Previously on Century 31, I introduced the list for my top 25 episodes of Futurama's original run from 1999-2003. Here's a list of things that ensued:
1. Al Gore attempted to save and Fry effectively destroyed the universe.
2. Zapp Brannigan went to war with a planet he knows nothing about (by the way, the military surgeon sounds A LOT like Hawkeye Pierce from M*A*S*H)
3. The Professor's What-If Machine took us on a tour of Bender as a Human, the world as a large-scale video arcade, and the Wonderful World of Oz...through the eyes of our crew, that is.
4. Fry traveled through time as the combined result of a collapsed supernova and placing metal in the ship's microwave (entirely his fault) and despite his best efforts, killed his own grandfather and became his own grandfather as a way of correcting the disruption of causality.
5. Bender went on tour with Beck and staged a benefit concert for broken robots, only to go from disabled to able-bodied against his will, which morphed an honest gesture into yet another Bender-contrived scam.
Now that that's out of the way, I now present part II-episodes 20-16
20. (3ACV11)-INSANE IN THE MAINFRAME
Original Airdate: April 8, 2001
After being framed by at the bank by Roberto (David Herman), a sociopathic robot and an old friend of Bender's (go figure), Bender and Fry are sent to a robot insane asylum (the asylum for humans has been full ever since the judge ruled that being poor was a mental illness...) Fry initially tries to convince officials at the asylum that they've made a mistake and admitted a human to the robot asylum, but he is roundly ignored. As a defense mechanism to the fear of being paired with a later incarcerated Roberto as his roommate, Fry hypnotizes himself into believing that he's legitimately a robot.
This serves as a major inconvenience to the rest of the crew after Fry is released from the asylum and deemed "cured". That is until Bender and Roberto escape from the asylum and the law by taking shelter at Planet Express. Once there, Roberto takes the entire crew hostage. Meanwhile Fry, still thinking he's a robot, rises to confront Roberto and suffers a nasty gash in his arm during the face-off. However, since Fry is a "robot", he is impervious to the blow and successfully averts the hostage situation and dispatches Roberto to the authorities.
When it comes to secondary and tertiary characters, first impressions are everything. A good first performance by a new character can lead to additional cameos in later episodes. This episode made the character of Roberto a home run with fans of the show. Click the title link to see a scene from this episode.
19. (2ACV11)-HOW HERMES REQUISITIONED HIS GROOVE BACK
Original Airdate: April 2, 2000
When it comes to writing original songs in an unusual meter and rhythm for a very brief time window in a 22-minute episode, there may be none better than Futurama writer and Co-Executive Producer Ken Keeler. Don't believe me? Just click on the title link for this episode and prepare to be wowed. Keeler has written musical numbers for a slew of episodes in the series original run, including "The Bureaucrat's Song" (heard above), "The Elves have rescued Xmas Day" (In episode 3ACV03-"A Tale of Two Santas") and "Leela: Orphan of the Stars/I Want My Hands Back" (from the original series finale, episode 4ACV18-"The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings").
In this particular episode Hermes, the crew's Jamaican bureaucrat Grade 36 is placed on paid vacation )the ultimate penalty...) when his trashed office fails to pass inspection (another direct result of a Bender-related scam gone awry). In his place steps Morgan Proctor (Nora Dunn), a bureacrat Grade 19 who is immediately smitten with Fry upon discovering his slobbish manner (she's surrounded by neat freaks all day at the Central Bureaucracy).
The crew becomes suspicious when Fry starts receiving a number of benefits at work and as Bender discovers the truth, Proctor downloads his brain onto a disk and sends it to Central Filing to prevent him from spilling the secret. The crew then goes on a mission to recover his brain from the Central Bureaucracy and red-tape hilarity (hilarity?) ensues. With the help of Dr. Zoidberg, Hermes, who returns from vacation at what turns out to be a forced labor camp and assists the crew in recovering Bender's brain. Proctor is dismissed by the head bureaucrat after discovering she only stamped an important document four times when she should have stamped it five times to make the document official (see? red-tape hilarity...)
18. (4ACV04)-LESS THAN HERO
Original Airdate: March 2, 2003
C'mon, who doesn't love a good superhero story? (well, assuming that the franchise isn't pushed to a fourth or fifth sequel...)
After constructing a Super Collider bought from Pi-KEA (complete with six missing pieces), exhausted Fry and Leela visit Dr. Zoidberg, who supplies them with "genuine" miracle cream that he purchased from a travelling salesman (clearly our staff physician was duped).
After treating their sore joints, the duo is mugged while returning the super collider (it exploded mere minutes after construction), and discover that they're not only unfazed by his attempted assault, but are equipped with abilities that defy physical norms. Back at Planet Express, the two find the disclaimer on the back of the "miracle cream" that warns that super powers may occur in humans.
Soon after, Bender swindles his way into making the group a crimefighting trio. The three soon find themselves in the employ of the mayor, and fending off the cities greatest threats, most notably the Zookeeper, who attacks aided by a pack of highly trained animals.
After Leela uncharacteristically blows their cover to her parents (SPOILER ALERT: stay tuned for episodes 10-6), the Zookeeper pursues bigger game and abducts them as collateral to coerce the superheroes into recovering the Museum of Natural History's greatest artifact, which he was thwarted from taking in an earlier theft. The heroes are forced to commit the theft without the aid of the "miracle cream", whose supply had since been depleted and turn over the artifact to recover Leela's parents in rather anticlimactic (but hilarious) fashion. To see the uneventful exchange, click the title link above.
17. (3ACV01)-AMAZON WOMEN IN THE MOOD
Original Airdate: February 4, 2001
In what may be Zapp Brannigan's finest comedic performance in the series, The Commander/General/Captain/etc. counsels his Lieutenant Kif Kroker after Kif professes his love for Amy, the Planet Express resident engineering student. After Brannigan discovers that Amy has a business connection to Leela, he arranges a double date at Le Palm D'Orbit a ritzy orbiting restaurant.
Brannigan guides Kif into a flurry of social faux pas that sours the atmosphere and ultimately crashes the restaurant into an unfamiliar planet while attempting to fly home. After giving away their position, Zapp and the others are soon imprisoned by the planets inhabitants, a species of enormous Amazonian women.
Fry and Bender attempt a rescue, but are later imprisoned themselves. The battle lines are drawn for a battle of the sexes as the imprisoned men are given the tour of the planet, casting chauvinist barbs at the Amazonian women's basketball team, among others.
The Amazonians reveal that they're being commanded by a "Femputer" (voiced by the late Bea Arthur), who is displeased with the men's presence on her planet. After learning of their sexist indiscretions, Femputer sentences them to an unusual method of death (click title link above for more). It's up to Bender to distract Femputer and enable the women to free the men. This episode is widely considered by the Futurama fan base to be among the funniest episodes of the original run.
16. (1ACV13)-FRY AND THE SLURM FACTORY
Original Airdate: November 14, 1999
One part Soylent Green, One part a certain classic Gene Wilder family movie about factories, and 100 percent Futurama, This was one of the first season's early indicators that this show was in for a hugely loyal fan following. Fry succumbs to a highly addictive beverage called Slurm (origins and secrets unknown, but soon to be revealed) and goes on a mission with Bender to find a golden bottle cap hidden in a select can of Slurm (is the premise beginning to sound familiar yet?) After accidentally swallowing the bottle cap, Fry claims his prize, an all-access tour of the Slurm bottling plant on the planet Wormulon. Only it's not quite as all-access as it seems on the surface.
Upon further examination, the crew discovers the hideous underbelly of the factory, finding that the secret ingredient of Slurm is in fact waste product from an intergalactic space slug. Don't say you weren't warned...
The episode appeals to all demographics, there's enough gross-out humor to please the kids, there's enough smart humor to merit an appearance on the list. Eleven, nearly twelve years later, the early episodes such as this one still stand up very well against some of the newer episodes of today's so-called "top-rated" television programs.
Stay tuned, episodes 15-11 are next on the block. Rankings to come soon...
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