The Futurama "Random Order" Test

[Reply #80 on:]

Then the whole Episode or Character Fall Madness would belong to the Infosphere and not PEEL either

[Reply #81 on:]

The wiki's about PEEL, not about Futurama. If you desperately want to wiki this, it belongs on the Infosphere, rather than wikiPEELia.

Then the whole Episode or Character Fall Madness would belong to the Infosphere and not PEEL either

Nope. You seem to be confused. The fall madness thing is something that we do every so often on PEEL. It's a repeating event. The Random Order Test is not. It's something that a few PEELers may do once as a method of evaluating the perceived decline in show quality. It's a statistical analysis tool, and it's directed at the show in an effort to address fan concerns, rather than a community activity undertaken purely for enjoyment.

How dare you roll your eyes at me, sir?

* tnuk rolls an entire Beholder at Bend-err

[Reply #82 on:]

There are eyeless Beholders

Show spoiler

Also, who knows if it will only be done once, might be done after Season 7 again, or some more seasons down the line.

And it is a PEEL Invention overall, I really don't think it would fit into the Infosphere one bit.

[Reply #83 on:]

It doesn't really fit on wikiPEELia either, that's all I'm saying. The wiki is more about the people and the website than their Futurama fandom, after all. It manages to encompass the Fall Madness, but this would be stretching it.

IMO. YMMV of course.

[Reply #84 on:]

Oh, that's handy. Amazon Woman and Birdbot are both on the same disc 

[Reply #85 on:]

I don't see why this couldn't be put on the Wiki, but I'll just let you boys argue about it all you want. It's what any good woman would do.

And I'm so excited that people are actually doing this. I should have some free time either tonight or Friday night; I'll probably just breeze through all three episodes super quickly, which could be either really good or really bad for me in terms of how it will affect my evaluations.

[Reply #86 on:]

I watched Birdbot. Little time for any of the others. I just rewatched Overclockwise like less than a week ago, haha - funny that it ended up in week 1 of this event.

I don't see why this can't go on wikiPEELia. I mean, it's a PEEL thing, done by PEELers.

[Reply #87 on:]

Oh wow, there's a wiki for this site? That's pretty cool.

[Reply #88 on:]

I dunno...I watched first AWitM a day or two ago, and then Birdbot last night...I'm not really sensing any changes in my first responses to these two episodes. Remind me again: what are we supposed to be aware of while we're watching? What are we supposed to be noting? Like, has our assessment of their quality changed?

[Reply #89 on:]

The idea here is that most of us, when we first saw the series, a.) watched it straight through in something approximating production or broadcast order; or at least, b.) had seen the original run (the first four seasons) in some kind of order before season six came along. Of course, there are posters who only got to know the series completely after the movies came out, or even after season six had already begun airing, but I still think this little experiment would be useful to them. We're essentially trying to gauge how well the new run compares to the old one--using the criteria I listed in bullet-point form on the previous page--to see if there has really been a dip in quality, or if we're just being too harsh on the new episodes because they aren't the old episodes that most of us had come to love well before the series was renewed.

For my part, I know that I watched the first four seasons on an almost constant (though not chronological) loop between 2004 and 2007, and I came to think of those episodes as being, well, it; they were the only 72 episodes of a show that I felt was canceled too soon, and that made me get the warm-and-fuzzies just thinking about them. I loved them all so, and didn't want to admit to many flaws within those first four seasons, because why rag on something that was in such limited supply in the first place? This, I suppose, is the definition of nostalgia goggles--and these are what we are trying to prove or disprove the existence of by rewatching the series in a random order.

I don't know if I'm making any sense here. Basically, think about all the criticisms that people have made against season six (which, again, I bulleted on the previous page), and note whether or not some of these "flaws" (too many pop culture references, for example, or uneven characterization) have always existed in Futurama in some form. By watching episodes from season six alongside those of the original run, hopefully you can kind-of-but-not-really stop thinking in terms of seasons and your preconceived notions of their quality, and just start looking at the episodes as part of this series that happens to be composed of 102 discrete stories.

[Reply #90 on:]

Thanks, Gorky. I need to keep in mind that the full list of our viewing "assignments" and the criteria you created are on page 2 of this thread.

I watched Overclockwise just this past weekend, so I'm not sure how important it is for me to watch it again, according to the prescribed order. But I can say now that out of the three, I rate that as the best of the bunch. I don't know if this is also something we should be tracking.

And sorry if my thoughts are in the wrong place, but I did already provide remarks/reviews of Amazon and Birdbot in their respective threads.

[Reply #91 on:]

Just finished watching "Overclockwise." Just for kicks, here's how I rated all three of this week's episodes...

Amazon Women in the Mood - 8/10 (This one actually went down a bit for me; I remembered it as being more brilliant than it was.)

The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz - 8.5/10 (I've always had a soft spot for this one, so my opinion of it didn't really change.)

Overclockwise - 10/10 (It may have been silly to be rewatching this episode yet again so close to its initial airing, but I still love it.)

[Reply #92 on:]

"She's built like a steakhouse, but she handles like a bistro!"

Best line of the episode, if you ask me.

[Reply #93 on:]

I definitely agree that Overclockwise is the best of the three here. Lots of people rate Amazon Women really highly but eh... for me it was funny until they hit Amazonia, and then it went downhill from there.

[Reply #94 on:]

If someone is so inclined, perhaps the episode rated most highly by the most participants among the bunch should be tracked. You know, hard, cold data and what not.

[Reply #95 on:]

Seen all three within the last couple of days. The short of it is Amazon Women In The Mood is the best because it's exceptional, then Birdbot of Ice-Catraz which is a good solid good ep, but Overclockwise was far less enjoyable due to many flaws. Overclockwise is one of the only episodes ever that I enjoyed less on repeat viewing ...

[Reply #96 on:]

If someone is so inclined, perhaps the episode rated most highly by the most participants among the bunch should be tracked. You know, hard, cold data and what not.

Hmmm...that sounds like a job for someone who's not me. Perhaps tnuk?

(Though I will say that I'm keeping track of my own ratings so that I can finally post an accurate best-to-worst episode list in that Order Up thread.)

Anyway, here is the list o' episodes for the coming week...

Week of 09/18/11
1. Bendless Love
2. A Pharaoh to Remember
3. Where No Fan Has Gone Before

I recently rewatched both BL and APtR, and I was unimpressed with both of them. I doubt my opinion will have changed much since then, but I guess I'll give 'em another go.

[Reply #97 on:]

If someone is so inclined, perhaps the episode rated most highly by the most participants among the bunch should be tracked. You know, hard, cold data and what not.

Hmmm...that sounds like a job for someone who's not me. Perhaps tnuk?

Okay, I'll do it, since I pitched the idea. I don't know how useful it would be, but it might be interesting.

[Reply #98 on:]

What do you guys use to randomise the episodes? tnuk's list? I used Random.org, got this list:

Show spoiler

1.A Flight to Remember
 2.Mars University
 3.Into the Wild Green Yonder
 4.That's Lobstertainment!
 5.Proposition Infinity
 6.A Big Piece of Garbage
 7.Bender Gets Made
 8.Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles
 9.Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch
 10.The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings
 11.I Second that Emotion
 12.The Tip of the Zoidberg
 13.The Why of Fry
 14.Law and Oracle
 15.I, Roommate
 16.The Duh-Vinci Code
 17.A Taste of Freedom
 18.The Late Philip J. Fry
 19.Time Keeps on Slippin'
 20.Godfellas
 21.Xmas Story
 22.Bender Should Not Be Allowed on Television
 23.Lethal Inspection
 24.My Three Suns
 25.Spanish Fry
 26.The Farnsworth Parabox
 27.Crimes of the Hot
 28.The Futurama Holiday Spectacular
 29.Fry am the Egg Man
 30.Brannigan, Begin Again
 31.Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences
 32.Yo Leela Leela
 33.In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela
 34.Where No Fan Has Gone Before
 35.Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?
 36.A Bicyclops Built for Two
 37.Rebirth
 38.Raging Bender
 39.Jurassic Bark
 40.Fry and the Slurm Factory
 41.Fear of a Bot Planet
 42.Love's Labours Lost in Space
 43.Bend Her
 44.Insane in the Mainframe
 45.Roswell that Ends Well
 46.Leela's Homeworld
 47.The Lesser of Two Evils
 48.Obsoletely Fabulous
 49.I Dated a Robot
 50.Anthology of Interest II
 51.The Series Has Landed
 52.A Pharaoh to Remember
 53.A Leela of Her Own
 54.Space Pilot 3000
 55.When Aliens Attack
 56.Bender's Big Score
 57.The Deep South
 58.Love and Rocket
 59.War Is the H-Word
 60.The Prisoner of Benda
 61.Less than Hero
 62.A Clone of My Own
 63.The Honking
 64.Where the Buggalo Roam
 65.Anthology of Interest I
 66.Neutopia
 67.All the Presidents' Heads
 68.Attack of the Killer App
 69.Put Your Head on My Shoulder
 70.Cold Warriors
 71.Reincarnation
 72.Möbius Dick
 73.Bender's Game
 74.Three Hundred Big Boys
 75.Parasites Lost
 76.That Darn Katz!
 77.Bendin' in the Wind
 78.A Head in the Polls
 79.The Day the Earth Stood Stupid
 80.The Cryonic Woman
 81.A Fishful of Dollars
 82.The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz
 83.Mother's Day
 84.How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back
 85.The Route of All Evil
 86.The Sting
 87.Amazon Women in the Mood
 88.Overclockwise
 89.Ghost in the Machines
 90.A Tale of Two Santas
 91.The Problem with Popplers
 92.The Cyber House Rules
 93.The Beast with a Billion Backs
 94.The Mutants Are Revolting
 95.Hell Is Other Robots
 96.The Silence of the Clamps
 97.The 30% Iron Chef
 98.Benderama
 99.The Luck of the Fryrish
 100.Bendless Love
 101.A Clockwork Origin
 102.Future Stock

[Reply #99 on:]

We already have a list. Gorky said she used this.

[Reply #100 on:]

We already have a list. Gorky said she used this.

I never said you didn't.

[Reply #101 on:]

Fair enough. But no, we didn't use tnuk's list because it didn't include the end of 6B.

[Reply #102 on:]

Okay, I watched this week's assignments all in one run. This is how I would rate them:

1. Bendless Love 8/10
I wasn't too keen on the main plot because some parts of it didn't seem believable. Angelene falling for Flexo. On their date she says that all the things she now likes about the new Flexo (Bender) weren't like him at all. Eventually she finds out - and yet says that Bender reminded her of why she loved Flexo when that's not true at all.
Also, Bender suddenly loving her so much that he saves Flexo. That may be cute, but completely out of character.
Other than that, a good episode though with a wonderful B-plot. "There, little friend! Good as new!"

2. A Pharaoh to Remember 6/10
Never liked this one too much. It was a little funny to have first overly nice Bender in the former episode and now the opposite. Here however, it's too extreme. Bender is acting like a jerk throughout the whole episode. It was most imminent in the funeral scene but also later in space Egypt, when he happily enslaves Leela and even his pal Fry. It was mildly funny and the story was somewhat interesting. The scene in which Fry and Leela manipulate Bender into destroying his monument by pretending to have forgotten about him was really hilarious. Other than that, generic-feeling episode.

3. Where No Fan Has Gone Before 6/10
You probably must have watched Star Trek to "get" this episode. The story seems clever, but I don't think I chuckled even a single time while watching it. Also didn't like Leela making out with one of those Star Trek guys with Fry just standing there being indifferent.

[Reply #103 on:]

Sorry I'm a bit late but here's the ratings for last weeks

Amazon woman in the mood-6/10
      The Birdbot of Ice-catraz-5/10
                      Overclockwise-8/10

So yes Overclockwise is the best of week 1

[Reply #104 on:]

Can someone dig up the review thread for "Pharoah" and bump it up? I searched but couldn't find it. This ep has got to be one of the few that fill me with disgust, but I'll save that for the actual thread.

[Reply #105 on:]

I linked to it in one of my posts up-thread; all three episode titles for this week are links to their respective review threads.

[Reply #106 on:]

When I miss obvious things like that, it's because I am using my iPhone, without my glasses on, and I can't see. Yeah...yeah, that's it. That's the ticket.

Thanks, Gorky.

[Reply #107 on:]

Okay, I finished the assignment. Carpe diem and what not. It was my birthday Sunday (no housework, no regular work, no nothing on the lapper!) and I had the day off yesterday, so I had the time to do this. I posted my reviews in the appropriate threads.

Bendless Love: 7.5/10
APtR: 3/10
WNFHGB: 10/10

By far, my favorite was the Star Trek parody/homage. Excellent.

Oops, sorry for the double post. I didn't notice the last one was mine until too late.

[Reply #108 on:]

Yeah, I have to say I wasn't too sure whether I was supposed to write the reviews in this thread or the episode thread or nowhere at all...

[Reply #109 on:]

What happens if your like 3 weeks late with the feedback?

[Reply #110 on:]

Finally got around to watching this week's episodes. Here be my ratings:

Bendless Love - 6/10
A Pharaoh to Remember - 6/10
Where No Fan Has Gone Before - 9.5/10

Not a bad bunch of episodes by any means, but WNFHGB is the best of the three by far. I had forgotten how much I enjoy that one.

Also:

Yeah, I have to say I wasn't too sure whether I was supposed to write the reviews in this thread or the episode thread or nowhere at all...

I think the simplest and neatest way to go about it is to review the individual episodes in their respective threads, then discuss how the three episodes compare to one another here. There's no real problem with reviewing the individual episodes in this thread, like you did this week, but for organization's sake it makes more sense to just discuss each episode in its particular review thread.

What happens if your like 3 weeks late with the feedback?

No biggie. It doesn't matter how quickly you watch the episodes (we decided to set it at three per week because this seemed the most convenient and efficient way to go about it, but obviously some people are busier than others), just the order in which you watch them. You could get several weeks behind, and just catch up when you have the time--as long as you watch the episodes in their predetermined order.

And just a big ol' thank you to everyone who's been participating in this so far. I know it's been kind of tough for people, schedule-wise, but it's cool to get the point of view of a lot of posters who weren't around PEEL when these episodes initially aired.

[Reply #111 on:]

Thanks for clearing that up

[Reply #112 on:]

You are quite welcome.

This week's episode list

Week of 09/25/11
1. The Route of All Evil
2. Love's Labours Lost in Space
3. A Bicyclops Built for Two

I enjoy all three of these episodes quite a bit, so this ought to be a good week.

[Reply #113 on:]

I'm in! I'm way late to the party, though. But like I said in my other thread, I've been ripping my discs to my harddrive, each individual ep gets its own file. So it's super easy to watch things in literally ANY order. It's PERFECT!

As for the experiment itself, perhaps it *could* go on the Infosphere. Like mainly the premise and the list of eps grouped per week (but just listed as "week 1, week 2" so there's no date requirement -- this allows fans to begin the experiment whenever they want). But I'm not sure where it would go, maybe once the official name of the experiment is decided upon, it could get a page or something. It would just be easier to track that way, IMO. *shrug*

So, if I remember correctly, week 1 is Amazon Women, Birdbot, and Overclockwise? And the criteria on which we judge is... too long a list to remember... I laugh at your silly three-eps-per-week thing. A life?! Please, I watch three or four a *day* almost every day.

[Reply #114 on:]

I don't see why this can't go on wikiPEELia. I mean, it's a PEEL thing, done by PEELers.

This should definitely go on the wiki, on the General Discussion page that I started to fill out months ago. It should be labeled as one of those ongoing ontopic initiatives brought on by the PEELers, like caption the framegrab and episode review threads. It is bringing about a resurgence in General that makes me very happy

[Reply #115 on:]

And just a big ol' thank you to everyone who's been participating in this so far. I know it's been kind of tough for people, schedule-wise, but it's cool to get the point of view of a lot of posters who weren't around PEEL when these episodes initially aired.

I know, watching Futuama is hard work and a strain on everyone, but Scruffy believes in this company *wipes tears*

It's a bit of a pity that none of the episodes this week are from the new season. It would be great if there was a week that would include, say,  a Season 1 episode, a Season 4 episode and a Season 6 episode. Anyhow, I will dutifully watch this week's assignments (or die trying).  

[Reply #116 on:]

I guess that's a hazard of randomizing the list, but there are several instances, many moons from now, when episodes from the original run are mixed with either one of the movies, or an episode from season six. 'Tis just a waiting game.

[Reply #117 on:]

Just to advise, I have finished last weeks assignment. Although I enjoyed each ep, I find Where No Fan Has Gone Before to be the best of the three even though I don't care for Star Trek. Kinda weird I know. Both others are good, but are more along the average lines. They were two of the weaker Season 3 eps, as where Where No Fan Has Gone Before was one of the stronger Season 4 eps...

Bendless Love 7/10
A Pharaoh to Remember 7/10
Where No Fan Has Gone Before 8/10

[Reply #118 on:]

Double post? Meh ...

So, seen this weeks batch and to summerize...
Love's Labours Lost in Space 8.5/10 (I gave it a 9 in the review thread due to voting contraints)
A Bicyclops Built for Two 9/10
The Route of all Evil 8/10

I enjoyed them all. Perhaps my ratings have shifted slightly over time given how the eps feel in comparison to newers eps which have followed, and the shifts in the shows direction over time. A Bicyclops Built for Two seems underrated to me, it's a very strong ep in hindsight. Love's Labours Lost in Space felt slightly different due to lack of music and slower pacing which hurt it a little, but it's still classic and golden. The Route of all Evil is a decent light hearted ep. Perhaps I was slightly over-enthusiastic on my original viewing, but it's still very good and of high quality...

[Reply #119 on:]

You are quite welcome.

This week's episode list

Week of 09/25/11
1. The Route of All Evil
2. Love's Labours Lost in Space
3. A Bicyclops Built for Two

I enjoy all three of these episodes quite a bit, so this ought to be a good week.

The Route of all Evil is an okay episode, feels somewhat generic. I find that one always hard to review, but I guess something like 7/10 seems right.
Love's Labours Lost in Space, solid episode 8/10
A Bicyclops Built for Two, good episode, I usually don't give half points, but in order to indicate that this one was the strongest of this week 8.5/10