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

[#80 :]

That's probably some of it. A lot of it they explained away by saying that Zoidberg knew a lot about alien physiology and not human, but he obviously knew SOMETHING about human physiology, since he (I assume correctly) diagnosed all those patients with the deadly Tritionian malaria.

[#81 :]

An embarrassing, unfunny mess. Fry turning into a Simpson, Garfield and a smurf was just abysmal.

It had some funny moments (the murderator for example) but on the whole it wasn't great. The injuries and cartoon illnesses was crap and something you'd expect from Spongebob or something. It's telling that for most episodes this season you can't remember much about them 5 hrs after watching

[#82 :]

Am I the only one who enjoyed Fry's illnesses? That's something I would of expected to see in the original run, maybe even the first season. (There were a lot of Simpsons references in Season 1.)

[#83 :]

Am I the only one who enjoyed Fry's illnesses? That's something I would of expected to see in the original run, maybe even the first season. (There were a lot of Simpsons references in Season 1.)

no, you wouldn't have.

also, anyone else agree that it felt like a bongo comic?

[#84 :]

Am I the only one who enjoyed Fry's illnesses? That's something I would of expected to see in the original run, maybe even the first season. (There were a lot of Simpsons references in Season 1.)

I think it's perhaps the references are too obvious (Maybe they should have stopped at The Simpsons illness), but I thought they were all funny. Then again, I like the Mike Scully era of The Simpsons.

[#85 :]

Agreed. They were just too obvious. 

[#86 :]

Am I the only one who enjoyed Fry's illnesses? That's something I would of expected to see in the original run, maybe even the first season. (There were a lot of Simpsons references in Season 1.)

No you aren't, I agreed with you a page ago.
As for the Simpsons references, yes, TSHL comes to mind. "Look, a pile of Bart Simpson dolls!"

[#87 :]

TSHL? You mean 'ABPOG'?

[#88 :]

Oh snap. You're right. My bad.
Apparently moon = big garbage ball.

[#89 :]

Am I the only one who enjoyed Fry's illnesses? That's something I would of expected to see in the original run, maybe even the first season. (There were a lot of Simpsons references in Season 1.)

Nope, I already stated out that I considered the illnesses quite fitting.
After all, the Planet Express crew should be used to the usual Zoidberg mutilations by now...to set them up, something new, never seen before should have been delivered. And exactly that's what the writers gave us...

[#90 :]

i didn't mind the sicknesses, but if anyone liked them but didn't like 'Clownitis', shame on you!

[#91 :]

Clownitis was funny. Then again, I think my sense of humor is probably cornier than most people on this board (with the exception of Dr. T).

[#92 :]

i didn't mind the sicknesses, but if anyone liked them but didn't like 'Clownitis', shame on you!

Other way round for me.  Clownitis made me laugh.  Fry's illnesses were just stupid.   Stupider then the socially inept fat girls who lust after a sexually repressed sparkling vampire that would clearly bat for the home team if he was real and not a fictional character.

[#93 :]

I loved clownitis, I loved Simpsons-jaundice and whilst I didn't particularly like Muppet-gangrene, I loved Fry's "It's not easy being gangrenous" line.

I wasn't keen on Garfield-syndrome or his Smurf disease, though.

[#94 :]

I really enjoyed this episode.  The pacing was fantastic, and it felt like it cared about the characters.

[#95 :]

I'm afraid I have to go against the tide here and say that I really enjoyed this episode, and can see why they held it back towards the end of the season. I found it really consistently funny and enjoyable to watch, and it felt very Futurama-ry to me (while last week FATEM felt very weird and bizzare to me, and I didn't particularly care for it). Although I could sense it coming, I loved the plot twist of Zoidberg having to kill Farnsworth by surprise.

The Murdolator was just awesome, and I loved the irony of Zoidberg being one of the few people Mom/Carol actually seems to like. It reminded me of Robot Santa's interaction with him in Xmas Story (hey, maybe evil itself just loves Zoidberg).

But all the little background gags make this is a 9/10 for me.

[#96 :]

I thought it was a very good episode. There was some quick pacing for the normal crew in the episode, but that was fine. This episode was a story about Zoidberg and the Professor, and to that end, every part of the story drove to the heart of their relationship. I don't mind that the rest of the crew were used as tools for quick jokes and for plot tension because they weren't important to the story. I wouldn't want there to be a B story between Fry and Leela or something like that to waste time in this episode, and I'm glad there wasn't. The supporting cast had some quick jokes and I thought they were funny. I'm glad they didn't take up the entire episode and ruin the time needed to make the Zoidberg/Professor story good.

Maybe interestingly, the only major complaint I have about the episode was that Mom was named. Mom's always been a great character for me because the public knows for her for her sweetness, but underneath that persona is "Mom," the nameless sadist. Giving her a name took a little bit of the villain away for me.

8.5/10 (rounded up to 9)

[#97 :]

I was disturbed for a second when Mom leaned over Zoidberg. I thought they were going to start kissing or revealing details of a sexual relationship between them in the past. That would have been grosser than that infamous "two elephant skin rugs" moment.

[#98 :]

Like I said, naming Mom caught me off guard.

[#99 :]

I was disturbed for a second when Mom leaned over Zoidberg. I thought they were going to start kissing or revealing details of a sexual relationship between them in the past. That would have been grosser than that infamous "two elephant skin rugs" moment.

Even worse than Zoidberg and the Professor in TPOB?

[#100 :]

No, probably equally as bad.

[#101 :]

The "MURDERIZER" was the most complicated and ineffective Rube-Goldberg device ever conceived.

And the best part of the episode.

This one sucked.  The worst of the new batch - even worse than the X-Mas Special.

[#102 :]

I have to admit, now I really want an episode that talks a bit about Mom and Zoidberg's past.  Like someone else said, I loved the idea that Zoidberg of all people, is the only person in the universe Mom has spoken to with respect, or dare I say it, friendliness (and even then she still takes that worthless coupon off Zoidberg, so even when she's being extremely nice to someone by her standards, she's still Mom.) It was a very interesting relationship, and I would like to see it explored in a future episode.

One thing I do find weird though, is that Zoidberg is a genius at the anatomy of just about every alien species, except humans.  We've seen a Decapodian's anatomy is completely different from an Amphibosan's.  Hell most of them we can tell just by looking at an Omicronian, an Amazonian or a Yarn person to know all three of them are going to have completely different anatomies... what makes humans so different from all the other alien species out there? I'm probably just nitpicking here, so I'll just take that weird explanation on the chin.

[#103 :]

Maybe interestingly, the only major complaint I have about the episode was that Mom was named. Mom's always been a great character for me because the public knows for her for her sweetness, but underneath that persona is "Mom," the nameless sadist. Giving her a name took a little bit of the villain away for me.

I also have that complaint. I think it makes her character less humorous and takes away something we've had for years now.

As for the illnesses, I liked Fry's Simpsonization because I always enjoy when the two shows reference each other, but the others were juvenile and out of the Futurama style.

[#104 :]

This ep was okay i guess. I really hated Fry's cartoon-y illnesses (Should of stopped at the Simpson one). I give it 7/10.

[#105 :]

I thought it was great, one of the best of this 'season'.

8.8/10.

[#106 :]

I thought this one was pretty good. I liked all the background jokes.

Though when I saw lacerations the Yeti gave to the Professor's neck I figured they would play a part in saving him in the end.

8/10

[#107 :]

Didn't like it all that much. Can't put my finger on it, but something just felt "off" about the episode. Agree with the statement that it felt like one of the comics... stuff like Fry's illnesses (in fact that whole surgery scene), and the kinda unrealistic chopping up of the crew are exactly the sort of thing the comics are filled with... overly "cartoon" elements (if you get chopped in half with a circular saw, you're not going to casually sit there, not bleeding and chat about it, future or no future, no matter how good the anaesthetic is)  that totally broke my suspension of disbelief in a way that the show's previous mutilations didn't... they took it too far.

Also, the surgery was the kind of plot that isn't really a plot, just filler that provides a reason for the rest of the stuff to happen.

These new episodes are really suffering from being a minute and a half shorter and also featuring the entire planet express crew in every episode, often including scruffy... there just isn't enough time to fit it all in without rushing things. I'm really not feeling that the pacing is there, it's like the complexity of the storylines is still being written as if that extra time was still there.

5/10 is my personal opinion, and I'm quite surprised at all the 9's and 10's that are being thrown at this one... this is shaping up to be the most popular episode of this season going by the majority and I have no idea why.

[#108 :]

Okay, how to start...

Act One was good. I thought it had a few funny moments, and it seemed interesting with bringing Mom into the opening. I was curious to see where it was going.

Act two...wandered for me. I was still not sure about the plot, and it was getting less funny...

Act Three...yeah. I thought it was just vanilla. Of the entire episode, I did enjoy the montage with the music, it was very classic Futurama. Everything else though I could do without.

I did enjoy Hattie's line: "It's about time!" to Professor's Mercy Killing heh.

I just found the idea of keeping Zoidberg around to kill him stupid. Anyone can kill him, as you see in Act Three through their use of the device. I wish the reveal would have been more interesting and entertaining. When that plot was revealed it just went really south for me.

For its jokes in Act One though, I give it a:
5/10. Not horrible, but needs work.

[#109 :]

Didn't like it all that much. Can't put my finger on it, but something just felt "off" about the episode. Agree with the statement that it felt like one of the comics... stuff like Fry's illnesses (in fact that whole surgery scene), and the kinda unrealistic chopping up of the crew are exactly the sort of thing the comics are filled with... overly "cartoon" elements (if you get chopped in half with a circular saw, you're not going to casually sit there, not bleeding and chat about it, future or no future, no matter how good the anaesthetic is)  that totally broke my suspension of disbelief in a way that the show's previous mutilations didn't... they took it too far.

Also, the surgery was the kind of plot that isn't really a plot, just filler that provides a reason for the rest of the stuff to happen.

These new episodes are really suffering from being a minute and a half shorter and also featuring the entire planet express crew in every episode, often including scruffy... there just isn't enough time to fit it all in without rushing things. I'm really not feeling that the pacing is there, it's like the complexity of the storylines is still being written as if that extra time was still there.

5/10 is my personal opinion, and I'm quite surprised at all the 9's and 10's that are being thrown at this one... this is shaping up to be the most popular episode of this season going by the majority and I have no idea why.

i'm glad to see that someone else saw the episode exactly as i saw it. honestly, i don't even want to watch it again.

[#110 :]

Face it...Zoidberg is a staff doctor...There is no second opinion.

[#111 :]

Sooo Derek said that that curly screw metal instrument Zoidberg had was a callback and I was befuddled, and he INSISTED it appeared in the first scene where Fry met Zoidberg in The Series Has Landed.

...well, turns out he was right, and I lost a rather unfortunate bet.

[#112 :]

Sooo Derek said that that curly screw metal instrument Zoidberg had was a callback and I was befuddled, and he INSISTED it appeared in the first scene where Fry met Zoidberg in The Series Has Landed.

...well, turns out he was right, and I lost a rather unfortunate bet.

Haha! I noticed that too! I was wondering, "Hey, isn't that the same curly screw thingy that Zoidberg had when he first met Fry??" lol

[#113 :]

The Professor sees his staff as disposable (isn't that part of his slogan in the second episode?). ... When Leela was knocked out, he rushed off to get a pair of tongs and a cooler to put her organs in.

Well, she is a mutant, so her organs might be interesting for scientific reasons. (At the time of AOI2, Leela still thought she was an alien; this would have made her organs even more interesting.)

[#114 :]

futurama is a comedy right? i didnt laugh so that is bad, but this season that kinda goes without saying
interesting idea to go back to an origin of a relationship, could have been better executed but still of interest
i dont do scores as there seems to be a deep misunderstanding of the out of ten system on these boards

[#115 :]

Futurama is Sci-Fy too. No need to always have joke after joke after joke.

[#116 :]

I consider Futurama to be more about entertainment than actual comedy.

[#117 :]

I've only just noticed that when Fry has Muppet Gangreen he's standing behind a table. I.e. you only seen him from the waist up, just like regular muppets.

[#118 :]

5/10 is my personal opinion, and I'm quite surprised at all the 9's and 10's that are being thrown at this one... this is shaping up to be the most popular episode of this season going by the majority and I have no idea why.

Well, IGN gave it a 9.0, and it's doing well on TV.com and the CGEF ratings with 89%. Surprisingly, The Silence Of The Clamps is fairing better than the majority of Season 6 episodes too. I think this episode is well written and funny myself, and it's the best we've had since Law & Oracle, which is also a Season 6 favourite of mine.

I've only just noticed that when Fry has Muppet Gangreen he's standing behind a table. I.e. you only seen him from the waist up, just like regular muppets.

Pretty clever joke! Nice find!

[#119 :]

Well, IGN gave it a 9.0,

Hm...IGN also gave TlPJF the second worst rating of Episode 6....