Thoughts on 7ACV06 - The Butterjunk Effect - SPOILERS!

[Reply #80 on:]

The only thing that the CGEF reviews have over the PEEL ones is a larger sample size. 60% of them just say "it was awesome!" or "it sucked!" without any real depth to them. They should make it so reviews need at least 200 words.

[Reply #81 on:]

I think most of the time you'd just see "screw Flanders" over and over again.

[Reply #82 on:]

D'oh, that's not what I exactly meant. User-rating-wise isn't really an important part of it. Another part I should have included is that the plots/jokes seem a little bit dull from those 3 production # episodes on both seasons. PI and TDVC had dull plots AND jokes, and LI had some dull jokes, but was a great episode overall!

So I think that the Futurama crew began this season by giving us these okay-episodes so they can work on later episodes that seem "big" to them. You could just tell from the two premiere episodes that they worked pretty darn hard on them! (Animation, Story, Jokes, etc). They are probably working on the pacing and that stuff depending on how interesting the episodes plot is to them. (Zapp dating Leela's mom must have been fascinating/funny to them so they worked harder on that one than the previous/maybe upcoming ones.) Same with "Fun on a Bun" and "The Bots and The Bees". And probably slack off when they don't find much interest in the plot. ("Thief of Baghead" is a perfect example!)

[Reply #83 on:]

I would think if it disinterests them that they'd work even harder to make it flow smoothly like the really good episodes if only to keep consistency up a bit better. What you're suggesting is much like drawing a picture but saying "Oh it's 3/4 of the way done, nobody will care if I leave out legs on this full-bodied person." or something. It just doesn't make sense to everyone who didn't make the drawing, or in this case, who didn't make the episode(s) to slack off. Or maybe that's just my attitude on how things should be done versus how they're actually done.

[Reply #84 on:]

I would think if it disinterests them that they'd work even harder to make it flow smoothly like the really good episodes if only to keep consistency up a bit better. What you're suggesting is much like drawing a picture but saying "Oh it's 3/4 of the way done, nobody will care if I leave out legs on this full-bodied person." or something. It just doesn't make sense to everyone who didn't make the drawing, or in this case, who didn't make the episode(s) to slack off. Or maybe that's just my attitude on how things should be done versus how they're actually done.

Well..the Futurama writers are professionals.
Sooner or later, they will face a project on a "Pfft..what a piece of crap. But let's finish it, I'm getting paid for it, after all" basis. An experience nearly everyone sooner or later faces  in his/her job.
A certain number of writers just makes it rather improbable that ALL OF THEM consider an episode a crappy "Pfft...let's get over it" job. Improbable, but not impossible.
Of course, they will not directly put down their work/their employers product in interviews. But some texts show between the lines that certain episodes were hardly liked by anyone (e.g. "The Spanish Fry" commentary bears a certain underlying vibe in hinting at that).

[Reply #85 on:]

I might get yelled at for this, but I don't care: 3/10.

The plot was pretty weak, and I got the sense that some others did that the episode was mostly fanservice. "Hey, the story is rather shitty, but here's 22 minutes of Leela and Amy half-naked and being completely horny!"

There were some jokes that were funny, but I almost felt as if the jokes that worked initially were driven into the ground. I enjoyed Fry's cat noises once or twice, but after that it began to irritate me. Fry crawling on the floor like a caterpillar was funny for a while, then started to feel old and awkward because it lasted so freaking long.

I think I prefer Yo Leela Leela, actually.

[Reply #86 on:]

Some nice continuity I noticed, it mentions the Space Queen in the title caption, and Leela sells a castle to the King of Space in 6ACV25.

[Reply #87 on:]

I would think if it disinterests them that they'd work even harder to make it flow smoothly like the really good episodes if only to keep consistency up a bit better. What you're suggesting is much like drawing a picture but saying "Oh it's 3/4 of the way done, nobody will care if I leave out legs on this full-bodied person." or something. It just doesn't make sense to everyone who didn't make the drawing, or in this case, who didn't make the episode(s) to slack off. Or maybe that's just my attitude on how things should be done versus how they're actually done.

Exactly. I mean, the animation crew knows that they cannot slack off. But I think the writing team and them do think that they can kind of slack off a little bit and not work as-hard on pacing/jokes on some episodes so they can work harder on whatever other episode appeals more to them. You could tell from "Thief of Baghead". It had a good paparazzo plot, but the "lifeform" plot was just dull. So was the pacing on the third act on that ep. I may be wrong, but that's how I think it's done.

[Reply #88 on:]

Douchebags over here are saying that this is the show's first ever truly bad episode, and now it's going down The Simpsons' route. Overreacting much?

[Reply #89 on:]

I would think if it disinterests them that they'd work even harder to make it flow smoothly like the really good episodes if only to keep consistency up a bit better. What you're suggesting is much like drawing a picture but saying "Oh it's 3/4 of the way done, nobody will care if I leave out legs on this full-bodied person." or something. It just doesn't make sense to everyone who didn't make the drawing, or in this case, who didn't make the episode(s) to slack off. Or maybe that's just my attitude on how things should be done versus how they're actually done.

Well..the Futurama writers are professionals.
Sooner or later, they will face a project on a "Pfft..what a piece of crap. But let's finish it, I'm getting paid for it, after all" basis. An experience nearly everyone sooner or later faces  in his/her job.
A certain number of writers just makes it rather improbable that ALL OF THEM consider an episode a crappy "Pfft...let's get over it" job. Improbable, but not impossible.
Of course, they will not directly put down their work/their employers product in interviews. But some texts show between the lines that certain episodes were hardly liked by anyone (e.g. "The Spanish Fry" commentary bears a certain underlying vibe in the commentaries hinting at that).

Yes, and such an event is unfortunate but I simply wish that they would at least give a bit more effort than none at all when it seems the darkest of times in production, when you feel like it cannot be saved. If they get lazy as a group, perhaps that means it's time to hire some fresh blood and cycle them a bit. Change it up.

[Reply #90 on:]

Douchebags over here are saying that this is the show's first ever truly bad episode, and now it's going down The Simpsons' route. Overreacting much?

I agree with Danny... F'n d-bags.

[Reply #91 on:]

Douchebags over here are saying that this is the show's first ever truly bad episode, and now it's going down The Simpsons' route. Overreacting much?

I don't think there's been a single episode of the new run that hasn't been called "the worst episode ever".
Given that this one is less than stellar, I'm not really surprised.

But yes, they're overreacting. No way is this worse than the Holiday Spectacular.

[Reply #92 on:]

No way is this worse than the Holiday Spectacular.

That one was bad. It was like Family Guy taking place in the future. Just UGH! Never again should they do a non-canon Holiday episode.

[Reply #93 on:]

Having half of your butterfly wing ripped off would count as mutilation if they weren't prosthetic wings to begin with.


I like this episode as much as I've liked any of the other ones from this season. Sure, it had its share of issues—I kept wanting to say [Morbo]biology does not work that way![/Morbo] to the screen—but for some reason I they didn't bug me overly much.

The ending got me laughing really hard because it seems to me that they are deliberately trolling us (or hanging a lampshade) with the 'reset button' à la that Simpsons episode which ends with the school children stranded on a deserted island but the voice-over informs us that "eventually they were rescued by, oh, let's say... Moe."

8/10

[Reply #94 on:]

I was rather entertained by this episode; not everything is a grand slam (that would get old pretty quickly, right?). I was rather satisfied by the explicit portrayal of Amy and Leela's friendship as catty--was this the writers' direct response to my past grousing of Amy's passive-aggressive digs to Leela in previous eps??? The egoiste in me says, Of course because I am brilliant and insightful. *smirk*.

I've loved Bender's "Let's go already!" in singsongy voice, since PI.

And however pathetic it is, Leela and Amy all over Fry just made me paw at my husband all over. I just got back from a month-long business trip to China, so I'm sure that's it. No nectar involved. Well, I guess a certain kind of nectar but...uh anyway.

[Reply #95 on:]

Douchebags over here are saying that this is the show's first ever truly bad episode, and now it's going down The Simpsons' route. Overreacting much?

But yes, they're overreacting. No way is this worse than the Holiday Spectacular.

Exactly.

[Reply #96 on:]

How often did they declare a Futurama episode as "worst episode ever"? (Haven't checked).
Obviously, everyone does have personal a worst episode ever. Should that be the first time they  grant an episode that "honor", it's only fair after more than 100 episodes.

[Reply #97 on:]

Is there some joke/pun in the title of this episode that I'm not getting? I know about the Butterfly Effect but I can't see how the word 'junk' applies.

[Reply #98 on:]

Is there some joke/pun in the title of this episode that I'm not getting? I know about the Butterfly Effect but I can't see how the word 'junk' applies.

Due to the episodes dirty nature/the mating aspect, "junk" is most certainly used as a colloquial word for "penis".

[Reply #99 on:]

Is there some joke/pun in the title of this episode that I'm not getting? I know about the Butterfly Effect but I can't see how the word 'junk' applies.

Due to the episodes dirty nature/the mating aspect, "junk" is most certainly used as a colloquial word for "penis".

I would have thought more along the lines of "Heroin"

... not that I knew that off the top of my head *innocent* the urban dictionary told me so...
Actually it could very well be both x_X

[Reply #100 on:]

Is there some joke/pun in the title of this episode that I'm not getting? I know about the Butterfly Effect but I can't see how the word 'junk' applies.

Due to the episodes dirty nature/the mating aspect, "junk" is most certainly used as a colloquial word for "penis".

"But take heed! For you see, it is mating season. Whatever you do, you must not disturb the agressive male. He can be identified his *something I can't understand* and his enormous butterjunk."

[Reply #101 on:]

I would have thought more along the lines of "Heroin"

... not that I knew that off the top of my head *innocent* the urban dictionary told me so...
Actually it could very well be both x_X

Referring to the doping? Very good point.

I wish sometimes though that the titles don't contain puns as references to other shows/songs/whatever (like, isn't YLL a reference to "Yo Gabba Gabba?" Makes it seem...less original somehow.

The Late Phillip J. Fry was an awesome ep, it goes without saying, and I do appreciate the play on words in that title.

[Reply #102 on:]

"But take heed! For you see, it is mating season. Whatever you do, you must not disturb the agressive male. He can be identified his *something I can't understand* and his enormous butterjunk."

The bit you're missing is "orange colouration". I can see how you wouldn't understand that, it being a highly technical description and all.

[Reply #103 on:]

She just kind of says it weird/rushed, plus the sound quality isn't the best. You know, having to watch shitty streams and all.

[Reply #104 on:]

Oh, totalnerduk, I didn't understand it, too. Probably cuz the Professor pronounced "coloration" with a 'u', something a dumb American wouldn't understand.

[Reply #105 on:]

I love watching my new futurama anytime on want on hd(dvr).

Anyways, i Henry David Thoreau-ly enjoyed this episode. It was funny, well paced, and the Amphibios 9 scenes were awesom-O.

The last scene with Fry making weird noises had me cracking up.

8/10

[Reply #106 on:]

Slightly interesting fact: the voice of the trainer (the woman who sold Leela and Amy the Nectar) was Jill Talley who voices...



... in SpongeBob SquarePants (and her husband is the voice of the title character and Abner Doubledeal)

I guess it's really not that interesting, ah well...  

Thank you. I knew I recognised the voice, but couldn't place it for some reason.

Anyway, I didn't particularly care for this episode. The first act was good, but it quickly descended from there. The third act was just ridiculous, and the ending the most lazy and uninspired of any episode (Even TFHS had a somewhat coherent and logical ending, as much as I hated those bees).

While I kinda liked the sex/violence joke, the episode would have been much better without that whole sequence. Yeah there are plenty of decent gags, and Bender really does deliver throughout, it just can't make up for a lame plot and poor ending. Definitely my least favourite of the season so far.

[Reply #107 on:]

The only way that I can describe this episode was "kind of good". There was something about the plot that was rather compelling. But in a sense it was just absolutely bizarre. Probably the weirdest plot ever. There were a whole bunch of funny gags in it, but there was also some quite forced stuff in there, such as the Grand Midwife returning. Well maybe she wasn't so much forced as she was predictable.

I felt it was rather rushed in parts, too. Which seems to be happening a lot since it's revival. I give this episode a solid 7/10.

My favorite of this season is still The Bots And The Bees.

[Reply #108 on:]

Is there some joke/pun in the title of this episode that I'm not getting? I know about the Butterfly Effect but I can't see how the word 'junk' applies.

Due to the episodes dirty nature/the mating aspect, "junk" is most certainly used as a colloquial word for "penis".

I still fail to see the joke/pun, though. I understand the junk reference which is indeed mentioned within the episode itself like Danny mentioned, but don’t “get” the title in the way that I would if it were “The Butterfry Effect,” for example.

I kept wanting to say [Morbo]biology does not work that way![/Morbo] to the screen

Speaking of this, here’s something I don’t understand—if butterflies are drawn to nectar and Fry was turning into a butterfly, then (not that I’d necessarily have wanted to see this) shouldn’t he have been the one attracted (in a butterfly sense, not just as the human male he is) to Leela and Amy, who are full of sweet nectar, and not the other way around? Granted, he did eventually “mate” with the Murderflies once he was fully metamorphosed, but they were the ones who were drawn to him.

I suppose it’s possible that only female butterflies of Amphibios 9 are interested in nectar, and that besides sustenance, the nectar is naturally what gives the female butterflies the biological urge to mate with male butterflies (hence the attraction of nectar-drinking human women nectar to Fry, who was turning into a male butterfly), but it still seems weird to me. Because, you know, Fry turning into a butterfly after being sprayed by one is not weird at all…

[Reply #109 on:]

I figured 'Butterjunk' refers to the Nectar, and the 'Effect' is Leela and Amy going super buff.

Or the butterjunk could be the pheromone that Fry gets sprayed with, and the effect could be Leela and Amy going crazy for him.

[Reply #110 on:]

As you've already noted, though, Danny, the Grand Midwife says that male butterflies are recognizable by their butterjunk--which leads me to believe that it's a direct (and indelicate) reference to their anatomy, not to the nectar or pheromones.

The title still doesn't make much sense in that context, though. It's the equivalent of naming the episode "The Penis Effect"...and it's not so much Fry's wang-dang-doodle that attracts Leela and Amy; rather, it's the pheromone itself in which Fry is doused that makes everyone want his, uh, junk.

[Reply #111 on:]

I figured 'Butterjunk' refers to the Nectar, and the 'Effect' is Leela and Amy going super buff.

Or the butterjunk could be the pheromone that Fry gets sprayed with, and the effect could be Leela and Amy going crazy for him.

Hmm...that would be a double meaning, I'll give you that. I'd just expect more wordplay to be involved with such a title, like how "The Bots and the Bees" is not just adding a Futurama-relevant "bot" to "the birds and the bees," but also is relevant to an episode involving robot reproduction. I guess it's more like the more simply-titled "Proposition Infinity" instead...

[Reply #112 on:]

I figured 'Butterjunk' refers to the Nectar, and the 'Effect' is Leela and Amy going super buff.

Or the butterjunk could be the pheromone that Fry gets sprayed with, and the effect could be Leela and Amy going crazy for him.

[Reply #113 on:]

Oh, totalnerduk, I didn't understand it, too. Probably cuz the Professor pronounced "coloration" with a 'u', something a dumb American wouldn't understand.

Since the Professor didn't say it, I'm wondering if you actually watched this episode.

[Reply #114 on:]

Oh, totalnerduk, I didn't understand it, too. Probably cuz the Professor pronounced "coloration" with a 'u', something a dumb American wouldn't understand.

Since the Professor didn't say it, I'm wondering if you actually watched this episode.

Oh, sorrrrry, the Midwife then. I guess I should postrate myself before the PEEL elders in a hairshirt and beg for forgiveness. I've been out of the county for over a month, so all the episodes I watched in the span of a few days have jumbled together. Please cut a jet-lagged girl some slack.

[Reply #115 on:]

I guess I should postrate myself before the PEEL elders in a hairshirt and beg for forgiveness.

You have fourteen days in which to do so. We keep the elders in a locked filing cabinet in a disused toilet in the basement. Good luck.

[Reply #116 on:]

I guess I should postrate myself before the PEEL elders in a hairshirt and beg for forgiveness.

You have fourteen days in which to do so. We keep the elders in a locked filing cabinet in a disused toilet in the basement. Good luck.

This bureaucrat-ese would make Number 1.0 teary-eyed. I guess my hairshirt and self-flagellation whip should be stamped.

[Reply #117 on:]

The standard-issue hairshirt is adequate enough, but when it comes to whips I prefer the Penitent 5000 model myself.

[Reply #118 on:]

Edit: Bad Notebook..BAD!!

[Reply #119 on:]

Is there some joke/pun in the title of this episode that I'm not getting? I know about the Butterfly Effect but I can't see how the word 'junk' applies.

Due to the episodes dirty nature/the mating aspect, "junk" is most certainly used as a colloquial word for "penis".

I still fail to see the joke/pun, though. I understand the junk reference which is indeed mentioned within the episode itself like Danny mentioned, but don’t “get” the title in the way that I would if it were “The Butterfry Effect,” for example.

Well...nobody says they came up with a good joke
But all in all:
- Butterjunk effect as variation on "Butterfly effect".
- Butterjunk as the Butterfly mating organ
- ButterJUNK as drug reference
- Effect as Fry's mutation
- Effect as Amy/Leela's physic.al and mental change
the title does incorporate 5 different aspects of the episode, which is imhO a rather good number
Even though none of these goes as directly for a double meaning as e.g. "The late (not in time/deceased) Philip J Fry"