REVIEW:
After a somewhat lackluster trip to the beach, this episodes really picks up steam in the second and third acts with lots of glitzy special effects. Kudos to Leela for her rousing performance as Jenny McNeil.
GRADE: A-
Refs:
"Ally McBeal" (TV show)
"Contact" (movie) - Initial pull-back going from Earth outward is from this movie, as is the concept of alien civilizations listening in on broadcasts from Earth.
"Star Trek" (TV show)
- The TOS alarm klaxons sound when Zoidberg escapes from the lobster
trap.
- Bender spouts Trek-ish technobabble when the ship is hit."Independence Day" (movie)
- President McNeil similar to president in the movie, albeit not quite
so cowardly.
- Shadows of alien ships falling over people.
- Blowing up of the White House."Star Wars: A New Hope" (Movie)
- Fry wears a helmet similar to Luke Skywalker's.
- The entire battle scene is from the attack of the Death Star."NewsRadio" (TV show) - Naming President and Jenny McNeil may or may not have been a homage to "NewsRadio"'s Bill McNeil.
Continuity And Suchnot
- Beef is extinct (perhaps Bender's grilling up tofu burgers).
Minutiae (from memory):
- Zapp Brannigan's Heart, Head, and Hand salute seems eerily like a Nazi
salute.
- One of the ships is a school bus.
- Although the White House has fallen into disuse, the Capitol building
is still functioning as a legislative body.
- While the alien is grading the episode, you can see some aliens in the
background by a water cooler.