Thoughts on 6ACV05 - The Duh-Vinci Code - SPOILERS

[Reply #200 on:]

You are right willsterdude3000 and I decided to give it another shot. So I just sat down and watched it for the third time and my criticism remains.

I was not once "hooked" by this episode. The entire 22 minutes was so terribly dry that I could not get any interest mustered up. The Professor and Fry are by far my two favourite main characters so to see an episode with the main focus on them and still see a dry plot pains me. (I hope next weeks makes up for it as it seems as though it will be another Professor and Fry episode).

I have also studied a fair bit on Da Vinci as well (before Dan Brown had his 15 minutes) and his character gave me limited laughs and appeal in all. I was hoping to see many more jokes and political satire poked at many topics including Dan Brown or religion itself. Of course there was a bit, but not nearly what they could have done.

As I have said before, I appreciate the humour that The Professor added on a few occasions but Fry was a let down with limited humour and wit, (in his stupidity of course). I also appreciated the comparison given towards Fry and Da Vinci.

I watch Futurama and have been addicted for more than a decade for a few reasons. The main two are for the brilliant one-liners and then the political satire. This episode had very little of both.

AND, I have to retract my statement that this is the worst episode ever. It is now the 2nd worst episode ever as after watching 'Lethal Inspection' a few times over the last 48 hours, it now has that title hands down. I am still waiting for this season to give us something even close to what Futurama was last decade.

I know most people have a different opinion on the matter and that's wonderful. I am genuinely pleased that people are finding enjoyment in this new episode (and the other new ones) but I am still flabbergasted to know how as I just don't see or feel it.

Cheers.

[Reply #201 on:]

That's better.

[Reply #202 on:]

true that.

[Reply #203 on:]

FemJesse: Thanks so much for defending us artists. For someone to jump out and suggest that artists are somehow less useful or intelligent that scientists was just.... shocking. And completely callow. And needed an internet smackdown.

But I didn't want to be the one to do it. 

[Reply #204 on:]

This was my least favorite episode of all time.  I agree that even "That's Lobstertainment" was better.  The problem with this episode is that it combines the overall problems with this season and concentrates them into a single episode.  Now don't get me wrong, I love futurama.  My worst fear is that it will turn down the same path that The Simpsons took after ten amaziing seasons. 
The major problems with this season are that the plots are increasingly unrealistic, the basis for the episodes are not based in reality, each episode is too global, and as a result the characters lose their humanity and ability to relate to the audience.
The whole idea that davinci was from another planet and was the idiot of that world is so fantastic that it is not even laughable.  There is no historical basis for this episode.  In the episodes "A Big Piece of Garbage", "Where the Baggalo Roam" & "A Pharaoh to Remember" the plots were based on current or historical fact that were exaggerated and extrapolated into a humorous plot. 
This episode also has rippling affects for the entirety of humanity.  While this was done in the past, quite well I might add, it was not a recurring theme for every single episode.  When you take one of histories greatest scientific minds and make it out to be that he was a homicidal maniac, it takes away from the realism that goes into the episode.
The characters themselves have also suffered.  Having the professor have these profound, life altering realizations is just out of character.  I also believe that fry is turning into marge.  What I mean is that his sentences have the same tone that ends in an unrealistic pitch to it.  Where there was once a sense of reality in his voice, it is beginning to be lost.  It is almost as if Billy is trying to hard to be fry instead of just being fry and talking normally.  I don't know.  It could be that the lines are all so quippy and attempt to be so funny that there is no chance for real emotion to be expressed. 
Anyway, I do hope that I am reading too much into it.  I hope that future episodes will get back into the stride of the classic futurama episodes and not branch off into the likes of duh-vinci.

[Reply #205 on:]

Yes, you are reading too much into it. You're never going to enjoy any of the new episodes if you watch them with the attitude of "This had better be just like one of the old episodes otherwise Futurama's turned into The Simpsons or Family Guy"

[Reply #206 on:]

The whole idea that davinci was from another planet and was the idiot of that world is so fantastic that it is not even laughable.

I agree, it was fantastic.

There is no historical basis for this episode.

There's no historic basis for a lot of episodes. What was the basis for The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings or The Why of Fry? A lot of people are complaining about this season having too much of a basis on current events, clearly you can't please everyone.

This episode also has rippling affects for the entirety of humanity.

What like?

While this was done in the past, quite well I might add, it was not a recurring theme for every single episode.

It's not a recurring theme in every single episode now, either?

When you take one of histories greatest scientific minds and make it out to be that he was a homicidal maniac, it takes away from the realism that goes into the episode.

Why? You can buy that he was an alien but not a homicidal one? We hardly know THAT much about Da Vinci's personality, do we? Is it really that much of a stretch?

The characters themselves have also suffered.  Having the professor have these profound, life altering realizations is just out of character.

He had one life-altering realisation about accepting people who are stupider than him because they can't help it. That isn't out of character, it's character development.

[Reply #207 on:]

From what we know da Vinci had no friends or lovers, lived alone and spent a little too much time digging up corpses and cutting them up. When he wasn't constructing war machines, that is. Adding "he was a homocidal maniac" doesn't really change much.

[Reply #208 on:]

I don't think that these episodes need to be exactly like the old ones, I would never want the same thing rehashed over and over again.  I believe that futurama hit its stride in its third and fourth seasons. I believe that the humor and plots that were in these seasons exemplified the best of prime time cartoons.  My hope is that the writers will realize what made futurama great and continue along the same vane.  Family Guy lost a few steps when it came back after being canceled but has since regained its stride and is now just as humorous as it was when it started out. I believe futurama can do the same.

[Reply #209 on:]

With Family Guy though, the newer episodes are stupid, because unlike Matt Groening TV shows, Family Guy has to have a random Chicken fight that is funny in the first 10 seconds, but has to be carried on for 5 minutes, which I suppose gives you some time to get a drink, but nevertheless is a waste of episode time I don't see why Peter should be on the pavement for ages, sitting there in agony, while we wait for some plot development.

[Reply #210 on:]

cyber_turnip,
   to answer your claim that there is no historical basis, I disagree.  The episode "the devil's hands are idle playthings" may not have been based on historical events, but it did not take historical truth's out of context.  The very title, when unscrambled is a play on the phrase "Idle hands are the Devil's playthings".  This is one of my all-time favorite episodes of futurama because it progresses the overarching storyline of the show.  It holds true to the history established by previous episodes of futurama.  As for "The Why of Fry", it does hold to history established in 2000 when the show began.  Everything that happens in this episode is based on plausible events during the shows creation.  It is an exaggeration on reality but falls short of changing history for its own purpose.
We actually know quite a bit about DaVinci and to the claim that DaVinci dug up corpses and that him being a homicidal maniac is not a far reach is wrong.  The reason DaVinci dug up these corpses was to learn about the human body, much the same as Michelangelo did to learn how to better sculpt the human physique by understanding what lay beneath the surface of our skin.  DaVinci was a scientist that sought answers out the world, not to expolit his own fame and fortune.  DaVinci died in prison after he offended the catholic church by exploring the physical sciences.  He did not have a better life for it, but he felt the importance of his work was beyond his own life.  It therefore makes no sense that he escaped to earth for a life of fame and fortune.  He would have endured less persecution if he had stayed on his own world (in accordance with this episode).  I don't buy that he was an alien either.  History tells us that he was a devout christian and studied science to better understand God's Creation.  Why would an alien have such a perspective, especially since, in this episode, he already knew about everything he was studying?
 I do concede that there are episodes such as "freedom day" from the early episodes that have worldwide impacts and that I may be overreaching when I say that the current episodes have too much of this in them.  As for the professor, I didn't mean that his realization that idiots are people too, I meant his realization that DaVinci was a crazy scientist like himself.  I also find it hard to believe that his hero is DaVinci when there is no evidence of this at all in any of the previous episodes of this show. 
It is true that family guy has a different sense of humor, but family guy had the chicken fight long before it was canceled.  Well, the first chicken fight.  It does not change the fact that family guy came back on the air and reestablished its old humor.  As for putting the plot on hold, I challenge you to find one episode of family guy now or then that was not interrupted by a "like that time I..." that had nothing to do with the overall plot of the episode.

[Reply #211 on:]

cyber_turnip,
   to answer your claim that there is no historical basis, I disagree.  The episode "the devil's hands are idle playthings" may not have been based on historical events, but it did not take historical truth's out of context.  The very title, when unscrambled is a play on the phrase "Idle hands are the Devil's playthings".

Well The Duh-Vinci Code's very title is a play on the book The Da Vinci Code. Taking historical truths out of context is a staple of science-fiction. Futurama has done it before, see A Pharoah to Remember or Where No Fan Has Gone Before (the latter is pop culture more than 'history' but I think that's as legitimately a part of history as a phrase). Star Trek did it all the time.

We actually know quite a bit about DaVinci and to the claim that DaVinci dug up corpses and that him being a homicidal maniac is not a far reach is wrong.  The reason DaVinci dug up these corpses was to learn about the human body, much the same as Michelangelo did to learn how to better sculpt the human physique by understanding what lay beneath the surface of our skin.  DaVinci was a scientist that sought answers out the world, not to expolit his own fame and fortune.  DaVinci died in prison after he offended the catholic church by exploring the physical sciences.  He did not have a better life for it, but he felt the importance of his work was beyond his own life.  It therefore makes no sense that he escaped to earth for a life of fame and fortune.

We don't know anything about him 100% certainty. I don't understand why you're getting so bent out of shape over a plot-twist, and quite an interesting and intelligent one at that.

I mean. We 'know' that the Nibblonians didn't exist several years before the Big Bang, but that doesn't seem to have upset you. We know that Single Female Lawyer isn't a real show and wasn't knocked off the air in 1999. We know that Stop 'n' Drop haven't been American's favourite suicide booth for 2 years. Or how's this? We know that the cryonic technology that the show owes itself to doesn't exist and certainly didn't exist in 1999.

He would have endured less persecution if he had stayed on his own world (in accordance with this episode).

That's presumably why he went back home.

I don't buy that he was an alien either.  History tells us that he was a devout christian and studied science to better understand God's Creation.  Why would an alien have such a perspective, especially since, in this episode, he already knew about everything he was studying?

I don't buy that he was an alien either but I can also suspend disbelief. Futurama isn't trying to re-write history, it's trying to expand on its own lore. There's a difference.
And use your imagination, here are some potential answers off the top of my head:
1. History is wrong.
2. He pretended to be a devout Christian and to be 'studying' so as to fit in a bit better but obviously wasn't great at it.
3. The Vincians know something we don't and Christianity is absolutely correct. Da Vinci was trying to understand things at a slower pace on Earth, free of ridicule from people who were smarter than him. Back at school I'd often try to better understand things at home after a day where I just got left behind by the class because the enviornment was putting me off, etc.

As for the professor, I didn't mean that his realization that idiots are people too, I meant his realization that DaVinci was a crazy scientist like himself.

I don't think he had that realisation particularly. He modelled himself on Da Vinci, remember.

I also find it hard to believe that his hero is DaVinci when there is no evidence of this at all in any of the previous episodes of this show.

Why should there be? It's fitting with what we know of him and he's never gone into his influences before. It's no different to the reveal that Fry is a giant fan of Star Trek in Where No Fan Has Gone Before. Something we've never heard about before, but totally fits with his character when you think about it.

[Reply #212 on:]

A pharaoh to remember is based on mythology that aliens helped build the pyramids.  Futurama simply took this pre-existing myth and twisted it, still not taking history out of context.  And Futurama is not Star Trek.  Fry was shown to be a fan of star trek long before 'where no fan has gone before'.  In the pilot episode fry finds Leonard nemoy in the head museum and says "do the thing" from star trek.  Star trek is also an obvious influence on the entire series whereas DaVinci, to my knowledge, has never been brought up before.
And you are misunderstanding my frustration with this episode.  You are right in stating that I have no problem with the niblonians or cryogenics or suicide booths.  In fact, these are some of the staple of the show that I find most endearing.  I was disappointed with this episode because it lacked the tone of the previous seasons, much as the current simpsons episodes are not in the same league as the original 10 or so seasons.  They are still the same show, with the same characters, but have a completely different feel to the episodes. This is what I noticed in the duh-vinci code. 
  And as for the whole historical basis I say agree to disagree.  I believe that futurama used historical fact and historical myths from before 2000 to build the show upon.  You seem to think that they took history and use it as a jumping off point for its own lore.  In our mutual defense, I site the episode "Roswell that ends well".  This episode is based off of the myth that a alien landed in Roswell in the 1950's at area 51.  Futurama took this and fit its own show into the fabric of actual history.  It is not factual history, nor did it ignore the principles of the story of Roswell and area 51.  This is the blend that I so enjoy in the show, and I think that duh-vinci simply stretched that blend a bit to far for me. 

[Reply #213 on:]

A pharaoh to remember is based on mythology that aliens helped build the pyramids.  Futurama simply took this pre-existing myth and twisted it, still not taking history out of context.

I don't see why the show creating its own mythology is any different really. There probably is at least one person on this planet who genuinely believed that Da Vinci was an alien prior to the episode airing.

Fry was shown to be a fan of star trek long before 'where no fan has gone before'.  In the pilot episode fry finds Leonard nemoy in the head museum and says "do the thing" from star trek.  Star trek is also an obvious influence on the entire series whereas DaVinci, to my knowledge, has never been brought up before.

That only showed that Fry was aware of Star Trek. I'd have behaved in a similar fashion if I met Leonard Nimoy back when I first watched that episode because I wasn't a Star Trek fan either, I was just vaguely familiar with it. Now that I am a fan, I'd behave differently. I could understand you being annoyed by this if the Professor had made several mentions of his hero being Thomas Edison or Stephen Hawking or someone like that in the past, but he hasn't so it doesn't contradict anything. One of my heroes is David X Cohen but to most people this would probably come as a complete shock because it's never come up in conversation before.

I was disappointed with this episode because it lacked the tone of the previous seasons, much as the current simpsons episodes are not in the same league as the original 10 or so seasons.  They are still the same show, with the same characters, but have a completely different feel to the episodes. This is what I noticed in the duh-vinci code.

Well that's fair enough, but you didn't say that was why last time. You said you didn't like it for the reasons I countered.
I agree that tonally, The Duh-Vinci Code doesn't feel exactly like classic episodes of the show, but I'd say it's more like comparing seasons 7 and 4 of The Simpsons. They're both very different, but still both great. Comparing the episode to post-season 10 The Simpsons is just insulting, especially if you're going as far as season 13. It's not that bad.

And as for the whole historical basis I say agree to disagree.  I believe that futurama used historical fact and historical myths from before 2000 to build the show upon.  You seem to think that they took history and use it as a jumping off point for its own lore.  In our mutual defense, I site the episode "Roswell that ends well".  This episode is based off of the myth that a alien landed in Roswell in the 1950's at area 51.  Futurama took this and fit its own show into the fabric of actual history.  It is not factual history, nor did it ignore the principles of the story of Roswell and area 51.  This is the blend that I so enjoy in the show, and I think that duh-vinci simply stretched that blend a bit to far for me. 

Ironically after the 'Futurama is not Star Trek' comment, that episode was based on an episode of Star Trek. I see what you mean, but I just don't see why the show can't create some mythology of its own. They're still making episodes where they build upon existing lore (That Darn Katz! for example) but if a show does the same thing every week it gets dull. It's nice to mix it up a bit. I think the fact that Da Vinci being an alien was treated as a big secret and somewhat of a conspiracy justifies the fact that they were dealing with stuff that obviously isn't true, but that's just me.

[Reply #214 on:]

We actually know quite a bit about DaVinci and to the claim that DaVinci dug up corpses and that him being a homicidal maniac is not a far reach is wrong.  The reason DaVinci dug up these corpses was to learn about the human body, much the same as Michelangelo did to learn how to better sculpt the human physique by understanding what lay beneath the surface of our skin.  DaVinci was a scientist that sought answers out the world, not to expolit his own fame and fortune. 

I didn't say he dug up corpses for the fun of it. I'm just trying to make you realise that back in the day, Dr. Frankenstein actually is the archetypical scientist. There have always been mad scientists. Having da Vinci a maniac is not at all far fetched.

DaVinci died in prison after he offended the catholic church by exploring the physical sciences.

No, he didn't. Check your facts. According to believable lore, he died well-respected, a good friend of both the current pope and the French king. The myth even say that he took his final breath in the hands of King Francis.

[Reply #215 on:]

Bumpity Bump!

When I first saw this episode, I wasn't a big fan, despite having a genuine interest of the Renaissance-era. I've never seen or read the Da Vinci code, so that might have affected my initial opinion.

However, the Fry vs. Farnsworth stuff is so great, and I just love some of the jokes. ("Didn't we used to be a delivery company?!"  )

This episode has really grown on me. For some reason I love the stereotypical Italian accents and Bender catching the mace on his shoulder was oddly amusing.

I give it a solid 8/10.

[Reply #216 on:]

8/10 Some good jokes here and there, but the concept on Da Vinci being dumb is great. I enjoyed it a lot and found it to be solid. You don't hear much talk about this.

[Reply #217 on:]

Just re-watched this ep, I used to think it was great until they got to Planet Vinci, but this time I seemed to love the ep more than ever when they got to Planet Vinci... Weird...

But yes, great animation, and some of the best Fry moments ever that are very underrated...

[Reply #218 on:]

The music in this episode is phenomenal.

[Reply #219 on:]

So I'm finally watching these episodes for the first time. And I would like to write some short reviews on them. THis episode really didn't seem like Futurama, at least until they got to the other planet. It wasn't BAD before that..just weird and un-Futurama like. But once they got to the planet it was quite interesting and I liked it. The jokes and stuffed seemed more like classic Futurama even if the Da Vinci stuff wasn't. The ending was classic Futurama too.

7.5

[Reply #220 on:]

Animatronio: Basta! As I live, thou shan't discover the great secret!

Animatronio: Fie, thou fen-suckled bum-bailey! Thou wilst never pry information from these mechanical lips!

Animatronio: Not one more word shall I breathe. Not even about the great fountain where thou mayest find the... Wait. Thou didst not know about the fountain, didst thou? Curses, I must be punished. [He begins flaying himself.]

Animatronio's use of archaic words crack me up and make this episode.

[Reply #221 on:]

I liked this episode well enough, but there is one thing about it that bothers me because of the way it deviates from previous handling of space travel in the series. When Amy hijacked the Planet Express ship to see Kif, the other staff were in Naptosis to conserve energy. In this episode, the captions tell us it took 1 month for the Professor and Fry to get to Da Vinci's planet but they have no food or water (or space toilet) for the flight.

I did enjoy the animation of all of the machines working together like a giant game of Mousetrap. It was can to watch all of the gears set into motion. I guess the writers and animators have a thing for complicated machine set ups given we saw something similar in the execution contraption for the Yeti-infected Professor in Tip of the Zoidberg.

[Reply #222 on:]

I guess the writers and animators have a thing for complicated machine set ups given we saw something similar in the execution contraption for the Yeti-infected Professor in Tip of the Zoidberg.

Matt Groening has said that some of his favourite things are huge, pointlessly complicated machines, and conveyor belts. Which is why he likes to put these things into both The Simpsons and Futurama. I think he said somewhere that the one he's proudest of from The Simpsons was the machine that makes new bowling pins, and the best one from Futurama's early run was the Near Death Star's machinery for taking care of old people.

[Reply #223 on:]

Was a nice episode, gave it a 6/10 tough... The animations where thriffic! As well as the first part of the storyline, but after Fry and the Professor met DaVinci the episode became quite boring to me.
My favorite lines here were just a few:
Fry: I didn't came to play, I came to win. Now let's play!
Professor: Not distant enough!
Fry: Uh-oh... Nibbler died in the wall.
Professor: No, Noooooo! ...But possibly yes!
Fry: Not even a card...
Hermes: Didn't we used to be a delivery company? Professor: To the ship!

[Reply #224 on:]

I remember that when I watched this episode for first time was my favorite from 6A,especially because Fry's characterization and the ending was cute (also Fry talkin about "someone will be better than you,deal with it" is the truth).

And I find Animatronio's design pretty cool

But, am I the only one who finds the "I'm not big boned, I'm just fat" joke really dumb? , by the way 8/10

[Reply #225 on:]

I liked it very much expecially the scene of Bender who fights against the octopus into the fountain, which is one of the most fun scene ever for me. 

and it's placed in Italy, my country, so I have to give it a 9/10 

[Reply #226 on:]

I'd give it a 9/10. I loved about everything about it. Except, how Bender had the original Last Supper. Seemed a bit too.....Cartoonish? Anyways, great ep and loved the Planet Vinci segment of the episode. Truly Awesome.

[Reply #227 on:]

What stands out in this episode, is the usage of "My god!". That combined with plot twists and process of revealing the secret was both funny and little annoying.
The idea of smart vs. stupid was great with professor and Fry, but the outcome wasn't so satisfying to me.
I gave it 6/10; it was quite average episode.

But, am I the only one who finds the "I'm not big boned, I'm just fat" joke really dumb?

I think it's pretty funny. Clever, reversed joke.

[Reply #228 on:]

For a while, I really didn't like this one. But, after a rewatch, It's much better than I remembered it to be. I enjoyed seeing a main 3 (and Farnsworth!) story for the first two acts, and the third act was just perfect. I liked seeing Fry paired with Da Vinci, as it was oddly fitting, and Farnsworth wanting nothing more than to do well in the Math seminar was clever. The overall development of Fry and Farnsworth's relationship was nice and somewhat well-needed, too. I noticed the animation was top-notch in this one, also. I'd give it solidsnake's 9/10.

My God, I can't believe how many times the term My God was uttered! My God, I'm glad that Comedy Central actually made an edited version without so many uses of the annoying, in this episode, phrase 'My God!'. My God, what a poor way to shoehorn in a fact!

[Reply #229 on:]

I quite like this one, I especially like Farnsworth and Bender in this episode.  I also liked the line about Nibbler and the contraptions by Da-Vinci.  The only thing I can really say negative about it right now is that it's fairly forgettable.  I'm surprised that it wasn't PEEL's most forgotten episode considering how rarely I see it brought up.

 I'll let this one's score rest a notch down from solidsnake & MRM's at a nice 8/10