SPOILER 2ACV07: The Frying Game

2ACV07: The Frying Game

Review by Haynes Lee {hl} [email]

REVIEW: Kind of a letdown after last week's episode which would have made a better Valentine's episode if it wasn't for all those graphic jelly references.

GRADE: B-

OPENING GAG Not based on the novel by James Fenimore Cooper

DYN: - this makes two episodes on Fox Sunday night concerning tragic car accidents? - out of 994 Bending Units made, only 90 didn't get recalled? - Bender farting fire? - car salesman describing car like a brassiere? - planet Mercury 9500 miles in circumference? - Amy's phone sounds like Star Trek communicator? - tow truck driver saying "yoo hoo" like Johnny Carson?

RETROTECH - Bender's ass which could blow up from low speed collisions is a reference to a gas tank of a certain model 20th century car - rocket car's body is of 1950s vintage - videophones were popular for a short time during the 1960s but didn't prove practical. Even with recent advances in technology they are still not on the market. - Bender using computer punch cards for his dating service - discrete in computer terms is a distinct event

PRESIDENT REF - Lincoln, Washington on Presidents' Day car commercial - Washington says its these values his body fought and died for - Lincoln saying "4 score and 1145 years ago" is 1776 - President Al Gore on $500 bill

GOOFS - Zoidberg's dating woes have nothing to do with last week's episode. - Fry says he can control Amy's left arm but in the next scene her left arm is holding hands with Amy's date - Amy's and Fry's disfuguring scars will probably disappear next week

CULTURAL REFS - Put Your Head On My Shoulder: Paul Anka song - James Fenimore Cooper: writer of Last of the Mohicans - Jayne Mansfield: decapitated in car accident - The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant: classic movie about tranpslants gone wrong - the window floating in space refers to either the door in the Twilight Zone or the 2-D prison in the Superman movie - Amy and Fry steaming up the car windows like in the Titanic - The Crying Game: Zapp Brannigan wondering what special suprise his date was going to show him

SIMPSONS GAGS - Fry killing the car battery like Homer in Flander's r.v. - Bender's ass blowing like the robotic Richard Simmons

FFF

Bender's recall notice: --------------- RECALL NOTICE

Bending Units
Nos. 6, 22,
93-994
----------------

Outsite car lot: ----------------- Malfunctioning Eddie's

Robot-Car Emporium

Ask about our high-pressure tactics -----------------

Mercury gas station:
-----------------
   Hg's FUEL

LAST FUEL 'TIL YOU CIRCLE THE PLANET AND RETURN HERE --------------

Sign when they run out of fuel:
------------------
Hg's Fuel: 4750 miles ->
<- Hg's Fuel: 4750 miles
------------------

Bender's door:
------------
   Bender's
  Computing
   Dating
  Service

Discreet and Discrete ------------

eof

Remember the good old days before Futurama resorted to crass lowbrow humor?

In keeping with the new no-rhetorical-questions policy: I don't either.

Haynes Lee wrote in message news:[email]...

Looks like those reverse thrusters are in good working order.

I love these temporal time advance reviews. I like in advance to know what to look for.

Haynes Lee wrote:

<SNIP>

<SNIP>

I consider that a DYN should be something that would not normally be noticed on the first viewing. Since Bender's ass bursting into flames is an important and VERY obvious plot element, it can in no way be considered a DYN. A true DYN would be that, in the scene where Fry and Amy are in the closet for the second time, two of the boxes in the lower lefthand shelves in the background are labelled 'P' and "NP'. The P/NP problem is an important part of the theory of computation.

<SNIP>

Actually, I believe that scene is a reference to the monolith in '2001: A Space Odyssey. (it is in orbit around Jupiter, as was the monolith, with the same appearance as the monolith) The gag being that it has a sign taped to it reading "out of order"

Bill

Cletus the slack-jawed yokel wrote in message ...

Specifically, the monolith broadcast a message to everyone on Earth stating: "All these worlds are yours except Europa. Attempt no landings here."

Amy was able to go to Europa BECAUSE the monolith was out-of-order.

Hello...

In article , RickC wrote:

Interesting to see that they were following the film and not the book. In the book, the monolith's parked on Saturn's moon Iapetus. Apparently special effects weren't up to simulating Saturn's rings, so for the film it was relocated to Jupiter. Apparently.

<pedant type="anal-retentive">

Actually, that only happened in the first sequel (2010? I can't remember...) where everybody's favourite monolith decides that a spot of re-engineering of Jupiter is in order. And turns it into a star.

And I really wouldn't classify the monolith in Futurama as a DYN - I saw it the first time and practically peed myself laughing. I'm still waiting for a HAL 9000 related joke - I wouldn't be surprised if at some point in the future there's an entire episode devoted to a 2001 spoof. In case any Futurama writers are lurking here - hint, hint! :)

</pedant>

I read somewhere about a possible upcoming episode (third season?) which sounds like it was inspired by Arthur C Clarke's 'Childhood's End' - an alien species comes to our solar system, and completely ignores us. Cool... :-)

Anyone got ideas for old SF films to send up? The Andromeda Strain, with a computer virus wiping out robots?

Adam Foster

Haynes Lee wrote:

- one of the cars for sale is the "Plymouth V'ger" - a reference to the Plymouth Voyager minivan and V'ger, the villain from "Star Trek: The Motion Picture".

Damian P.