Down! Bad Episode! (Worst Episode Discussion)

[Reply #40 on:]

I know I'm supposed to hate her. I actually don't mind Cubert on the grounds that he's supposed to be that annoying, and there have been good jokes from him or at his expense. Michelle did not make me laugh. Michelle did not even make me enjoy rooting against her. She is so nasty that she's not fun for me to watch in any way. I just groan and wonder when the episode will end already.

[Reply #41 on:]

Would you enjoy the episode more if she got what she deserved?  I know I spent the last series of 2 and a Half Men constantly thinking: "Please let something horrible happen to Judith.  Please let something horrible happen to Judith. Please let something horrible happen to Judith. "

I liked Cryonic Woman a lot though, I enjoyed hating Michelle, and  found her hypocrisy amusing.   But then again I guess I feel the same way about Judith the same way you feel about Michelle.  I just hate her, and keep hoping for the character to receive some karmic justice, but she never does.  Michelle feels more believable as a bad girlfriend, while Judith feels like a one dimensional, puppy kicking pantomime villain, like one of the writers had a bad girlfriend that they still haven't gotten over.

[Reply #42 on:]

I would, actually. That would have ended the episode on a better note, and if she at least got what she deserved it would somewhat justify having to watch Michelle be horrible for two acts.

[Reply #43 on:]

I would, actually. That would have ended the episode on a better note, and if she at least got what she deserved it would somewhat justify having to watch Michelle be horrible for two acts.

I'll say.  It would also have been better if it hadn't ended with Bender blaming Fry for something they had both done, and Fry getting further punished.

Well if it makes you feel better, I'm pretty sure Michelle is one of the people who dies in one of the What If scenarios (a lady in a pink outfit who looks a lot like her is one of the people sucked up the tube and spat at Zoidberg. Enjoy your high velocity death, you loathsome harpy!)

[Reply #44 on:]

So, why did you post that? Perhaps to confuse silly people like me....

* JoshTheater gives thumbs up.

[Reply #45 on:]

If Michelle had gotten her just desserts, I agree. The episode would've been improved immensely.

However, I really do feel that there should've been a shred of something to sympathise with if her character wasn't meant to be something I simply hated watching. I mean, there are some characters I love to loathe on TV. They need more screen time in order to make me happy. Mom is one of them from Futurama... Dunno why but I can really get behind Mom's tyrannical withered old bitch crusades against everything. She's got that certain indefinable spark that makes a horrible character a good [/i]character[/i].

Michelle... she's just detestable on every level, with nothing to redeem her. She's not funny, she's not sympathetic, she's not remotely identifiable with. She's fucking evil.

Judith and Michelle are very similar... in that they've both got no redeeming features. However, Judith does have some justitfication in that she's a complete cunt to everybody. Not just Alan. Michelle seems to be a complete cunt to Fry, and plays nicely with others to a certain extent.

[Reply #46 on:]

If Michelle had gotten her just desserts, I agree. The episode would've been improved immensely.
...

Michelle... she's just detestable on every level, with nothing to redeem her. She's not funny, she's not sympathetic, she's not remotely identifiable with. She's fucking evil. ...
Michelle seems to be a complete cunt to Fry, and plays nicely with others to a certain extent.

Ahhh... the world of love! Unfortunately these evil women rarely seem to get their just deserts (as in deserve, not ice-cream). Hopefully if/when you have your heart pulled out and thrown against the wall by one of the female species, you will take a more philosophical view of why Michelle acts like that. For that reason, I don't hate this episode as much as most.

As for the worst episode ever? It's Yo Leela Leela, by a mile.

[Reply #47 on:]

It's already happened. More than once. I'm sticking with my "less philosophical" view, thanks. The woman who most recently ran my heart through a blender at least had the excuse of being crazy. Michelle is supposedly completely sane, and is still a horrible excuse for a human being.

[Reply #48 on:]

hahaha... fair enough. She certainly is horrible, but Fry's inability to walk away from her despite the warnings of his colleagues (going back to the ex), and the resulting hearth-smashing lets me laugh at my own previous stupidity.

[Reply #49 on:]

Ah, y'see that's something I'm not stupid enough to do. Jump back into the fire. I can understand why Fry would, being an idiot, but as much as I would have loved to do so given the opportunity, there was never any question of me going back to what I left behind.

I left it behind for a reason, y'see. It wasn't as bad as being Michelle's boyfriend would be, but it was taking a severe toll on me nonetheless.

[Reply #50 on:]

YLL is definitely in that arena now. Long gone are the days when I thought That's Lobstertainment! was the worst ever. It actually had (though sparse) character subplots and a consistent main storyline that didn't make me cringe.

[Reply #51 on:]

While I think YLL may be the worst, does anyone think the shorter run time is contributing to these less than stellar new episodes?

[Reply #52 on:]

Not really. They spent forever developing the storyline of Leela and those orphans and forgot to involve the characters in other plots. I would have much rather preferred a shorter Leela story due to other character involvement. Like Amy could have been jealous of Leela's show getting famous and winning the award, for example.

[Reply #53 on:]

I enjoy the Fry and Bender B-Plots in the comics...

[Reply #54 on:]

You bring up an interesting point. To the General Discussion thread!

[Reply #55 on:]

Not really. They spent forever developing the storyline of Leela and those orphans and forgot to involve the characters in other plots. I would have much rather preferred a shorter Leela story due to other character involvement. Like Amy could have been jealous of Leela's show getting famous and winning the award, for example.

I would have liked something like that, or maybe her sending a raunchy text message to Kif that turns into a scandal (because we all know actors in children's programs are held to ridiculous moral standards, even more so then regular celebrities.) 

Another good supblot would have been Sally developing her original idea into something, instead of just having her creative confidence being squashed.

[Reply #56 on:]

So I finally rewatched "Where the Buggalo Roam" (after many, many years of avoiding it like something even more vile than the plague), and it's actually not as awful as I'd built it up in my head to be. It's not brilliant TV by any means, and I still wouldn't call it good, but it has its moments.

So, yeah. Guess I'll have to look for a new worst episode ever. "A Pharaoh to Remember" and "Proposition Infinity" are definite contenders...

[Reply #57 on:]

Neutopia is now added to my worst episodes list. I honestly hated that episode.

[Reply #58 on:]

While I think YLL may be the worst, does anyone think the shorter run time is contributing to these less than stellar new episodes?

Maybe, but however the option is still open to The Fox Network inserting Futurama, all be it in a limited manner.

[Reply #59 on:]

"A Pharaoh to Remember"

Great ep.

Neutopia is now added to my worst episodes list. I honestly hated that episode.

Also a great ep.

[Reply #60 on:]

"A Pharaoh to Remember"

Great ep.

Your opinion.

[Reply #61 on:]

The commentary of that episode alone is awesome What made it unlikable for you, Gorkster? I'm just wondering.

[Reply #62 on:]

I really dislike "The Futurama Holiday Special" It felt lifeless, dull and like it was put together in a few days just for the sake of a Christmas episode...

[Reply #63 on:]

The commentary of that episode alone is awesome What made it unlikable for you, Gorkster? I'm just wondering.

I agree that the commentary is great, but this is one of those episodes that I would sooner watch with the commentary than without. And that's never a good thing. In honesty, I haven't seen this episode in a while, but I think DtB's description of its faults on the previous page...

"A Pharaoh to Remember" is close. As despicable as Bender often is, we can at least sort of root for him in spite of ourselves, but his cruelty in that episode goes too far and is too sustained, especially toward his friends, and it's simply too much to ask that we sympathize with his plight of wanting to be remembered when the whole plot is based around him enslaving an entire planet to further his goal. It wasn't balanced enough and he gets no payback for his cruelty, so it's way, way too much. That said, the episode has a few really good laughs ("Read us things!" "We're dumb!") and thus is still better than 300 Big Boys.

...is pretty accurate (minus the part about "300 Big Boys," which I love). Most Bender episodes, for me, walk this really thin line between making Bender a total jerk and making him, at the very least, lovable in his jerkiness. This episode falls into the former category. Nothing about Bender's desire to be remembered is appealing to me, and the whole fighting-mortality thing is portrayed much more skillfully in "Lethal Inspection." It's not a horrendous episode, really (and, in honesty, I'd sooner watch "A Pharaoh to Remember" than I would "Proposition Infinity")--it's just boring, and a showcase of all the things I find annoying about Bender's character.

'Course, like I say, I haven't seen the episode in a long time. Perhaps it deserves a rewatch, sans commentary.

[Reply #64 on:]

I really dislike "The Futurama Holiday Special" It felt lifeless, dull and like it was put together in a few days just for the sake of a Christmas episode...

Pretty much...

[Reply #65 on:]

Ah. I can understand that aspect of not liking the premise of Pharaoh, that's kinda how I fel about the first half of Ghost in the Machines. I was very perturbed by Bender wanting to kill Fry, all those poltergeist scenes were a bit much to me and seemed cruel.

I liked Pharaoh because Bender was being his glorious Bender, with dark humor mixed in, like when one slave says:

"It hurts when I breathe"
"Then what do you think you should stop doing?"

He was cruel...but in a funny dark way, I think. When he was haunting Fry trying to kill him in Ghost it just seemed mean I dunno, that's my take on it anyhow.

And the secondary characters used in Pharaoh were wonderful, too. The whole plot tied in very nicely.

[Reply #66 on:]

I don't think they could make an ep like A Pharaoh to Remember on today’s Futurama budget, they can't even draw scenes involving the Slurm Queen correctly ...

[Reply #67 on:]

Ah. I can understand that aspect of not liking the premise of Pharaoh, that's kinda how I fel about the first half of Ghost in the Machines. I was very perturbed by Bender wanting to kill Fry, all those poltergeist scenes were a bit much to me and seemed cruel.

Oh, I agree with this entirely. There was something very mean-spirited about "Ghost in the Machines" (which probably explains why I was not as impressed with that episode as other people seemed to be), and it just wasn't all that funny to me.

[Reply #68 on:]

Your opinion.

Correct. REMEMBER ME.

[Reply #69 on:]

Ah. I can understand that aspect of not liking the premise of Pharaoh, that's kinda how I fel about the first half of Ghost in the Machines. I was very perturbed by Bender wanting to kill Fry, all those poltergeist scenes were a bit much to me and seemed cruel.

Oh, I agree with this entirely. There was something very mean-spirited about "Ghost in the Machines" (which probably explains why I was not as impressed with that episode as other people seemed to be), and it just wasn't all that funny to me.

Ah. I can understand that aspect of not liking the premise of Pharaoh, that's kinda how I fel about the first half of Ghost in the Machines. I was very perturbed by Bender wanting to kill Fry, all those poltergeist scenes were a bit much to me and seemed cruel.

Oh, I agree with this entirely. There was something very mean-spirited about "Ghost in the Machines" (which probably explains why I was not as impressed with that episode as other people seemed to be), and it just wasn't all that funny to me.

That changes when Bender almost succeeds though. Once Ghost Bender is following Fry around like a little ectoplasmic puppy, the episode's tone does a 180.

During the first half of the episode, I felt Bender's desire to kill Fry was a little over the top - but the contrast between Murderous Bender and Bender the Friendly Ghost is fantastic, and it's the contrast that I love. It shows both sides of Bender - he's a selfish, evil jerk. But he's also capable of deep emotion, of caring, and of being rather lovable. Bender is a child in every sense of the word. Only a teenager even in the extended chronology of the show (we're ignoring the thousands of years he spent waiting down in the limestone caverns beneath Planet Express, since he'll have gone without character building interactions in that time, anmd we know he's not much for introspection). He's still learning how to fit in to the human world, and as time goes on he does learn the occasional big lesson - but mainly he's learning slowly through living and working with Fry and the others what it means to have a soul.

Or at least, that's my perspective on it right now. I'll rewatch A Pharoah to Remember and see if I still feel that way.

[Reply #70 on:]

   And the secondary characters used in Pharaoh were wonderful, too. The whole plot tied in very nicely.

It also had Bender coming onstage to the strains of Walk Like An Egyptian!   

[Reply #71 on:]

 

[Reply #72 on:]

So, yeah. Guess I'll have to look for a new worst episode ever. "A Pharaoh to Remember" and "Proposition Infinity" are definite contenders...

As well as Pharaoh being a great episode, I actually really like Infinity aswell. The first time I viewed it, I really disliked it as it felt stupid and uneventful but on a second and further third viewing it's actually the complete opposite with some of the best gags from the first half of season 6 (THE TIME IS 4AM! The professor's "Thank God I'm not alive to see this" and basically anything else he said, The Preacher Bot and the commercial) There's also alot more that I haven't mentioned...

[Reply #73 on:]

 

[Reply #74 on:]

Very much a reminder on how much the world has changed, even in the last 10 years.

[Reply #75 on:]

Man, Proposition Infinity is great....so many hysterical moments ("Hopes....deleted," "Even horse and ghost!") and fantastic social satire. One of my favorite season 6 shows. Did people hate it because of Kif and Amy breaking up or something?

I mean I dunno, I literally quote the "imagine all the terrible things that could happen to our children" stormy cloud ad whenever the topic of the gay marriage controversy comes up in conversation. It's a spot-on episode.

[Reply #76 on:]

Did people hate it because of Kif and Amy breaking up or something?

Yeah, that's mostly my beef with it. Bender and Amy and Kif just seemed so out of character to me (and I don't buy that Bender didn't realize marrying Amy would imply monogamy, so their break-up at the end of the episode is horribly forced). Also, I think the satire itself is heavy-handed (though the gathering storm parody ad is so chillingly spot-on and downright brilliant). The only part of the episode that I really love is when Amy is dragged away by her parents, and their disappointment in her robosexual ways ("You say that word, you kill your parents!")--and Amy's relief that her parents are evil, but at least they're stupid. Everything else just leaves me feeling blah.

[Reply #77 on:]

While I think YLL may be the worst, does anyone think the shorter run time is contributing to these less than stellar new episodes?

No. 90 seconds off the runtime is no excuse for bad writing.

[Reply #78 on:]

The same excuse has been used with The Simpsons, but they still clog each episode up with multiple fails in the time that they have got...

[Reply #79 on:]

While I think YLL may be the worst, does anyone think the shorter run time is contributing to these less than stellar new episodes?

No. 90 seconds off the runtime is no excuse for bad writing.

True, but even if the premises for certain episodes were still lousy, and the execution was only so-so, the plotting and pacing itself would be improved if the writers figured out how best to deal with losing a minute and a half of time in which to tell a coherent story. And better pacing would certainly be a plus this season, because it seems like a 50-50 split between episodes that feel really rushed, and ones that work well in the time allotted.