Thoughts on 6ACV01 - Rebirth - SPOILERS

[#120 :]

So Ralph Snart doesn't post much these days, but he told me via facebook that he liked the two new episodes (so much that he watched them both twice) and feels like he will dig the new season after complaining about the dvd movies for so long. Hooray! Hopefully he will come back and post again real soon.

Aww we miss Ralph If he does come back we'll throw a party! I CALL CUPCAKE MAKING!!
Edit: DOUBLE TOTP!

[#121 :]

The more I think about it, the more I like this episode

Also does anyone have a screen shot of this??

The part when Leela is kissing the Robot Fry she made and he starts sparking and the lightning is surrounding and frying them as they embrace. That would be an AWESOME wallpaper. And the animation during that shot was fantastic.

I looked on GotFuturama and they have some frame grabs, but not the one I want....

So yeah, someone help me find it??
thanks

[#122 :]

Here you go! It's not epic sized though.

[#123 :]

Here you go! It's not epic sized though.

YAY! Thank you! That is so cool!
I'm gonna try to get a few frames of that moment and make an awesome wallpaper.

[#124 :]

I just downloaded it off of iTunes and watched it and noticed something odd. In the broadcast version at the begging of the episode there was a video of hypnotoad with Bender saying
" On the Count of Three you will wake up feeling as though Futurama had never been canceled by idiots and then brought back by even bigger idiots."
 However in the iTunes version I downloaded Bender says
"This has been a test of the emergency Hypnotoad system. Had this been an actual hypnosis you would go live and watch whatever crap comes on next. Coming up next: Futurama."

I found this a bit odd that it would be changed from the broadcast version to the iTunes version, and wondered why they would do that. Thoughts? 

[#125 :]

@TheheadlessbodyofAgnew:

My guess is that the Futurama writers created multiple "bumpers" (I'm uncertain if that's accurate, since it's not a commercial) for the debut. One version was made for the broadcast version, whereas the other was for the iTunes downloadable version.

I don't think it's a big deal that they're slightly different. Besides, when the DVDs are released, I'm certain that one or the other will be included in the Special Features, so we won't miss anything.

[#126 :]

I wasn't complaining or anything I just found it interesting and I did a bit of a double take when I heard it. Your probably right about the multiple bumpers idea. Although I've never seen anything like it in any other show before. It'll be interesting to see if there will be similar things in the future of the series

[#127 :]

Woowee, I love this episode! As much as anyone else I was cautiously awaiting the return of Futurama, hoping it wouldn't be a blunder, and it isn't. This episode was what I hoped for: funny, emotionally satisfying, well-paced, and a bunch of other positive traits I don't recall off the top of my head.

To get into specifics...

I love the story. It's actually kind-of surprising how good the episode is without the Rebirth machine. It starts the episode off (and ends it), but the story actually ends up being more about what self is. Robo-Leela is used to great effect to make us question what makes a person who they are. It's as she says: She has the memories, the feelings, does this not make her Leela, or is flesh a deciding factor? This is further elaborated with the reveal of the episode's Fry being a robot himself. The entire episode you felt for Fry, only to find out at the end that he is also a copy-bot, calling your feelings into question, which is exactly what the writers meant to happen. Does it suddenly not matter that he felt sad at the death of his friends and love, or that he would in depression create a robo-copy of Leela to deal with his heartache? I say it does matter. I say that the writers making feel me for both Robo-Leela and Robo-Fry as I do for the meatbag originals, along with making me hold my breath on whether they would actually go though with the robots being permanent replacements (during Leela's funeral and Robo-Fry's reveal) and not really have a problem with it, makes their message a success. Robo-Fry and Robo-Leela acted exactly as the originals would have done, because they are the originals, on the inside (not literally). In this way, the robots are the true rebirth the episode is named after, not the meatbags who they came from.

Getting away from that over-analytical WallOText (Why has nobody ever nicknamed me this),  the episode is very funny. I'm a big fan of all the jokes they managed to squeeze into the classic 22-minute time frame, especially in this very important episode in the series canon. The entire Bender sub-plot is easily one of the best I've seen in the series, and it's consistently entertaining throughout the episode, with Bender's chucking-and-jiving in every scene providing relief from the main plot's heavy issues. I laughed harder than I ever thought I would at Leela accidentally killing herself when she made-out with her Robo-Fry. It's humor so dark you could use it in place of molasses in recipes. The dialogue in the episode is proof that the writers haven't lost their touch in all forms of humor, with such great exchanges as Leela saying she could start dating Fry assuming "the other Leela isn't the jealous type like I am" followed immediately by Robo-Leela saying "He's mine, you Slut-clops!", or The Professor's various misdirections. The humor was solid throughout the episode and I'll defend that statement if anybody wants to go against it.

I probably should mention that despite that first mega-long paragraph, I'm actually very pleased to see the original Fry and Leela advance their relationship. I've been a shipper since my first full episode ended up being "The Sting", but even I didn't want to handle another overtly dramatic episode about their relationship. Those have been done very well in the previous seasons, and from enough angles that I "got" what the writers were implying about the characters. It's nice to see them finally move on, hopefully onto something more interesting.

All this writing is really just a messy way of saying that I'm thoroughly happy with the return of the series and I hope to see it go on and on and on.

[#128 :]

Nicely said.

[#129 :]

Thanks. I was hoping it wasn't all gibberish.

[#130 :]

My expectations for overall quality were not set very high either and I rather enjoyed the episode.  It has more of an opening act feel or actually more like a bridge between Green Yonder and the new season(s).

Professor: Owww, wrong switch.  (Don't know why that gag got me so good, maybe West's delivery.)  

Oh, and @ I C Weiner, Leela's not fat; I don't see her that way at all.  To me she is the embodiment of female physical perfection, save the eye.  In fact, in In A Gadda Da Leela, her thighs seem a bit thin to me when she stands up.

[#131 :]

Oh, and @ I C Weiner, Leela's not fat; I don't see her that way at all.  To me she is the embodiment of female physical perfection, save the eye.  In fact, in In A Gadda Da Leela, her thighs seem a bit thin to me when she stands up.

It's called a running gag.

[#132 :]

Oh, and @ I C Weiner, Leela's not fat; I don't see her that way at all.  To me she is the embodiment of female physical perfection, save the eye.  In fact, in In A Gadda Da Leela, her thighs seem a bit thin to me when she stands up.

It's called a running gag.

Nice boots.  Do they come in women sizes?

[#133 :]

Leela isn't fat, she's just big-boned muscular.  When robo-Leela is first activated and she parrots Leela's "prepare for emergency landing!", she moves her arms around in such a way that you can clearly see that she has ginormous biceps.

I've watched this ep a few times now, and I like it more and more with each viewing.  I think that I'm paying more attention to the humor (or humour for you people that drive on the wrong side of the road) now that I'm not hung up on finding out what's going to happen between Fry and Leela.  For instance, Bender's dancing and carrying on during the disco scene is absolutely hysterical.     I don't think I really even paid much attention to that during my first viewing.  When it premiered, I probably would have ranked this ep somewhere in the middle.  Now I'd say it ranks somewhere up in the top twenty, maybe even at the low end of the top ten.  

A couple of people have mentioned that Katey Segal's acting seemed off.  That surprises me, because one of the first things I thought after watching was that her acting seemed substantially better than usual for a shippy episode.  I've always felt like she comes off as melodramatic and forced when Leela has a really emotional scene (like when Leela cries in the 'Hall of Screaming Skulls' in BBS *shudder*)  

Anyway, that's my two cents.   With it you can go buy 1/63 of a vending machine soda, or something.

[#134 :]

Random thoughts:

I glossed over Bender's eye coming loose the first time he ceases dancing until I saw the ep for the third time or so.  Pretty clever.  Also didn't see the Frybot twist coming, though perhaps I should have.

I agree with sO that Leela often doesn't sound very natural in emotional scenes, but I thought Katey Sagal did a fantastic job.

Spent a few minutes trying to ascribe some significance to the alphanumeric sequence 076A-438926 (or is it 076A-43B926?  It's the code that appears on Frybot's X-ray).  Nothing so far.

[#135 :]

Spent a few minutes trying to ascribe some significance to the alphanumeric sequence 076A-438926 (or is it 076A-43B926?  It's the code that appears on Frybot's X-ray).  Nothing so far.

Speaking freeze frame jokes (or whatever you want to call them), did everyone get the Studio1^2_2^1_3^3 sign joke?

If you do the math, it's Studio 54, which was a famous night club in New York in the '70s.

I'm certain that most people got it, because the sign was visible in a screen-cap of Bender disco dancing that was released a while back. But no one has mentioned it (that I've seen), so I wanted to make sure that everyone got it.

Admittedly, it's not the funniest sign joke ever, but it's a perfect example of the kind of clever jokes that Futurama routinely hides in the background of episodes, which makes watching the episodes multiple times so rewarding -- in addition to always being entertaining.

[#136 :]

I can not believe that so many people gave this episode above a 7 on the poll. I found this episode very dry and lacking the satirical wit and homour that it has had in the past. The one thing I did find great was that even after two years, the voice actors managed to keep the voices spot on.

[#137 :]

Some people care more about the shipping than the humor. I am not one of them.

[#138 :]

I glossed over Bender's eye coming loose the first time he ceases dancing until I saw the ep for the third time or so.  Pretty clever.  Also didn't see the Frybot twist coming, though perhaps I should have.

I noticed that to begin with and it reminded me of what Ken Keeler said on the "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"'s commentary, where he talks about using the 'ass explosion' set up for later to occur.  This is classic tv writing; foreshadowing.

[#139 :]

Personally, I found the episode hilarious for the most part. Maybe not hugely satirical (the stem cell joke was probably the only bit of satire that I liked) but funny all the same.

[#140 :]

The stem cell joke was one of those that made me laugh out loud the first time, and still makes me chuckle upon repeat viewing.

Can't wait for the DVD commentary to that bit.

[#141 :]

I enjoyed the new episode quite a bit since I got a few laugh out loud moments.  They beat the "we're back" thing a little much, but that is not a surprise to me.  Even the Fry as a robot thing slipped by me.  I need to pay attention more in the future, but it was a nice twist.  I'm glad to have the show back.

[#142 :]

Indeed, clever and subtle foreshadowing has always been at the roots of Futurama, and it's good to see that they still have the ability to do that. It gives me a lot of faith that before long, we'll have episodes of quality to rival even the old favourites.

[#143 :]

OMG!! Futurama is back in a big way!!  Rebirth was Awesome.  And all you people who are over-analyzing it really need to go back and watch it again.  There are soooo many funny lines.  Such as bender singing 'coma-chameleon', and the professor talking about the doomsday device he stuck 'all up' in bender.  After 4 superb movies, rebirth was the perfect segway to the new season. 

[#144 :]

Some people care more about the shipping than the humor. I am not one of them.

I hear ya, shipping can be pretty crazy at times.  People will go to great lengths to prove and protect their ships even if it means warping the story of the game...er... show.

So Hi, newbie here.  I'm trying to get a feel for this place.. I set up a signature but no one else seems to have one... hmm...

Anyways, I wasn't always a huge fan of Futurama or anything.  I got into it when it was on Adult Swim oddly enough.  I only recently caught up on the movies and I enjoyed them quite a bit.  Particularly the first one.

But onto Rebirth.  I have to say it ranks pretty high for me.  I enjoyed the humor and I dunno just something about "My FryFro is Frizzy" just made me laugh pretty hard.  Bender's Coma Chameleon dance was great too.  I love that song :P.   Another funny moment was "no YOU shut up we gotta get outta here!"  and Fry saying "Which one is the robot?" "We just told you you idiot!" was good too XD

One thing I really liked, that I think some people might disagree with, is that I'm really glad they didn't do too much risqué stuff right off the bat.  I think they should ease into it and keep a good balance.  I'm reminded of Ren and Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon.  I'm one of the few people out there who actually LIKED that series, but many people were turned off by how dirty and hardcore the show had become so quickly.  I don't want that to happen to Futurama.  Of course there's a difference in that Futurama was never intended for children, but so much of the Futurama I grew to like so much wasn't about dirty humor.  It has a great story and it's always so creative and new every time you see it.  Having said that, there were parts in here that I felt had been repeated from other shows, but I didn't mind too much.  It happens. Everything's been done.

And I enjoyed that they kept Fry and Leela together.  I was wondering about that because I had heard that they would have forgotten about the events of TWGY and not be together, so I'm glad that's not true.  I do wonder just where their relationship is going to go though. I wish that had been more clear. 

Overall a really good start for the series and I really hope it doesn't die out like Family Guy did.  I'd really hate that.  Here's hoping for a great 26 new episodes.

[#145 :]

For anyone interested in this:

I was just watching the free preview on Amazon, and noticed that Bender's dialogue over the "Hypnotoad" opening is a little different:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003S7JPSU

"This has been a test of the emergency Hypnotoad system.  Had this been actual hypnosis, you would go limp and watch whatever crap comes on next.  Coming up next, Futurama!"

I wonder why there were two different versions?

[#146 :]

Someone also mentioned the iTunes version was different as well, can't remember if it was the same as that preview.

[#147 :]

I'm watching Rebirth again on Comedy Central, and I like it more each time I see it.

Especially Bender having to constantly "party move" & whoop it up all the time because of the doomsday device "shoved up all in you"; I see that & I automatically start laughing.  Also, Zapp's victory yoddle.

[#148 :]

Haha!  I had command of the remote at work last night and saw "Rebirth" between having to talk on the radio.  Fry's love being stronger than various explosions was probably my favorite bit.  I almost wish they'd avoided the "we're back" jokes in the beginning, but I'll have to watch some more some other time.  It left me with a vague but strong feeling of positivity.

[#149 :]

I find it amusing that either five seconds of videotape of Fry taking a piss or his scalp suffice to reconstruct his essence.

[#150 :]

I really enjoyed this episode, lots of laughs the whole way through, interesting story and a really cool plot twist which I certainly didn't see coming. The structure was a little weird, but understandable given how much ground they needed to cover here. I remember being really disappointed when I first found out how the wormhole thing was going to turn out (I would've liked to have seen at least one adventure in another universe/time/etc. before the show went back to its normal time) but this was a really nice storyline and I'm happy with how it was done.

9/10

[#151 :]

I enjoyed this episode a lot more the second time around. I appreciated the jokes a lot more than I did the first time and the plot seemed to make more sense....I think the whole episode "clicked" the second time. Fry/Leela were cute together, but I thought they could have made that story more detailed. Although Bender's dancing was hilarious, it did seem kinda odd for the writers to make a plot that made little sense. The only reason on keeping the B story was due to the fact that it all played out in the end. I just think they could have done a better job on both ends. But like most, I was anticipating so much for the premiere. Overall it was a pretty decient episode. I'll bump up my score to an 8 because i'm soo happy for Futurama's return, and this episode was a pretty good premiere which seemed to tie off ITWGY pretty well.

[#152 :]

It was too "stfu the shows back" kind of thing.  They should've used bigger words instead of just rushing the story.

[#153 :]

Bigger words, eh?  Hmmm... ok, your comments have embiggened us all; it was perfectly cromulant of you to do so...

[#154 :]

It was pretty good for the first episode in 7 years...i'd say it's better than some of the classic ones. I was just expecting a lot more, but so was everone since it is a pretty big deal of an episode. Most Futurama fan were expecting so much. TBH they really didn't deliver what a lot of us were hoping for.

[#155 :]

You can't have immediate perfection after a 7 year layoff.  It'll take a little bit for them to get back into the groove... but they will.

[#156 :]

Yeah...they just need to get back in their game. Things seem a little off. But it's not anything they can't fix over time.

[#157 :]

 Could a character (Fry) have said 'penis' back when it was on Fox?

[#158 :]

He said it in the BBS, so probably.

[#159 :]

Which did not air on Fox, so probably not.