Thoughts on 6ACV21 - Yo Leela Leela - SPOILERS!

[Reply #40 on:]

I don't have my notebook out to get down what I hate.

And you call yourself a fan?

Honestly, I'd suggest people consider rating each individual episode of the series and average out the ratings by season, like what this thread asks you to do. I did this, and I realized that season six is definitely comparable to the original run (specifically season two, but it gives season three a run for its money as well). The original run wasn't perfect (not that I think those who are critical of the new episodes think this; it's just worth noting that, hey, Futurama is my favorite show, but it's made mistakes), nor is the new run...but it's still perfectly enjoyable to me. I'm not yelling at the people who think this new episode was lousy, because I understand the criticisms...I'm just saying that, in my case, going episode-by-episode, rating everything, and comparing these ratings kind of put things in perspective and had me feeling a little better about the new run.

[Reply #41 on:]

Woah, only 42% on gotfuturama reviews?? While I didn't think it was one of the strongest episodes, I did however think it was ok. The highlight for me was the scene where everybody was making noise whilst Leela was trying to write, I had to watch that bit 3 or 4 times and laughed out loud every time!

So not the best episode, but it seems pretty underrated so far

I agree, that scene was one of my favorites, especially the Professor talking about his feet problems.  

Based on 21 reviews and with a 42% approval rating, "Yo Leela Leela" is now currently the worst episode in CGEF ratings, even beating the much-dreaded Holiday special. Something I don't agree with, but with more reviews we shall see if it'll keep its title.

[Reply #42 on:]

Based on 21 reviews and with a 42% approval rating, "Yo Leela Leela" is now currently the worst episode in CGEF ratings, even beating the much-dreaded Holiday special

  I think this is going to be one of those episodes where everyone hates it at first, but over time they realize that it isn't so bad.  Personally, I thought it was decent.  A bit bizarre at times, but decent. 

[Reply #43 on:]

The lesson to be learned might be that Futurama episodes with the word "Leela" in its title as a pun are likely to get very poor reviews -- A Leela of Her Own, In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela, Yo Leela Leela.

Although there are a few decent episodes with "Leela" in the title -- Leela's Homeworld, Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles -- the word Leela in those cases refers directly to Leela herself, not to a pun on her name.

(Of course I am aware of the small sample size effect.)

[Reply #44 on:]

Well I quite enjoyed it, and the reveal was very clever.  Though I really thought the ending was just weird, and I thought it was building up to something.  I also wanted something to happen with Sally's story.  

I also thought Leela's singing was very cute.  It's my second favorite episode so far but I  think it needs time to grow on me.  Pretty much every episode I've seen this season I didn't like at first or didn't like so much at first, and but I found more enjoyable the second time viewing.  So I'll hold my vote until a second viewing, though I think it will be a 7 or an 8.

I think it had plenty of great laughs.  Its not the best episode by a long shot, and isnt as good as it could have been, but after string of meh episodes, I consider this to be a sign that Futurama is back on the rails.  
Favorite moments:
Leela's singing, it was so cute.
"and poo poo and pee pee and penis and gay, those are the 97 words we don't ever say!"
"Outstanding sext award"
Rusty the organ harvesting clown, and the snuggle rays.
The reveal.  I really didn't see that coming.  The creatures were extremely weird even for Futurama.
The Slurm Queen's reapperance.  Was cleverly worked into the episode, and didn't feel like a pointless cameo.
PACHINKO AND TUGBOATS

So yeah, I think this episode is very underrated.  Its certainly a lot better then Benderama, and doesn't deserve to be compared to the Holiday Spectacular (which also isnt as bad as everyone makes out.)

Also, much as I love ripping on Lady Gaga, I felt Fry's joke about her was pretty clunky and could have been worded much better then fame hag.  C'mon its the future, if you are going to use her, make a reference to her being some sort of cyborg space dictator (which I can totally see her being.)

[Reply #45 on:]

Gorky's review actually reminded me that there were some parts of the episode that I really enjoyed which considerably bumps up the score I originally had in mind, it's just that I didn't much like the ending of it and it left me generally unimpressed. Nothing *wrong* with the plot but whereas others have said the moral was muddled - well I agree - it's just that I thought the execution was muddled too.

Overall I would say I found it had some funny gags but wasn't consistently funny, it was great to hear Katey Sagal's considerable vocal talents again, but...hmmmm... and I just know Futurama can be so much stronger.

6/10. Before I read Gorky's review it would have been more like 4/10.

That and the leap from Leela leaving to find a quiet planet to think then stumbling across the perfect place for her needs seems a bit large - large enough for me to fit in a short fanfic me thinks! I could have quite a lot of fun with that. Groan, if you want; shouldn't have to worry, I won't finish writing it for 10 years...

On the subject of cultural references though... basically my default position is that I just enjoy watching Futurama; it has to go a long way to put me off and that's usually if I find something that rubs me the wrong way - Benderama, The Duh Vinci Code, Cryonic Woman etc - so basically if I don't get a reference or if it falls flat, I don't really mind and I don't really care. But I do agree that they're coming more abundant and less subtle these days. Yes have the "history repeating" angle, that's wonderful and whatnot and I guess having us see analogies of our own time reflected in the future makes us think more about what we see today and yaddayaddayadda, it's just that I don't think Futurama should be a vehicle to mock modern culture - it's like the "World ends in 2012, sorry 3012" episode we've been promised next year - execute it well and I'm sure it'll be brilliant; anything less though and I fear it'll end up being lazy, as if the writers are secretly regretting writing for a show that's set 1,000 years in the future...
</irreverent, irrelevant rant>

[Reply #46 on:]

Yeah... like the Lady Gaga reference.   Why would Fry of all people know who the hell she is? Give your pop culture references a bit more subtlety please, or work in their 31st century equivilents.

[Reply #47 on:]

First act was well paced and quite good. I almost got my hopes up for an enjoyable episode, but things quickly deteriorated into a string of poor and obvious pop culture pastiches and everything felt rushed.

I can understand the comparisons to latter-day Simpsons in that we can get from "I'm telling a story to some kids at an orphanage" to "It's been made into a TV show and now I'm at a conveniently timed awards show and now I'm rich and famous" in the space of 6 minutes. Nothing in the show is allowed to be small and meaningful anymore.

And yes, the Lady GaGa reference was stupid, but these misguided, unfunny, chronology breaking winks to the audience have unfortunately become commonplace.

[Reply #48 on:]

Giving this an 8, it had me laughing out loud at quite a few points and the "98 words we don't say" song totally cracked me up. Liked the idea of the plot too.

I tend to rationalise any pop-culture references, also anyone who is thinking that the original run of episodes wasn't full of them hasn't watched the old episodes for a while, there are loads of them, with a much higher amount of heads-in-jars of obscure american celebrities I've never heard of. The head-in-jar thing was there right from the start as a way for the writers to add pop culture to the show and have celebrity guest appearances.

The references are more mainstream in the new set of episodes, but that works well for me as a non-american because I'm not left scratching my head about someone I've never heard of. I didn't even know who Nixon was until he appeared in Futurama. I'm only bothered by references if I have no idea who or what the joke is supposed to be about. So far the only exception was Susan Boil, which really ruined an otherwise good episode. I find family guy unwatchable mainly because about 60% of the jokes are about some petty american celebrity I've never heard of.

That said, it will date the episodes in 10-20 years time, but that's also true of the original run. The only thing I would like to see is present-day references made a little more sci-fi.. like the changes to xmas in the future, or the lizard space pope.

[Reply #49 on:]

I'm not sure what to say except I thought this episode was funny and I'm pretty taken aback by all this negativity. This was a standard, entertaining Futurama episode, and I can't say I agree with many of the criticisms I've seen of it (besides a few jokes that fell flat and the like). It felt like an average episode from the old run to me. 7/10.

[Reply #50 on:]

Nothing in the show is allowed to be small and meaningful anymore.

I'm not sure that's true. Though some of the stories can be annoyingly large in scope (the let's-save-all-of-humanity thing in "In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela" is a good example; since when are the crew's actions of such great consequence to the universe at large?), there are still isolated moments of simple human interaction or quiet contemplation or what have you. A good example is the scene between Bender and Hermes in "Lethal Inspection," where Bender is futilely punching the wall and lamenting his mortality. Fry and Leela also have a small, sweet moment in "Rebirth," where Fry is standing dejectedly at the window and Leela comes over and assures him that, if she lost him, she'd probably build a copy of him, too. And "The Late Philip J. Fry," for all its sci-fi and universe-altering hijinks, has a solid emotional core and a few melancholy, heartbreaking moments.

I'm not sure if that's what you were referring to when you said "small and meaningful," so sorry if I'm off-base. I'm not disagreeing with you entirely, just saying that there have been some simpler moments in some of the new episodes. (As far as "Yo Leela Leela" is concerned: I do like that there is an emotional thread throughout the episode--namely, Leela's desire to be a hero to the orphans and show them that they're worth something--though it is certainly buried in a big Hollywood spoof of an episode. The pacing of the from-rags-to-riches part of the story didn't bother me, if only because something similar is done with Bender in "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on TV"; the pacing was fast, yes, but this is one instance where I think a musical montage was necessary, lest the episode get bogged down in boring and repetitive sequences of Leela climbing the ladder to fame.)

[Reply #51 on:]

any sci-fi fan must have rolled their eyes and said 'really' when leela went to that planet. a third through the episode, i was saying to myself, 'if it turns out that these retarded things are real aliens from another planet, then futurama has jumped the shark'.

what the F*CK is the deal? what happened to their good sci fi plots? my three suns contains aliens that are a little far fetched, but it was not retarded like this. honestly, i was embarrassed for myself while watching this.

as for the folks not agreeing on how blatantly awful this episode was, then you are like the folks that still think the simpsons are as good as they were in the early 90's.

ps: it is worst than the holiday spectacular.

[Reply #52 on:]

I never really liked the Simpsons. Perhaps my inability to compare it to a recent Simpsons episode (which is apparently the most damning of insults?) is part of why I don't get offended when there's a Futurama episode that doesn't completely knock my socks off.

[Reply #53 on:]

Gave it a 5/10. Boo at the Lady Gaga reference, and boo at Leela becoming all egotistical when deep down she knew she was a fraud. If she felt guilty on the inside, I don't think she'd have the conscious to become so pompous. I don't even know what would bring that about in someone as honorable as Leela. It just seemed like an attempt by the writers to drill it in our heads that, "Look, Leela is acting really proud of her work, meaning there's no way she's fraudulent, right?" so that the twist is that much more twist-y. 

[Reply #54 on:]

I never really liked the Simpsons. Perhaps my inability to compare it to a recent Simpsons episode (which is apparently the most damning of insults?) is part of why I don't get offended when there's a Futurama episode that doesn't completely knock my socks off.

shows all stay within a certain boundary. it is only when the writers start to suck, that they leave that boundary. the show 'weeds' would be a great example of a tv show that jumped the shark. the simpsons is one of the worst offenders. futurama has done that sporadically throughout the season 6 run. i'm sure david x will blame it on money(since he seems to have something to say about it in every other episode), but that's bull.

i'd rather futurama write 6 good episodes than write 26 mediocre ones. oh well, nothing stays golden.

[Reply #55 on:]

 

[Reply #56 on:]

Worst. episode. ever.

[Reply #57 on:]

It was ok.

That's all that's really coming to mind.

[Reply #58 on:]

I already wrote my review of this episode, wherein I gave it 2/10 because of how unfunny and uninteresting it was.

I've been wondering: Who was this episode for?

What I mean is: What Futurama fan wants to watch an episode parodying idiotic children's shows? Because those awful kids shows can't be parodied "properly" without stooping to their baby-shit-smeared level. The writer(s) should've known better! The mere premise of this episode "Leela writes a kids TV show for the orphans" should've been shot down in the story pitching phase and never have been written, and certainly not made into an episode.

This awful episode FAILED to parody kids shows effectively, because all it did was faithfully emulate how stupid and banal most kids shows are, and presented it to an older, age INappropriate audience (Futurama fans). The tagline of this episode should've been: "Laugh at this." There were no very few cutting jokes or clever insights about kids shows (the one I remember was Leela said something like "Now let's do the same thing two more times"). Even Abner Doubledeal didn't work in this episode; his sleazy exploitation the orphans wasn't funny because it was too subtle, especially for Futurama.

The Simpsons did a far better job in their portrayal of how Roger Meyers Jr. exploited children by conducting a TV focus group with Bart, Lisa, and the other children, and then screamed at them "You kids don't know what you want. That's why you're just kids, because you're stupid! Just tell me what's wrong with the freakin' show!" in the episode "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show". That episode was nearly fifteen years ago, and it wasn't even that good, because it made the same mistake as this one, in simply emulating the subject matter, and not parodying it effectively.

This episode probably is the worst episode of Futurama ever IMO because this episode was an awful idea to begin with, that was awfully written, and the episode was AWFUL! "Ghosts in the Machine" was until now my worst episode ever, but I have to admit that at least it had a half-decent premise. This episode was awful from conception to airing. It never should've been made.

[Reply #59 on:]

A very generous 4. I'm getting sick of the forced pop culture references.

[Reply #60 on:]

I don't really get the harsh words this episode is getting.  I thought it was a fun exploration of Leela.  I think in reality, this issue boils down to the fact that most of you watch these episodes with another intend than just being entertained.  That's why I watch them, and I was entertained.  I don't have my notebook out to get down what I hate.

Well, I can't really force you to take off your goggles, but it just means I am enjoying this season far more than the rest of you; and what does that make you?  Like a wise man once said; 'no one can enjoy anything these days; it's either crap or overrated'.

I so much agree with you Svip ... looks like it impossible to have just a decent note for an episode. you have to be on the side of umbelivable or crap... ''sigh''

EDIT: forgot to say that I'd give it an 8/10 felt just like a classic episode for me

[Reply #61 on:]

Was that Futurama? What did I just watch?! The first act was great, but... Wow...

3/10

[Reply #62 on:]

What I want to know is where did the sci-fi original ideas go?

In season 1 we had the threat of garbage coming back to kill us, we had alien civilisations and bizarre customs, we had humanity enjoying and mass-consuming the "tastefully" marketed spoor of a gigantic worm. We had robot hell, we had space liners disappearing into wormholes, we had heroic captains sending wave after wave of men to their deaths.

Now, we have a planet full of over-cute moralising morons rife with values dissonance and broken aesops, whose only purpose seems to be to allow the writers to shoehorn the words "penis" and "gay" into the episode for the sake of cheap laughs. Which I do not appreciate or laugh at.

I have a new theory.

Now when the show is on form, it's really on form. Episodes in the mould of TLPJF and TPOB are fantastic and universally acclaimed. They don't have some shitty moral for kids buried in them like PI, TDVC, ACO, TMAR, or YLL. They don't have some weak premise that only works on TV like TSOTC or AOTKA. They don't rely on a character being thrust into a situation that's a staple of comedy tropes for laughter like LAO.

Some of those episodes are okay. When they're okay, they generate mixed reviews and hover around the average mark.

Some episodes, such as TFHS, AOTKA, IAGDL, TCW, TL, YLL and ALOHO are almost-universally panned. When they're bad, they're bad.

Futurama has by no means jumped the shark, but it's close. It's got to the point where if the episode is good, it's the new best ever. If it's average, it's thrown into the pile with the rest, somehow seen as slightly less fantastic than the twenty-odd other average episodes because it was produced later. When it's bad, it's awful, and makes us want to nerd-rage and think about not watching it anymore.

If they went back to the basics that made us love it, perhaps they'd stay clear of the shark tank for a little longer.

YMMV. This is a rather extreme theory.

[Reply #63 on:]

What I want to know is where did the sci-fi original ideas go?

My exact thoughts. Get rid of the Pop Culture, bring back the Sci-Fi.

[Reply #64 on:]

i'm glad we pretty much all agree here.

what  the hell happened to the sci-fi?

[Reply #65 on:]

I agree that Futurama needs to focus on sci-fi stories and not on pop culture bullsh!t...

Unfortunately, the new run of episodes hasn't even been able to get those right most of the time.

Yes, "The Late Philip J. Fry" and "The Prisoner of Benda" were exceptional, but there have been plenty of sci-fi episodes that have sucked, like "Ghosts in the Machine", "In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela", "Neutopia",  and "Benderama", and "That Darn Katz". (I actually liked "A Clockwork Origin".)

While it's true that the "Pop Culture" episodes were terrible, I don't agree that's solely the reason.

I know this may seem like I'm wearing "nostalgia goggles", but I think that generally speaking the new episodes are inferior to the original run of Futurama. The new episodes just aren't as funny or original or clever as the original episodes. It seems like the Futurama writers have either run out of great ideas, or they're getting lazy, or they're just not writing to their originally high standards.

I believe that this episode never would've passed the story pitching phase of the writing process back in the original run, because the Futurama writers would've realized "our fans don't want to watch an episode about a kids show", and they would've scrapped it immediately.

[Reply #66 on:]

Was that Futurama? What did I just watch?!
3/10

Weren't you the one calling people 'retarded' last week for saying the show had lost it's classic feel? Hmm...

[Reply #67 on:]

Perhaps it would have had more of a classic feel had events deteriorated to the point where some authority made Leela account for her actions as in 'The Problem With Popplers'

Personally, this episode was brilliantly concieved and I found it really entertaining.  Particulary Leela's reading to the orphans.   She was soooo... cute.

A combination of Leela and Bender characters in 'The Cyberhouse Rules' and 'The Problem with Popplers' with conflicts that effected Bender in 'I, Roomate' set in the Fluffy Bear Forest from 'Love and Rocket.'

"I Give It the WORST Grade Imaginable...An A minus minus."

[Reply #68 on:]

Weren't you the one calling people 'retarded' last week for saying the show had lost it's classic feel? Hmm...

I'm not complaining about the lack of 'classic feel'...

[Reply #69 on:]

Perhaps it would have had more of a classic feel had events deteriorated to the point where some authority made Leela account for her actions as in 'The Problem With Popplers'

Personally, this episode was brilliantly concieved and I found it really entertaining.  Particulary Leela's reading to the orphans.   She was soooo... cute.

A combination of Leela and Bender characters in 'The Cyberhouse Rules' and 'The Problem with Popplers' with conflicts that effected Bender in 'I, Roomate' set in the Fluffy Bear Forest from 'Love and Rocket.'

"I Give It the WORST Grade Imaginable...An A minus minus."

brilliantly conceived, eh? lol.

[Reply #70 on:]

"Haha, people have different opinions than me! That's hilarious."

[Reply #71 on:]

We want Sci-Fi, not SyFy!

[Reply #72 on:]

I noticed the Extreme Toddler Wrestling narrator (most definately John DiMaggio...) says 'Glaz-gow' when you say it 'Glaz-go'. Silly Americans.

[Reply #73 on:]

I think there was a missed Tom Kenny voice op in not having him do something with Spongebob Squarebolts. Or was that supposed to be a joke in itself? Maybe there's some legality there but it would have been a nice touch.

Legal reasons, although I personally imagine they went along with it and told Billy West to sound as clearly Billy West as possible, just 'coz.

Anyway, the episode exceeded my extremely low expectations. I enjoyed it, it's nice to have a "Leela episode", and it did have some funny moments and a great first act. But at the same time, the episode felt as un-Futurama-ery as it gets. The third act was horribly paced, and Bender's role in the story turned out to be rather throwaway. I give it a 6.

[Reply #74 on:]

Loved it, really good episode.

[Reply #75 on:]

Geez, hearing some of you guys, you'd think that this was some of the worst tv ever produced.  Granted, Futurama has done better, but isn't some of this negativity a little much?  It's like some of us fans take this show so seriously that we've become unable to just sit down and enjoy it.  

What was so bad about this episode?  People seem to not like the pop culture references.  Well, no one seemed to complain when the Amazonians mentioned a subscription to 'Cosmo' in AWITM, or when countless celebrities including Lucy Liu, Beck, the Beastie Boys, Leonardo Dicapprio (whose name I can't spell) and countless others were referenced or made an appearance.  So, they referenced Lady Gaga.  Maybe her head in a jar continued her singing career into the 31st century and that's how Fry knows about her.  The pop culture references are here to stay.  Futurama is a cartoon satire.  That's what it has always been.  Lampooning celebrities is part of the deal.

Some of us didn't like the story, either.  I thought the twist that the characters were real was classic Futurama.  Granted the talking cupcake alien was a bit hard to accept, but were the others any more weird than any of the other aliens that the crew has come across?   Nor was Leela out of character.  Ok, so the fame went to her head.  She realized her mistake and tried to fix it.  That seemed like standard Leela to me.  She even kissed Fry on the forehead at the award ceremony, so the tattered remnant of the shipper in me was happy.  

We even got a couple of songs out of this ep, and I thought Katey Segal did an amazing job singing the first one in multiple voices while introducing each character.  Really, I'm not seeing any reason to rate this episode below average.  It's not the Sting or The Late Philip J Fry, but it's by no means bad.  I'd put it up there with The Birdbot of Icecatraz or The Deep South as 'decent'  

I'd bet if any of those average episodes (lets say The Deep South) from the original run had aired yesterday, and Yo Leela Leela had been part of the original run, we'd all consider Yo Leela Leela to be fine, and we'd be ranting and raving about how awful the Deep South was.

[Reply #76 on:]

The Deep South rocks! As does Birdbot. This episode is barrel-scraping. Therefore your opinion is worthless to me. If this episode had aired in 2002 it would have been crap, just like it is now. It probably would have made me doubt Futurama's quality then as it does now. It is bad and I shall pretend it never happened and never watch it, as I would if it had aired in 2002.
In short, It's got nothing to do with the air date, I know crap when I see it.

[Reply #77 on:]

I shall never enjoy anything again!  Bickering on the Internet is where I get my groove on.  Thank you, episode, for being bad, now I can enjoy disagreeing with people of the 'wrong opinion'.  Idiots.

[Reply #78 on:]

I'm hoping next week's ep will be much better.

[Reply #79 on:]

This was the last of the three episodes (Neutopia, The Silence of the Clamps, Yo Leela Leela) that I had serious doubts about when their names were first disclosed -- and indeed they were not great episodes.  However, all I have heard about the remaining episodes has been good, or at least neutral, with no known red flags going up in my head.  I expect that all seven remaining episodes in this broadcast season will be decent to outstanding in quality, given what I know right now.