opening line: "Smellovision viewers - insert tubes in nostrils now!"
it's the beginning of the new season of Futurama, and it's already gotten off to a roaring start with a howlingly good story about how Bender inherits a creepy old castle from his distant uncle, only to become accursed after being run over by a werecar - a creature that revels in running down humans, and eventually kills their best friend. However, Fry is miffed when Bender, in his altered state, goes after Leela instead! The two must put their differences aside (but barely) as they seek the original Werecar and destroy it if Bender is to have his curse lifted.
I must say, there were a great number of laughs in this episode, and they were good ones. And the plot made good use of all sorts of horror movie references and cliches. And talk about the design of Bender's werecar state - I howled when I recognized where the animators lifted it from (see CULTURAL REFERENCES for more info)! The only complaint I really have is at Fox - why couldn't they have found a time closer to Halloween to play this?
This was way above this year's Simpsons' THOH XI - let's hope Matt makes this a Halloween tradition to do a supernatural story with futuristic twists! Even if he has to find another network to do with it, thanks to Fox's non-commitment to putting this on at a better timeslot.
Grade - A
DYN:
- when Bender is running towards the hall of portraits in the castle, he's being chased by the apparitions of a flying toaster and a Micro$oft Windows logo?
- the uncle's son, Tandy, is wearing a TRS-80 T-Shirt ? (Tandy is the corporate company that owns Radio Shack, the distributor of the TRS-80 home computer in North America - also, Tandy is the name RS stores go under in Europe)
- dead robots get buried, rather than be sent back to Mom's Friendly Robot Factory for recycling?
ANACHRONISM: the hover-stagecoach being drawn by a team of horses.
GOOFS
- despite Fry explaining the concept to them in a previous episode, the PE crew still hasn't got an idea what wheels are? (yes, a wizard did it)
CULTURAL REFERENCES:
CHRISTINE: we only saw the car that ran over and cursed Bender in shadowy profile, but it was obviously a 1958 Plymouth Fury judging by its distinctive tailfins - which of course is a reference to the murderous car in Stephen King's classic horror novel which was made into a better-than-average movie in 1983.
THE CAR - the creature that Bender morphed into every night is based on the design of the killer auto featured in this 1977 film starring James Brolin. BTW, The Car (which also had a penchant for mowing down innocent bystanders in the film) was designed by legendary show car designer George Barris.
AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON - Bender's scene where he's in agony as he turns into the were-car is somewhat reminiscent of a similar scene in this movie, which changed forever how werewolf transmogrification effects were done on screen.
KNIGHT RIDER: mentioning of K.I.T.T. , the Pontiac Trans Am with an electronic brain that was the transport and sidekick to David Hasselhoff as they fought crimes in this 1980s sci-fi action series. IIRC, didn't they do an episode where K.I.T.T. had an evil prototype?
ALSO READ:
"Tales Of The Old Mechanic" - in the 1970s, Petersen Publishing, which prints Hot Rod Magazine, printed a humour mag geared towards car nuts called CARtoons. During the mag's life, they published a series which spoofed EC horror comics featuring a Crypt Keeper - like mechanic spinning tales of automotive mayhem. One of the stories, "The Werecar of Van Nuys Boulevard" , dealt with a man who, after being involved in an auto accident, morphs into a were-car that likes running people down! (the real payoff of the story is what happens to the guy's car). (if you have a chance to get ahold of your parent's stash of old 1970s car mags, seek these stories out - also look out for another story, "Missed Shift", in which a gang of Volkswagens wreak terrible revenge on a greedy mechanic who's been turning them into electric runabouts.)
QUESTION:
-was there a significance to that line of binary that Bender saw in the mirror that made him so terrified?