Thoughts on 7ACV15 - 2-D Blacktop - SPOILERS

[Reply #80 on:]

The joke of the street racers was that they were all well-worn stereotypes from various films, and suddenly introduced in a way that the writers are (sarcastically) imploring us to sympathize with them, hence the "verbal abuse" that amounts to nothing, etc. I found that joke to be half-baked, but it's definitely not a Cousin Oliver thing, except insofar as it's maybe satirizing how shows like that suddenly produce "important" characters out of thin air.

The car was definitely Speed Buggy, but for a couple seconds I was thinking more of the famous junkyard sequence in "The Brave Little Toaster." I don't think that was intentional, though.

Same here. Whilst I don't think that there was intentionally any resemblance, the destruction of an anthropomorphic car is always going to end up bearing similarities to the climactic sequence from Toaster, due to it being a pretty powerful image that a lot of people end up being exposed to early on (and thus it becomes a rather powerful memory that's easy to associate with similar imagery).

The impact that animated films end up having on children is immense. Disney and Pixar really ought to be more tightly regulated than cocaine. They're arguably in the greatest positions of power on the planet.

Interesting you'd bring up Pixar. The "Toaster" production staff included some key Pixar personel, and in fact John Lassetter had originally pitched it to Disney as an idea for the first 3D animated feature film (Disney fired him that very day). The Toy Story films, I think, were in part his attempt at revisiting the idea.

[Reply #81 on:]

Of course, "Neutopia" has its own problems, least of all being the narrowing down of the cast of characters as the story progresses...

I liked Neutopia; I thought it was cute and entertaining. I didn't mind the usage of the minor characters. In fact, I liked it.

DtBM, I understand the "joke" underlying the streetracing crew, but the problem is that the characters themselves weren't funny, and in fact, I found them very annoying. The whole humor behind the gang "gag", and most especially the unspoken verbal abuse crap, was lame and ineffectual.

Anyway, I've heaped enough written verbal abuse on this episode. At least I immensely enjoyed the one that followed.

[Reply #82 on:]

Listen as I recount the myriad ways in which this episode sucked.

The verbal abuse thing. I already said what troubles me about that, but it needs to be reiterated- it was awkward, hamfisted, and not at all funny. You can make plenty of horrible things funny- for instance, the "You Have AIDS" song from Family Guy. Just repeatedly saying that she's verbally abused isn't creative, clever, or funny. It totally flopped.

I hate these fucking drag race movies, and I really didn't want to see Futurama touch the genre. Really. Stay away.

They didn't do enough Flatland, and it wasn't as referential to the book as I'd hoped it would be. Although, I kind of giggled at the "3rd dimension? I can't imagine that! YOU'RE STUPID!" (And, well, that's pretty similar to the book.)

While I liked the visuals (especially the rainbow star), I can't help but feel like this entire episode basically existed as an opportunity to contrast different visual styles (the 2D segments and the awesomeness of the rainbow star). The plot and the jokes suffered at the expense of the aesthetics. Cool visuals do not a good episode of any show make.

You know what? I think I liked Yo Leela Leela better. But I liked the idea of the Professor being so attached to the ship. A generous 5/10 it is.

[Reply #83 on:]

After rewatching this a few times. it got really boring. I edited my rating to a 6.5/10 , or a 7/10. It kind of.....grows on you? Fry and Leela's Big Fling is still fresh to me, but this just falls flat.

Sorry, but this is just how I feel about the ep. Hopefully, this is the only real stinker of the season. I even prefer Butterjunk over this. The only real good parts was the montage with the safer PE ship.

[Reply #84 on:]

I put off reviewing because I wanted to rewatch this episode and do a frame-grab review. This is proving to be tricky for me at the moment. I'll have to do a return review. For the moment, this was amusing and a good quality episode, it had its parts I didn't like but it wasn't enough for me to dislike. 6.5/10

[Reply #85 on:]

Call me crazy, but I loved this episode. The animation was absolutely fantastic, and the story was well written and executed. When the beginning had the spinning 3D shot of the ship, I just knew it was going to be good.

I don't know. I just found this episode to be funny and clever, with an awesome sci-fi element. The 2D segment was one of their best yet, and I'd rank it at a level with Naturama.

Need I even mention the visuals? The entire episode was solid, without a single letdown. The opening racing scene, the rainbow star and accompanying planets, Speed Racer, Mobiüs race, 2D, 2D to 3D transition, the closing shot.

10/10 for me. Also, I already accept your dissidence and humbly disagree with your quarrel.

[Reply #86 on:]

I thought this was one of the best episodes from the new run... My opinion might change (and probably will) but right now I think it did a pretty great job.

[Reply #87 on:]

"2-D Blacktop"


Farnsworth piloting the revamped ship, racing against the other street racers


This episode is pretty good. It isn't brilliant, but it is good. The animation was outstanding (especially during the Möbius strip race and the ships transverse from two to three dimensions). The first half of the episode was hilarious, containing some of the best jokes and quotable lines from the new run. The second half ... less so. As you can see from the list below, most of the jokes and quotes I enjoyed came from the first ten/eleven minutes.

The Professor and Leela story lines interconnected well and neither of the plots took over the episode. I do however think that it does take a turn when the gang enter the 2-D universe as this twist does not feel like a natural change in story direction and feels rather random considering the rest of the episode. It looks great, but doesn't feel necessary to either of the plots. I don't know if my opinion would be changed if the jokes in the 2-D universe were good, all it felt to me was the Professor pointing out the "hilarious" difference between 2-D and 3-D.

All that could be said about the verbal abuse "jokes" has been said and I can't really add anything to the discussion. I'll just say that I didn't hate them, I just found them completely pointless and unfunny. Beside that, here are a few things I enjoyed from the episode...


* None of the crew noticing the huge chandelier
* "Done broke my spine ... nice rack though"
* "You wreaked my dear ship Bessie! I just finished naming her!"
* "This is how you treat me, after all the GOOD NEWS I've given you over the years?"
* "Your mouth just wrote a PayPal transfer request that your butt has insufficient funds to honor!"
* "Yo! It's on now ... before that it was off"
* Not a huge fan of Deep Purple but that song was perfect for the scene
* The pimp kangaroo was sheer brilliance
* "It's gonna knock your socks on, where they belong"
* I loved the cut between the beautiful spectrum seeping through the universe and the white dot on Leela's screen
* Bender and Fry acting like children, and Leela the mother, was sweet and led to some funny moments
* "Leela, Professor; don't do this, it's too exciting!"
* "Now who's in the lead? Seriously, I have no idea"
* "Third dimension? I can't picture that! You're dumb!"


All in all, it was pretty good. It's nothing especially great and I do find that the hilarious jokes from the first half slowly begin to run dry as the episode continues. Despite this, I can't deny that this episode was funny and the little touches for hardcore fans, such as the crack addict sitting in the street and the Bender mosaic, were great; I think I'm happy with the score I'm giving this one.


16.5/20 (B)  

[Reply #88 on:]

I enjoyed this episode quite a bit.  The 2-D universe was fun and nicely animated.  Flatland jokes just made it all the better.  As someone who takes great enjoyment laughing at the ridiculousness of the The Fast and the Furious movies, the street racing elements were spot on.  The writers captured the acting talents of Paul Walker and Vin Diesel pretty well in the street racing gang characters.  Though the lampooning was by no means subtle, I think it was a good take on the "gang of rogues who become their own family" schlock cultivated in that movie series.

I give it a 6.5/10

[Reply #89 on:]

great to see a new episode of Futurama.  Anyone know who voiced Minx?  it sounds familiar.

[Reply #90 on:]

Lauren Tom

[Reply #91 on:]

thanks

[Reply #92 on:]

I laughed hard at Randy's "IRONIC!"

[Reply #93 on:]

I laughed hard at Randy's "IRONIC!"

So you found the lampshade funnier than the joke? Personally, I agree with Gorky's stated opinion; that the scene would have worked a little better without that line. The joke was already obvious enough. But to call attention to it like that - to basically point at it and scream "THAT WAS A JOKE AND WE HOPE YOU GOT IT" detracts somewhat from the more subtly malicious flavour of humour that helps give episodes that "classic Futurama" feel.

I'm sure you're not the only one who enjoys it, but it's sad to see that modern audiences might actually prefer to be bashed over the head with a joke, rather than afforded the opportunity to discover it for themselves. It's yet another indication of the overall decline of intelligence in the human race, and the decay of civilisation.

We (and here I mainly mean PEEL, but to some extent I'm talking about humanity in general) used to be better than that.

[Reply #94 on:]

What?

The joke was obvious without the line, I found it funny either way, but it's the type of behaviour/reaction I'd expect from Randy. So now I'm getting picked on for having an opinion.

We (and here I mainly mean PEEL, but to some extent I'm talking about humanity in general) used to be better than that.

IRONIC!

[Reply #95 on:]

Somebody disagreeing with you on whether something is funny doesn't necessarily count as an attack, Danny. Calm your tits.

Edit: I see you've changed your wording. I knew I should have quoted that. It doesn't mean you're being picked on, either. All it means is that somebody disagrees with you. Which is something that you really ought to expect around here.

[Reply #96 on:]

Calm your tits.

Omg, I say this all the time to people in school! 

[Reply #97 on:]

I laughed hard at Randy's "IRONIC!"

So you found the lampshade funnier than the joke? Personally, I agree with Gorky's stated opinion; that the scene would have worked a little better without that line. The joke was already obvious enough. But to call attention to it like that - to basically point at it and scream "THAT WAS A JOKE AND WE HOPE YOU GOT IT" detracts somewhat from the more subtly malicious flavour of humour that helps give episodes that "classic Futurama" feel.

I'm sure you're not the only one who enjoys it, but it's sad to see that modern audiences might actually prefer to be bashed over the head with a joke, rather than afforded the opportunity to discover it for themselves. It's yet another indication of the overall decline of intelligence in the human race, and the decay of civilisation.

We (and here I mainly mean PEEL, but to some extent I'm talking about humanity in general) used to be better than that.

Tell me how you really feel about society.

[Reply #98 on:]

Really though, as much as I liked the episode, can somebody tell me what's so funny about the verbal abuse 'gag'? I'm struggling to see why that is even comedy?

The episode is partly a parody of The Fast and the Furious franchise; the verbal abuse gag was a way to make fun of the half-baked backstories such films give their characters to try and win them audience sympathy and give them depth, but just wind up being badly-written and totally irrelevant to the plot. Added to that, the fact that most of these films try to give their characters tortured pasts while staying within the bounds of a PG-13 rating usually winds up in these lame backstories being incredibly watered-down.

At least, that's how I interpreted the gag. I giggled a little at it in the beginning, but fuck was I sick of it by the end of this episode. Actually, most of the jokes here fell flat (bar a few fantastic lines and visual gags). Mind you, I already can't stand car racing movies, so this was never really going to fly with me, even if it IS pulling the piss out of them.

In summary: Not the worst Futurama episode ever, but very, very underwhelming. I definitely wouldn't have shifted it to be the (half) season premiere. Especially since the second episode completely overshadowed it. EDIT: Okay, so the verbal abuse gag had already been explained. Knew I should've read more than the first page.

[Reply #99 on:]

All in all.. Mike Rowe blows it again, ha!

[Reply #100 on:]

All in all.. Mike Rowe blows it again, ha!

Again, I do think this is Rowe's best episode to date. (Though that isn't saying much.)
Still, I think people pin too much on the credited writer. If this thread is anything to go by, the verbal abuse crap was the least popular aspect. We don't know who's idea that was, and we probably never will. It could've been Rowe, Cohen, Groening or anyone.

[Reply #101 on:]

It was...not bad, imo.

Gave it 6/10 which is probably being a mite harsh in immediate retrospect. There were some elements that were really well done I felt, and really quite intuitive and fun, but otherwise, just so much of the episode seemed to fall flat, or just didn't tickle me enough I guess...

The other two so far this last-season-bit were much better I think.

[Reply #102 on:]

2-D Blacktop drew 1.4 million viewers on its first airing.

[Reply #103 on:]

I feel like the episode dragged until they got to the second dimension. Once they got there, though, oh boy, this is the kind of shit I like to see from Futurama. What an interesting and imaginative concept. All the hotrod stuff, I could have done without. I'm sure they could have found a quicker way to get to 2D land and have an actual adventure there.

[Reply #104 on:]

I just watched this for the first time, CC had a marathon on and I watched 40% through Assie for the first time.  Alot of times you have to watch an episode twice before you get most of the episode...that said:

5/10
The beginning was good even though Im sure I missed alot of the jokes because Im not a TFATF fan.  The 2D part kinda felt rushed and not deep ("I amuse myself"), but something that I could appreciate on a subsequent viewing.

Posted by Zed: " just so much of the episode seemed to fall flat"
HAH...I GET IT!!!!

[Reply #105 on:]

When I watched this episode with the commentary yesteray. a thought crossed my mind.

Someone said that the back stories for these characters were more thought-out than usual.

My thought was whether they were thinking of making these characters the main cast of a Futurama spin-off (in case the original voice cast can't get back together again).

[Reply #106 on:]

Uh...no. The streetracing characters were made with the distinct purpose of parodying the over the top characters with overly emotional back stories from the Fast and Futious movies. The only thing they meant in the commentary was that they were going to expand on them to parodize the films further.

[Reply #107 on:]

Well, that's what I get for thinking while watching TV ...

SMACK!

Bad brain! No endorphins for you!