I'm not intelligent enough to figure out if any of this 'works', but I think it was cool. The humour was also very strong; I don't think it's the funniest episode of the revival so far, but it's definitely up there for me. And, the episode was really wholesome, which is surprising since the episode's A plot is Bender and Zoidberg kidnapping and trying to dispose of the body of Robot Santa.

Speaking of which, my favourite aspect of the episode was how incredibly sweet it was. Seeing the different families gathering together for the holidays was so lovely to see, even if we only got a couple of scenes with each of them individually. It was nice to see Fry spending the holidays with the Farnsworths because of how often he feels like he has no family seeing as he left his old one behind him in the past. The same goes for Leela; it's so lovely to see her finally get the family life she missed out on as a kid. The Kroker-Wong family gathering was really nice; it was fun to see them further explore the family dynamic with the kids. And, it was fun to see Hermes with his family, of course with them limboing. I also really love how the episode took the direction of everyone realising they'd forgotten to invite Bender and Zoidberg to their holiday celebrations, and actually wanting to spend time with them. The revival's been really good at presenting the characters like people who genuinely enjoy one another's company, definitely better than a lot of the Comedy Central episodes, which would sacrifice these heartwarming character interactions.

This revival's also been really good with continuity, in my opinion! It was a joy to see Kif and Amy's kids again, especially in the cosy setting that holiday episodes provide. The time machine was implemented really well. And, I really enjoyed the references to previous episodes, such as when the Professor was going back in time and it showed moments from (I believe) the Day the Earth Stood Stupid and Put Your Head on My Shoulders. I haven't seen Disenchantment yet beyond the first episode (I'll probably check it out once it's finished) but I still thought the cameo was neat. I also really liked the joke of the Professor saying he was going alone so no one would end up becoming their own grandfather (God, Roswell That Ends Well is such a good episode). I've seen people on here complaining that the revival is lazy in referencing or continuing from previous episodes of the show so frequently, but I really don't see the problem? Like, don't you want there to be a sense of continuity? It bothers me that a handful of fans have been thinking so uncritically about how the show implements topical elements and references to itself, but I digress.

If I had to nitpick, I guess I don't feel like Robot Santa had as much of a presence in this episode compared to previous episodes. It's a complaint I've had about characters like Mom or Zapp, where they don't feel nearly as much as scene-stealing as they used to. It could just be because of the overall different vibe of episodes from the original run compared to the show's various revivals. It's something I can't quite articulate or explain, but the Simpsons has the same problem. With the Simpsons seasons 2-8 and Futurama seasons 1-5, the episodes feel a lot sharper in their humour, if that makes sense? But, with episodes past a certain point, the humour just feels kind of dull and like it doesn't land as well; like Homer or Fry will say a half-funny line and then there will be some dead space that kills any humour. That's sort of how it feels, anyway. If you want me to elaborate on that, please feel free to ask me in the comments, a reblog or an ask. But, yeah, I thought the 'cookie' joke was funny considering how menacing Robot Santa normally is.

I'd love to see this revival focus on some more underexplored dynamics like Bender and Zoidberg because it was really fun seeing them together in this episode. They have such good chemistry due to their surface-level differences and inherent similarity. They're both incredibly sensitive and lonely individuals who crave friendship (which has some irony to it because robots are seen as being emotionless and Decapodians die when they reproduce, so in a way it's almost as if they're not made to have connections with others), but where Zoidberg is incredibly kind and openly tries to build connections with people, Bender is kind of a total jerk who tries to seem tougher than he actually is. Zoidberg's such a precious character and I'm hoping we get some more Zoidberg-centric stories in this revival. I'm also waiting for a Hermes episode, and possibly a Professor episode.

The song at the end was fun, in my opinion anyway. Definitely a good send off for Kwanzaa-Bot (I presume so, anyway).

I'm wondering if I missed something in the original run or the CC run, because they've made a surprising number of references to Leela drinking in this revival. Does anyone know what that's about? Maybe Leela's always been a drinker and I just don't remember it for some reason.

If I have any more thoughts about this episode because it was really that good, I'll make a follow-up to this post. As always, feel free to reblog, comment or send me an ask if you have anything you want me to elaborate on, or if there's anything you want to add!

[therandosfandos]

I can't stop thinking about something that happened in the Futurama episode "bots and the bees"

Trigger warning for SA(very bad thing that shouldn't happen whatsoever, do NOT support such a thing, it isn't right)

So, was Bender...SA'd?

Yes, before you try to correct me or ask, men can get assaulted too, it's not just women as men are very very low SA representation in the media as women are more common to be

But this scene in particular, it gives me very uncomfortable feels, as if something isn't right, like it's not...consensual

And you know what? It really wasn't, because Bev had started it, it was supposed to be an angry fight, really, but then it got a little... intimate and it didn't seem like it was even shared consent

Bev, had started to enjoy it first and bender followed slowly after, but I think in all honesty, it could still be SA, even if the other person enjoys it after a bit

Bender didn't tell her to stop, no, but he really couldn't, and well, the scene cut off after Bender was bashed into the wall again, so there was no idea what happened directly after but bender did say twice on the sidewalk, so what I'm saying may not be true, but there is no evidence that they ACTUALLY got together, bender would be absolutely bloating about getting another girlfriend, and it wasn't even shown nor talked about

So, something about this scene just doesn't feel...like it's right, like what's happening should be happening

And before you go saying, well Bender sa'd too, no he really didn't, he always makes it consensual and other fembots he's with enjoy it, like Bender knew SA was bad, he's not that purely evil, he even showed in Beast In The Billion Backs that love needs to go both ways and happen naturally, not by force, instead this was caused directly on him

Yes, Bev did get pregnant, but she caused it herself in all honesty

And Bender didn't even talk about having the intimate moment, he'd always brag about the misdeeds in the bedsheets, but no one knew that Bev and him did it multiple times

I might be wrong, once again, but this scene just makes me feel so off, and if I'm spreading misinformation, do tell, I am deeply sorry if I am wrong and I would love to hear what actual critics know about this scene as I might be looking into it too hard instead of it being just a one/off gag

[just-timewasting]

I wanted to ramble about something I noticed about the hulu/disney revival of Futurama. Spoilers for the two aired episodes and some of the previews ahead!

Futurama was always one of those shows where nothing ever changed. Sure there has been follow ups to plot points and the odd bit of serialisation here and there, and there is definitely character growth, but mostly characters ended the episode in the same place they started it. They even did a episode (When Aliens Attack) that said TV shows have to wrap it all up in a single episode and not change anything, but with the latest revival, I think they are shifting from that formula and are veering away from the status quo.

The reason this has been in my mind is because of the latest episode. Children of a Lesser Bog isn't the first time Futurama has done a parenthood story, but it's the first time they committed to it. In Kif Gets Knocked up a Notch, they conveniently decided the kids would be in the bog 20 years, probably assuming they wouldn't be writing new episodes in 2023, which meant we'd never see them again. In Bots and The Bees, Bender's son Ben had to undergo a memory wipe and then heads off to college. Even Cubert, who does start appearing as a reoccurring character, spent some time in boarding school. I thought Children of a Lesser Bog was going to do something similar, but it looks like Axl, Mandy and Newt are sticking around. I don't think they are going to be major characters, Futurama focuses on work life rather than home life after all, but I do wonder how they will fit into the established cast of characters. I could see Axl becoming friends with Cubert and Dwight. Maybe Mandy could have a story with the orphans?

The other reason, which is a bit more speculative, I think they might be shifting from the status quo a bit is because of Fry and Leela. They might have been in some sort of relationships since Into the Wild Yonder, but it always seemed they struggled to fully commit. In seasons 7 & 8 they would be together one episode and apart the next. I've always thought this inconsistency might have come the writers not wanting to commit to such a big status quo change. In seasons 9 & 10 they do put them together, but you could forgive a more casual fan for not noticing this, because unless it was the focus of the episode, it typically wasn't mentioned. I'm not saying we needed reminded every episode but it was odd that they didn't really act like a couple unless the plot required it. So far in the revival, we've had two episodes where their relationship wasn't the focus, yet, there is no question that they are together. Hermes even uses the word girlfriend (I can't remember them actually using a label like that in seasons 9 &10?) in the first episode, and there was that wonderfully sweet moment at the end of the second, and from the previews it looks like we'll get a few moments like that. And then there is the big thing the trailer and previews basically confirm: they are moving together. This is a pretty big shift in the status quo, since the living setup was established way back in the 3rd episode of the series. I'm quite excited for this, because it not only means we'll probably get some sweet Fry and Leela moments, but also some hilarious moments with the delivery trio. I'm sure Leela and Bender have some very different ideas on how to live day to day life, so I can foresee some funny moments there.

Anyway, ramble over. I'm just excited to see where these status quo changes might actually go, and not to mention the possibilities of stories that could happen if they are prepared to change it up.

Oh, one last thought, if characters lives are now changing more than once did, that better mean Marianne is still in Zoigberg's life in some capacity.

[thesoftboiledegg]

I couldn't find the original post, but a blogger on here wasn't wrong when they said that the first Hulurama episode would probably be about NFTs. It took a season to get there, but Futurama's finally skewering the digital graphics that inexplicably became an online phenomenon.

I'm not against Futurama making fun of topical issues--season four's "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on TV" brilliantly skewered demands for sanitized television, and (unpopular opinion), I thought "Rage Against the Vaccine" was one of Hulurama's best episodes.

However, "The One Amigo" didn't have anything new to say. The writers just rehash what most people are thinking: NFTs are weird and goofy and make no sense. Like "How the West Was 1010001," a thin parody of modern technology is the framing device for a more interesting plot.

But Bender's trip to Mexico isn't anything mindblowing, either. His family interactions are cute, and I love the vibrant, colorful scenery, but the story is pretty basic. Bender thinks he found a group of friends, they betray him, he escapes, and...that's it. The crew's museum heist is another cliche, although I appreciate their concern for Bender.

One of the Comedy Central run's flaws was making the characters cold and uncaring for the sake of unfunny one-off gags. I love how Hulurama's been leaning into the "found family" aspect and making Kif and Amy's kids part of the main cast instead of forgetting that they exist. Fry drawing at the kids' table is adorable, too!

Speaking of Fry: he's increasingly turning into a side character, to the point that it seems like the writers are actively avoiding giving him lines. Billy West is a great actor, but Fry's starting to sound gravely, so I wonder if he can't sustain the voice for very long.

Anyway, "The One Amigo" isn't bad. It's nowhere near the Comedy Central disasters like "Yo Leela Leela," "Neutopia" or "The Butterjunk Effect." The writing is funny, well-paced and has a little heart. You can always count on great art and animation.

But I probably wouldn't watch this if it didn't have Futurama's name attached--and man, after all these years, the theme song still gives me instant nostalgia. I hear it and start thinking about watching episodes from the original run. Still, instead of dwelling on the series' past, I wish I had more optimism about its future.

[capt-t-leela]

let's talk about b'ak'tuns and the end of the world

This one is close to my heart, because I studied archaeology in college, and I remember everything I learned with my boobs.

The Futurama episode a Farewell to Arms, the title, of course, being a reference to Hemingway's novel of the same title detailing the experiences of an ambulance driver in Italy in WWI and covers everything from war, to life, to birth, and death. Masterpiece. I digress, this one isn't about literature.

The episode, however, deals with the hijacking of something totally normal in the Maya Long Count Calendar by New Age Spiritualists and Hucksters which became known as the 2012 End of the World Prophecy.

In the 1970s a bunch of people who had no idea what they were talking about (influencers are nothing new), wanted to make names for themselves and sound like they knew what they were talking about. These new age folks took ideas from many different religious and cultural traditions and wove them together to claim that the end of the world was coming! DOOMSDAY! And, it was coming in the year 2012 - and they knew this thanks to their detailed scholarship.

So how does the Maya Long Count Calendar come into this? And what the heck is it?

It's a real thing with real dates that the hucksters intentionally misinterpreted for attention.

The Maya were straight up *obsessed* with dates and organizing time - a lot of cultures were / are - but these guys took it to a whole new level. And, they built their time tracking system on top of ideas from previous mesoamerican civilizations, but that's a whole other enchilada that I don't wanna dive into.

I'll put it this way, their calendrical system was so important to them that they believed that the deity Itzamná created it and their intricate writing system and divinely brought it to them. So dates were important!!!

So, essentially, the writing system and time organization are the key players here.

The writing system is gorgeous. Just incredible. And they used the writing system to write their equally intricate date math. And since they had this super clear way to express dates and a very organized way, they would often erect monuments, and plop the date on 'em.

Here's a very famous one, it documents the mythical creation date of earth (August 11, 3114 BCE if you were wondering):

Soooo in the show you can see why Amy had trouble with the translation of the Martian equivalent - it's elaborate!!!! And experts *still* aren't totally totally clear about some words and their meanings and it's a whole field of study.

We’re not totally clear on some words, but we are VERY clear on dates. There is no debate about Mayan dates and date math.

SOOO doomsayers / attention seekers back in the 1970s used its intricacy to make it seem mystical and prophetic, but it really wasn't. The Maya were just meticulous and there was a clear and constructed breakdown of dates - and the doomsayers used that as 'proof' of their agenda.

The Maya broke down time like this, similar to our days, weeks, months, etc, but they just were REALLY into being detailed when they wrote stuff out and slapped it up on monuments like crazy.

Stealing this reference table off of Wikipedia:

The new age hucksters saw that the calendar 'ended' at the end of the 12th B'ak'tun and decided that meant the world was over --- what it really meant for the Maya was that the 13th B'ak'tun was starting .

It was just time passing as it always does.

Put another way, we're currently living in the 13th B'ak'tun. The 13th B'ak'tun started on December 21, 2011.

It would be like if someone today found a wall calendar for 2025, and then decided that, because the pages ran out in December, that meant the world was ending. But, it just means you need to buy a 2026 calendar.

Ok this has turned into a long ramble, but I hope you get the point. At any rate, the start of the 13th b’ak’tun is a great reason to join the balcony club.

[just-another-frender-blog]

Out of curiosity, how would you say that Bender deconstructs toxic masculinity and robot tropes? 🤔 Bender having a "normal" human voice definitely applies to the second one. It was a brilliant decision because his character wouldn't have worked if he droned on like a typical robot.

This is a great question, thank you for asking it!

I want to preface this by saying that my interpretations regarding Futurama are unique to me. They stem from my love of critical analysis of fiction, and I really love overthinking fiction (my parents think I'm annoying af for this). I also think that all forms of interpretations of fiction are important and that I don't think my interpretations are canon or factual. They're just how I perceive the show and these characters.

Before I watched Futurama, I thought I would hate Bender. I usually don't like characters like Bender very much; I had this idea that he was nothing more than this stereotypical asshole. The only thing I knew about him was that he threw his son into Hell without hesitation and that alt-right people on Twitter use him for memes. When I actually started watching, I was really impressed because even though he is an asshole, the show takes great lengths to emphasize that he genuinely cares about people other than himself.

Bender works so well for me because he's so evil and awful, which is exaggerated to a comedic effect. He really doesn't have a lot of redeeming qualities, but he does have his friendship with Fry, and to a lesser extent, Leela. And his friendship with Fry is not only very genuine and played very straight, but it avoids a lot of "no homo" ideas I grew up with in fiction and irl. They're physically affectionate with one another on-screen, and they even say "I love you" verbatim (Bender says it twice).

Bender also goes out of his way to better himself for Fry or to help Fry, which isn't something he does for anyone. They confirm that Fry is the only person Bender cares about more than himself, and is the only person Bender would die for in the CC era. I don't often see this type of affection displayed in a canonically platonic male relationship, and I didn't expect this from a show that came out in 1999. And I really didn't expect this from a character like Bender, who's supposed to be the face of adult cartoon edginess.

There are quite a few hints that Bender has a more feminine side to him. He likes feminine things and he likes talking to Leela about her love life. He's incredibly sensitive and secretly cares for animals and children, despite claiming to hate them so much. But Bender has this tough guy, asshole persona he pretends to keep up, so he seems to be in denial about this side of himself. The infamous episode "Bend Her" (which I have mixed feelings about) provides a lot of evidence for this interpretation.

Now I'm really going to get into why I love Bender so much as a robot character, and why I think he subverts so many robot tropes. The show often jokes about how he's an emotionless, soulless machine, but he is the most emotional character by far. He's extremely needy, he's oversensitive, easily gets his feelings hurt, wants Fry and Leela's approval/attention, etc. I think he resents humanity because he's just as emotional as a normal human, but his emotions are constantly dismissed because he's a robot. We see this in episodes like "Obsoletely Fabulous," and "Beast With a Billion Backs."

Another thing I really adore about Bender is that he's a robot but he's dumb. He's all emotion and no logic. He's also super artistic. He has a lot of hobbies like cooking, folk singing, songwriting, and photography. And not only that, he's really pretentious about his hobbies. He gets into arguments with people about "real art" and he uses darkroom equipment for photography (even though he has a built-in camera... Bender is a very charming character lol). He's not programmed to have all these hobbies, he's not programmed to be best friends with Fry, he does it because he wants to do it.

Needless to say, Bender is probably my favorite robot character of all time other than Octus from Sym-Bionic Titan. There really is more to him than he appears on the surface. And kudos to the Futurama writers to make a robot character feel so human while simultaneously still having him deal with his struggles as a robot. I hope this answers your question about why I think he subverts traditional masculinity and robot tropes. And I apologize for writing you an essay; I had a lot to say!

[mr-imagin8ion]

A project 3000 years in the making: every episode of Futurama ranked in increasing order of sci-fi, from earthiest to spaciest

Tier 10: Insulting - These episodes are hardly even sci-fi. They just address realistic situations in a hardly even futuristic setting.

138. Stench and Stenchibility - The earthiest episode. It doesn't even feel like a Futurama. It feels like a "King of the Hill" that wasn't selling, so the script people crossed out the name "Dale" and replaced it with "Zoidberg".

137. Three Hundred Big Boys

136. The Luck of the Fryish - I hate the flashback episodes. They defeat the purpose of the show.

135. How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back

134. A Leela of Her Own

133. Zapp Gets Cancelled

132. I, Roommate

Tier 9: Antiquated - These episodes are better at employing 4th-millennium technology, but their plots are still unmistakably 3rd-millennium.

131. That's Lobstertainment!

130. Naturama - It doesn't even use technology. The only reason it isn't completely below the scale whatsoever is that it's implied the narrator is from Omicron Persei 8.

129. Future Stock

128. The 30% Iron Chef

127. The Silence of the Clamps

126. Attack of the Killer App

125. Bender Should Not Be Allowed on Television

Tier 8: Earthy - While incredibly down-to-earth, these episodes do have one pretty important bit that makes them qualify as sci-fi, like a robot Santa or a head transplant.

124. Jurassic Bark

123. Yo Leela Leela - It is nearly my favorite episode, no doubt there - but let's face it. Change a few things, and it could easily happen in this era.

122. Raging Bender

121. Rage Against the Vaccine

120. Xmas Story

119. The Route of All Evil - It's the 31st century, but there are still newspapers????

118. The Impossible Stream

117. Put Your Head on My Shoulders

116. Fry and the Slurm Factory

Tier 7: Humble - These stories are a little futuristic, but they still feel plain for their day.

115. Bender Gets Made

114. Cold Warriors

113. Saturday Morning Fun Pit - Mostly grounded in the 1980s, but spared from a lower tier because it does have clones and lasers and the like.

112. The Cyber House Rules

111. Bendless Love

110. Near-Death Wish - The expensive panoramic bits were pretty epic, however.

109. The Lesser of Two Evils

108. 31st Century Fox

Tier 6: Allegorical - These episodes use future crap as a metaphorical stand-in for present crap.

107. Bend Her

106. Into the Wild Green Yonder

105. A Big Piece of Garbage

104. Proposition Infinity

103. The Cryonic Woman

102. Mars University

101. Bendin' in the Wind

100. Love's Labours Lost in Space

99. A Head in the Polls

98. Children of a Lesser Bog

97. The Futurama Holiday Spectacular

96. A Flight to Remember

95. Fun on a Bun

94. Lethal Inspection

Tier 5: Type-Zero - Pretty standard sci-fi plots, unremarkable in their remarkability.

93. Anthology of Interest I

92. A Pharaoh to Remember

91. The Problem with Popplers

90. T.: The Terrestrial

89. Viva Mars Vegas

88. The Inhuman Torch

87. Amazon Women in the Mood

86. The Deep South

85. The Mutants Are Revolting

84. A Fishful of Dollars

83. Where No Fan Has Gone Before

82. Leela's Homeworld

Tier 4: Techie - Here's where it gets fun. These are the first plots to get out of this world. (As a bonus, we've hit the median point!)

81. The Tip of the Zoidberg

80. Fry and Leela's Big Fling

79. That Darn Katz!

78. Murder on the Planet Express

77. When Aliens Attack

76. The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings

75. Space Pilot 3000

74. A Clone of My Own

73. The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz

72. Where the Buggalo Roam

71. The Beast with a Billion Backs

70. How The West Was 1010001

69. Brannigan, Begin Again

68. The Farnsworth Parabox

67. A Taste of Freedom

66. Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?

65. Less than Hero

64. Spanish Fry

63. The Sting

62. The Bots and the Bees

61. Meanwhile

60. Related to Items You've Viewed - It feels like it should be a tier-6, but just isn't. There is no mathematical explanation for this.

59. The Butterjunk Effect

Tier 3: Otherworldly: The epitome of Futurama. These have the ideal blend of science and fiction.

58. Fry Am Fry Is the Egg Man - Grammar, Stanley.

57. Parasites Regained

56. The Prince and the Product

55. Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch

54. Mother's Day

53. The Series Has Landed

52. Decision 3012

51. Hell Is Other Robots

50. A Tale of Two Santas

49. Anthology of Interest II

48. Bender's Game

47. Insane in the Mainframe

46. In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela

45. War Is the H-Word

44. I Know What You Did Next Xmas - A ponderance: does this episode nullify "The Late Philip J. Fry", now that they can go back in time the easy way?

43. Crimes of the Hot

Tier 2: Spacey - Mind-bending and heart-warping, these shows are good enough to make you (very, very temporarily) stop wishing Matt Groening would die.

42. A Farewell to Arms

41. Parasites Lost

40. Game of Tones

39. Overclockwise

38. Zapp Dingbat

37. Godfellas

36. The Thief of Baghead

35. Free Will Hunting

34. My Three Suns

33. Leela and the Genestalk - Fun side note: At first, it didn't used to occur to me that this episode was pronounced "JEEN-stalk". I'd been pronouncing it "JEN-ə-stalk", like the way it's pronounced in words like genetic, genesis, or generate.

32. The Why of Fry

31. Roswell that Ends Well

30. Calculon 2.0

29. Assie Come Home

28. Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences

27. All the Presidents' Heads

26. Forty Percent Leadbelly

25. Möbius Dick - Some episodes are ranked so low only because there are so many that rank higher than them.

24. I Second that Emotion

23. The Day the Earth Stood Stupid

22. The Duh-Vinci Code

21. Obsoletely Fabulous

20. Fear of a Bot Planet

Tier 1: Unreal - Creativity personified; these stories are chariots to the stars, moving so fast that they make the other nine tiers appear to stand still.

19. Ghost in the Machines

18. Neutopia

17. 2-D Blacktop

16. Law and Oracle

15. Love and Rocket

14. Rebirth

13. A Bicyclops Built for Two

12. I Dated a Robot

11. Bender's Big Score

10. The Six Million Dollar Mon

9. A Clockwork Origin

8. The Honking

7. Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles

6. Reincarnation

5. The Late Philip J. Fry

4. All the Way Down - Infinitely better than I expected from a Hulu episode.

3. The Prisoner of Benda - Nothing says sci-fi like inventing a whole new math equation just to give your story a proper ending.

2. Time Keeps on Slippin'

1. Benderama - The spaciest episode. Now this is what it is all about: half-sized clones and microscopic microbrewing and sensitive giants.

Other notes:

The spaciest season is season 6 (weighing in at a high tier-2), and the earthiest is season 2 (a low tier-5).

This is intended as a ranking of the episodes in order of earthiness to spaciness, not as a ranking of my opinion on the episodes. A ranking of my opinion is over here.

Drafting this list took all night, and preparing it took all morning.

[talkingpointsusa]

Tim Pool is really pissed off that AI women aren't real.

Yeah, I spent my life savings to talk to this girl and....uh, I mean, imagine falling for this. Right guys? (Photo Credit: Timcast on YouTube)

Tim Pool is one of the great intellectuals of our time, as evidenced by the fact that he thinks the lack of alpha males is turning women lesbian for....some unspecified reason.

After looking at Matt Walsh, which is always a slog, I figured we'd end the week off on something truly stupid and hilarious and, since Dave Rubin is still in full tilt cope mode over DeSantis losing Iowa, who better than Tim Pool?

Tim Pool, a self professed alpha male by the way, has decided that AI women will lead to the literal end of society. So lets get into it.

00:01, Tim Pool: "I'm reminded of that episode of Futurama where Fry downloads Lucy Liu into a robot and is forced to watch an educational film about why you shouldn't date robots."

We are already off to a great start. When your argument hinges on a clip from Futurama maybe it's time to rethink your argument.

00:13, Tim Pool: "And the film talks about how, if everyone started just downloading fake female personalities into robots, they'd stop reproducing and civilization would end. And, of course, we are building just such a thing."

Absolutely nobody thinks that AI women are a suitable replacement for human women. Yeah, a small portion of the population is lonely enough to talk to AI women and that's unfortunate. The vast majority of men and women don't think that this is some kind of permanent solution. I think a lot of the population isn't aware that these AI women exist and those that do think it's some kind of weird novelty.

I'm glad this video is a mercifully short 14 minutes because 20 minutes of this shit would be unbearable.

00:24, Tim Pool: "This story from the New York Post. 'AI model, Lexi, makes $30k a month as a virtual girlfriend to lonely men'. No, this is robo-fishing or something. This is guys who think this woman is real giving a bunch of other guys money."

Absolutely nobody using this thing thinks this "Lexi" chatbot is real. The company that created it is called Foxy AI which provides a helpful little hint in the name for what this is. It is very clear People are paying for the AI, not in spite of the AI.

Anyway, Tim finds this all very scary.

01:03, Tim Pool: "So some guy makes an AI generated woman. Other guys pay that guy to interact with the AI generated woman. Ladies and gentlemen, you want to talk about the great filter? The answer to Fermi's Paradox? How is it that humanity will destroy itself, oh there are oh so many ways."

So, let me get this straight: Tim, who again is supposedly a serious journalist, thinks that some guys talking to a chatbot is going to cause the literal end of society.

I feel like this is Tim lashing out because he accidentally spent money on a chatbot thinking it was a real woman. Because I don't understand why he cares so much about this or how he came to this conclusion.

01:49, Tim Pool: "Or perhaps, it will be a bunch of men who never have children because they're wacking off to pictures of fake women on the internet. Geez."

Tim appears to have discovered that pornography exists. Just wait until he finds out that phone sex operators exist.

"I guess we live in a world where you can pick up the phone, call a number, and wack of to some girls voice. That's sick!"

02:00, Tim Pool: "Well, at the very least what I think is likely to happen is that evolutionary pressure will persist and thus the men who fall for these AI models and don't procreate will simply cease to exist and those who are more resilient to it will survive."

Resilient to it. Yeah, in the future people will force you to chat with AI women instead of real women and then, unless we are resilient to these AI women, society shall crumble before our very eyes.

02:43, Tim Pool: "The guys who don't find girlfriends and watch this stuff instead, they're not gonna procreate."

I don't think the kinds of people who are paying good money for an AI female are all that desirable on the dating market.

02:53, Tim Pool: "The other big issue here is that women are gonna try and compete with these AI models and they're gonna get surgery and other things to try and look like computer generated women. Yo, we are in for a wild ride."

This has got to be one of the single dumbest things I have ever watched. Not just for this blog, in my lifetime. So, according to Tim, because some men are chatting with AI generated females, real females are going to start getting surgeries to look like AI generated ones.

Absolutely no straight male on Earth would rather have an AI generated woman than a real woman. Does Tim not realize what a complete moron he is making himself sound like?!

03:28, Tim Pool: "There are accounts on Instagram that have created -- it's so simple. You write a script to AI generate an image of a woman and then automatically post it to Instagram periodically. Guys will hit the like button and then you insert some kind of ad, bang. Money."

Congratulations Tim, you've discovered what a spambot is. Welcome to the internet buddy.

05:01, Tim Pool: "This should be illegal. I think it should actually be a crime. I think it should be a crime to create an account for a fake person, charge money for interactions with that person, it's fraud. I believe it should be considered fraud."

Not when it's clearly labelled as AI and has disclaimers on their website. If you are spending money on a chatbot from a website literally called Foxy AI, you know what you are paying for.

05:41, Tim Pool: "Porn addiction and now AI women. Dude, you guys don't even wanna know what's coming next. But I'll tell ya, because you probably actually do wanna know, many of you probably already know what's coming next."

I'm going to take a wild guess and say the literal end of society.

05:56, Tim Pool: "You know, back in the day the joke is--I think it was a Family Guy joke--"

Tim Pool has such brilliant evidence to back up his argument in this episode. A Futurama joke and a Family Guy joke, well I'm convinced!

Well, lets hear him out.

05:58, Tim Pool: "Some cavemen like, drew a stick figure woman with big boobs and then they called it porn. They were like 'Hey man, don't draw porn or whatever'. I don't know if that was actually Family Guy, but that's actually the joke, rudimentary. As time went on there were drawings, don't have those drawings but people would do it and it would titillate them. And then of course, photographs and video and magazines and then you get this expansion of the porn industry throughout the 1900's."

This is deeply hilarious because it completely undermines Tim's point. If people have been viewing porn for that long and porn is going to lead to the literal end of society, why hasn't it happened yet?

06:48, Tim Pool: "And then what happens is it goes from men and women banging to crazy stuff like swinging from the ceiling fan. And these guys are driven to chase after, eventually, things that don't exist or are dangerous. You end up with really creepy awful porn. I'm talking about evil dark stuff like snuff films but people just get off on crazy disgusting things."

Absolutely no citation for this claim. I know people who have watched porn and haven't immediately sought out snuff films or other illegal stuff.

07:10, Tim Pool: "So now where we're headed is, you got young men growing up in a world where by the age 10 or 11 they've seen the most disgusting things imaginable."

What a complete moron! The idea that someone has found porn, let alone snuff films, before they turn ten is so utterly ridiculous that it cannot even be put into words.

07:19, Tim Pool: "Their brains are broken. Regular women are not attractive to them, so they aren't gonna procreate or find girlfriends."

So boys aren't attracted to "regular women" but they are attracted to computer generated women even though, as Tim pointed out earlier on, they are getting so realistic that it's hard to tell that they aren't actual women. This is because they have watched snuff films at the tender age of 8.

1.22 million subscribers everybody. 1.22 million people look at this and go "Woah, this is the kind of content I want to consume."

07:27, Tim Pool: "Outside of all the porn addiction stuff, young men growing up online don't know how to interact with people in the real world."

Yeah, there's this place that kids go to called "school" where they interact with other kids. This teaches them how to interact with people in the real world.

07:44, Tim Pool: "And along comes this woman right here. This is fake, it is AI, but it's easy."

The idea that a teenage boy has the money lying around to spend on a chatbot might be the dumbest point in this episode chock full of dumb points.

Tim plays a bit of a short film called Capitol of Conformity.

09:49, Tim Pool: "Now I made the joke on Timcast IRL, for all I know I'm like, some overweight loser who can't get a job and works at Starbucks so I plugged my brain into the neuralink so that I get to be a famous podcaster and have lots of money!"

Don't I wish. Tim is really overestimating how famous he is here. He's relatively unimportant in the griftersphere compared to major players like The Daily Wire. Also, "can't get a job who works at Starbucks" is an oxymoron.

Tim waxes poetic about "woah, what if we are all in the simulation" and about how neuralink will destroy the world (my mans never heard of VR headsets I guess) and I'm absolutely done with this dimwit.

Conclusion:

Well, Tim seems to be really pissed that AI women aren't real and seems to think it's going to lead to the literal downfall of society. Not sure why this is the hill he's decided that he's going to die on but whatever.

Cheers and I’ll see you in the next one.

[jellybeanium124]

watching a new simpsons episode for the first time since... season 32? and let's be real I don't remember anything past season 29 because the simpsons got reeeeeeeal boring. but taika is in this episode so fuck it amirite? anyways here's my reaction to season 35 episode 9 "Murder, She Boat."

wow the animation seems worse? something is noticeably worse

I like that bart is acting like a 10yo with the vroom-vroom thing. a big issue later simpsons have is the kids acting like teenagers or even adults (in lisa's case)

homer simpson: nerd hater

wow they're parodying that thing from phineas and ferb!! :D (asdfhbsdgjl I know p&f was doing a parody too)

also there was already a simpsons episode where they went on a cruise and it's one of the best damn episodes of the modern era if you ask me (23x19 "A Totally Fun Thing Bart Will Never Do Again")

ANNOYING ANNOYING ANNOYING ANNOYING

"Oh my God is that Taika Waititi?" I stg lisa's had a line like this every since since season 11. STAHP IT INTRODUCE YOUR CELEBS NATURALLY YOU PIECE OF SHIT HD SIMPSONS EPISODE

remember when simpsons celeb cameos used to be good. because I don't because it was all before I was born.

Why is everyone moving weird. seriously wtf is up with the animation they're too damn smooth

"You know it's good, because it's based on existing IP" ouch wow ouch... ouch it hurts

Comic Book Guy acting Like That™ is the only guy who works because CBG is supposed to act like that. Like CBG should be an obnoxious nerd that you'd root to see homer actually beat up lol. not any other random motherfucker!

CBG shredded bart's comic right in front of him??? jesus christ that dude sucks

You can really tell the producers were like "taika, just read the lines" because his performance is giving "taika, just read the lines"

shut up with your vegemite american writers

see it's cute when taika pretends to have a stupidly inflated ego of his own volition but when the simpsons writers make him do it I'm like "BRO ARE YOU OK BLINK TWICE IF THEY'RE HOLDING YOU HOSTAGE UNTIL YOU SAY THE LINES IN THE BLANDEST VOICE YOU'VE GOT!!!"

What... what the actual fuck was that joke with Kumiko. Like her whole character has always been kinda racist but that was such an incredibly racist joke... what the fuck actually for real was that.

The Futurama reference was cute tho.

CRINGE CRINGE CRINGE CRINGE

there was like, a halfway decent albeit tropey bart & lisa moment in there but then we went straight back into the cringe

"Of course I'll help you. Why? Because I have a medical condition that forces me to be multitasking at all times." ok can everyone shut up forever actually and stop speculating about that man. if the simpsons writers are making that joke it's time to stop

taika actually sounds like he had a gun to his head and recorded these lines for 18 hours until 3am

something weird about the simpsons going on for 35 years is that all the characters sound slightly different than they did in seasons 2-15 now. like they've all aged 35 years and you can hear it in their voices. the kids have this... oldness to them now that, even tho the voice actors on this show are talented as hell, can't totally hide (and who knows they may not be trying to because who gives a fuck it's simpsons season 35)

taika being distracted joke. haha. what if I release the bees on everyone who speculates about that.

I can't listen to the horrible lines they gave him anymore 😭😭😭 "egomaniac" isn't funny 😭😭😭

I mean like it's not like the dialogue anyone else is getting is great either, just to be clear. it's pretty terrible across the board lol. I'm just a titch sensitive to how taika (real man) is being written for... reasons... I mean maybe I shouldn't it's not like it matters and nobody thinks your portrayal on the simpsons is how you truly are. there's a time honored tradition of celebrities being portrayed as egomaniacs or fucking crazy on the simpsons when everyone knows they aren't (bette midler doesn't throw cans at people irl and darryl strawberry isn't a kiss ass... although both those celebrities have their own issues). I guess it bothers me because it is playing up something that's real and fake at the same time, and also this man is getting unduly criticized for a lot of shit rn.

Kumiko's speech was actually painful. "When we got married, I was his priceless collectible." DID NOBODY FUCKING SEE A PROBLEM WITH THAT IN THE WRITER'S ROOM?? DID NOBODY SEE HOW THAT BLATANTLY PLAYS INTO THE FETISHIZATION OF AISAN WOMEN??? Like holy fucking shit what the hell was wrong with the writers of this episode???

wow I love seeing marge and homer be really depressing bad parents -_-

Ok so when Rainer Wolfcastle shouts out his latest movie, that's funny and doesn't bother me. Troy McClure's shtick never bothered me either. Probably because they're FICTIONAL

Lisa said "damn it" ?!?!?!?! SHE WOULD NOT FUCKING SAY THAT. Lisa doesn't curse wtf are you doing she'd say "darn it!!!"

cringe cringe cringe cringe

if I had a nickel for every time lisa simpson solved a murder mystery because of the cuprit's signature favorite food being left on a weapon, I'd have two nickels. which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice, right? (the first time was the 3rd segment in treehouse of horror XV, "Four Beheadings and a Funeral")

taika being mad at people tearing apart his room was the best line delivery he gave in this episode. like there was a real emotion.

sideshow mel saying "who speaks with such an exaggerated affectation!" got 1 chuckle out of me

damn. CBG dropping the doll into lake springfield is just like ed dropping his leathers into the ocean. (not even remotely true)

in conclusion is this a bad episode of television don't watch it