Ep 5 review, refs and dyns

Hi.

Synopsis: Fry, Leela, and Bender are sent to deliver cargo to Chapek 9, a planet inhabited by robots. As the robots have a hatred towards humans, Bender is the only one that will be able to drop off the cargo without being killed on site. Unfortunately, he gets captured for being a human sympathizer. It's up to Leela and Fry to rescue him.

<spoiler space>

While not as funny as the last, it is still a good effort. Some of the references seem a bit forced, but the early Star Wars 4: A New Hope hologram thing really caught me off guard, especially when they show what really happens to Hermes. B

Opening gag: "Featuring Gratuitous Alien Nudity"

DYN -The two Blernsball teams are named New New York Yankees and Martian Greenskins. -Dr. Zoidberg urinates through his chest. -After the multi-ball aspect of Blernsball, it becomes clear that the stadium has turned into a big pinball machine. -Leela 2 or 3 minutes to figure out a plan...which happens to be about the same amount of time taken up by a commercial break. -They have Woolworths, but they don't have Wal-Marts. -The Judge is a classic Macintosh computer -When the robot blows the horn to signal "Let the Hunt Begin", it makes the same sound as a Macintosh startup bell (not all Windows users know that). -Only the second blernsman (the equivalent of 2nd base) gets knocked over by the explosion as the guy on the hoverbike scoots by.

Refs -The fan holding the Glorx 3:16 sign (obvious reference to the popular Austin 3:16 shirts) -Other movies showing at the theatre are "Yentiltron" and "Buffbot: the Human Slayer" (obviously a reference to Buffy the Vampire Slayer). -Star Wars: Episode IV, a New Hope: Hermes shows up in the form of a hologram, much like Princess Leia in SW4. -The planet Chapek 9 is named after author Karl Chapek, playwright for "Rossum's Universal Robots" (or RUR), which the term "robot" is named after. -TransFormers, obviously for the two guards that ask the multiple choice question to Leela and Fry. -Invasion of the Body Snatchers: After Leela sneezes, a robot is alerted, points to her, and screams, just like in that movie. -A parody of the Got Milk ads is seen in a billboard. -Robots alerted to Leela and Fry's position sound the alarm in a monotone voice similar to that of the Cylons in Battlestar Galactica (either that, or the robots from Disney's "The Black Hole"). -Robots constructing a building are making it out of irregularly shaped blocks of 4-squares (known to math types as "Tetronimos"). After building a structure about 4 lines high, the robotic foreman tries to prevent the crane operator from dropping the longest piece, but fails. Hence, the entire structure gets cleared.

Nitpicks -CTRL-ALT-DEL is used to restart a PC, not a MAC (of course, we all know that too well).

Peace, VInce Yim

Well, alot of peple have been saying the robot voice is from "Berzerk"(Atari/Arcade Game) or Gorf(Arcade) also you could stretch it & say the robot voice sounds like Soundwave(Transformers), he has a robotic sounding voice Hiro Protagonist wrote in message ...

On Wed, 21 Apr 1999 00:47:31 -0500, "Andy Howard" wrote:

A lot of us have been saying that because it's true. :) "Get the humanoid, get the intruder!" "The humanoid must not escape" and others with that particular robot voice from that part were definately the classic arcade game Berzerk. It was one of my favorite games as a kid, and I also have the emulated version on my PC which has the exact same sounds. Gorf was a very different game, but one of the few at the time that talked, so it's an easy mistake for those who aren't classic game fantatics to make. I was thrilled to hear that, and it make that scene a lot funnier for me! :)

Frodo

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"When liquor in a mug, can warm you like a hug, and happiness is just a Flaming Moe away..." - Simpsons

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On Tue, 20 Apr 1999 22:23:37 -0700, Hiro Protagonist wrote:

Hmmmm I figured it was more of a reference to those people at sporting events that hold up "John 3:16" signs..... (or whatever book of the bible it is..)

I thought "Cylons" as well. :-)

Ray

It was the elders who were saying "Cylons!" :)

Robert

...don't forget madison CUBE garden...

That was more of a tron reference... watch the movie, and you'll see those were very similar to the guardians...

"Ummm.... Has anyone ever seen the movie Tron?"

Reznik the Great and Powerful (pay no attention to that man behind the curtain)

"I bought a dog the other day... I named him Stay.
 It's fun to call him...'Come here, Stay! Come here, Stay!'
       He went insane."
                -=Steven Wright=-

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to
        entertain a thought without accepting it."
                 -=Aristotle=-
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             Twin Peaks COMPLETE
       http://www.iosin.com/twinpeaks
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\ "Ummm.... Has anyone ever seen the movie Tron?"

No.

No.

No.

No.

No.

No.

No.

Yes. I mean, no.

Smart ass! hehehehehehehehe!!

On Wed, 21 Apr 1999 16:50:24 -0400, [email] (//) wrote:

Frodo

---

"When liquor in a mug, can warm you like a hug, and happiness is just a Flaming Moe away..." - Simpsons

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I actually thought it was more of a 'Monty Python' Reference...

On Thu, 22 Apr 1999 20:39:43 -0500, "DalGoda" wrote:

It was actually a Simpsons reference from the Treehouse of Horrors episode where Homer goes into the 3D world...

Frodo

---

"When liquor in a mug, can warm you like a hug, and happiness is just a Flaming Moe away..." - Simpsons

Frodo's Mermaid Haus: http://come.to/mermaids

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Reznik wrote in message ...

I did, when it was in theaters. I took my parents with me-I don't think they knew what was going on for 2/3 of the movie (and I wished it moved along faster). Admittedly, I wished they would fast-forward to the "inside the computer" part, and skip all previous scenes. I wish the editing was better... Boy, computer graphics were JUST getting started in '82, I still love the simple, stylish, line look (the lightcycles are just plain COOL)

I guess I am a nerd... Thank you! (well duh!) Aaron Howald [email]

THOH XXI

What's it like in the third dimension?

Did anyone see that movie the Matrix?

Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes no

I mean, yes

was that any good?

YEAH! KooL Video Game, too! [high score: 600,000+] Nice soundtrack by Wendy Carlos.

I've been DIGITIZED!

ROBOT Bender's LoveDroid

"ROBOT" wrote:

That bastard just sued one of the best artists around (Momus) for writing what was a _tribute_ to her. His small American label may well go under because of her litigious and heartless attitude.

CountV

what was a _tribute_ to her. His small American label may well go under because of her litigious and heartless attitude.<

I'm shocked to hear that! I'm not familiar with MOMUS, but, if he did an album in sincere tribute to Walter/Wendy Carlos -(assuming royalties were paid if covering Wendy's original {non-Bach} tunes)-, then Mr/Ms Carlos should have been gracious about it.

ROBOT

"ROBOT" wrote:

It's one track, discussing the sex change and possible time travel. It's _obviously_ based on Momus's deep respect for Ms. Carlos's works - not least since the lion's share of The Little Red Songbook is written in a style called Analogue Baroque, inspired by Carlos.

Evidently, Carlos is known for her vindictive litiginousness, though.

For a complete lyric, look for a post of mine on the "FS: W. Carlos Beauty in the Beast" thread on rec.music.progressive.

CountV

In alt.tv.futurama CountV explod

|That bastard just sued one of the best artists around (Momus) for writing |what was a _tribute_ to her. His small American label may well go under |because of her litigious and heartless attitude.

That's unlikely. Momus is still goin' strong, and is paying for the legal hassles with his new "Stars Forever" cd to be released soon.. check out http://www.demon.co.uk/momus for more info on it.

neat to see another momus fan pop up somewhere.

[email] (Dr. Derek Robb, Kaiju no Hakase) wrote:

Yeah, I know about Stars Forever, but that's not going to cover the complete cost of the lawsuit AFAIK.

Hey, I agree - let me be the first to invite you to alt.fan.momus, which is just now really getting off the ground (we're also looking a for a few good trolls to baptize it).

If your ISP doesn't carry it, either access it through DejaNews, or badger them until they do.

CountV

On Wed, 21 Apr 1999 16:41:24 -0400, John DiFool wrote:

Actually there's a couple. MAME (available for DOS, Win95/98, Linux, soon to be BeOS and others), Retrocade, and at least one other. They aren't simulators, though, they're emulators and use the actual ROMS dumped from the arcade machines. I'm really not sure if any of them do Berzerk (and/or Frenzy) although I'm fairly certain MAME does.

On 21 Apr 1999 22:22:39 GMT, Jerry [email] (Jerry Cornelius) wrote:

That is correct, sir! :) MAME emulates it quite well, and I've spent many an hour "putting in quarters" and playing a few games of this classic...

Frodo

---

"When liquor in a mug, can warm you like a hug, and happiness is just a Flaming Moe away..." - Simpsons

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*Massive Snip*

That is a reference to this loon that used to go to baseball games wear a rainbow colored wig and hold up a sign reading "John 3:16." It has nothing to do with Pro Wrestling.

Sorry to nit-pick,

The Stainless Steel Rat

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It is true that clothes really do make the man; Naked people have very little influence on modern society. - Samuel Clemens

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Hiro Protagonist wrote in message ...

I thought is was the best episode yet: all the video-game refs, comic timing and gags I give it an "A" The whole "baseball" sequence was great! Keep up the good work!!

Oh come on! it's the computer voice from the arcade machine "Bezerk!!!" It usually said "Stop the humaniod-stop the intruder!" ever time you clear a level...I was amazed at the clairity of the voice-they must have sampled direct off a game board...

This had me on the floor-the last thing I expected was a tetris ref!

Not owning a mac, I missed that one,but I did find the proceedures to start judging again humorous... (wiggle the power cord!)

Aaron Howald wrote:

There's a simulation program on the Web which allows you to download the original source code from many classic arcade games...the only Berzerk machine I have seen lately are the two in Cedar Point amusement park, one of which contains my high score set last summer-man their arcade is almost a museum! Walking to the back is like traveling thru time...

John DiFool (former Berzerk junkie)

Hiro Protagonist wrote:

For a gratuitous Seinfeld reference, check out the name of the first man on the visiting team's roster.

Obviously not. But it was a nice reference to "Rock'n" Rollen Stewart, the "rainbow wig guy" seen at hundreds of sporting events from 1976 to the late 1980's.

A quick web search on his name revealed this:

In 1976, looking for a way to make his mark, Rollen conceived the idea of becoming famous by constantly popping up in the background of televised sporting events. Wearing a multicolored Afro wig (hence the nickname "Rainbow Man"), he'd carry a battery-powered TV to keep track of the cameras, wait for his moment, then jump into the frame, grinning and giving the thumbs-up. Rollen figured he'd be able to parlay his underground (OK, background) celebrity into a few lucrative TV gigs and retire rich. But except for one Budweiser commercial, it didn't happen.

Feeling depressed after the 1980 Super Bowl, he began watching a preacher on the TV in his hotel room and found Jesus. He began showing up at TV events wearing T-shirts emblazoned with "Jesus Saves"-type slogans and various Bible citations, most frequently John 3:16 ("For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son," etc.). Later accompanied by his wife, a fellow Christian he married in the mid-80s, he spent all his time traveling to sports events around the country, lived in his car, and subsisted on savings and donations. He guesses he was seen at more than a thousand events all told.

This brings us to the late 80s. By now Rollen had gotten his 15 minutes of fame and was the target of increasing harassment by TV and stadium officials. His wife left him, saying he had choked her because she held up a sign in the wrong location. His car was totaled by a drunk driver, his money ran out, and he wound up homeless in LA. Increasingly convinced that the end was near, Rollen decided to create a radically different media character. He set off a string of bombs in a church, a Christian bookstore, a newspaper office, and several other locations. Meanwhile he sent out apocalyptic letters that included a hit list of preachers, signing the letters "the Antichrist." Rollen says he wanted to call attention to the Christian message, and while this may seem like a sick way to go about it, it wasn't much weirder than waving signs in the end zone at football games. In any case, no one was hurt in the bombings, which mostly involved stink bombs.

On September 22, 1992, believing the Rapture was only six days away and having prepared himself by watching TV for 18 hours a day, Stewart began his last "presentation." Posing as a contractor, he picked up two day laborers in downtown LA, then drove to an airport hotel. Taking the men up to a room, he unexpectedly walked in on a chambermaid. In the confusion that followed he drew a gun, the two men escaped, and the maid locked herself in the bathroom. The police surrounded the joint, and Rollen demanded a three-hour press conference, hoping to make his last national splash. He didn't get it. After a nine-hour siege the cops threw in a concussion grenade, kicked down the door, and dragged him away.

About to be given three life sentences for kidnapping, Rollen threw a tantrum in the courtroom and now blames everything on a society that's "bigoted toward Jesus Christ." A cop who negotiated with him by phone during the hotel standoff had a better take on it: "With all due respect, maybe you look at a little bit too much TV." For info on the Rainbow Man documentary, write Sam Green, 2437 Peralta St., suite C, Oakland, CA 94607.

As mentioned many times in this ng, "Intruder alert!" and "Get the humanoids!" came from the old video game, Berzerk.

And known to video game players as Tetris.

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Now that you mention it, the robot voice in the Berzerk video game *does* kind of sound like the Cylons. It's definitely a Berzerk reference though; "Intruder Alert" "Kill the humanoids-kill the intruder" sounds *exactly* like the game! They must have sampled it.

Exactly like in the game Tetris. Is there still really somebody using a computer who didn't catch this reference?

That shouldn't be a nitpick, I'm pretty sure it was an intentional joke. Hell, I laughed.

"David Thomas" wrote:

Not only that, but the robots who spoke these lines *look* just like the robots in Berzerk! Tall blocky bipeds with wide dome heads and eyes that can rotate 360 degrees around - more than a coincidence.

There's one other moving playing (it's the first poster), "I Was A Teenage Human" which is a take off of the old horror file "I Was A Teenage Werewolf". Compare the poster in the show to the poster for the original movie (found at http://www.hillcity-comics.com/posters/poster119.htm).

-Dave