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Author Topic: Thoughts on 7ACV12 - Viva Mars Vegas - SPOLIERS!!!  (Read 13914 times)
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PEE Poll: Thoughts on 7ACV12 - Viva Mars Vegas - SPOLIERS!!!
1/10   -2 (2.7%)
2/10   -0 (0%)
3/10   -1 (1.4%)
4/10   -1 (1.4%)
5/10   -1 (1.4%)
6/10   -1 (1.4%)
7/10   -17 (23.3%)
8/10   -25 (34.2%)
9/10   -13 (17.8%)
10/10   -12 (16.4%)
Total Members Voted: 73

Deely

Crustacean
*
« Reply #40 on: 08-23-2012 21:56 »

No Fry, no Leela, no Bender -- no Futurama ?

Apart from the absence of the protagonists:
it's like they have some great scenes and/or ideas --each one of them very funny on their own--, but they end up spuriously tying them together; I believe it's why they have had such a string of rushed endings lately; they needed to bring two unrelated ideas to a joined conclusion, but each idea had more or less painted itself in the opposite corner of the room.

The ideas are there; the futurism is there; the jokes are there; but somehow they fail to manage to weave it all together in a plot that brings about an episode.

It's still good television, but each episode reminds me of how good an episode it could have been.

On a side note, Joey's (and in lesser degrees Don Bot's) lines have always been well written and hilarious for saying the same thing twice in a non-obvious way like "They're coming straight toward our proximity.", "Let's shoot bullets out of our guns.", but here he was just another character saying things.
AlexH

Crustacean
*
« Reply #41 on: 08-23-2012 21:58 »

About Mars being back in its normal location after Farewell to Arms... didn't Farnsworth create something capable of moving stars in Time Keeps on Slippin'?
My Manwich

Liquid Emperor
**
« Reply #42 on: 08-23-2012 21:59 »

About Mars being back in its normal location after Farewell to Arms... didn't Farnsworth create something capable of moving stars in Time Keeps on Slippin'?

You mean the "bad ass" gravity pump?
Dorsal Axe

Bending Unit
***
« Reply #43 on: 08-23-2012 23:19 »
« Last Edit on: 08-23-2012 23:21 »

Yes! :D As a matter of fact, Futurama has used a few PD soundbytes over the years, mostly gun sounds, alarms, and doors opening.  I have identified the Farsight XR-20, Callisto NTG and the Pheonix shooting sounds, because they are so deliciously pew pew.  God that game had freaking great sound effects.
Wow, really? Oh man, I gotta go through all the episodes now just to hear them all! What a bizzare and fascinating little factoid. Someone there is obviously a fan. I don't blame them though. Amazing game.

Honestly, this sounds stupid, but hearing that sound made the episode for me. :D
K42
Crustacean
*
« Reply #44 on: 08-23-2012 23:31 »

And the fact that if the invisible ink wears off with a bath means Fry will still have his tattoo (because I'll assume Leela makes him shower on occasion if at least not for sex). But we know that won't happen.

Since nobody answered this: the Professor polarized both the tattoo ink INSIDE Fry's skin and the ink Zoidberg covered himself with. The former can't be washed away, the latter can.
DannyJC13

DOOP Secretary
*
« Reply #45 on: 08-24-2012 00:54 »

I know the CGEF ratings/reviews are hated around here, but this episode is currently the highest rated Season 7 episode with 94%.
MuchAdo

Professor
*
« Reply #46 on: 08-24-2012 01:04 »
« Last Edit on: 08-24-2012 03:40 »

I hate the CGEF ratings system... b/c of all the damn trolls and they don't make you sign up for an account like they should.

But this ep. is now ranked number one of all time:

Viva Mars Vegas
First aired 08/22/12
Rank: 1/109
Reviews: 30
Rating: 95%

Good show CGEF, whilst not THE number one in my book... I'd be more bothered if it had a terrible score, b/c it deserves a 90% or higher.

Now.. watch the score fall once people see this.
The Sophisticated Shut In

Bending Unit
***
« Reply #47 on: 08-24-2012 01:24 »

In a hurry right now, but I liked this episode. Episodes which focus on the three main characters (Fry, Leela, Bender) are nearly always the ones I like best, but I still enjoyed this. It would be up there with The Six Million Dollar Mon for me, as opposed to something like That's Lobstertainment. (Some great jokes TL - especially the Calculon overacting stuff - but it falls a little flat all the same. Not sure why.)

Highlights from this episode :

- The weekly changing of the shrimp. Euuuugggghhh.  
- "What's rent?"   :D
- Farnsworth dressed up as a young internet billionaire. Priceless.
- The crew groaning around the table after their Vegas blowout. I love these kinds of scenes, like the mass hangover in Benderama. They just really work for me.
- Leela "parking" the ship.
- "The shrimp cart's paying out!" Actually, pretty much everything Petunia did this episode.
- Sardinis!

I would have liked it if the Mars thing was addressed after AFTA, but in the end I just assumed the planet was in a new orbit. It's not like it was blown up or anything, as far as I recall, so I'm okay with letting it be.

Don't understand how people can't like this, it just felt like Futurama. All of Season 7 has. I think people are just nitpicking at anything now as an excuse to complain.

Anyway, loved it soooo much, use of sci-fi was great, Robot Mafia was great, Zoidberg was great. GREAT.

Also, I can't help but feel Amy is slowly starting to annoy me. Just something about her. :hmpf:

8/10

Agreed. Season seven feels most like the earlier seasons to me, and has been really great so far. I'm surprised at how much people pick at the episodes though. I've been with Futurama since the start, but never checked out the forums til now. (My Futurama discussion buddy moved away and I missed talking about it.) It seems like there's quite a bias against the newer episodes though.  :confused:

Some things which bothered other people and didn't bother me (and why) :

- Amy giving the casino to the Native Martians.

I don't think Amy was necessarily being generous here. The Wongs (and then the Mafia) might own the casino, but for practical purposes, the Native Martian workers actually control it. Her dad handed the casino over once already under intimidation - what would stop him doing it again? The Native Martians are the ones who physically kick the Donbot out, as well as outnumbering the Wongs, and not having any real reason to like them. It seems like a good idea to get them onside. After all, what if they start getting ideas? Don't forget, the Wongs didn't get where they are by being honorable. Amy gave the Native Martians a casino, and got back her ranch, another casino, and I'm guessing the rest of the Wong lands as well. But the casino hadn't even been built when that contract was written! The "lands" it refers to could mean the entire planet!  The Martians think they got a good deal here, but they were probably entitled to a whole lot more. Amy's handling of this situation showed that she has more sensitivity than her parents ("They may be evil, but at least they're stupid", as she says in another episode) but still has a healthy dose of that Wong family shrewdness.

- Amy being intelligent.

This ties in a little with my point above. (Amy is certainly capable of having a double motive.) Amy isn't stupid. Ditzy, yes, clumsy, yes, but not stupid. That Darn Katz wasn't one of my favorite episodes, but it does serve as a reminder of this. She has a doctorate! She's also been around her family's casinos her entire life. It's perfectly believable that she could plan the heist. (In fact, it would be strange if she hadn't.) Bringing this intelligence to the fore on occasion doesn't mean she's turning into Farnsworth, just as having her take charge of the situation doesn't mean she's turning into Leela. (Or that the writers are so lazy they've thrown everyone's characteristics into a melting-pot.) We have seen Amy take charge and formulate plans in the past - especially when the situation involves her directly. There are any number of episodes proving this. That Darn Katz, Kif Gets Knocked Up A Knotch, Amazonian Women In The Mood, Into The Wild Green Yonder, even the closing scene of The Series Has Landed, when she rescues Bender with the ship's magnet.

- The Wongs giving the PE crew a tour of their casino.

I didn't have a problem with this either, because the Wongs have never been shown to be subtle. ("That was a great play! It must have had twenty acts!", the ostentatious mini golf course, etc.) They're crass about their wealth, and it makes total sense to me that they would show off like this to their daughter's friends. I also felt like this behind-the-scenes tour was an indication of continuity - the crew are VIPs, so to speak, so they get to see what regular visitors don't, like the super safe, and get let in on the tricks of the trade. (Like the week-old shrimp.) I don't think they'd show these things to just anyone.

- The Donbot not recognizing Bender

Well, he was in disguise.  Bender who? ;)

- Lack of Clamps / Zoidberg interaction

If I remember rightly, Clamps came off the loser last time he came after Zoidberg. It makes sense that he'd pretend that never happened and let the other two do the talking this time, as far as possible. (I mean, wouldn't you? Reminding the guy of his inner badass is counter-productive. Better to just play on his more natural cowardice.)


Mongo

Bending Unit
***
« Reply #48 on: 08-24-2012 02:16 »
« Last Edit on: 08-24-2012 02:18 »

Agreed. Season seven feels most like the earlier seasons to me, and has been really great so far. I'm surprised at how much people pick at the episodes though. I've been with Futurama since the start, but never checked out the forums til now. (My Futurama discussion buddy moved away and I missed talking about it.) It seems like there's quite a bias against the newer episodes though.  :confused:

The bellyaching has been part of Futurama fandom from the beginning. The episodes from the Fox production run were subjected to precisely the same sort of criticisms at the time of their first airing.

I distinctly remember that during the second broadcast season, people were already complaining that the new season's episodes did not hold a candle to the first season episodes. Complaints were regularly made that the show was going downhill, and that the writers were destroying the main characters.

So I would just ignore the complaints you read here, they have existed from the beginning.
lol

Crustacean
*
« Reply #49 on: 08-24-2012 02:18 »

There need to be more episodes with Leo Wong. I love him. He's so funny. Billy West at his best.
Mr Snrub

Urban Legend
***
« Reply #50 on: 08-24-2012 02:54 »

I know the CGEF ratings/reviews are hated around here, but this episode is currently the highest rated Season 7 episode with 94%.
Yeah, that doesn't bother me. Obviously, it isn't the greatest episode of all time, but soon enough we'll get a few 1 voters to bring it down. Hopefully, as MuchAdo says, it stays above 90%, because I feel it deserves it.
SolidSnake

Professor
*
« Reply #51 on: 08-24-2012 04:34 »

After a rewatch, I'll give this episode an 8/10. There were alot of moments I liked, especially with the robot mafia! But some things in the ep were a little bit unnecessary. But other than that, good episode!  :)
UnrealLegend

Space Pope
****
« Reply #52 on: 08-24-2012 04:39 »

I like how Amy is totally comfortable with Zoidberg watching her take a bath. Much better than last week's episode where they were disgusted by the Professor's nudity. That may be my strange sense of humour though.

On another note, who else thinks they should've used the opening sequence for "Reincarnation" instead?
flesheatingbull

Starship Captain
****
« Reply #53 on: 08-24-2012 06:43 »

4 pages in on GF and it's still at 94. That tells me that the episodes that sucked, sucked. Using trolls as an excuse for a bad episodes low ratings seems to be the hip thing to do.
UnrealLegend

Space Pope
****
« Reply #54 on: 08-24-2012 06:55 »

4 pages in on GF and it's still at 94. That tells me that the episodes that sucked, sucked. Using trolls as an excuse for a bad episodes low ratings seems to be the hip thing to do.

Have you actually read some of the so-called reviews? They're not reviews. They're a couple of words with a 1 rating attached.

Anyway, I think the rating will probably settle at about 90%. I remember that Reincarnation was at an extremely high rating for a while before dropping to 89%.
Fnord
Starship Captain
****
« Reply #55 on: 08-24-2012 07:43 »

About Mars being back in its normal location after Farewell to Arms... didn't Farnsworth create something capable of moving stars in Time Keeps on Slippin'?

You mean the "bad ass" gravity pump?

All of Earth's money went into that gravity pump. Once the stars had been moved, it would have been unlikely that it was needed any more, and was probably sold for scrap.



Synchronicity at work: "$300 in various bills was eaten last week by Arnie O'Kelley. This isn't the first time good ole Arnie has chowed down on cash.The 10-year-old was caught eating $100 bills roughly 7 years ago. But Arnie, who made the local news is Clearwater, Florida, for his feat, isn't human. He's a dog."

(Source: College Times, today's date.)



And I hate to be a Wernstrom here, but I read somewhere that anyone who is invisible must also be blind; the retina doesn't function properly. (Sorry, can't remember the source.)
winna

Avatar Czar
DOOP Ubersecretary
**
« Reply #56 on: 08-24-2012 08:17 »

I agree with Jezzem about the opening already being used as a promo.

I also agree with Jezzem about not mentioning that Mars is thrown out of orbit.

And the fact that if the invisible ink wears off with a bath means Fry will still have his tattoo (because I'll assume Leela makes him shower on occasion if at least not for sex). But we know that won't happen.

The ink in Fry's tattoo is embedded into his skin.  You can't wash tattoos off.  The ink on Zoidberg is just ink he squirted everywhere which can be cleaned up.  He just never cleans up apparently what with the joke there.

This was a fun episode, and it had a crazy science fiction theme running it.  Throw in an Ocean's Eleven parody and I enjoyed it.
Svip

Administrator
DOOP Secretary
*
« Reply #57 on: 08-24-2012 09:44 »

I agree with Jezzem about the opening already being used as a promo.

I also agree with Jezzem about not mentioning that Mars is thrown out of orbit.

And the fact that if the invisible ink wears off with a bath means Fry will still have his tattoo (because I'll assume Leela makes him shower on occasion if at least not for sex). But we know that won't happen.

The ink in Fry's tattoo is embedded into his skin.  You can't wash tattoos off.  The ink on Zoidberg is just ink he squirted everywhere which can be cleaned up.  He just never cleans up apparently what with the joke there.

No, you are both misunderstanding it.  The ink will stay invisible, but the ink falls off Zoidberg, because it is just hanging onto him, unlike Fry where it cannot be washed off.

No one said the invisibility itself wears off.
DannyJC13

DOOP Secretary
*
« Reply #58 on: 08-24-2012 12:14 »

On another note, who else thinks they should've used the opening sequence for "Reincarnation" instead?

It was only created this year by Comedy Central to promote Season 7.
UnrealLegend

Space Pope
****
« Reply #59 on: 08-24-2012 12:45 »
« Last Edit on: 08-24-2012 13:18 »

On another note, who else thinks they should've used the opening sequence for "Reincarnation" instead?
It was only created this year by Comedy Central to promote Season 7.
I know that, but I'm talking about a "what if" scenario here.
Svip

Administrator
DOOP Secretary
*
« Reply #60 on: 08-24-2012 12:58 »

How did you fuck that one up?
cyber_turnip

Urban Legend
***
« Reply #61 on: 08-24-2012 13:07 »

And that makes three episodes from season 7 that I'm completely happy with.
This was great. Simple, enjoyable, funny and a brisk, well conceived plot.
I think my favourite gag was Joey pointing out the dumpster from space.
I was irked by the whole Mars being fine thing, but otherwise, there's not really anything that didn't work for me in this one. It was basically just a very solid episode. But solid at a slightly higher level than solid. That doesn't make much sense; but basically I really enjoyed it and I hope Futurama can maintain this quality for the next 15 episodes.

8/10 by Futurama's standards
9/10 by overall TV standards


Oh, random question, but was Fry's tattoo supposed to be a reference to Mike Tyson's?
AfaiK, a character in "Hangover 2" ended up with a Tatoo, not knowing where he got it from.
And, in case you live under a rock, the first The Hangover was set in Las Vegas, hence why it made sense for them to allude to it, here.

That may have been a "production order is not the broadcast order" error.
Nope; this episode is 12th in season 7's production order whereas "A Farewell to Arms" was 2nd.

In a future where they have big-ass gravity pumps capable of moving stars around I don't see why Mars' relocation to its original orbit is such a big deal.
Because outright ignoring it is downright lazy writing. Of course they could easily write their way out of Mars being destroyed. It's the future. And more specifically, it's Futurama. If they ended an episode with Fry being killed, then he showed up again with no explanation, next episode, wouldn't that bother you? We could assume that they rebirthed him or something, but it's bad form on the show's part to not acknowledge it at all. All they needed to do was throw us a line of dialogue or hell, just a sign in an establishing shot or something.

And I hate to be a Wernstrom here, but I read somewhere that anyone who is invisible must also be blind; the retina doesn't function properly. (Sorry, can't remember the source.)
That wouldn't affect Zoidberg. If someone is truly invisible, they would be blind because the retina works by reflecting light from one source to somewhere where it can be "read". If it's invisible, then that means that light is passing straight through it and that means that the retina would be completely useless, leaving the person blind. The Invisible Woman will sometimes blind her opponents by turning their retinas invisible in The Fantastic Four comics.
Anyway, Zoidberg was just covered in a weird, sci-fi-mumbo-jumbo invisibility ink. It worked like an invisibility cloak and wouldn't have any impact on his retinas.

I liked the song, it was catchy and well done, on par with earlier work such as from How Hermes Requisitioned his Groove Back and Bender's Big Score.
I'm afraid I can't agree with that. The song worked, it was good, but it was just "Big Spender" with the words changed. Hermes' song and the songs from Bender's Big Score are completely original works which puts them in a different league as far as I'm concerned.
UnrealLegend

Space Pope
****
« Reply #62 on: 08-24-2012 13:19 »

How did you fuck that one up?
I have no idea to be honest. The quote is fixed now.
SpaceGoldfish fromWazn

Urban Legend
***
« Reply #63 on: 08-24-2012 13:38 »
« Last Edit on: 08-24-2012 13:57 »

A nice episode.  The jokes were solid but not spectacular unfortunately, though there were a few gems here or there.   It was nice that they did an episode that explored the relationship between Amy and Zoidberg and both got good development from it.  

8/10.  

The only thing that bothered me was the laziness involved from Farewell to Arms: no issue was made of the cataclysmic ending of that episode for both Earth and Mars.  When I first saw the ending for AFTA, I thought the ending would revolve around the Wongs falling into poverty and having to recover their fortune after Mars being almost completely destroyed.  Personally, I think that would have been a much more interesting idea (restoring Mars as well as the fortune of the Wongs) then the Robot Mafia plot, which felt a bit shoehorned in, and not as interesting as the other idea could have been.

I also don't see why people are going on about Amy's intelligence coming out of nowhere.  She's always been the Professor's engineer from the start, she's always been the one you see doing all the donkey work in the lab, so she's always had some level of competence/intelligence to know how to fix complex machinery and robots.   It's only recently that they are remembering this side of her personality more.  Amy may be pretty slow witted/naive at time, but she has a gooey blob of intelligence under her many layers of slapdashery, dimwittedness, childlike naivite and general duhrr.   She can be very stupid at times, especially when we're outside her fields of interest, but that's about it.   She's always been a plucky girl when she needs to be, from rescuing Kif in AWITM, to stowing away on a starship and battling her way through the Amphibisan jungle in KGKUAN, to the entire episode of TDK!  The heist had a lot of holes in it and almost came apart several times, and Amy not telling them the crucial point of her plan until the heist started worked as a good lampshading of narratives and of her own ping pong intelligence.
winna

Avatar Czar
DOOP Ubersecretary
**
« Reply #64 on: 08-24-2012 13:52 »

I agree with Jezzem about the opening already being used as a promo.

I also agree with Jezzem about not mentioning that Mars is thrown out of orbit.

And the fact that if the invisible ink wears off with a bath means Fry will still have his tattoo (because I'll assume Leela makes him shower on occasion if at least not for sex). But we know that won't happen.

The ink in Fry's tattoo is embedded into his skin.  You can't wash tattoos off.  The ink on Zoidberg is just ink he squirted everywhere which can be cleaned up.  He just never cleans up apparently what with the joke there.

No, you are both misunderstanding it.  The ink will stay invisible, but the ink falls off Zoidberg, because it is just hanging onto him, unlike Fry where it cannot be washed off.

No one said the invisibility itself wears off.

Pretty sure I explained the same thing you did, just not with the same words.

As for the problems with the Doomsday episode, that's pretty simple; the problem isn't with all of the episodes that occur after that one.  The problem is with that episode itself; unlike When Aliens Attack, that episode failed to deus ex machina the ending back to the beginning, or at the very least throw in a joke like When Aliens Attack did at the end essentially retconning everything that happened in the episode in such a way so that we could have completely disregarded its effects.

I mean, arguably, throwing subtle throwbacks toward the ending of the doomsday episode would be acceptable (assuming they were subtle and not thrown in my face like, "LOOK AT THIS, WE"RE MENTIONING THAT OTHER EPISODE... REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED IN THAT OTHER EPISODE.  WE REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED, THAT'S WHY WE'RE TAKING EIGHT MINUTES TO POINT IT OUT... BILLY WEST IS A VOICE ACTOR FOR OUR SHOW!!!!") but I think that it would have been better to have just wrapped up the whole ordeal in the previous episode.  Mars being closer to Earth really doesn't add anything to the show, so just throwing it away as a plot point needed only for that episode would have been the best approach to me.  Also, then there's less chance that I'll be beaten over the head by one of the writers thinking it's humorous to make an insignificant callback more significant than it deserved to be.
Boxy Robot

Starship Captain
****
« Reply #65 on: 08-24-2012 17:08 »

On the Infosphere it says that the Hypnotoad appears in this but for the life of me I can't remember when, can someone tell me?
Mongo

Bending Unit
***
« Reply #66 on: 08-24-2012 17:31 »
« Last Edit on: 08-24-2012 17:33 »

Right after the "Binks" truck robbery, Fry, Bender and the Professor are watching "Everybody Loves Hypnotoad" when Bender says that he's bored, and Amy (who had been playing cards with Hermes, Leela and Zoidberg) suggests a visit to her parents on Mars.
DotheBartman

Liquid Emperor
**
« Reply #67 on: 08-24-2012 18:01 »

Regarding the tattoo, the one that Ed Helms gets in "The Hangover Part II" actually is the same one that Mike Tyson has (and Tyson himself has a cameo in the movie). So it's a reference to both Tyson and the movie, basically.

Solid episode. Nothing amazingly memorable, but solid. I'm impressed that they could do an episode about Zoidberg and Amy of all characters and actually mine a pretty good plot out of it, too. That's a good thing. Not every episode should focus on the three mains.

Though it was inevitable that he would be poor again, a part of me did kind of hope Zoidberg would actually be rich by the end of the episode. Poor Zoidberg.
jtleyko
Near Death Star Inhabitant
Crustacean
*
« Reply #68 on: 08-24-2012 18:44 »

When Zoidberg was playing roulette the ball that the operator used looked an awful lot like a snitch from harry potter.  Is it a reference to that or is it something else entirely.  Maybe its just future roulette. 

Also the orbit of mars didn't really concern me because at the end of "A Farewell to Arms" Mars is shown passing away from Earth.  Also I know for a fact that mars would be recaptured as a orbiting body... but a bit further away.
flesheatingbull

Starship Captain
****
« Reply #69 on: 08-24-2012 19:23 »

4 pages in on GF and it's still at 94. That tells me that the episodes that sucked, sucked. Using trolls as an excuse for a bad episodes low ratings seems to be the hip thing to do.

Have you actually read some of the so-called reviews? They're not reviews. They're a couple of words with a 1 rating attached.

Anyway, I think the rating will probably settle at about 90%. I remember that Reincarnation was at an extremely high rating for a while before dropping to 89%.

I would agree with you but there are even more 5/5 posts that fit that description.
Svip

Administrator
DOOP Secretary
*
« Reply #70 on: 08-24-2012 19:31 »

You want to read real reviewsGo here (warning: no reviews, because no one can be bothered to write real reviews).  You want to keep complaining about CGEF ratings or do you want to do something about it?
flesheatingbull

Starship Captain
****
« Reply #71 on: 08-24-2012 19:46 »

Someone mentioned the roulette ball possibly being a harry potter reference. On second viewing, im 100% it is. Good eye. I didnt even notice that or the mars rover at first.

I also noticed the name of the newspaper that zoidberg was reading in the dumbster. The daily bum blanket.
MYK

Delivery Boy
**
« Reply #72 on: 08-24-2012 21:17 »

You've heard it before but this was a very solid episode that definitely captured that old, classic feel the original run was famous for. Zoidberg and Amy worked surprisingly well together, the Mafiya had a good role to play, and the plot overall was very fluid and well structured. It had its fair share of jokes: not roll-on the floor funny but definitely comparable with other strong episodes the show's done. This show has been remarkably consistent with the visual jokes. 

I also liked the random nature of the episode. When a show has multiple story arcs and character development to explore, it can lose its spontaneity fairly quickly. This episode made it very clear that Futurama still has the ability to write a great episode outside of its overarching plotlines, which I believe to be a very good thing. 

Good utilization of all the characters, a fun, amusing plot, consistent humor makes this a great episode. 

8.5 out of 10. 
TheAnvil

Bending Unit
***
« Reply #73 on: 08-24-2012 22:30 »

Really unique episode. I loved it!
Deely

Crustacean
*
« Reply #74 on: 08-25-2012 01:05 »

"Not every episode should focus on the three mains."

Actually, it *should*; that's why they are main characters after all.

Any deviation from that is an indication of a weak script. That is, a plot that couldn't be made strong/interesting enough without placing secondary or arbitrary characters in the spotlight to carry it.
Svip

Administrator
DOOP Secretary
*
« Reply #75 on: 08-25-2012 01:08 »

I cannot follow that logic.  So if I writer wishes to explore a secondary main character (e.g. Zoidberg or Amy) in a plot, it's the indication of a weak script from the getgo?  Not until all plots involving the three main characters have been full exhausted and explored can we consider thinking about the next characters, even then, we should ask ourselves; do we need more Futurama?

How the hell does that make it a weak script?
MuchAdo

Professor
*
« Reply #76 on: 08-25-2012 02:03 »
« Last Edit on: 08-25-2012 17:06 »

It's just the man's opinion.

Who gives a fuck besides him.

Aaaaahhhhhrrrrrrooooooooooooo ooooo!!!!!!!!!!!
Deely

Crustacean
*
« Reply #77 on: 08-25-2012 02:05 »

I don't consider Amy or Zoidberg main characters. So yes, it's an indication it might be a weak script.

If a writer has an idea for a plot, and he/she can't figure out how at least one (and preferably more) of the three main characters can carry it to completion, it's usually better to drop it for another idea instead of trying to shoehorn in other characters just to make the plot work.

"Not until all plots involving the three main characters have been full exhausted and explored"

There's basically an inexhaustible amount of plots.  There should never arise a need to use secondary characters who are, by and large, defined by being static, and as such not as interesting.

Let's say one of the writers get an idea involving a space-janitor. Now they can basically write an episode around Scruffy, who's not a main character, or they can get Fry to quit/get fired and pursue another career for the duration of the episode (Homer  syndrome).
Alternatively they can just drop the idea as not appropriate and look further, since there's literally a whole universe out there for the characters to explore and there's simply no need to focus on the janitor idea.

Any plot that doesn't revolve around  one of the three main characters means they haven't filtered through enough ideas yet to come up with a suitable one which could indicate they've either been (temporarily) out of inspiration, or were just lazy, like in this fictitious conversation I overheard during the brainstorming about the script:

-"Let's do a casino heist!"
-"Casino? Wong maybe?"
-"But Wong's family. We can't rob them without a decent set-up."
-"Set-up schmet-up. Let's just do a hostile takeover of some sort and be done with it"
-"Who are the bad guys ? Maybe mob ?"
-"Close enough"
-"So how we get the mob to Mars ?"
-"Mob->money. Money-> Zoidberg. Rich zoidberg-> Mars. Mob->mars ?"
-"Hmm, that could work."
-"So how do we get the casino in the hands of  the mob ? "
-"Beats me, we'll figure that out later"

Basically it's the barest of scaffolding; just enough to tag jokes on along the way, but it's just not very inspired. In a way it's very easy to construct how the episode came about; what was the main idea; what was tagged on to drive the plot forward; why and how plotholes came about.
Tastes Like Fry

Urban Legend
***
« Reply #78 on: 08-25-2012 02:08 »

Alright, so I've seen it, but not on my usual site that I get clean framegrabs from because they haven't uploaded and embedded file yet >< I'll upload a full TLF screenshot review when that becomes available to me, for now; a short paragraph.

The episode was amusing and I found myself laughing out loud at several points. Loved the spoofing of Oceans 11 and the Amy and Zoidberg dynamic. An easier way to have taken the money would be to ink Bender and turn him invisible and let him get the money - but that would screw with the plot [and they might not ever see that money again]. "The mirror got a tattoo!" Those whiskers are horrid - the celtic pattern however is not so bad - I'd find it amusing if we later found more tatts on Frys body in reference to this episode (Leela should totally be the one to find them  :flirt: )
Professor Zoidy

Urban Legend
***
« Reply #79 on: 08-25-2012 05:45 »

Meh, it was alright. Don't hate it but I'm not gonna absolutely rave either.

7/10
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