0:00:00the incomparable podcast number 97 july
0:00:08twenty well
0:00:11welcome back to another episode of the
0:00:14incomparable i'm glenn fleischmann
0:00:16substituting for Jason L who is
0:00:18indisposed
0:00:19he's been disposed of somewhere in the
0:00:21Pacific Northwest right now and this
0:00:23week we're talking about futurama the
0:00:25animated TV series that has more lives
0:00:28than any program I believe ever on
0:00:30television to TV show that's one of the
0:00:33geekiest most scientifically accurate
0:00:35programs of fiction ever broadcast and i
0:00:40have with me tonight three guests to
0:00:44talk about the show and Enoch oh you
0:00:47know and Enoch oh great guy that guy we
0:00:50love him he's on many podcast you hear
0:00:53him on macbreak weekly is that right
0:00:55that's true on your mom the incomparable
0:00:58here mon boy squeaking podcast and any
0:01:01runs the celestial excuse me the
0:01:04celestial waste of time saying sightron
0:01:06selected you'll waste of time
0:01:09a celestial waste of bandwidth because
0:01:11this is located on the internet or
0:01:12bandwidth this used to be a one-point
0:01:14important no longer finance so thank you
0:01:17Andy for joining us and also have been
0:01:19but knee-deep Brittany of Boing Boing
0:01:21the code wrangler they're responsible
0:01:24for its back ND and welcome to the
0:01:26incomparable I want to thank you and
0:01:28Dean has recently completed watching
0:01:30futurama back-to-front so he can talk in
0:01:32depth about anything that we forgotten
0:01:34how much more recently and i also have
0:01:36Jonathan self who is a first timer on
0:01:38the incomparable John is executive
0:01:41editor at a funny publication that
0:01:42writes about shiny objects that some
0:01:46people buy that are aluminum and pretty
0:01:48tight right my shiny metal Mac bite my
0:01:51shiny metal that's right so thanks for
0:01:54being on everybody and so the futurama
0:01:57was funny it's a I want to think it was
0:01:59an acquired taste that when I first
0:02:01found out about the show I thought I was
0:02:03the only one watching and it turned out
0:02:04that was sort of true at one point you
0:02:06know futurama has this crazy history of
0:02:09being on the air it comes from for
0:02:12listeners who don't know the show and
0:02:15you'll have a chance to explore its has
0:02:17had several seasons now those seasons
0:02:19have broken up in a sort of ridiculous
0:02:21way it was an outgrowth of some ways of
0:02:24the simpsons is co-created by matt
0:02:26groening a simpsons creator and one of
0:02:28the longtime writers and showrunners
0:02:30david cohen David X Cohen x not his real
0:02:33middle name who came up with this notion
0:02:37Matt back to it and they created this
0:02:39spinoff show that was supposed to run
0:02:41around the same time as the simpsons on
0:02:43the Fox television network in the end
0:02:46fox for some reason they had this
0:02:48strange antipathy for the show it's not
0:02:50that disrupted poorly but they like to
0:02:52move it around a lot so it first aired
0:02:54from 1999-2000 three on broadcast
0:02:57television with any given week you
0:02:59wouldn't know where you'd find it on the
0:03:01what time would be on that week because
0:03:03of football and other things then it was
0:03:05in reruns from 2003-2007 on cartoon
0:03:08network but it was did so well there
0:03:10after a reboot of family guy
0:03:12direct-to-dvd the Fox home television
0:03:16network a different part of box that was
0:03:18little clever 20th Century Fox
0:03:20television portion i guess in the home
0:03:23port heart commission for direct to DVD
0:03:26movies that later within aired on Comedy
0:03:31Central which they took over this
0:03:33indication of the previously our
0:03:36episodes and that's been on Comedy
0:03:38Central since they did 26 new episodes
0:03:41in 2010-2011 and the new season just
0:03:45launched in middle of june with a two
0:03:48back-to-back episodes in the season
0:03:49premiere sort of crazy and i had the
0:03:51opportunity for Boing Boing a few weeks
0:03:53ago to talk to David X Cohen about the
0:03:57show and and he you know he laughs it's
0:04:00amazing laughs first here's the show has
0:04:01not been continuously produced you know
0:04:03since 9i tension is produced in fits and
0:04:05starts but it's pretty amazing to
0:04:08survive that long and its tribute I
0:04:10think to the great great fan ship behind
0:04:14it so anyway that's the that's what we
0:04:17got to here now so this week we'll talk
0:04:20about
0:04:21the show more in-depth we like it's some
0:04:23of our favorite episodes of new episodes
0:04:24and in the future of futurama so and i
0:04:28know that your big fan you you're one of
0:04:30the folks who are advocating for
0:04:32futurama seemed uncomfortable episode
0:04:35what do you like about the show so much
0:04:37have you been a fan from the beginning
0:04:39yeah i mean you start off as a simpsons
0:04:41fan and so you just hear the same team
0:04:43that does the simpsons doing a new show
0:04:45oh my god are you on board for that but
0:04:48I really think that
0:04:49futurama surpassed the simpsons probably
0:04:52and that's not a slam against the
0:04:53simpsons I think it's just because the
0:04:55writers and approaches they get a break
0:04:57and enforced break unfortunately but I i
0:05:00think that they have had enough time to
0:05:01really develop the characters time off
0:05:03to explore other things and I do think
0:05:06that they invest far far more in every
0:05:09episode than any writing staff on any
0:05:11other great animated series ever there
0:05:14every to every time i'm at the end of a
0:05:16really great episode
0:05:18you're really aware of how they spurned
0:05:21every opportunity to take a shortcut and
0:05:24on so many other shows
0:05:26they'll come up the they'll be an
0:05:27interesting idea they lead off with and
0:05:29then it sort of Peters out for five
0:05:30minutes and they jump off and go into
0:05:32something else I think the futurama it's
0:05:34like they come with a really bizarre
0:05:36idea that's really great Gilbert and
0:05:38Sullivan style idea and then they sort
0:05:40of like stop that part of the creative
0:05:42meeting and they just sit around all day
0:05:44and think about what are the
0:05:44consequences of this like if if if
0:05:47bender really was able to create a
0:05:5060-percent scaled-down virtudes
0:05:5360-percent scaled-down duplicates of
0:05:55themselves at will
0:05:57what would eventually happen based on
0:05:59not only what we know about these
0:06:01characters but also what we know about
0:06:02science and they will play it out to the
0:06:04very very very and I was watching a
0:06:07bunch of episodes over the past two or
0:06:09three days and it really occurred to me
0:06:11that how many different times have we
0:06:12witnessed different characters or maybe
0:06:14the entire cast experiencing the
0:06:18entirety of the universe's evolution
0:06:20from start to finish
0:06:22I was that I was watching one of my
0:06:23favorite shows a clockwork origin and
0:06:26once again here's another one where they
0:06:28get to watch everything
0:06:30from start to finish was looking at the
0:06:33late Philip J fry in which they
0:06:35refreshments the time machine that can
0:06:36only move forward and they have to watch
0:06:38the entire creation and death of the
0:06:40universe three times they have a beloved
0:06:42kind of OCD that said no no we can't
0:06:45skip anything if they have a time
0:06:46machine that only goes forward this is
0:06:48the only way they can possibly get back
0:06:51the science is wonderful but and the in
0:06:53here again they're doing things in a
0:06:55really difficult way I I loved a
0:06:57clockwork origin because it starts off
0:07:00the way that you would assume that a
0:07:02very nerd geek oriented show would go
0:07:04over we're going to talk about
0:07:06protesters protesting the teaching of
0:07:08evolution and you serve clasping your
0:07:11hands are great they're going to really
0:07:12stick it to those people who want
0:07:13although textbooks rewritten to say that
0:07:16you know that the universe was created
0:07:17600 they're going to really stick it to
0:07:19them and by the end of the show they're
0:07:21actually saying well actually there's a
0:07:23possibility that creationism really
0:07:25exists maybe we shouldn't actually
0:07:27dismiss these people as idiots because
0:07:29there is a way that evolution and
0:07:31creationism can actually sit
0:07:32side-by-side that is not only a
0:07:34difficult thing to do
0:07:36it's a risk keeping to do it really is
0:07:38that idea that they always take the hard
0:07:39way out and they make it so much better
0:07:42for all that well I don't agree with
0:07:44that too is where they see everything
0:07:46through their conclusion they don't make
0:07:47a cheap joke and right if and you know i
0:07:49think another running joke in the show
0:07:51is never agree is that the number of
0:07:52times that Philip J fry dies he dies and
0:07:56dies that he beat doctor who you know in
0:07:58Doctor Who the current weather character
0:08:00pains Rory Rory dies many times but I'm
0:08:03afraid Philip fry has to hide don't know
0:08:05how many times for real and fantasies in
0:08:09you know with cloning and robots and
0:08:11reassembly really is a thousand years
0:08:13old so that was also he's also ancient
0:08:16writings of thousands been frozen for a
0:08:17thousand years i suppose in place should
0:08:19be cap the you know for people who
0:08:21haven't seen the shell there may be some
0:08:22incompetent listeners the show
0:08:25essentially follows Philip J fry is a
0:08:28pizza delivery boy on the eve of the
0:08:30terminal nem comes two thousand falls
0:08:33into a cryogenic suspension chamber is
0:08:35working in the year 3000
0:08:37and meets up with his many time
0:08:39great-nephew dr. Farnsworth who is a mad
0:08:44genius and runs delivery company and
0:08:47hijinks ensue he falls in love so do you
0:08:52just watch the entirety of the show
0:08:54again the themes that emerged for you
0:08:56from watching the whole thing from front
0:08:58to back
0:08:59yeah actually there are few things in
0:09:01particular the way they the show changes
0:09:05after its in cancelled and brought back
0:09:08I and it like when they first come back
0:09:13they take they they come back with think
0:09:16season five numbers got weird to so i
0:09:21think the four DVD movies or straight to
0:09:24DVD movies i think are all supposedly
0:09:26he's like 16 episodes of season 5 mm
0:09:29technically well five on IMDb is the one
0:09:32with Jurassic bark and the staying the
0:09:36Farnsworth pair Farnsworth para box
0:09:38those types of things on that season I
0:09:41think technically that season four is
0:09:43not once a season 5 says five on mtv
0:09:45it's a little it's a little weird but no
0:09:49but I don't you start to let that was
0:09:50the last one of the farms work paradox
0:09:53this was the last that was part of the
0:09:54season was this 2003 yes one of the last
0:09:57ones i realized i was looking at my
0:09:59favorite episodes and several them come
0:10:00from the end of the last broadcast run
0:10:03and David Cohen said we talked recently
0:10:05reminded me that the show is really
0:10:07cancelled after season three and they
0:10:10had so many episodes in the hopper that
0:10:12the fourth season was bits and pieces of
0:10:14everything that they hadn't yet aired so
0:10:16a lot of good stuff showed up there but
0:10:18they were just trying to be running it
0:10:19out if you look at the production
0:10:21numbers for those they're like third the
0:10:24third season of production and they
0:10:26aired and what was called the four
0:10:28season and the season was mostly the
0:10:30fourth season production like it's
0:10:32really confusing especially when you're
0:10:33trying to rip your dvds and then tag
0:10:36them you have to try to figure out the
0:10:39dvds have them in the production order
0:10:41not in the running order so gets really
0:10:43confusing when you're watching him from
0:10:44the disk it goes from being kind of like
0:10:47I jokes about the future
0:10:49and things like that to this really
0:10:51think II season all of a sudden it gets
0:10:53very deep and it's talking about like I
0:10:56you know fries dog and it's it's a very
0:10:59emotional where his relation fries
0:11:02relationship with Leela grows it grows a
0:11:04lot and it changes quite a bit and then
0:11:06it kind of it stops again there
0:11:09we're not guiding a new Watchers to is
0:11:12so Leela is the one I'd we first think
0:11:15she's an alien the early seasons turns
0:11:16out spoiler alert
0:11:18Leela is actually a mutant from the
0:11:20sewers underneath the city of New York
0:11:22and she's the captain of the planet
0:11:25express delivery ship that's one by one
0:11:28by dr. Farnsworth and fries love
0:11:30interest but she's always rejected and
0:11:32partly because fries kind of an idiot he
0:11:34sort of a homer simpson great idiot
0:11:36within extreme streaks of cleverness and
0:11:39persistence so that's part of the
0:11:42running thing right is that this is a
0:11:43the tension between whether they will
0:11:45actually become a couple or not any more
0:11:47of a slob and Homer Simpson actually so
0:11:49he's got that going for him he goes from
0:11:52just kind of being a slob and being
0:11:54uninformed to kind of being an idiot and
0:11:57and Homer Simpson kind of does the same
0:11:59the same ah traversal there where he's
0:12:03just he becomes the butt of the joke on
0:12:07his own intelligence rather than his his
0:12:10ignorance or his like misunderstanding
0:12:13of situations and and it's a subtle
0:12:15difference but it's it's kind of
0:12:17disappointing i think to see him become
0:12:20like such a brew basically wasn't the
0:12:23problem in the simpsons to is that
0:12:24homeowners intelligence varied from sub
0:12:26Neanderthal to like almost normal for
0:12:29episode episode and sometimes he came up
0:12:31with a brilliant business ideas and
0:12:32executed them at the same thing with fry
0:12:34like if you look at the episode one of
0:12:36my favorites the devil's hands are idle
0:12:38playthings which fri does a deal with
0:12:40the devil and compose this opera this
0:12:42holographic opera but he has the ability
0:12:45to compose an operating extra
0:12:46intelligence just got the hands you like
0:12:48wait a minute
0:12:49he is such a sensitive soul and
0:12:50intelligence to compose this you know
0:12:52lyrical work and yet he can barely tie
0:12:54his shoes remember to swallow it
0:12:57listen I think he's more like Homer
0:12:58Simpson without the without the ability
0:13:01to get completely distracted and
0:13:03unfocused disease easier basic guy in
0:13:07his you know early to mid-twenties where
0:13:10he hasn't found his life's goal yet he
0:13:13hasn't found that drive and ambition I
0:13:15don't think he's in he's a super idiot
0:13:17he's just a little bit a bit of a
0:13:19surface surface into let's just say but
0:13:22but once he once he realized that
0:13:24something has to be done
0:13:25he's gonna work it out he's gonna get it
0:13:27done we've seen so many feature on
0:13:28episodes where he is absolutely
0:13:31dedicated focused and devoted and yes
0:13:35yes he has faithfully as a pair of lucky
0:13:37pants that gets any situation but but
0:13:40but but then you realize that the
0:13:43writers actually like it appreciate that
0:13:45because he's one in this episode in
0:13:47which they need to evacuate the earth
0:13:48there's an escape ship with a limited
0:13:51number of seats on it
0:13:52the government creates a machine that
0:13:53will evaluate how valuable each person
0:13:55is whether they're worthy of this thing
0:13:57of it was to go in there
0:13:58the professor's old old old man probably
0:14:01die soon anyway brilliant brilliant
0:14:02inventor pass your ticket delivery boy
0:14:06nowhere no or no valuable skills past
0:14:08here's your ticket
0:14:09I like your pads his really major
0:14:13accomplishments that are hugely
0:14:15motivated by leela like him his love for
0:14:18Leela like overcomes all these
0:14:20ridiculous like I detriments that he has
0:14:24he rearranges the stars for her he lets
0:14:28her onto the spaceship there he he's in
0:14:31he's in this in the sting he's going to
0:14:33die basically because you know he throws
0:14:36himself in front of this be
0:14:38that's this while be that's coming at
0:14:40them most of the things his when he's
0:14:43really at its best
0:14:44it's in the defense or in the wooing of
0:14:48this counterpart character will hit the
0:14:50things he's just so he's completely
0:14:53selfless a lot of the time like he's
0:14:55gets freaked out and does things but i
0:14:56think it's it's a weird character in
0:14:58that I'm that he's willing to always
0:14:59write throw himself
0:15:00whatever to do anything he gives up
0:15:02there's an episode in which it's the one
0:15:04with the spaceship gets a new
0:15:05personality that with the sigourney
0:15:07weaver's voice love and rocket fuel
0:15:09lovin
0:15:10love and I'm in little rock and there's
0:15:12a bit of course we're recreating part of
0:15:14the scene from 2001 and disabling how
0:15:17and they're floating in this airless
0:15:19space and space suits pushing out cans
0:15:21of slur much are like memory core units
0:15:23and popping them open and uh Lila's
0:15:26oxygen tank was empty and fri without
0:15:28telling your pops is chosen to her so
0:15:31that he might die so she can let me just
0:15:33and there's a thousand incidents like
0:15:34that in the show but yeah I'm i think we
0:15:37should talk favorite episodes before we
0:15:39get too far along i think we've
0:15:40introduced some of the basic concepts
0:15:42and characters of the show and John I
0:15:45think we've pointed at you lease so i
0:15:47think you should come up what's one of
0:15:49your favorite episodes of this program
0:15:51well you mentioned film or a second ago
0:15:54and the main voice that he does is
0:15:57Hermes Conrad who is the rasta
0:16:01bureaucrat who sort of runs the office
0:16:04and those all the paperwork and
0:16:05everything and he's definitely one of my
0:16:07favorite characters and there's an
0:16:09episode called how hermes requisition to
0:16:12his groove back and that you know the
0:16:17the title the title alone is great
0:16:19because it makes you think of the the
0:16:21movie how stella got her groove back
0:16:23but it's it's just this really fun
0:16:27episode with you know him and he's so
0:16:31excited about being a beer creditors you
0:16:33know that the whole society so
0:16:34bureaucratic and they have numbers and
0:16:36you know you you get promoted your
0:16:38number gets lower and and i just love
0:16:41the beginning of the episode that they
0:16:43have these you know pneumatic tubes and
0:16:46he says I look it's a letter from the
0:16:49central bureaucracy and it says
0:16:51attention Hermes Conrad you're about to
0:16:53receive a letter from the central
0:16:54bureaucracy and then he gets the letter
0:16:56from the central bureaucracy eh you know
0:16:58it's just this whole thing and it's very
0:17:00it's very Brazil like in the whole this
0:17:05this whole thing comes together and I
0:17:08you know fri has an affair with the
0:17:11bureaucrat who comes to inspect the
0:17:13office and then bender finds out so to
0:17:15cover her tracks she removes benders
0:17:17brain which is in his entire personality
0:17:19fits on a three-and-a-half inch floppy
0:17:21disk
0:17:22and she puts it in the tube and it
0:17:24disappears and they have to go find it
0:17:26and it's just just this great thing
0:17:28where he goes and he has to sort this
0:17:30entire gigantic inbox master inbox pile
0:17:33in four minutes and it turns into this
0:17:37big song and dance routine he's doing
0:17:39the scar number and there's lindo wing
0:17:41and everything and it's just one of my
0:17:43favorites and and the best part is I you
0:17:47know near the end he finishes everything
0:17:48and the the number one bureaucrat who's
0:17:51number 1 point 0 something like yeah you
0:17:54know you finished you did a great job
0:17:55but you finish with two seconds to spare
0:17:58and a good bureaucrat never finishes
0:18:00anything early so I'm demoting you
0:18:02something like that and it's just one of
0:18:04what one of my favorite as hermes is
0:18:06just such a great character and that's
0:18:08that 16 in my mind I really haven't
0:18:11explained vendor to listeners who are
0:18:13not don't know the show and maybe you
0:18:16should take a crack at what what is
0:18:17bender who is bender bender is a robot
0:18:21designed to bend girders he's like a
0:18:24manufacturing or construction robot but
0:18:27he in the very first episode he's going
0:18:30to go commit suicide with I he tries to
0:18:35get a double suicide and suicide
0:18:37telephone booth it's a suicide booth
0:18:39that shaped exactly like a telephone
0:18:40booth and fries trying to place a call
0:18:42so they are he's there to go commit
0:18:46suicide and I he and fri wind-up sort of
0:18:50intertwined and becoming good friends
0:18:52because they decide not or fri sort of
0:18:56help spender decide not to commit
0:18:58suicide and and they later on a bender
0:19:06ah electrocute is antenna on a broken
0:19:09light bulb and his programming is all
0:19:12change so he has a lot more free will
0:19:15then the other robots and he cannot he
0:19:18can be lazy and not be totally committed
0:19:22to his programming
0:19:23yeah he's the he's got a lot of the best
0:19:26taglines the show like my shiny metal
0:19:28ass
0:19:29of course
0:19:30smoke cigars alcohol is necessary to his
0:19:33proper functioning naturally so Andy
0:19:35tell me tell me sir what is one of your
0:19:38favorite episodes of futurama I gotta go
0:19:40back to something I mentioned during
0:19:41winter that others episode you're
0:19:43talking you're talking about we are
0:19:45favorite nerdy TV shows
0:19:47previously on being comfortable i love
0:19:49the God fellows episode so much hit real
0:19:52it really is one of my favorite episodes
0:19:55of television
0:19:56full stop what happens is that a bender
0:19:58gets shot into space irretrievably but
0:20:02he's leaving these leaving the
0:20:03university's just completely stranded
0:20:05and the the premises that there are like
0:20:09microbes that like circling his body and
0:20:11as has happened so often the show
0:20:14features a vendor course gets to witness
0:20:17the entire rise and fall of an entire
0:20:18new civilization as these tiny tiny
0:20:21microscopic beings go through evolution
0:20:23on his chest plate and of course they're
0:20:26worshipping Him as a god because he is
0:20:29their entire planet and he has faced and
0:20:31he can actually say okay now you're
0:20:32gonna want to grow crops and been free
0:20:35for how to bring me some beer and it and
0:20:38as is going to happen they they become
0:20:42into two different factions of society
0:20:44disagreeing on how to please bender
0:20:46bender because he's bored starts off by
0:20:49being the God but also starts off by
0:20:52being stopping the angry god saying all
0:20:54well okay I guess I can see if you're
0:20:56praying to me to save your kid okay i'll
0:20:58try to save your kid how about if i hope
0:21:00i get if i put more water here to give
0:21:03you something to give you make your
0:21:04crops flourish and of course you want
0:21:05some flooding out the entire village
0:21:07gets to see everybody died and there are
0:21:09wars on his chest and he's trying to
0:21:11stop and try to help things and finding
0:21:14himself in these increasingly futile
0:21:15situations and the Beast story
0:21:18what a wonderful b-story fri showing the
0:21:20sort of care for his friends that is a
0:21:22that is a constant for his character he
0:21:25knows that his friend is gamma rays you
0:21:26must be out there somewhere so we
0:21:28conduct this huge huge search to try to
0:21:31find bender and get him back though but
0:21:33at the end of bender story he's now it
0:21:36is the entire civilization on his honors
0:21:38on the robot or so has died out killed
0:21:41each other
0:21:42he's actually a lot sadder than you
0:21:43imagined he would be given me such a
0:21:44selfish individual and he winds up at
0:21:47the end of the universe to this sort of
0:21:49sentient cloud of whatever the fill in
0:21:53the blank and the subtext is that this
0:21:56could be this cloud is could actually be
0:21:59the god of our universe
0:22:00when do you see a show like this
0:22:02actually any show period that tries to
0:22:05tackle a spiritual topic without making
0:22:09it endlessly dreary like touched by an
0:22:12angel or any other intentionally
0:22:14uplifting or spiritual or God oriented
0:22:17show i love the early shows including
0:22:19this one they have sometimes you know
0:22:20there's there's always the A&B story
0:22:22thing like that's a traditional sitcom
0:22:24or short story on works a lot of
0:22:25different kinds of the theatre and
0:22:27television we've got a main stories the
0:22:29a story that's kind of thing you're
0:22:30supposed to be paying attention to them
0:22:32often subsidiary characters have Abby
0:22:33story if you're really lucky that could
0:22:35be a sea story with even like less going
0:22:37on and futurama sometimes that ad in
0:22:40East or either episodes i can think of
0:22:42where I'm you know also held Allah
0:22:45subway into one of my favorite episodes
0:22:47is the one in which frys all 300 big
0:22:50boys is the one in which fri decides to
0:22:52drink three hundred cups of coffee
0:22:54there's a it's a play on george w bush's
0:22:57rebate early this administration the
0:23:00Nixon who is president of course in the
0:23:02future mix-ins had had a jar he decides
0:23:06to take a show windfall from one of the
0:23:10inept captains of the dupe was that
0:23:14Brannigan that branding a voice
0:23:15originally intended to be voiced by phil
0:23:18hartman we passed away but but still
0:23:20very well for a comple done so Zapp
0:23:22Brannigan defeat some space spiders and
0:23:24take all their booty other gems
0:23:26tapestries and so Nixon issues a
0:23:29three-hundred-dollar of rebate to
0:23:31everybody and prices i'm gonna buy three
0:23:33cups of coffee and across the episode he
0:23:35does it so in that episode I love this
0:23:37because there's a romance going on
0:23:39between kids at brannigans
0:23:41second-in-command is long-suffering
0:23:43amphibian the second-in-command and a
0:23:46one and A me who's one of the
0:23:48explore express employees who's the
0:23:51daughter of the richest man think in the
0:23:53galaxy owns most of Mars and they have a
0:23:56romance brewing fries try to do
0:23:58something for Leela there's a whale
0:24:00involved everyone's got different things
0:24:02going on bend the professor uses stem
0:24:06cells to look young and falls in love
0:24:07you've got i think four or five
0:24:09different romance is going on you guys
0:24:11enjoyed trying to figure out what the
0:24:12secret of life is our happiness and at
0:24:15one point hermes has bought his son
0:24:17these you know
0:24:18bamboo still boots and they get stuck on
0:24:20these boots that take them running
0:24:22through town and the whole thing is
0:24:24crazy set of different plots and it
0:24:26comes together at the end they're all in
0:24:28one place at this reception where
0:24:30they're showing off all the booty from
0:24:31the space spiders that they've stolen
0:24:34and Hermes comes in sets fire to the
0:24:36tapestry lights on fire but the windfall
0:24:39is destroyed everything is burned up
0:24:40everyone's life is in danger and fri
0:24:42drinks his 300th cup of coffee and i
0:24:45think is one of the most beautiful
0:24:46moments across all the series of the
0:24:48show where this the haha music starts
0:24:51and fri his consciousness expands and
0:24:54time slows down any very competently and
0:24:57serenely he looks out the window and
0:24:59there's a hummingbird you can see it
0:25:00swing and slowly flapping and he takes
0:25:03everybody out of the fire take small
0:25:06outside they have no idea what happened
0:25:08but I mean I I really think I don't know
0:25:10if there was a G and H and I plot in
0:25:12that and they pulled it together it was
0:25:14hilarious and it was beautiful and I
0:25:17think it's something that maybe you need
0:25:20the the lack of limitations animation to
0:25:23pull that off could you do that in and a
0:25:26series in which you had actual physical
0:25:28factors where you wouldn't this would be
0:25:31enough time to make everything happen so
0:25:32perfectly
0:25:33it is interesting you mentioned that
0:25:35episode was based off of
0:25:38ah the bush rebate I I hadn't really
0:25:41thought about that I find I've been
0:25:43watching these so much later and I was
0:25:47like nine when the show started
0:25:50so what are you 14 known
0:25:53Dean is a young yeah you're making us
0:25:56all feel really able to on so yeah I
0:26:00guess we never really i don't know what
0:26:02it's never come up before but I'm no
0:26:05one's rs200 that is so dependent is
0:26:08podcast hello
0:26:09a gentleman never asks a lady never
0:26:10tells though I i I've actually been
0:26:13kinda disappointed and then the new ones
0:26:15because they rely I mean I'm so I was
0:26:17going to mention this when you were
0:26:18talking about God fellows on where
0:26:21they're making this really beautiful
0:26:22poignant I point there and it's and it's
0:26:25relevant to a lot of different things
0:26:27today and but it's not really about any
0:26:29particular on any particular instance or
0:26:33any particular thing in present day and
0:26:37I feel like the new episodes really very
0:26:39heavily rely on current things going on
0:26:45like yo wila the davinci code
0:26:47proposition infinity proposition
0:26:50infinity is a good right that mean
0:26:51that's that play on the California
0:26:52Proposition about legalizing or banning
0:26:56or in validating a same-sex marriage
0:26:59right they made that relatively quickly
0:27:01after proposition 8 right question
0:27:03finity being a outside
0:27:05that's a joke with the you know they
0:27:06don't shy from was asking David about
0:27:08this when i did the interview and said
0:27:11you know you could they seem to actually
0:27:13willing to address and engage political
0:27:15controversy because like all good
0:27:17parodies it's through the lens of
0:27:18something that's so ridiculous they can
0:27:20get away with it where maybe hitting it
0:27:22directly i would be seen as much too
0:27:24controversial for you know comedy
0:27:26programming or something besides like a
0:27:28late night stand-up comics right the
0:27:33early episodes that that approach these
0:27:35kinds of issues like a big piece of
0:27:37garbage where a a giant ball of garbage
0:27:41that at some point shortly i think it's
0:27:44like 2,000 I don't like the 2200 or
0:27:47something like that they shot all the
0:27:49garbage from New York into space and now
0:27:52in the year 3000 it's coming back and
0:27:55it's going to crush it's going to crush
0:27:57the city it crushed the world they're
0:27:59approaching that issue in in this
0:28:02ah very broad sense and you know what is
0:28:05what is it going to be like in the in so
0:28:06far in
0:28:07future and I think that proposition
0:28:10infinity is kind of a little too close
0:28:13to that and it's a little too close to
0:28:15its own issue and I I clockwork orange
0:28:18origin to where they're having these
0:28:21issues where it's about robots but as
0:28:24you know a thousand years in the future
0:28:25maybe they should have even gotten
0:28:27further beyond that at this point you
0:28:29know robots have been around for quite a
0:28:31while and they might be able to move
0:28:33beyond it somehow and have some sort of
0:28:35even bigger issue
0:28:36yes I'm of age as well too although it's
0:28:38it's sort of hilarious a current affairs
0:28:40are realized you know you look at the
0:28:42some of the most common guest actors on
0:28:44the guest voices of the show include al
0:28:47gore the runner sure that's the case not
0:28:50his one of his children was it was an
0:28:53assistant on the show I know if she
0:28:54still is for a period of time and that
0:28:56certainly helped but I'm he's you know
0:28:58he likes they did a cartoon bit for his
0:29:02inconvenient truth there's a cartoon
0:29:04bumper that they did for it but he's
0:29:06always on you know he's always on
0:29:07talking about being the Emperor of Mars
0:29:10and global warming inventing the
0:29:13internet and it makes fun of himself
0:29:14pretty tremendously on the show and it
0:29:15says in some fairly ki episode so there
0:29:18is a there's a tendency to have a you
0:29:20know just like having algo around as a
0:29:22guest voice to have a sense of
0:29:24contemporary politics there's another
0:29:27issue the show I think that I'm it
0:29:29brings people back again and again as
0:29:31you know we like individual episodes
0:29:32there's ones will does we call out i
0:29:34think there's a complexity to the show
0:29:36that the detail attention they take 22
0:29:40at most times I was remembering how to
0:29:42look this up because I remember that
0:29:43from the very first episode they design
0:29:45multiple languages to be using the show
0:29:47and one is a simple substitution cipher
0:29:51so it's just every letter in Latin is
0:29:53substitute with the lab the Latin
0:29:55alphabet is substituted with a symbol
0:29:57but there is also an alphabet that I
0:29:59think they waited for people i remember
0:30:00reading a david cone back years ago
0:30:03talking about this they put it in there
0:30:04and they figured that people would
0:30:05freeze frame their VCRs at the time and
0:30:09then later they're dvrs and dvds and
0:30:12sort out how to decode this
0:30:14like an alphabet if I it's a wikipedia
0:30:17says it's a modular edition code with
0:30:19the next letter is given by the
0:30:20summation of all previous letters plus
0:30:22the current letter but i believe it also
0:30:23has code inside it so you can't just
0:30:25it's not just substitution and they also
0:30:29use other languages and there's an
0:30:30episode in which they wander in to a
0:30:33robot mitzvah and it's the in Hebrew it
0:30:36says today I am a robot of course in a
0:30:38manner because why wouldn't it be and
0:30:40why they're hosting the robots and spin
0:30:42them around but there are other details
0:30:43you'll notice when you watch the show
0:30:45you you say oh wow they're really paying
0:30:48attention to this and making this
0:30:50universe and making a consistent yeah
0:30:52like when they laid that that episode in
0:30:55which there's a body swap machine in
0:30:57which you can spot bodies with somebody
0:31:00else but only if that person had never
0:31:03been body swapped before and so hot
0:31:07hijinks ensue as well as the crew went
0:31:10up like trick each other because they
0:31:11want to do stuff and treat each other
0:31:12again too
0:31:13I don't want to i want to be a better
0:31:15response let me be the one of the guys
0:31:16body and so the solution to it of course
0:31:19professor figures out a mathematical
0:31:22equation to determine how many bodies
0:31:25would how many swaps would it take to in
0:31:27to put everybody back where they belong
0:31:29involving fewer than X number of people
0:31:32who've never been spot before and
0:31:34there's the the formula that the
0:31:36calculation and the proof is on screen
0:31:39for maybe all of like a second and a
0:31:41half but it turns out that yes that is
0:31:43actually absolutely correct because one
0:31:45of the writers on that show has a
0:31:47doctorate mathematics we actually proved
0:31:49this theorem to the satisfaction of
0:31:51everybody in the writers room because
0:31:54this is the sort of show where someone
0:31:55as good as AI excuse me
0:31:57clearly you're doing arrest of some
0:31:59algorithm there when the other
0:32:01scientists and span space nuts in the
0:32:03and David Cone was getting doing a PhD
0:32:07in mathematics when he got tapped for
0:32:09the simpsons and Anna you know leave
0:32:10akadema there was a first season episode
0:32:12in which of fries gets a little bit
0:32:15homesick and when he finds out that you
0:32:17can actually take tourist flights to the
0:32:18moon
0:32:19so this is great i could actually be
0:32:21where like Apollo 11 landed and of
0:32:23course you land there finally they go
0:32:25there and it turns out to be more like
0:32:26up the
0:32:26like a disney world theme park you're on
0:32:29the moon but it's like a disney world
0:32:30version of the Moon and they wind up
0:32:32just sort of like breaking out of the
0:32:33the place actually go to the lunar
0:32:35surface and they actually come upon the
0:32:38Apollo 11 landing site and I i remember
0:32:41reading a story about this that in the
0:32:43in the episode you actually see the the
0:32:46the descent stage and the ascent stage
0:32:49both together on the on the surface of
0:32:52the Moon and of course any nerd would
0:32:53know that actually it's only the descent
0:32:55states that would be bad
0:32:56that was left there really get leaked
0:32:58the crew went back into the ascent stage
0:33:00within took off and rica and redock with
0:33:02the command module and so I remember
0:33:05reading that there's actually a
0:33:06last-minute addition was like a plaque
0:33:08that they think they have time to
0:33:10reanimate the entire thing be enough
0:33:11time to put in like a little plaque on
0:33:13the things that a sense stage were
0:33:15restored hereby by bike bike by a
0:33:19unified by generous grant from the
0:33:20nitpickers of America
0:33:23yeah I think I mean there's the other
0:33:25running element of the show is this the
0:33:27number of them of things that are so
0:33:28unpleasant beyond the pale that you're
0:33:30surprised you'd ever see them on
0:33:31television and they try to make them
0:33:33funny like bender is so incredibly
0:33:35amoral I think someone of the DVD
0:33:37commentaries that when they shot the
0:33:39episode well as other robots which is
0:33:42one of the great things in Helena those
0:33:44are the robots which was in this and 9th
0:33:46episode was the first season that's
0:33:48right introduces a robot devil is a
0:33:50terrific character occurs but later the
0:33:53robot devil spins wheel and a fourth
0:33:55season has a list of every robot on the
0:33:58show and you realize there are hundreds
0:34:00of thought out characters hundred
0:34:02thought-out robots not to mention human
0:34:04characters and aliens who appear but the
0:34:07that I think it was hellas other robots
0:34:09because there's a bit in it where Leela
0:34:12and fry get tired of bender his wrist
0:34:14experienced a religious conversion has
0:34:15now become incredibly straight-laced in
0:34:17dollars drinking mineral oil instead of
0:34:19alcohol experience and they sort of miss
0:34:21his evening pouring sand and insanity is
0:34:26a moral behavior so they
0:34:28get them off the straight and narrow and
0:34:30I think it's from the DVD commentary
0:34:32where they mentioned yeah we had a staff
0:34:34member who wouldn't work on this show
0:34:36she had moral objections to it she just
0:34:39found it you know too vile and they had
0:34:41to essentially supported her in that
0:34:43decision but I mean can you think of
0:34:45that fellow's it's like that I'm the
0:34:47number of things that are just like i
0:34:48like the robot or uh Santa Claus the
0:34:51evil Santa Claus the future suicide
0:34:54booth what do you think about the fact
0:34:57that they push the envelope on kind of
0:34:59acceptable things by wrapping them in
0:35:01this way
0:35:01yeah there's a just last week with was
0:35:03one of the new season episodes in which
0:35:05every time friday associate take my hand
0:35:09Leland some disaster happens and
0:35:12farewell to her as a little bit out
0:35:13there the last the last season she
0:35:14rescuing her off of a doomed planet to
0:35:18take my hand Leela and takes the hand
0:35:20and then rise up ripping off her arm of
0:35:22the socket and then like 10 seconds
0:35:24later his own arm gets ripped off by the
0:35:26socket as well last seen the two ripped
0:35:29up arms swirly in space with pretty
0:35:31music playing and that we do we want to
0:35:33switch is lovely
0:35:34exactly sweet lovely but yeah well let's
0:35:36talk about you really should talk about
0:35:37the new season is I'm you know one of
0:35:39the things David said interview so
0:35:41they're going to i think there's just
0:35:42asked acknowledgement and we look so we
0:35:43could talk about this bit is I thought
0:35:45season I think it's number six the 26
0:35:48episodes that were aired in 2010-2011 I
0:35:51felt they were weak compared to the
0:35:53first for broadcast seasons I I felt
0:35:56like I didn't feel that richness of
0:35:58multiple plot elements the interval i
0:36:00thought some of them with a very thin
0:36:01idea and extended and some I quite like
0:36:04there was something i thought were
0:36:05terrific like the creationism
0:36:06evolutionism a revolution parody that
0:36:10made a sort of rethink aspects of it
0:36:12when presented that light but do you
0:36:13think that as anyone think that that was
0:36:15the case of the first or do you think
0:36:17know the last two in effective season
0:36:19the 2010-2011 episodes were as strong as
0:36:22the first four I think that it's
0:36:25interesting because like you're looking
0:36:26at this show about a guy who's frozen in
0:36:29time for a thousand years and then he
0:36:32comes back to life and then the show is
0:36:35sort of stopped and comes back to life
0:36:38and
0:36:39when fried comes back to life it's like
0:36:41this oh my god everything is you know
0:36:43look at all these wonderful things out
0:36:45here and and I have to take full
0:36:47advantage of it and in the new seasons
0:36:51I feel like they're they they're also
0:36:53trying to take full advantage of their
0:36:55there we given time I guess and trying
0:36:58to like create almost cram as much in
0:37:01there as possible i'm like it's much
0:37:03faster paced they're bringing back like
0:37:06lots and lots of characters in for even
0:37:09like small parts like Zapp Brannigan
0:37:12appears for like a minute or two in the
0:37:14latest episode here where he's on he's
0:37:17piloting this this spaceship and he's
0:37:19just kind of thrown into it all mouse
0:37:21and they they're forcing these jokes and
0:37:25making like I don't you know just kind
0:37:27of pushing things a little too far and
0:37:30maybe you know if they relaxed a little
0:37:32bit they kind of be able to i get back
0:37:35to where they were back into their
0:37:37stride a little bit ok what do you think
0:37:39John you would you be as big a fan of
0:37:41the earlier later once you have a funny
0:37:43and substantial differences between them
0:37:46yet the you know the those first four
0:37:48five seasons whatever you want to call
0:37:50them
0:37:50I'm had a have a different feel to them
0:37:54they felt a little bit richer and and in
0:37:56some ways moments there was a lot of
0:38:00sweetness to some of them like you know
0:38:03we talked about that devil's hands are
0:38:05idle playthings and the sting and then
0:38:06one of the other ones like the look of
0:38:08the frying fish which is about the
0:38:10history of you know fri thinking that
0:38:12his brother stole his identity and in
0:38:14all things he wanted to do and you get
0:38:16these flashbacks and it's it was you
0:38:18know some really sweet stuff where you
0:38:20see like the emotion around around fri
0:38:24and that stuff seems like it's either
0:38:28missing or forced in the in that last
0:38:31season and the first to that that aired
0:38:34last week I thought the first one where
0:38:36bender has has a kid was pretty strong
0:38:41the bots and the bees and then the one
0:38:43after that that the one with the arms
0:38:45totally off into space that what kind of
0:38:47left me cold I just never really felt
0:38:49like you got going
0:38:50so it feels more like these
0:38:52the previous season then starting with
0:38:55this that they're kind of hit or miss
0:38:56and that the other ones maybe it's a
0:38:59nostalgia thing you know because they
0:39:00were so long ago already those other
0:39:02ones seem like classic and they seem
0:39:04like there's so much richness and then
0:39:06we can go back and watch them over and
0:39:07over again whereas those that last batch
0:39:10they really don't they don't feel quite
0:39:13as I mean there's still fun to watch but
0:39:14they don't feel like they're quite the
0:39:15same its kind of intermittent or you get
0:39:17some episodes that are good and some
0:39:19that are really not very memorable and I
0:39:21felt like the older ones you know
0:39:24they're there wasn't a lot of throwaway
0:39:25it's probably you know you probably have
0:39:27lots of really good ideas at the
0:39:28beginning and lots of stuff to put in
0:39:30and you get to a point where where your
0:39:33maybe forcing a little bit
0:39:35well you know it felt like I agree with
0:39:36you that I thought there was that thing
0:39:38the saying at the outset that I think
0:39:40this is has the most heart of any almost
0:39:43any show I mean you see this in some
0:39:45long-running sitcoms we're even if the
0:39:48show is sort of farcical or nonsensical
0:39:49they figure out a way to have a
0:39:51relationship or a kind of sensibility
0:39:54and friendship at the middle that makes
0:39:56it work and you know their shows like
0:39:58mash that are in other words ridiculous
0:40:00parts but it really was kind of a strong
0:40:02Center show and it's hard to think of an
0:40:05animated show that that could be
0:40:06anywhere near the silicates are a few
0:40:08that have that much are and you do the
0:40:10relationship like no one of another of
0:40:12my favorite episodes would be when I
0:40:14think i mentioned before is the devil's
0:40:17hands are idle playthings and in that
0:40:19that was a thought that might be the
0:40:21last episode as with so many times
0:40:24David Cohen said that Ken Keeler is one
0:40:25of the main writers for sho kin is
0:40:28written all of the finale episodes of
0:40:29futurama is up to four now
0:40:32corporate last episodes of the show and
0:40:35the devil's hands are idle playthings i
0:40:36think was partially intended to be the
0:40:39end of the broadcast run and there's
0:40:41this beautiful thing where you know even
0:40:43though it's sort of you know heat fries
0:40:45stupid and the whole thing is ridiculous
0:40:47is that you know he has this great love
0:40:49for Leela she doesn't always believed
0:40:51interested herself and she's not sure
0:40:54she's in love with him partly because
0:40:55he's an idiot that comes up again and
0:40:56again but probably because she's not
0:40:58sure she trusts the way the intensity of
0:41:00the sincerity realism that he
0:41:02as per business goes on over seasons and
0:41:04in that episode you know II he it's a
0:41:07great series of oh Henry swaps
0:41:09essentially one of my favorite things
0:41:11about it is that they actually define
0:41:13over and over again people call things
0:41:15ironic which are not and keep getting
0:41:17called out that's not ironic is ironic
0:41:19then finally when the final scenes
0:41:21something ironic actually happens and
0:41:23vendor speeds a dictionary definition
0:41:25says now that's ironic that they should
0:41:28teach in english classes but but there
0:41:30is this that thing there's a love story
0:41:32that's very strong and sort of sustained
0:41:34and then later episodes it just seems to
0:41:36be kind of an element fries always
0:41:37pursuing Leela but whatever i'm david
0:41:40said in an interview again that they
0:41:42were intending I mean I think there's
0:41:44some awareness of this on the show staff
0:41:46because he said this season is going to
0:41:48be more like the early seasons we're
0:41:50gonna sort of go back and they'll be a
0:41:52long arc over 2012 and 2013 which is
0:41:57centered around kind of finally
0:41:58resolving the leela fri relationship and
0:42:01I don't know how that will materialize
0:42:02we've got 24 more episodes to work with
0:42:05that on
0:42:05i am going to happen will prosecute that
0:42:0722 strongly only because there's so many
0:42:12shows I can't get into because there are
0:42:15deep profound season-long arcsight I
0:42:18can't get into Game of Thrones I can't
0:42:20get into so many of the shows because i
0:42:22feel as though if I start now I've got a
0:42:25lot of work ahead of me get caught up
0:42:26and then I'm sort of obligated to watch
0:42:28the rest of them I do like the fact that
0:42:30futurama exist you can dip into almost
0:42:31any individual episode and pretty much
0:42:33get it it's true they have I mean they
0:42:35have some mythology but not the same
0:42:37kind of thing as any other show there's
0:42:38not really too much of an arc you know a
0:42:40season-long are queer fri discovers you
0:42:42know the order of human beings were all
0:42:44invented another planet but but there
0:42:46you know there are there are
0:42:47consistencies others and you know i was
0:42:49looking through wikipedia 4 episode
0:42:51descriptions they talk about
0:42:52non-canonical episode was sort of
0:42:54cracked me up because you know what is
0:42:56canonical and a cartoon universe in
0:42:58which anything can change but I mean
0:43:00there are things like nibbler the Lila's
0:43:02little istock Pat turning out to be one
0:43:05of the Masters of the Universe very much
0:43:07like the Masters on a
0:43:09ah no ah in the Green Lantern's the
0:43:11people the blue man who control the the
0:43:15safety of the university's little
0:43:16incredibly adorable creatures are in
0:43:18fact the ones who who make everything
0:43:21work in that and keep the universal
0:43:23falling apart from john i know your
0:43:26music made and what do you think about
0:43:27the music on the show I I've always
0:43:29loved it to UW noticed is that something
0:43:32that that strikes you how they use music
0:43:36as an element across the seasons
0:43:38yeah I i mean III like yeah especially
0:43:42an animated shows the music and the sort
0:43:46of musical numbers a lot of them go over
0:43:47the top like you know something like the
0:43:49Simpsons family Guy do a good job with
0:43:52it but in vitro my eye I really do like
0:43:56it you know i mention that first episode
0:43:57with the with with Hermes doing his
0:44:01little little scar song and it's funny
0:44:05that you mention and now I'm drawing a
0:44:07blank to think of other musical examples
0:44:10from the show that that I can actually
0:44:12think of any right now but you but it is
0:44:14it does seem like such a big part of the
0:44:16of the show and the devil's hands are
0:44:18idle playthings is one of the ones i
0:44:20think of the most because that there was
0:44:22almost a musical they had songs every
0:44:23few minutes culminating with with price
0:44:27opera his hollow opera for Leela right
0:44:31he learns to play the the holophone or I
0:44:34think it's not always like a recorder
0:44:35basically but it projects Holograms and
0:44:38he could only do it when he has the
0:44:40devil's hands
0:44:42yeah that's right because he needs he
0:44:43has stupid fingers apparently no
0:44:46surprise
0:44:47so you know I think we've cycled through
0:44:50quite a bit about the show what what if
0:44:52we will be missed in this program we
0:44:54were watching and obviously all of us at
0:44:56some extent for I don't know how many
0:44:59episodes of shows had no hundred and
0:45:01twenty or something we're getting up
0:45:02there between those seasons and you know
0:45:05it's something that I look forward to i
0:45:06try to watch HD episode comes out what
0:45:09would still strikes interview about you
0:45:11know why we're staying well we stick
0:45:13with the show even though it's doesn't
0:45:14have you know our episode of a series
0:45:16long plots and things like that what
0:45:18brings us back to watch this again and
0:45:20again I mean it touches on so many
0:45:21different
0:45:22ah different things that references
0:45:24startrack references
0:45:26ah the twilight zone it's it and it's
0:45:29and it's these deep references that you
0:45:31can't you kind of need to know what's
0:45:34going on where they're referencing very
0:45:37specific twilight zone episodes or
0:45:39something like that and it touches these
0:45:41little things where like yeah I've spent
0:45:45all this time going back and and looking
0:45:47at these different shows and and and
0:45:49trying to find out more about specific
0:45:51things and you see it all reflected in
0:45:57the show where you know just because you
0:46:01understand these other these other
0:46:02things and it's kind of like oh you know
0:46:04they get it to they they are also on the
0:46:08same wavelength and they've also spent
0:46:10this time finding out about these
0:46:12different weird little corners of things
0:46:14I and appreciating them i think it's
0:46:18rich with illusion right as if you're if
0:46:20you're a geek
0:46:21you can watch the show and everything
0:46:22seems to be no there's a reference to
0:46:24omega man there's Logan's Run there's
0:46:27that episode there's to serve man and
0:46:30then they even have the parody the show
0:46:31with it and he was the name of the
0:46:33shower now you'll notice the is it the
0:46:35the closing door the parody of twilight
0:46:37zone the scary Dory necessary to write
0:46:41like imagine the world in which there's
0:46:43a guy no week has been my balls you
0:46:45can't read the thing and you know it's
0:46:47just everything is everything is like
0:46:49that yeah I'm so Andy interrupted you
0:46:50before I'm sorry no I was just going to
0:46:52say that I think that it's the reason
0:46:54why keep watching us because they keep
0:46:56that level quality way way way way up
0:46:59they keep finding little nooks and
0:47:00crannies wish to put extra little jokes
0:47:02and they're not just clever witty
0:47:05sayings but also if there's a corner of
0:47:07the frame in which they can put in a
0:47:09keychain that's a souvenir keychain but
0:47:13Lela has from her trip to the moon
0:47:14saying i'm with stupid on the moon and
0:47:17you do have to sort of like we're
0:47:19watching on TV is it wait whether what I
0:47:21just missed your scroll back in your DVR
0:47:23in order to get the joke it's it's not
0:47:26all about just catch phrases and
0:47:27pop-culture references and it also just
0:47:30comes down to the fact
0:47:31that they have well-defined characters
0:47:34each one in that cast and they have
0:47:38never decided to weaken that that sort
0:47:41of formula never weekend that sauce they
0:47:45so this is true i think of almost every
0:47:47single said comments out there
0:47:49eventually the producers and the writers
0:47:52they get just sort of into a punch the
0:47:54clock sort of mechanism where they no
0:47:57longer understand why this line is
0:48:00appropriate for this character but this
0:48:01other character would never say it
0:48:03they don't understand what the relations
0:48:04are between these characters they're all
0:48:06just about by the final episode by the
0:48:08final season of seinfeld and friends
0:48:10these are a cast these are five
0:48:13characters who get together every once
0:48:15in a while who don't like each other but
0:48:17they only get it to the only get
0:48:18together so they can they can like
0:48:20launches fingers at each other and yeah
0:48:22you don't understand why they keep doing
0:48:24this why they keep meeting at a coffee
0:48:26shop every single day just to insult
0:48:28each other about someone are really some
0:48:30profoundly painful moments from their
0:48:32lives you know what why do I keep coming
0:48:35here publicizes comment about the show
0:48:37that way before I can't watch friends
0:48:39anymore it so it's absolutely true but
0:48:41with futurama not not every character is
0:48:44designed to have designed to be this
0:48:45really deep involved character but it is
0:48:48always about fri who profoundly cares
0:48:51about his friends
0:48:52Leela who's responsible but it's also
0:48:54kinda kinda weird herself
0:48:55hermes who's the bureaucrat who can
0:48:57figure out an analytical way to get
0:48:59things done
0:49:00the professor who was absolutely dotty
0:49:02but creative and a fantastically mad
0:49:04science way and then why not
0:49:06Evan why not zoidberg that was a burger
0:49:09mean arrived there I things I
0:49:11environment last now things are at
0:49:13everything is heading Zoidberg yeah i
0:49:15mean it that significant that's a good
0:49:17to stick the distinction why one of
0:49:20things i hate's there's such a link to a
0:49:22whole episode of why it's family guy
0:49:23because at that hour talking everybody
0:49:26trying to interrupt but one that one of
0:49:29the running one running things on the
0:49:31family guy is that everybody hates that
0:49:33the daughter Meg and they don't give
0:49:34nobody ever explains why they hate him
0:49:36later but always just nothing but hatred
0:49:38and incredibly caustic abuse order all
0:49:42the time
0:49:42Lloyd berg has that may
0:49:44grow on futurama but somehow they write
0:49:47it so cleverly they just feel like well
0:49:49he's a kind of a stupid Lobster guy who
0:49:51if you get your arm cut off one up so
0:49:53your leg back on this place is kind of
0:49:55stupid
0:49:56he's always horrible smelly monster too
0:49:58and he's it's always like yeah he says
0:50:02he's a doctor but he doesn't understand
0:50:03the human anatomy and he's but what kind
0:50:06of girl are you your mouth
0:50:08no your other mom yeah their first
0:50:10appearance he's no he's trippin because
0:50:12he's a sad sack and occasionally has his
0:50:15moments of victory that's the thing is
0:50:17occasionally he comes through and where
0:50:19has no who's enjoyed bugs in charge now
0:50:21but yeah that's the out i'll tell you
0:50:24that the funny thing i think about
0:50:25futurama is my wife is not a
0:50:27science-fiction fan futurama is the only
0:50:29science fiction that she tolerates she
0:50:32loves the show we watched much of it
0:50:33lately because we don't have actual
0:50:35broadcast television anymore so we have
0:50:37to go through you know buying itunes and
0:50:39netflix and so forth to watch it more
0:50:41but but it's it's a show i think the
0:50:43characters like soy burger like the fact
0:50:45that there's so much in the show that's
0:50:47just you know they are the things that
0:50:49are conventional but it doesn't have
0:50:51that because doesn't take itself
0:50:53seriously I think that's why she enjoys
0:50:55it more so she doesn't necessarily get
0:50:57the layers of science fiction illusion
0:50:59because she didn't read sci-fi but she
0:51:00the show's fun it's interesting and they
0:51:03have characterization so it succeeds
0:51:05there yet even though I you know I love
0:51:07the major characters that some of the
0:51:08minor characters i think or what makes
0:51:10the show good because if you have if you
0:51:13have you no more both alien newscaster
0:51:16in there for a few seconds i'm talking
0:51:18about about how the earth is doomed and
0:51:21then you have his pepe sidekick you know
0:51:23laughing it off the core you know
0:51:26Calculon who is the robot soap opera
0:51:29star you know people like that and then
0:51:32of course you know you can't forget
0:51:33lower from Omicron Persei 8 out like
0:51:36those people you know they they can be
0:51:39an episode for a few minutes and they
0:51:40can kind of make they can make or break
0:51:42it for me and you know i love bender
0:51:44alone fry and Zoidberg but the little
0:51:47people mix-ins head you know and like if
0:51:49they go to the head museum and you know
0:51:51that just the stuff they can do with all
0:51:53the little side characters it it's what
0:51:56can make or break
0:51:57episode four me a lot of the time and
0:51:59that's when keep it going as if you
0:52:01throw in some of those it's it's like
0:52:03any other animated show we have all
0:52:05these little side characters and you
0:52:07know they get their moment in the Sun
0:52:08but that there's just such a weird
0:52:11creepy and bizarre characters on here
0:52:13because there are so many aliens and you
0:52:16know with it being a thousand years in
0:52:17the future you can pretty pretty much do
0:52:19anything you want
0:52:20I'm kind of like the fact that they
0:52:22don't make any default choice in the
0:52:23show it like nothing works the way that
0:52:26it should now so we know when they like
0:52:28the bungalow i love the bungalow that
0:52:30suddenly they go to Mars it turns out
0:52:32Mars and a half of Mars is a ranch owned
0:52:34by anyone's family and is you know this
0:52:37is the wrong place right that's really
0:52:39what happened it's and of course so the
0:52:40cattle people reading giant bugs sort of
0:52:42ladybug like things that are marked like
0:52:44cattle it's like nothing is certain
0:52:46studies nothing is normal it's more like
0:52:48they never take the easy choice of just
0:52:50saying okay we're going to make it a
0:52:52parking meter
0:52:52this is gonna be a parking meter that
0:52:54talks or there's the running gag that
0:52:55nibbler when nibbler takes a number to
0:52:58that he poops dark matter and that's
0:53:00what they used to fuel the ship and one
0:53:02of my favorite throwaway lines of as a
0:53:04prize that walking nibbler he lands a
0:53:08steamer and the police come to write
0:53:09about for a citation they say pick that
0:53:11up basis but it weighs as much as 200
0:53:13songs and this little little clever bits
0:53:16like that you know you never just
0:53:18nothing is ever quite what it seems the
0:53:20robots have robots to help them out of
0:53:22the greeting cards the greeting cards
0:53:23have a chip in them that that mom of
0:53:26moms robots can mom the evil mother
0:53:29there she cannot activate a switch and
0:53:32greeting cards along with all the other
0:53:33robots on the planet must do her bidding
0:53:36it's just that there's never was never a
0:53:38default basic easy choice made in the
0:53:41show maybe that's the theme of the show
0:53:42they don't make the easy choices
0:53:44well let's not forget the real reason we
0:53:46all watch futurama hypnotoad rear
0:53:53hypnotoad if the new I knew that was
0:53:57coming it had to be said deed is under
0:54:00his power boat is the greatest throwaway
0:54:03character that didn't get thrown away of
0:54:05all let's just let's just replay what
0:54:06just happened here one person set up a
0:54:09line the second person knew exactly what
0:54:12he was talking about
0:54:13bye-bye making a sound effect a
0:54:15third-person recognize the sound effect
0:54:17and I'm to hypnotize to speak
0:54:20oh it was it's a great fit the best part
0:54:23is on the notes of DVD extra one of the
0:54:25early season dvds is everybody where
0:54:27everyone loves hypnotoad and it's david
0:54:30described as 22 minutes of show 45
0:54:34minutes of payoff it's just tiptoed
0:54:36staring with some various dialogue and
0:54:38so for that comes we have to watch the
0:54:39whole thing only you can fast-forward
0:54:41through you missed some of the dialogue
0:54:43but the most popular show on television
0:54:45everybody loves hypnotoad but that's not
0:54:48all that's what's great about the show
0:54:49is like they can throw in the thing
0:54:50that's the most absurd thing in the
0:54:51world that you have these little
0:54:52romantic situations it it doesn't isn't
0:54:55funny you know one thing we didn't talk
0:54:56about how sort of hilarious but she'll
0:54:58like this the voice talent I mean they
0:55:00have some of the best voice talent any
0:55:02show that's ever been assembled I think
0:55:04you got Billy West whose do the original
0:55:06who are was original Stimpy and then had
0:55:09to rent after John quickly Lucy was cut
0:55:11from Ren Stimpy show John Billy West is
0:55:14done you know hundred million voices
0:55:16plus the long run the Howard Stern Show
0:55:18and he's got his own band these
0:55:20fascinating guy really naughty fell out
0:55:23but he's one of the best voice talents
0:55:25you got film are the green lantern and
0:55:28samurai Jack's voice and Trust McNeil
0:55:31who is the voice of a million million
0:55:33women on the show and on any damage so I
0:55:36think you listen to their stress
0:55:38somewhere
0:55:39um maybe five anybody have favorite
0:55:41voices from the show the Eagle like
0:55:43that's what I really listening for like
0:55:44frank welker or someone like that it's
0:55:47it's it's if it's one it has to be
0:55:49sapper and again but we do that all the
0:55:53dominoes will fall over like a house of
0:55:55cards it's really wet right he's doing
0:55:57exactly and again right hey guess what
0:55:59you can you're right you could totally
0:56:00hear Phil Hartman voice doing that
0:56:02character
0:56:03it's best ship you to write to him when
0:56:06up you know it's funny to you get
0:56:08Katie's the galleries of major you know
0:56:11she's a major sitcom star and she she's
0:56:14doing one voice in the show and she's
0:56:16been involved all along Lauren Tom who
0:56:18does a lot of animation voice but she
0:56:19comes in and does a nice with anyone and
0:56:21a few other voices for it some kind of
0:56:23just a or john dimaggio so here's the
0:56:26thing you find out when you actually are
0:56:27in the room with john dimaggio the role
0:56:29of bender which you think of as absurd
0:56:31larger-than-life ridiculous thing it was
0:56:34written for john dimaggio that was not a
0:56:36joke he is bender he is the flash
0:56:38version of vendor so the episode of
0:56:39futurama in which bender is reverting to
0:56:42the term investor says I've discovered a
0:56:44way to reverse internal the process and
0:56:48what demon arrival of returns bender
0:56:50from a in this fantasy scene from a
0:56:53robot into a human that's pretty much
0:56:55what happened the other way around to
0:56:56make john dimaggio into vendor not much
0:56:59doubt there's a there's a great video on
0:57:02YouTube where this Comic Con has
0:57:05collected a bunch of voice actors from
0:57:07different TV shows including Billy West
0:57:09and John DiMaggio and I handful of other
0:57:12people and they go they have they have
0:57:16the script of the first Star Wars movie
0:57:19of episode 4 and they're going through
0:57:24descriptive episode 4 with each of the
0:57:26voice actors doing different voices and
0:57:29in each different scene they change all
0:57:31the voices so they're doing and they're
0:57:33doing the ender there don't appear right
0:57:35it's it's amazing they do fri the design
0:57:38berg they then it and it's the whole
0:57:40movie so it's like an hour and a half
0:57:42and it will just go I'll just blow your
0:57:44mind it's it's unbelievable that is
0:57:48perfect
0:57:49well gentlemen I think we've reached the
0:57:51end of the time it's time to put our
0:57:53quarters on the string into the suicide
0:57:55booth and and sign off so any any final
0:57:59any parting words anyone good news
0:58:01everybody it's time to go to sleep
0:58:03let's go
0:58:05I'll conclude on hulu the broadcast day
0:58:11whenever you're listening to the show by
0:58:13thank you everyone thank you Andy
0:58:15anarkali broken the curse and we've been
0:58:16on a podcast together
0:58:18longmate sale we've broken one curse and
0:58:20started a new like I got Dean it's well
0:58:24past your bedtime and i think i think
0:58:27it's time to brush your teeth thanks for
0:58:29being on the shaft thanks for having me
0:58:31pleasure i know your love for the
0:58:33hypnotoad true at all and john hope will
0:58:36be back on the copper for future
0:58:38episodes of things that are not futurama
0:58:40thanks for being with us if you have
0:58:42people and all be on again it'll it'll
0:58:44happen and thank you dear listeners tell
0:58:47us what you like about futurama in the
0:58:50comments and the speed back i'm glenn
0:58:52fleischmann thank you for listening to
0:58:53this episode of the incomparable
0:58:57[Music]