futurefreak

salutatory committee member
Moderator
DOOP Secretary

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I think that as long as Kurt doesn't get hired as a Futurama writer, we're all reasonably safe from terrible, terrible episodes.
That's if he isn't one already, testing the waters with these "ideas"...
Sooo looks like I was 100% right and Neutopia is my proof. Huzzah.
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LorenzoDuke

Crustacean

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Anything that involves Leela doing the nasty (in the pasty, presenty, or even in the futury) with someone other than Fry, and vice versa.
Oh dear.
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Gorky

DOOP Secretary

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Agreed. I keep picturing the way the supporting characters have been utilized in my favorite episodes of the past, and comparing it to what we've gotten so far in season six. I mean, the entire PE crew plays a role in "The Sting," what with trying to help Leela through her battle with guilt-stress and the crazies and such, but it is still an episode that is mostly about Leela and Fry, and the importance of their friendship. "Godfellas" is mainly about Bender and Fry, but there are some scenes of the rest of the crew trying to cheer Fry up. "Insane in the Mainframe" is a Fry-centric episode where all the supporting characters get significant, but appropriate, screen-time.
Meanwhile, what's with episodes like "Benderama," where the entire crew accompanies Fry and Leela and Bender on their delivery? Since when is that how things are done? It adds nothing to the episode (and it doesn't even detract anything, per se; it just seems out-of-place). Same with the entire crew visiting that cyclone planet in "Proposition Infinity."
That said, there have been a few episodes in the new run where the supporting characters were used sparingly; "Attack of the Killer App," "The Duh-Vinci Code," and "The Late Philip J. Fry" come to mind. So the writers are capable of writing episodes that are more centered on the core trio (or just one member of that group)...it just seems like they're not too interested in doing so.
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DannyJC13

DOOP Secretary

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Too many non canon episodes. Those kinda bug me a lil. They can be fun but the last one (xmas) has kinda turned me off to the idea.
So you're not looking forward to Reincarnation?
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futurefreak

salutatory committee member
Moderator
DOOP Secretary

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Definitely. Less common humor jokes (ie. Fart type jokes) and more intelligent esoteric funnies. Even if I don't get all them the first time.
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Gorky

DOOP Secretary

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While I could do without a lot of the pop culture references, I don't know that they're such a problem in the context of the series as a whole. I mean, a classic episode like "The Why of Fry" has references to Mary Worth and the Dave Matthews Band (somewhat close together, too), but they don't detract from my enjoyment of the episode (the Mary Worth line is actually one of my favorites of the episode). "Love and Rocket" references Mountain Dew (albeit, only in the background) and Six Flags, includes a 21st century example of college rock, and has that exchange between Lrrr and Ndnd about Friends. So, even if the quality of the pop culture references has gone down (the Kardashians, writers? Really?), it's not like they're an anomaly and have only begun to appear in season six.
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Xanfor

DOOP Secretary

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"The Series Has Landed" mentions the Monsanto corporation, although I'm not sure if that qualifies as a pop-culture reference.
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spira

Liquid Emperor
 
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Episodes with the entire crew such as Farnsworth Parabox are a great use of the crew but in Benderama, they have no purpose being on deliveries. It's frustrating me.
This is so true. The whole crew did not need to go to Mrs. Astor's mansion to give her the souffle. I am pretty sure Leela could have handled it. We can throw Bender and Fry in there too because of funny. Also, why the hell do they ever even take Zoidberg anywhere? Looking through the list of missions on CGEF, he hasn't played an integral role in any of them. He usually screws things up, if anything. Sense: not made.
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Aki

Professor

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Concerning taking the entire crew with, Danny asked Eric Rogers and he responded why, read more here.
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DannyJC13

DOOP Secretary

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Also, why the hell do they ever even take Zoidberg anywhere? Looking through the list of missions on CGEF, he hasn't played an integral role in any of them. He usually screws things up, if anything. Sense: not made.
That's like asking why does Zoidberg even exist. Nobody likes him, he's a terrible Doctor and he always screws things up. Why is he there? For the funny.
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Gorky

DOOP Secretary

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Is it a huge stretch that maybe everybody wanted to go along and be part of the 100th delivery seeing as they were making a big deal out of it?
That's what I assumed, which is why it didn't bug me that the entire crew made that delivery. And it also didn't bother me that they were all deported to the sewers, because once they got there it was pretty clear that the main story was about Fry and Leela.
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Aki

Professor

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Is it a huge stretch that maybe everybody wanted to go along and be part of the 100th delivery seeing as they were making a big deal out of it?
That's what I assumed, which is why it didn't bug me that the entire crew made that delivery. And it also didn't bother me that they were all deported to the sewers, because once they got there it was pretty clear that the main story was about Fry and Leela.
Also, they had a pretty good excuse to be deported. If only Fry was thrown down, it would be weird since the others also harbored her. Bender was ofcourse busy with the party and so no-one deported him.
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Gorky

DOOP Secretary

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Exactly. And I actually find it kind of sweet that the entire crew goes to the mayor's office to plead Leela's case. Those cute, we're-a-bizarre-kind-of-family moments work for me, and I think that's when the use of the entire crew is most justified.
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Aki

Professor

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Indeed. I have some high hopes about Cold Warriors, on how the entire crew will play in pretty nicely in that story, while at the same time having a side story of Fry and Leela as Could be kind of 6ACV12-ish, I think.
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Xanfor

DOOP Secretary

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Exactly. And I actually find it kind of sweet that the entire crew goes to the mayor's office to plead Leela's case. Those cute, we're-a-bizarre-kind-of-family moments work for me, and I think that's when the use of the entire crew is most justified. They might not be a traditional family, like the Murphy's next door or the lesbian coven across the street, but they are a family.
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spira

Liquid Emperor
 
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Exactly. And I actually find it kind of sweet that the entire crew goes to the mayor's office to plead Leela's case. Those cute, we're-a-bizarre-kind-of-family moments work for me, and I think that's when the use of the entire crew is most justified.
Yeah, that didn't bother me in the slightest, quite the opposite, nor did all of them getting deported because that made sense and also most of the time they were chillin' in the land boat or just being part of the crowd. Xanfor, haha, cute.
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Lissany

Crustacean

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I mean, a classic episode like "The Why of Fry" has references to Mary Worth and the Dave Matthews Band (somewhat close together, too), but they don't detract from my enjoyment of the episode (the Mary Worth line is actually one of my favorites of the episode). "Love and Rocket" references Mountain Dew (albeit, only in the background) and Six Flags, includes a 21st century example of college rock, and has that exchange between Lrrr and Ndnd about Friends. So, even if the quality of the pop culture references has gone down (the Kardashians, writers? Really?), it's not like they're an anomaly and have only begun to appear in season six.
Yes, but the pop culture references in the past at least seemed to make sense in the context. I mean, the items that you used as examples were things that Fry actually experienced - Fry actually listened to Dave Matthews, it has been established that Omicron Persei 8 is watching 1990s sitcoms and so on. The Kardashians are something that Fry would have not experienced as he lucikily missed out on that by being frozen. The joke seems so forced in there with no relevance just to take a dig. More Family Guy style than Futurama.
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