Future-Drama Capsule Submission

I'm back with my capsule submission to tonight's episode. No review here, although I did find it to be very funny.

S P O I L E R

S P A C E

DYN's

Lisa wearing a "Band Camp" shirt in her "12 years old" picture? In 2013, Ronald Reagan is appearing on currency? The mortarboards hovering over the students' heads during the graduation ceremony? A skeleton of Frink hanging himself at his house in 2013?

Refs.

Futurama -Title -Bender hitching a ride with Bart and Homer

Transformers -Couch gag (cars transforming into the Simpsons, with Homer as Optimus Prime)

E.T. -Garabeman's ship resembles E.T.'s spaceship

TiVo -Frink's "future machine" set up like a TiVo system (complete with sound effects)

Robocop -Springfield Police in 2013 resemble him

Comments:

MUSIC ALERT: "Take On Me" by A-ha (Senior prom music) "The Entertainer" (Snake's phaser/cell phone ringtone music) "Bizarre Love Triangle" by New Order (Background music at graduation party) "Sea of Love" (music when Homer and Marge make up)

Joe Klemm

Challenge of The Gobots -Couch Gag (Marge was a white jet, which was the vehicle form of Leader-1)

Actually, he wasn't just ON the currency--the currency had been renamed the Reagan. Which makes this a:

Previous episode reference:

[EABF09] Things gratuitously being named after President Reagan.

"True" by Spandau Ballet was in there, too.

Even more apt is http://www.briantroutman.com/thegreatest/igy.html "The International Geophysical Year was an actual event in world history. Taking place from July 1957 to December 1958, the I.G.Y. centered on a global series of events highlighting physical sciences and their applications, including seismology, meteorology, and rocketry.

Like a middle-aged man revisiting the "Futurama" he saw at a world's fair in his youth, Fagen's "I.G.Y." captures the essence of this postwar world in an almost regretful retrospective. The outwardly hopeful yet internally disenchanted aura that marks the song represents a society's aspirations of greatness while also reflecting a deeper understanding of the imperfection inherent in reality. "

"Brett A. Pasternack" wrote:

Did they actually say that the currency was renamed (from "dollars" and "cents")? I, like Joe, took it to mean that he had replaced someone on a bill or coin (or they came up with another dollar gimmick a la Sacajawea), and the term was being used as slang. Cf. Benjamin or...well, Benjamin is the only one, I guess. But you get the idea.

"Future-Drama" (GABF12) Capsule Submission

DYN...

..."Future-drama" aired five years after "Bart to the Future," which aired five years after "Lisa's Wedding"? ...this is the only future episode not to be set in a specific year? ...this is the first future episode where a vision of the future is seen by both Bart and Lisa? ...Bart finally gets his earring? ...Maggie is effectively written out of the episode? ...Lisa will have braces again at age 12 (and they are not clear)? ...Teen Milhouse is much shorter than Teen Lisa? ...Jenda comes to Bart's house to pick him up for the Prom (instead of the other way around)? ...the lone iPod serving as DJ on a chair during the Prom? ...according to "Lisa's Wedding," Nelson has one son, meaning that Nelson either never returns to his 2 sets of twins, or only raises one of the four? ...Teen Ralph's hair still hasn't filled out to the point we see in "Bart to the Future"? ...Martin's robot is labeled "HIIM"? ...the "Vice-President Cletus" recording is marked with an exclamation point, which in Tivo-speak means it will be deleted soon to make room for more recordings? ...Teen Bart's shirt is just like Homer's, except orange? ...Homer saying "Stupid flounders" seems reminiscent of "Stupid Flanders" (I guess both are annoying neighbors)? ...Bart is in the bar, even though he is under 21 (although minors have been in Moe's in the past)? ...Snake referrers to Bart as "teenage Bart"? ...Apu's kids grow up to be jerks? ...Mr. Burn's front door is unlocked? ...Luann Van Houten with an older-looking (and less buff) Pyro behind Marge? ...Kirk Van Houten is not at the graduation ceremony? ...what looks like Uter's parents behind the Hibberts (they look like traditional German immigrants)? ...Homer lets Bart's graduating class have a party at his underwater house? ...Nelson's twins grunt like Patty and Selma? ...despite having gotten Jenda back, Bart seems really uninterested in sex during the third act? ...Future Bart knows how to operate the astrology machine? ...Bart now knows at what age he will die (83)? ...Springfield's radioactive waste has now leaked into the ocean (after all, there is a three-eyed whale)? ...at some point Lisa still loses her virginity to Milhouse (as alluded to in 2F15), even though Bart saved her from going out with him in this episode?

Goofs

- In "Lisa's Wedding," Lisa and Milhouse are shown as what we assume are teenagers, and Milhouse does not appear to be an "emotionally crippled mini-hulk" - Lisa's corsage disappears - When the teens are dropped off at the Prom, Willy's hair looks red in the establishing shot - In 2F15, which is set _after_ this episode, Principal Skinner has brown hair (and is balding), yet in this episode, his hair is white - Why is Skinner serving as principal of Springfield High School? In 2F15, he was still working at SES. For that matter, why are Willy, Mr. Lombardo, and Lunch Lady Doris working at SHS, too? - According to 2F15, Martin almost perished in a science fair explosion _before_ he was to graduate while reading at an adult level - Homer has the purple speakers and table in his underwater house, but they appeared earlier in the regular OFF house - Dr. Hibbert is shown as bald at the graduation ceremony, yet he had hair in 2F15 at Lisa's wedding - Willy reverts to his "present"-looking self (i.e. no long grey beard) during the graduation ceremony. - Frink is alive in 2F15, helping to find the cure for 17 stab wounds in the back

Previous Episode References

The Simpsons characters in the future... 9F03: Supreme Court Justice Bart Simpson finally sees Itchy and Scratchy the Movie with Homer 9F16: Homer (with a plunger on his head) and Marge return to their 50th High School reunion 2F15: Lisa's wedding is foretold by a fortune teller at the Springfield Renaissance Fair BABF13: A Native American mystic/casino manager shows Bart a future vision where he is in a failing band with Ralph and Lisa is President of the United States EABF05: An elderly Nelson laughs at Homer's tombstone, which reads "Impotency Spokesman" EABF12: In the future, an old Dr. Hibbert watches Marge and Homer reunite (and the nurse stealing from him) on his hospital security camera GABF12: Using an astrology machine, Professor Frink shows Bart and Lisa their lives as they graduate from high school

DABF20: Bart and Lisa in the same grade 2F15: Lisa and Milhouse shown as teenagers 3G04: Bart has an earring 9F15: Lisa has braces 7F12: Simpsons at Prom 4F17: Mr. Burns stole Christmas from 1981-1985 FABF21: Martin's robot appears 2F06: Homer wants to live under the sea 8F06: A Simpson works at the Kwik-E-Mart BABF13: Future Lisa strangles Future Bart

References

- The Matrix (movie) The green vertical characters scrolling down Professor Frink's astrology screen look similar

- Futurama (TV show) Episode title, Bender appears

- Tivo Professor Frink's future predicting astrology machine has a similar format to this popular digital video recorder (same icons, sounds, remote control, etc.)

- Planet of the Apes (movie) "Gives Apes the Vote: You Won't Regret It" billboard

Review

This episode was very unreal. Professor Frink's (almost) correct prediction of Bart and Lisa's arrival was funny, but the astrology machine was kind of surreal. It felt like a THOH episode. Lisa and Bart seemed to have matured nicely and their characterization was right on. I was a little disturbed by Marge and Homer being separated (and seeing Homer try to date other women), but I knew that they would get together in the end. Overall, a funny episode (I loved Snake's phaser/phone - great satire of the convergence trend we see now a days). Of the 3 future episodes so far, I rank them 1. Lisa's Wedding 2. Future-Drama 3. Bart to the Future, with Future-Drama getting a grade of: B (If the five year trend continues, maybe Maggie will get her own episode in season 21!)

Thoughts

• Why is Maggie alone in Alaska at the age of 8?

- "Take On Me" by A-HA must be considered as quite an oldie by the kids eight years from next Tuesday.

- Ralph seems to have grown from a really stupid kid to a mentally retarded teenager

- It's no wonder Bart has two ex-wives by the time Lisa's wedding rolls around. He seems to propose on a whim.

- So, are we to believe that Chief Wiggum is wearing a Robo-cop type suit or that he is a cyborg (after all, there was a chicken where his upper torso should had been)?

• What was up with the uni-clams?

• What are the odds of twins both having a set of twins?

- I found this comment in the 2F15 ("Lisa's Wedding) episode capsule: "Lisa is in second grade in 1995, so she graduates High School in 2005, which means she's on the "five-year" plan in college if she's still there in 2010, unless she's in graduate school." So although in this future vision she graduates at age 16, I still found it interesting that she still ends up (in a sense) graduating from high school in 2005.

Matt Awbrey wrote:

Seems? I thought it was blatantly obvious.

Wizard.

Wizard.

Wizard.

So did I, but you never know. I'm sure someone out there thought it was a Little Mermaid reference or something...

One addition to an ongoing list: [8F23], [8F24], [9F03], [9F08], [GABF06] Characters chanting "U.S.A! U.S.A!"

Also, FABF15

Just saw this one: DABF14