What could be done in time-travel episodes

If our heroes travel back in time they can experience some cool stuff. They can travel back to the 21st century and meet Miles Monroe, Woody Allen's "Sleeper" character. Then, they could go into the 24th Century and meet Buck Rogers. Possibly they can also go into the 24th and a half century to meet Duck Dodgers.

"Eric Perlin" wrote:

Ooo! Oooo!! I know! While we're dreaming of the impossible, we'll get NBC, CBS and ABC to all three work on a television series. (note: sarcasm switch is ON)

Sorry to burst your bubble there, pal, but there are some inherent flaws with your idea (as... nifty as it may seem): 1) In the Spin Magazine article it was put across that Futurama's reality isn't meant to be as much fictional as it is hypethetical ("what if" for you laymen). Kinda like,. "What IF someone from our time/reality ended up in a cryo-genics freezing chamber and woke up 1000 years from now?" Notions of seeing the Simpsons making a real appearance in the show, while doubtlessly entertaining, is entirely unlikely. 2) Duck Dodgers, Woody Allen and Buck Rogers are all properties of OTHER production companies (Warner Brothers, Silver Screen Partners and 20th Century Fox, respectively I think... hence my opening "joke"). Getting any one of those three companies to work together would be like expecting BMW and Nissan to come out with a new car- why would two competing companies actually HELP each other ("Who Framed Roger Rabbit" aside)? 3) It would be completely counterproductive for Fox to rely on the limited success of relatively unsuccessful ventures of the past (with the possible exception of Duck Dodgers... but I don't think ANYONE would really claim that Woody Allen's "Sleepers" was a momumental hit in the sci-fi genre and Buck Rogers is just, well, old).

Maybe it's just that fact that I'm kinda tired. Maybe it's that I'm annoyed with people who don't stay up on all the information relating to their favorite shows. Maybe I have no tolerence for half-hearted ideas. But one thing is certain: I KNOW with every fiber of my being that even though your idea seems cool to you, it could easily turn out to be the worst episode ever for Futurama.

One other thing: ALL of the possible charcters that our heroes COULD end up meeting due to time travel come from completely different stories/realities. It's analogous to sending someone from our realm into a Mark Twain book. Robert Heinlein's "The Cat Who Walks Through Walls" was a great book- let's not cheapen Mr. Heinlein's ideas by making a mockery of them.

NightShadow, in response to Eric Perlin, wrote:

CBS and NBC have both worked on the same television series before. An example I know of, off hand, is Get Smart. Both networks produced episodes of the show. Theoretically, all three could work on the same show, just at different times.

That's ridiculous. Fiction IS hypothetical. Groening HAS stated that Futurama exists in a different universe than The Simpsons, however, he did not ever say that the show was supposed to be taken as a prediction. It is intentionally filled with fallacies. For one, the idea that American society, a thousand years from now, will be similar enough as to have the same slang, corporations, currency, sports teams etc is absurd. But it is allowed to be. It is a TV show.

True.

You answered your own question with your example of Roger Rabbit. Obviously, you are not aware of a thing called licensing. Just because a character belongs to a particular company, if another company wants that character enough, all they have to do is fork over some cash. Off hand, I know that Marvin Martian, The Flintstones and Peabody (from Rocky and Bullwinkle) have appeared on The Simpsons, and at least in the case of The Flintstones, were used with direct permission. As well, it was evidently quite easy for Fox to get the rights to use Looney Tunes characters, as clips of Bugs Bunny cartoons have already been seen in the shows opening. Just because it is unlikely any of the characters mentioned will appear on Futurama, it does not mean it is impossible. I do know that Groening strongly disapproves of cross-overs, however, as he left his name of the credits of the infamous Jay Sherman meets The Simpsons episode ( A Star is Burns.) That being the case, you are correct that it is not LIKELY that a cross-over show will ever air while the show is in control of Groening. Cameos, however? It's a possibility.

I would hardly call any of the above three examples "unsuccessful ventures of the past." All three were, within their limits, pretty successful. Duck Dodgers is considered to be, perhaps, one of the top cartoons of all time. Sleeper was, for what it's worth, a fairly popular movie. And Buck Rogers is a sci-fi legend. The fact that the character is "old" doesn't translate to "unsuccessful."

Then are you a little annoyed at yourself?

Maybe you don't realize this, but this guy is not Matt Groening, he is not a writer for the show, he is not a janitor that cleans the office. He is a FAN. His ideas are his own, and have no impact on the show. Therefore, the fact that it seems cool to him is enough reason for him to post it.

Futurama is a TV show, not literature. Cross-overs on TV are not uncommon, and though often done for commercial value, can work. The idea, in and of itself, is not preposterous.

That is hardly the point. You have managed to take someone's personal idea of what might be interesting, and treat it as if it is tearing down your reality.

BTW, one big fallacy with the whole time travel idea, is that if time travel was readily available, what would stop Fry from returning to the 20th/21st century? And why wouldn't anyone have suggested it to him upon his arrival in the future? For those reasons, I somewhat doubt there will be a time travel episode any time soon. Just my two cents.

All of your points were quite valid. In my defense I had JUST woken up when I read the initial post and when I got back today I realized that I was probably WAY too harsh and already knew I was wrong on a few points (apparently I hadn't cleared my head entirely when I woke up). Upon seeing the way you rather adeptly laid into me, I see that I wasn't wrong in feeling like a total shit.

Oh, and as far as I can imagine, the reason Fry wouldn't wanna go back to his own time (and this is just a lark here) is that he's probably having too much fun in the 31st Century to want to go back to being a regular loser. I mean, in the 31st, he's a GALACTIC loser, which is probably far more neat-sounding. The implications of being called a "galactic loser" would probably be lost on him, but Fry would definitely think the title as "cool."

Well, I certainly didn't mean to make you feel like a complete jerk. A flame for a flame as I see it. :-)

Joey AKA Gary wrote in message ...

You forgot about Archie (Moose to Homer: "Duh--Stay out of Riverdale!") and Oscar the Grouch (in the "Trash of the Titans" episode).

Those clips were of cartoons that fell into the public domain. No permission was necessary. Still, thanks for your support of my post. :) And I don't think it would be too far-fetched a possibility for Fox to obtain permission to use Daffy Duck in a Futurama cameo.

time travel

20th/21st

Fry was miserable in the 20th Century, remember? He was overjoyed to learn that everyone he's ever known is long dead. And he befriended Leela and Bender, and would have no desire to go back.

Maybe, even if it was possible, it would likely be forbidden by the government. It would be a way of defecting.

I would be very surprised if there isn't at least one time travel episode before the fourth season. It's a sci-fi series, and, like the twilight zone, it's boundaries are that of imagination. If one of Futurama's writers comes up with a good idea for a story that involves time travel, why not? Why rule out any possibilities when they have to come up with 20-something fresh story ideas per season?

why would they have heads in jars if they had time travel? that way, they could jump in their time transporter and travel back to our time so that they could talk to the guest stars in the present day.

Eric Perlin wrote in message ...

Personally, I hope they never do time travel, simply because:

A. It's so cliched. B. Just about any scientist will tell you it's impossible (well.. excluding the ones that go on Art Bell...) C. It opens up all sorts of strange paradoxes that the writers deal with by not dealing with it.

In Captain Janeway's words:

"I try not to think about it."

Andy Andy wrote in message news:[email]...

grosse wrote...

I don't know what Art Bell is, but from what I understand, scientists believe that time and space are inter-related. Time is found to move slower when traveling at very fast speeds. It is believed that if anyone could find a way to travel faster than light, they would travel back in time. (As to whether such technology will ever be possible can only be speculated.)

Paradoxes are the reason why time travel stories are so intriguing. As I said earlier, I believe it is veryt likely that Futurama will do at least one time travel story within its first three seasons. (Not in season 1, however. I already read synopsises of all 13 season 1 episodes online.)