Thoughts on 6ACV18 - The Tip of the Zoidberg - SPOILERS!

[#360 :]

This episode was under my expectations, it didn't charm me at all. The only joke I laughed at out loud for more than one "hah" was the thing at the end with the tanning salon. Overall, disappointing, but I suppose it could have been worse.

[#361 :]

Hilarious! I can't believe how many trolls r on the 1st page! This episode was full of great laughs and entertainment! A triumph of futurama at its dearly best!

10/10

[#362 :]

I dunno, maybe I'm just more willing to sit back and enjoy the ride.  I mean the series has always had consistency issues and moments of "cartoony-ness."  With a series set in a future like that, it's both one of its strengths and weaknesses.

I loved the Farnsworth/Zoidy interaction, even if it stepped on canonical statements in earlier episodes.  I thought Fry's diseases were funny, especially the "it's not easy being gangrenous" statement.  This isn't the first time Futurama's made references to outside media, so it doesn't seem out of place.  I thought it was a funny counterbalance to the more serious effects of Zoidberg's "practice."  

I don't think Amy was out of character for yelling and being so upset.  A little unusual for her to be that vocal, but she's a character that's always been pretty proud of her looks - I could see her being upset over the experience.  And it setup the hilariously unexpected "over my dead body" line regarding Scruffy.

I didn't find the graphics of Hermes or Leela being particularly over the top, given Futurama's track record with other Zoidberg surgeries gone wrong, and other things in general.  I thought they were both a humorous and disturbing way to show how incompetent Zoidberg is, and how minor these things matter in Futurama's world.  Just go visit another doctor and your horrible experiences are easily fixed!

I also didn't feel lost or feel that the pacing was off during the first two parts, I knew pretty much from first flashback opening that it was a converging past and present story.  And the montage of Zoidberg trying to kill Farnsworth was definitely funny to me.

The Murderlator was fantastic, as was the entire murderlator sequence.  The Professor/Mom interaction was also awesome, even if it again steps on canon again.

About the only letdown to me was the whole Yeti part, it felt like it was building up to something but that wasn't it, and they threw it in because they lost what they were going for.  I know that's an odd statement after praising the episode but hey, it just seemed that way to me.  Although it was worth it for the "believable hulk" comment I suppose.

The ending was still great though, Zoidberg's sad "I was going to go tanning...once" was perfectly delivered.  Them whooping out was also funny and feel-good.

Overall I thought it right at the top of the new seasons for me.  Season 5 felt really off the mark the entire way and season 6 was ups and downs for me.

[#363 :]

I can't believe how many trolls r on the 1st page! Thi

.....None?

[#364 :]

I think the animators were trolling us with those wacky medical jokes...

[#365 :]

I think the animators were trolling us with those wacky medical jokes...

Really? I enjoyed the medical jokes quite a bit, probably because I love seeing Zoidberg mess up.

[#366 :]

Episode 5 on DVD. Reeeaaallly don't like Zoidberg's doctor scene in the beginning when he is splicing up the crew. Now he has a history of doing this dating back from Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love, but it's become more graphic and less...cartoony since Hermes was decapitated in Bender's Big Score. I do find Fry's cartoon symptoms very comical indeed, however.

Thinking about the plot of this, I'd rather have never known why Zoidberg was on the crew all these years. It makes it funnier, I'd say. Professor is senile half the time anyway...not EVERYTHING needs explaining...I find this episode very unnecessary.

[#367 :]

This is one of my favorites episodes. I actually agree with IGN on this one. http://tv.ign.com/articles/118/1189202p1.html

[#368 :]

Dr. Zoidberg is my favorite character in Futurama and I'm so glad they made an episode mainly about him.

[#369 :]

There have been 2 other episodes around Zoidberg, and they were decent. I thought that it wouldn't ever make a ground breaking episode, that was until this one. Great humor and plot and I loved the mercy killing machine and the medical montage. One of my new favorites.

[#370 :]

yeah, not that great.  5/10

How can you give this episode a 5/10. This was one of the best episodes on 6B. I gave it a 10/10

[#371 :]

There's a lot of hatred around nowadays. The show takes more beatings than it should. A phenomenal episode and one of my favorites. Ken Keeler is amazing!

[#372 :]

I enjoyed the episode, but it messed with continuity a little...

[#373 :]

It was good, but not even close to the best of 6B.

[#374 :]

So everyone hates the cartoon-y violence in this episode, yet no one commented on the Professor's neck twisting in The Duh-Vinci Code...?

[#375 :]

I hate how no one even gave the pros any credit. All I hear about is how the medical jokes were bad and so on. They were my favorite part! And I consider this among the elite in 6B.

[#376 :]

So everyone hates the cartoon-y violence in this episode, yet no one commented on the Professor's neck twisting in The Duh-Vinci Code...?

That was one simple (Funny) moment during a montage. The violence in this episode lasted the whole first act...

[#377 :]

It was good, but not even close to the best of 6B.

It was a great episode. I think it's not the best episode of 6B but it's in the top three.

[#378 :]

Upon first viewing, I considered it a "medium to slightly above average" episode.
On second viewing, I put it "clearly above average".

What I liked:

- Zoidberg's character deserved his big moment.
- His interaction with Mom and him being a genius doctor (unfortunately, just not for humans;)) added some more depth to the character.
- The murderlator was just great
- Sometimes, Groening is a little too fond of the new twist in an old plot. Zoidberg's showdown against the Yeti was a rather classical badass-hero-action, and -imhO- it did fit much more than an overplayed joke.

[#379 :]

To add onto that list, I also enjoyed a bunch of "one-liners" in this episode. "Is this one of those no means yes deals?" "Yes and no." "I learned this from a movie called Tarzan vs. The Yetis, I lost my virginity during the film, so I'm a little blurry on the details." "Ay-corumba!" "It is isn't easy being gang-greenus." "You don't understand I was only trying to kill the professor!" Plus some other great moments like the great montage scene with Zoidberg trying to kill the Professor, I found it hilarious, especially when the Professor got the heart attack, but the electrical wires brought him back.

[#380 :]

So everyone hates the cartoon-y violence in this episode, yet no one commented on the Professor's neck twisting in The Duh-Vinci Code...?

As Boxy Robot pointed out, that was minor and didn't stick out anywhere near as much as the wacky medical jokes. The wacky medical jokes were jarring and didn't fit in with the Futurama-verse, at least not in my opinion. It all got too silly and Mike Scully-ish. Sure Futurama has endless possibilities and it's the future, but it should still have standards...

[#381 :]

I felt the storyline between Zoidberg and Professor was "put on" as I stated before. As for those "medical" jokes, the extent of the splicing and dicing of the crew is unnecessary. I miss the good ol' days when Zoidberg being a bad doctor relied on an upside down chart of a human and him thinking the gonads were in the neck. You can depict someone as bad at medicine without having to cut them in half. And then give them some vertebrae between the halves and they're still hunky dory apparently. My gawd.

I found Fry's sickness humorous. Everyone else was terrible. And when they got to Amy...I think they gave up heh.

[#382 :]

I've only seen this ep once, and I had forgotten about the details of the various crewmembers' illnesses.  And yes, they were bad.

A little chopping and splicing and stitching is fine when the plot calls for it (Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love, Put Your Head on My Shoulders, etc.).  But yeah, the string of maladies was too much.

[#383 :]

I was thinking of those episodes as I wrote that, Tachyon. The only one that can even compare is WMIBACIL because you see the blood. But then somehow it magically cauterizes itself haha.

I didn't think PYHOMS was bad, you see his body but you don't see like muscle/bone I think. Tip of the Zoidberg you see...everything for an extended amount of time, and it gets worse and worse...and...here's the point...IT'S NOT FUNNY.

[#384 :]

I enjoyed Zoidberg slamming the book into Fry's hand, but I agree. The other "jokes" went a bit too far.

[#385 :]

I found Fry's sickness humorous.

At first it was humorous, but just like with the medical jokes it went too far and got seriously unfunny fast...

[#386 :]

I liked the medical scenes and the illnesses...

[#387 :]

This was just not a good episode, very filler, not funny. If it wasn't for the ending stuff it would have been completely forgettable.

4/10

[#388 :]

Wow, I actually kind of liked the episode. I mean, a 8/10 kind of like. It wasn't anything special, but just an in-depth episode with the Professor and Zoidberg. I liked the plot, but not really the jokes. The jokes were a big issue for me. None were really funny.

The beginning half of the episode is kind of what threw me off. I liked all of the flashbacks, alot actually. But the scenes with Zoidberg being a bad doctor went just too far. I mean that was already established, it looked like they were trying to re-establish it in this ep for some strange reason.

The second half was way better. It actually had more story to it, and more of a Futurama feel to it too. I did like the montage with Zoidberg trying to kill the Professor. The ep kinda went uphill after that. "I was only trying to kill the professor!".  And seeing Mom and Zoidberg have such a close connection was a nice touch too. The ending bit was nice.

So all in all, good ep. 8/10

[#389 :]

Amazing episode

[#390 :]

This is one of those episodes where my opinion has drastically changed from the first viewing. Apparently I scored this one a 9/10 back in 2011. I wish I could change my vote, because I feel like a 5/10 would be more fitting for this painfully mediocre episode.

The premise is good and there's a number of funny jokes, but unfortunately the execution isn't particularly great. The stupid diseases were terrible, as was Leela oh-so-casually being chopped in half. Sure, this is a cartoon. But Futurama isn't Looney Tunes; it's usually much more grounded. They could have written a much better "Zoidberg is a bad doctor" segment then what was delivered here.

[#391 :]

This is one of those episodes where my opinion has drastically changed from the first viewing. Apparently I scored this one a 9/10 back in 2011. I wish I could change my vote, because I feel like a 5/10 would be more fitting for this painfully mediocre episode.

The premise is good and there's a number of funny jokes, but unfortunately the execution isn't particularly great. The stupid diseases were terrible, as was Leela oh-so-casually being chopped in half. Sure, this is a cartoon. But Futurama isn't Looney Tunes; it's usually much more grounded. They could have written a much better "Zoidberg is a bad doctor" segment then what was delivered here.

I really, hate the diseases over a period of time. At first I didn't mind them, but now I just think they're awful and disturbing.

And it's already been established in past episodes that Zoidberg is a bad doctor. Why go back and pitch it off as something new, with a lame-ass disease scene?Those two things bother me alot when rewatching this episode. I still liked the second and third act nonetheless, and the flashbacks. But definitely not the first act.

[#392 :]

I thought the first act was particularly bad as well and particularly disliked Leela being chopped in half, but I didn't really enjoy acts two or three either.
The Murderlator scene just went on way too long and wasn't very funny; I found it to be almost as cringe-inducing as the act one disease progression scene.
The only thing I really enjoyed about this episode was the flashbacks. Other than that, though, this episode was very unimpressive in my opinion, which is really a shame because, as UrL said, the premise was good, it was just poorly executed.
I'm still extremely surprised it received the Emmy nomination.

[#393 :]

Like many people here, I absolutely loathed the first act of this episode. Zoidberg butchering the crew was a horrible mix of sick and retarded. Just because it's the future doesn't mean they can survive these injuries! And MAYBE all would've been forgiven if it was actually funny, but the whole scene just fell flat and then kept on fucking going.

The rest of the episode wasn't quite as bad, but didn't come close to redeeming itself after that horrendous first act. The murderlator was enjoyable. I didn't care about the Zoidberg/Farnsworth backstory here at all (doesn't it destroy continuity at this point anyway?) and the episode was almost devoid of laughs. And, as mentioned above, SUCH a strong premise for an episode. What a shame it went to waste.

For the record, I'm normally an advocate for new-era Futurama, but yeah, I can't make a defence for this episode.

[#394 :]

And it's already been established in past episodes that Zoidberg is a bad doctor. Why go back and pitch it off as something new, with a lame-ass disease scene?Those two things bother me alot when rewatching this episode. I still liked the second and third act nonetheless, and the flashbacks. But definitely not the first act.

Nothing in the episode suggests that Zoidberg being a bad doctor is a new thing. Usually when they (or any other TV show) do an episode that hinges on a particular character trait, they do something at the start of the episode to establish said trait so that it makes sense in the context of that episode and not just the whole show.

[#395 :]

Yeah, it IS good writing to re-establish a character trait early on if it's an important plot point in that particular episode. But it could've (and should've) been handled with at least a BIT of subtlety... Not to mention in a way that was less time-consuming. We don't need an entire first act of it!

I really wouldn't hate this episode half as much if it weren't for act 1.

[#396 :]

I wasn't saying they did a great job of re-establishing Zoidberg's bad doctoring, it just seems weird that SolidSnake is that upset over it being re-established at all.

[#397 :]

I wasn't saying they did a great job of re-establishing Zoidberg's bad doctoring...

Wasn't my intention to accuse you of that, I was just using the observation to make further argument for the "good idea executed poorly" case. Which pretty much sums up this episode perfectly.

[#398 :]

I wasn't saying they did a great job of re-establishing Zoidberg's bad doctoring, it just seems weird that SolidSnake is that upset over it being re-established at all.

I'm upset that such a common Zoidberg trait like that was re-established, so, so, poorly. Nonetheless, I still did enjoy the second and third acts for what it was.