Thoughts on [3ACV03] - Tale of two Santas

[on:]

There it is, our "would be weekly if FOX let us" thread 

I myself can't watch it that soon, so I leave the reviews for you. Please try to keep the thread clean of chit chat. Bigger weird scenes get their own topic in the weird scenes board (d'oh). So, start reviewing once you saw it (and only then  )

no spoiler spaces needed in here

[Reply #1 on:]

I'll watch it. I'm going to tape it. Will post review tonight or tomorrow.

[Reply #2 on:]

Did they edit this? Because the ending was a little sudden. Bender get's kicked from sled and that was it.
Also, why the hell did they have to do a warning in the beginning and push it back to 8:30/9:30? That episode was very tame violence-wise compared to Anthology of Interest or some of the Simpsons THOH episodes.

[Reply #3 on:]

Those lovely people have once again made another classic episode.  The original Xmas Story has been my all time favorite episode but this new Tale of 2 Santa's may very well now be it!

The episode was great!  Great plot, great humor, great song, great gags, even a few inside jokes thrown in.  Sorry this has been the worst review ever but I can't explain it.  I'm going to have to re-watch it just so I can actually get everything minus the laughing and crying. 

Great Episode!  A+

[Reply #4 on:]

btw, great episode. I loved it!

[Reply #5 on:]

What a lovely episode and did you see in the clothes throwing seen that there was a bra and why does bender remind of kenny from south park?

[Reply #6 on:]

I thought it was really good.  Honestly, I can kind of see why FOX might have wanted a later time slot for this. (BUT THEY COULD JUST REGULARLY AIR THE FRIGGIN' THING AT 8:30 AND WE WOULDN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IT!!!   )  The show wasn't as violent and much as the theme was a bit too much for the younger set. 

The song was great, and I loved the Neptunian "elves".  Some great points were Mayor Poopenmeyer's comments about the execution and how it was good for the people watching because it wasn't boring and everything with the Hyper Chicken Lawyer.  I was really busting a gut with that. 

Overall, I'm going to say that I really loved it.  A nice little warped Christmas special.     

[Reply #7 on:]

I can't believe this was banned from the 7pm timeslot. I mean seriously, what the hell. This is way less violent than that stupid dolphin segment on the THOH(hell, it's less violent than a lot of normal Simpsons episodes). But oh well, I guess it was nice to have a prime time showing for once.

On the whole, I thought the episode was pretty funny. But slightly disappointing considering the year-long wait. That song might be the coolest ever. Also the court scene was pretty damn funny. I would supply my own list of witty quotes, but I've only seen it once and I'm too tired to watch it again.

[Reply #8 on:]

Should have been titled "Confiscatory Practice".

Funniest part was the Radio Shack Commercial.

But I'll hold further comment until it travels across time-zones.   Here is to another lousy millenium.

[Reply #9 on:]

I forgot about the Hyper Chicken.  When he pecked at the girls head I almost lost it, lmao.
The song was great along the lines of Herme's calypso ditty and the Robot Devil's tune.

[Reply #10 on:]

Just a question, was Anthology of Interest 2 held off last year as well?

[Reply #11 on:]

Yep.  According to Don Del Grande, it should air on Jan. 6th.  God willing.... 

[Reply #12 on:]

Man, this had everything. The Hyperchicken, Morbo, the Polar Bear Club, bloodcurdling violence toward small children, Coolio, Beelzebot, almost two minutes of screen time for Amy (I take what I can get these days  ), more violence toward small children, Bender getting hurt, Zoidberg Jesus... this show ruled!

Final Grade: A+

[Reply #13 on:]

That said, I hope this is the last time we see the Robot Santa. There's just nothing left to do with him.

[Reply #14 on:]

Entire episode was pretty good.  I especially liked Zoidberg as Jesus, but then again anything with Zoidy is great

[Reply #15 on:]

This was a funny episode, but it really seems like they couldn't come up with a good plot, so it was kind of sketchy.
I also like Zoidberg Jesus, and was impressed my 2, yes 2 Scruffy appearances.
Scuffy is just sitting there on the steps, then scratches his nose, and Santa's all like "HEY, I saw that!", and writes him down on the naughty list. That was sufficiently amusing.
He is also used kind of as an extra on the sidewalk.

[Reply #16 on:]

I missed watching this episode and Lord of the Rings because I had to work holiday hours. It's a bad day for me posting at PEEL. 

[Reply #17 on:]

Best episode ever!  I couldnt stop laughing!     My mom even loved this episode.  I did think it was pretty violent, although not THAT violent.


9/10

[Reply #18 on:]

My favorite part was the warning that came on beforehand.  that had me falling out of my chair laffing.  Stupid Fox. 

I liked the little girl who got hit by the bike. haha.

[Reply #19 on:]

I liked it, but I dunno..... something seemed to be a little off. But I almost busted a gut laughing when the professor blasted Bender with his shotgun.  The original Xmas story will still be my favorite, because this whole thing seemed pretty contrived. The elves were also darn funny.  Kinda makes me wonder why Elzar is so tall though. Good nutrition? I also would have liked to see GrunkaLunkas getting kicked by Bender and whatnot. Good episode.

[Reply #20 on:]

 

Originally posted by Kryten:
Man, this had everything, Beelzebot

As you know I havn't seen it yet because it hasn't aired in England yet but I didn't know Beelzebot would be in it! This episode sounds like it could rule bigtime. Is Kranzabot really violant?

[Reply #21 on:]

He and Beelzebot only have minor appearances.  Neither of them are violent.

[Reply #22 on:]

Is it just me, or did anyone else get an "Akbar and Jeff" vibe from those two elves that were always holding hands?

[Reply #23 on:]

heh "What the hell is Kwanza?"  I love the expressions on the faces of those kids on the cover.

Fry, after Hermes boards up the TV set: "I'm gettin' tired of this wood show."
"I've only got a few years to live, I don't want to spend them dead."
"Certainly, yes us, uh huh sir!"
"This is it kids, take your suicide pills so you won't suffer!"

[Reply #24 on:]

I think Beelzebot sounded different. Must be Dan C didn't do that line.

[Reply #25 on:]

Da' Quotes

[Reply #26 on:]

no, those were my thoughts on the episode...

[Reply #27 on:]

i loved this ep. it did go kinda quick though. They should have elongated it into a holiday movie. Which would have been a great relief to all the 'feel good' xmas movies they shove down our collective throats every year. And i was so looking forward to a possible L/F moment like last time, but oh well, i'll live.

[Reply #28 on:]

Well after resisting for a day I could no longer stop myself from looking at the 300+ framegrabs on CGEF. Well I figured it will probably be next Xmas by the time I see it, anyway from the grabs it looks like a really cool episode, I've seen the grab of Beelzebot who appears to be in jail? and theres some other cool characters in the shots too like a Sewer Mutant, that talking bird, Morbo, Clamps, that robot vicar, the cops and of course Robot Santa. It looks so good and is that New New York totally destructed at the end again?

[Reply #29 on:]

Ok, so I have beed harvesting the power of 2000 electric donkeys for a few days and today I finally watched the episode...    it's quite good.

As for your questions, poor New York stood absolutely no chance against Bender and his baseball bat, kwanzaa bot is a sore luser, beelzebot's total on-screen time is less than 5 secs, same goes for the mutant girl (but she sat least says a very funny line), the cops are weird as ever...    the robotic santa is a bit of a letdown, I've hoped that he'd be more evil after seeing the first xmas episode, with a bigger arsenal of deadly weapons at his disposal, but no, he spends half of the episode "away"...

[Reply #30 on:]

I'm not sure about this episode. I liked it, but I liked the first Xmas one better. I wouldn't say it's a bad episode but it doesn't really hold the hype created about it. I didn't see that much which would really warrant the later timeslot, not that this is a negative thing per se.
I'd rate it good but not great. Some lines were great ("let's see who has the last ho" (about)) , the professor going wild with his rifle was neat and the story was ok.

Now I hope AoI2 holds what AoI1 promised.

[Reply #31 on:]

I think it was a great episode. I liked those neptunians and I liked the pace of it. It was fast, but without being confusing like "Time keeps on slipping". I wasn't too satisfied with the end, but that may be because I wanted more. Zoidberg as Jesus was just gorgeous!
And it surely was violent. A kind of violence one wouldn't expect in a mainstream animated show aired around dinnertime.
But I'm glad Fox showed it anyway.

Ainoth

[Reply #32 on:]

While I agree with everybody here this was a good episode I liked Xmas Story better. There was just too much going on here that gave it a disjointed feel to it. Plenty of funny moments in the whole episode though. The Neptunian elves were great and hope to see them back again - especially the hand holding pair. The Kwanza-Bot was pretty good but was really just extra baggae in this episode. Maybe we will see him in next years episode and expand on his character a little more.
I missed John Goodman as the Robot Santa and hope he comes back in future episodes.
I thought Bender had some great moments as Santa and at the end where everyone comes in and declares themselves as Santa was great as well. I especially liked Amy's very fashionable Santa suit with open mid-riff!
Now onto some did you notice stuff. Wondering if these will be annual 'gags' in every Xmas episode of Futurama but in both Xmas Story and A Tale of Two Santas were a song (albeit the Xmas Story song was rather short), 1 crispy fried bird that was later intended for human consumption and 1 gift to the sub-terrainian people. A shoe in Xmas Story and a Barbie in A Tale of Two Santas.
Anybody else notice any similarities between the two episodes? I guess you could say the Xmas tree and Amy flying around with a rocket pack were the same.
RM

[Reply #33 on:]

 

By Ainoth
I wasn't too satisfied with the end, but that may be because I wanted more.

The PE crew huddled around each other in fear was a great feel-good christmas special parody, and would have been a perfect ending. But then they flashed to Bender talking to kwanzaa-bot again, and Santa kicking Bender out of his sleigh. That whole bit was unnecessary and not really funny(it's not bad or anything, but it gives you a feeling of indifference, whereas ending with the "fear brings us together" leaves us with a laugh and feeling dementedly uplifted. But maybe that's just me).

[Reply #34 on:]

I dont know if it had everything, but it had a nice X-Mas-song. Elves are back to work today: http://sunsetsquad.de.vu/tale2santas.mp3
Why did we have to wait for this for an entire year? Where were the violent sequences promised in the opening?

[Reply #35 on:]

They should do a song every episode so they can make a soundtrack.

[Reply #36 on:]

It would be great if they did make a soundtrack, the Futurama songs kick ass.

Oh and thanx Ginster for that link

[Reply #37 on:]

they should just do a musical. they have proven time and again that all the characters can carry a tune.

[Reply #38 on:]

Hey Ginster thanks for the song

I haven't seen the ep yet but the song is cool. I love the Bender part 

[Reply #39 on:]

actually Leela didnt sound so good in the Xmas Story song at the end with the piano. But this years special she sounded great.