Thoughts on 6ACV23 - All the Presidents' Heads - SPOILERS!

[on:]

Enjoy, lucky Americans...

[Reply #1 on:]

Nitpick: The poll should be closed until the ep actually airs. You (or a mod) can close/open it by editing.

[Reply #2 on:]

Too bad I'll be in a deep sleep in the early hours of the morning when the ep airs...

Get a Mod to do it if it's so important, that's why I left it open now.

[Reply #3 on:]

First act, so far, so OK. At least I know that they are going back in time and not trippin balls. I think.

[Reply #4 on:]

Ooh time travel! This episode is nuts so far, and pretty funny. I hope it keeps up.

Also, all these ridiculously obvious Hermes pot jokes must be building up to something...seriously, there has been a Hermes pot joke in every episode so far this half-season, and a couple have had two. If it's NOT leading up to something, then the writers are just being shitty.

Edit: Oh dear, they've changed history. So far nothing unique as far as time travel goes...hopefully it will take an interesting turn in the third act.

[Reply #5 on:]

The second half was near perfect, if you ask me. This Massachusetts native is also loving all of the Mass. jokes(tax, duck boats, big dig).

Also, great to see Dr. Cahill back. I know a lot of you other folks were glad too, especially tnuk.

[Reply #6 on:]

I laughed. I'm happy so far. Of course after last week, only one way to go! I agree with the pot jokes, either take it somewhere or quite assuming all Futurama viewers are stoners who will giggle everytime pot is mentioned.

[Reply #7 on:]

Chester Z. Arthur, for the win!

[Reply #8 on:]

Loved it. Biiiig step up from the last few.

[Reply #9 on:]

So much better than last week. It had a real Roswell That Ends Well feel. I quite enjoyed it

[Reply #10 on:]

Gave it an 8. They had to rush it at the end, kinda saw that comming. But over all, pretty good!

[Reply #11 on:]

I missed most of the first act, which is probably not doing wonders for me, comprehension-wise, but the second act is so very, very weird. But intriguing, too. This is another example of the writers dealing with a concept that is about as un-futuristic as you can get, and I'm not sure I like it. The plotting itself is okay, and the pace isn't too troublesome; it's just that act two is pretty light on jokes. Bender being mistaken for various old-timey machines--and Leela's being from Peru--amused me. But a lot of the stuff with the Founding Fathers seems like an animated History Channel special, and is pretty hit-or-miss. Paul Revere badmouthing the British as two redcoats are standing a few feet away is funny, as is the Franklin's-had-it-in-a-lot-of-ladies thing, but still. Something seems a little off.

The third act seems really rushed to me. The crew's British accents are funny (and particularly amusing to me because I just spent all day with some friends, talking in really lousy British accents for no reason), and all the England bashing is all right, I guess. It's not particularly inspired, but it'll do. But the ending just happens so damn fast.

I'll have to watch this one in its entirety before I figure out how to rate it, but I definitely wasn't too impressed with what I did see. Kind of a bummer, since this is one of the episodes I've been looking forward to.

[Reply #12 on:]

Pretty disappointing ending, so rushed, I wanted to see them fix it. Also curious to see how British people took this episode, heh.

[Reply #13 on:]

I thought it was pretty good.

"You've really screwed the granny." was suuuch a great line.

I liked all the historical references, the A-Z Arthur joke, the callback to "Taxachusetts", the Ben Franklin's in everyone joke, Bender's teeth and British accent, "I want to go to Philadelphia as fast as possible", and Scruffy shaking his bum at the party.

I wasn't a big fan of the whole new method of time travel, but it wasn't that annoying and it led to some fun adventures in time. I also didn't like the British stereotyping (except for Bender lol). That's not how they talk and act now, and I doubt the rise of American culture has played such a profound role in shaping modern British culture that without American culture, the Brits would be as prim and proper as they were back in the Victorian era. 

7/10 or 8/10 imo : )

[Reply #14 on:]

Time travel has always led to good Futurama episodes, and this one is no different. Probably the weakest of the bunch though. It was great to see the presidents again.

9/10

[Reply #15 on:]

i give it an 9/10.

Although I thought that the first act was a little rushed, it was still good. The dialogue with the heads and Dr. Cahill interactions were solid. The second act was awesome and reminded me of the movies. It was loaded with jokes, and reminded me especially of Bender's Game(their time in Cornwood). The third act was funny, and being a New England native, I loved their take on an alternate Universe British society. Very funny, indeed.

Good job, Futurama. I rank it up there with 'A Clockwork Origin'. Another one that I loved.

[Reply #16 on:]

Liked the Lars throwback as well. All in all its a good episode.

[Reply #17 on:]

Time travel has always led to good Futurama episodes, and this one is no different. Probably the weakest of the bunch though. It was great to see the presidents again.

9/10

You fount 'Yo Leela Leela' and 'Ghost in the Machines'  better? Different strokes for different folks, as they say.

[Reply #18 on:]

Time travel has always led to good Futurama episodes, and this one is no different. Probably the weakest of the bunch though. It was great to see the presidents again.

9/10

You fount 'Yo Leela Leela' and 'Ghost in the Machines'  better? Different strokes for different folks, as they say.

He meant weakest of the time travel episodes. : )

[Reply #19 on:]

Time travel has always led to good Futurama episodes, and this one is no different. Probably the weakest of the bunch though. It was great to see the presidents again.

9/10

You fount 'Yo Leela Leela' and 'Ghost in the Machines'  better? Different strokes for different folks, as they say.

He meant weakest of the time travel episodes. : )

In that case, yes.

[Reply #20 on:]

Hey, did anybody notice that Leela claimed that she was Peruvian, and today (the airdate) is Peru's Independence Day?

[Reply #21 on:]

I loved it That's really all I have to say. Hover double decker bus = win.

[Reply #22 on:]

Ooh, am I the first Brit to weigh in my opinions?

I really enjoyed that one. The ending was a bit abrupt and anticlimactic, and the whole thing was a bit light on jokes -but the story was solid and when the jokes hit, they hit hard. The comic timing of the first bit of time-travel after Zoidberg drank from the first head in the jar was hysterical. And as someone who's been getting a bit bored of callbacks, I loved both the major ones in this episode (the Lars joke and the "screwed the granny" line).
Oh, and seeing Futurama all English-like was great fun, spare for a few niggly little problems (like Hermes having an English accent even though he didn't even have an American accent in the first place?). The accents were mostly atrocious, but that added to the comedy and they did a better job than the cast of The Simpsons.
Ooh, also, I spotted a lot of great background gags. I liked the little Doctor Who nod, I loved the sign that read "The new 'J's are in!" and so forth.

Probably my second favourite episode of this run after 'Law and Oracle'.

[Reply #23 on:]

Hey, did anybody notice that Leela claimed that she was Peruvian, and today (the airdate) is Peru's Independence Day?

Also, today, the Big Dig was an answer on Jeopardy!.

I loved this one; I'll probably rate it as the beſt epiſode of the ſeaſon (or half ſeaſon, or whatever). (Of courſe, if I'm wrong about that, that's alſo good!)

By the way, an elongated s-shape either had a bar across the middle of it, or only on the left-hand side. If it was crossed the whole way, it was read as an "f"; otherwise, it was read as an "s". And this elongated-s never was used at the end of a word. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_s for more information.

Lots of great jokes, and minor things. Washington and Jefferson really did grow and smoke pot, by the way. And Ben Franklin invented the Franklin Stove.



And of course, Philo Farnsworth invented television, and a nuclear fusion device. (Thanks, Wikipedia!) (Did anyone catch the name of the other "famous" Farnsworth?)

I bet the writers loved the "puking in the Bushes" joke.

Like someone else has said, this episode seemed rushed at the end; everything wrapped up all of a sudden. If this were a two-parter, they could have spent more time in the alternate version of 3012 (or whatever year it now is), looking for the opal, and more time fixing history.

[Reply #24 on:]

This batch of episodes are set in 3011.

[Reply #25 on:]

I have to say, thinking about it more, I really loved the first act. All the stuff with the President's heads was great. I liked hearing Gerald Ford have the same personality as his appearance in The Simpsons, and I liked the puking in the Bush's joke. Zoidberg's sudden "trip" was unexpected and hilarious, and I was really hoping the episode would go even more nuts from there. I'm disappointed that it only became your standard time travel accidentally-change-history story...I was hoping for something a bit whackier, reminiscent of The Farnsworth Parabox.

[Reply #26 on:]

I think the first with the party went on too long and is the weakest part. They should have done more with the British thing. I give it a B- ish

[Reply #27 on:]

I agree that it would have been better if they played up the whacky. This episode was an opportunity for some batshit insanity, but I'm still happy with what we got.

Same goes for the whole act 1 being too long and not enough time being spent on the alternate 3011 thing.

Basically, I agree with you guys. Now I should really go to sleep. It's 5.12am here, what what.

[Reply #28 on:]

It's 5.12am here, what what.

What about what what?

[Reply #29 on:]

It was odd seeing Futurama in early history, but it was a nice chance of pace. Would like to see more of the Farnsworth to Fry family tree. Poor Fry, out on the dung beetle infested branch of the family tree. Presidents heads = toad licking was alright.

Call back to Fry/Lars was much appreciated. Need a second viewing but I'm thinking 7/10. Not as high as others are rating, but still solid.

[Reply #30 on:]

This episode is a big step up from the last couple! The little jokes and gags were all great, really spot on. The pacing was a bit much in the last act, but that was expected. I loved the time traveling and the hermes talking to jefferson was great. And I thought the animation looked amazing in this episode.

[Reply #31 on:]

....dang. Once again, my opinion wildly diverges from the rest of the board. I did not like this episode.

I loved the premise. I felt like it should have gotten way crazier. Instead, it was a pretty boring time travel story. Jokes missed more than hit. I say worst of the season. (Although I'll admit that I missed Yo Leela Leela last week.)

[Reply #32 on:]

Also, great to see Dr. Cahill back. I know a lot of you other folks were glad too, especially tnuk.

What the hell? Why did you feel that I was partucularly glad to see one background character out of thousands make another return? Why did you feel it necessary to mention me at random?

Please don't make assumptions about my views or mention me in posts that aren't in some way a reply to my own.

I missed most of the first act, which is probably not doing wonders for me, comprehension-wise, but the second act is so very, very weird. But intriguing, too. This is another example of the writers dealing with a concept that is about as un-futuristic as you can get, and I'm not sure I like it. The plotting itself is okay, and the pace isn't too troublesome; it's just that act two is pretty light on jokes. Bender being mistaken for various old-timey machines--and Leela's being from Peru--amused me. But a lot of the stuff with the Founding Fathers seems like an animated History Channel special, and is pretty hit-or-miss. Paul Revere badmouthing the British as two redcoats are standing a few feet away is funny, as is the Franklin's-had-it-in-a-lot-of-ladies thing, but still. Something seems a little off.

The third act seems really rushed to me. The crew's British accents are funny (and particularly amusing to me because I just spent all day with some friends, talking in really lousy British accents for no reason), and all the England bashing is all right, I guess. It's not particularly inspired, but it'll do. But the ending just happens so damn fast.

I'll have to watch this one in its entirety before I figure out how to rate it, but I definitely wasn't too impressed with what I did see. Kind of a bummer, since this is one of the episodes I've been looking forward to.

Total agreement with you on everything except the terrible British accents.

Same goes for the whole act 1 being too long and not enough time being spent on the alternate 3011 thing.

Basically, I agree with you guys. Now I should really go to sleep. It's 5.12am here, what what.

And with you.

I did like the appearance of the TARDIS, and Herme's t-shirt. Funniest background joke of the episode for me was Dunkin' Crumpets though.

I disliked the way they did the Queen. Immensely.

It would've been nice to see the PX ship with a Union flag paintjob. Also, it would've been fun to see American money in the alternative future.

The actual mechanism via which time travel occurred annoyed me somewhat. I expected something more science-y.

Although, it's a hell of an improvement over last week. Now to see if it grows on me with repeat viewing.

[Reply #33 on:]

I enjoyed it. There was a decent number of jokes, and I especially liked the Lars reference. But since I know next to nothing about American history, I probably didn't enjoy it as much as others did.

I'd say it's the third best this half-season, after "Law and Oracle" and "Ghost in the Machines."
8/10

[Reply #34 on:]

awesome episode, but felt rushed at the end.  Also, I'm confused.  So, if you lick or drink the head in jars you go back in time?  How come in Leela of her own, Hank Aaron didn't go back in time when he drank from Wade Boggs head?

Also, is there a reason why they don't show JFK or Obama's heads?  i was expecting them

[Reply #35 on:]

I really liked this episode. I'd expected it to be a good one and I wasn't disappointed (although I would agree that it's probably the weakest of the time travel episodes but not at all bad).

There were quite a few parts where I noticed that the animation looked really good and there were some really good laugh-out-loud jokes and a few really good subtle jokes.

Also, This is the second episode in a row with the full opening (but only in broadcast order) so that was a plus.

I'll give this one an 8/10.

[Reply #36 on:]

Also, great to see Dr. Cahill back. I know a lot of you other folks were glad too, especially tnuk.

What the hell? Why did you feel that I was partucularly glad to see one background character out of thousands make another return? Why did you feel it necessary to mention me at random?

Please don't make assumptions about my views or mention me in posts that aren't in some way a reply to my own.

You are such an uptight internet nerd. Boo-urns to you, buddy. I thought that the Callback was well done, unlike many of the callbacks this year. Seeing that you defend even the worst episodes to the death, I thought that you would like seeing a well done bit.

No?

[Reply #37 on:]

awesome episode, but felt rushed at the end.  Also, I'm confused.  So, if you lick or drink the head in jars you go back in time?  How come in Leela of her own, Hank Aaron didn't go back in time when he drank from Wade Boggs head?

I was wondering that as well.

I reckon this episode exceeded my expectations. I kept on picturing Fry running into the head museum and then licking Washington's head for no reason :/
Luckily that's not what happened 

[Reply #38 on:]

awesome episode, but felt rushed at the end.  Also, I'm confused.  So, if you lick or drink the head in jars you go back in time?  How come in Leela of her own, Hank Aaron didn't go back in time when he drank from Wade Boggs head?

Also, is there a reason why they don't show JFK or Obama's heads?  i was expecting them

Well he didn't lick Wade Bogg's head I guess? If he had, well..!

On the second, I don't know.. I mean, the episode was so compact that it's a surprise enough that the amount of Presidents that did make it into the show were there.

[Reply #39 on:]

Nice episode. The Monty Python allusions were great. Especially Zoidberg with the silly walks sketch allusion.