Thoughts on 7ACV16 - T.: The Terrestrial - SPOILERS

[#80 :]

"Did you just say Hello?"

"Nah, I said 'Allo, but close enough!"

But the apostrophe still means you're not pronouncing the H.

So Americans pronounce the H in Hello, but Brits don't.
Americans don't pronounce the H in herbs, but Brits do.

-sigh-

Brits say "Hello". I (mis)quoted the movie Labyrinth, because the conversation reminded me of it.

[#81 :]

I've never seen much evidence of Brits missing the H in words. The glottal stop on the other hand, fuggetaboutit.

[#82 :]

I just noticed that the Earth was rotating the wrong way.

[#83 :]

I just noticed that the Earth was rotating the wrong way.

Kind of makes sense due to "That Darn Katz!", but they've switched it around so many times since then I don't know if it's a goof or not.

[#84 :]

In case anybody is interested, T: The Terrestrial drew 1.023 million viewers.

[#85 :]

I just noticed that the Earth was rotating the wrong way.

Kind of makes sense due to "That Darn Katz!", but they've switched it around so many times since then I don't know if it's a goof or not.

I meant that the Earth was rotating from East to West instead of West to East.

Since that "Darn Katz" the Earth is supposed to be rotating from West to East but the first clip of the Earth in this episode has the Earth rotating from East to West.

[#86 :]

Now I'm confused... It looked like Earth was rotating from west to east as it's supposed to IRL.

Anyway, it's one of these continuity errors. And I think it's animators' job to "decide" direction of Earth's rotation, if writers don't mention it. So this error is likely to happen, I guess.

[#87 :]

I meant that the Earth was rotating from East to West instead of West to East.

Since that "Darn Katz" the Earth is supposed to be rotating from West to East but the first clip of the Earth in this episode has the Earth rotating from East to West.

What?  Above which horizon did you observe the sun rise this morning?

[#88 :]

I just noticed that the Earth was rotating the wrong way.

Kind of makes sense due to "That Darn Katz!", but they've switched it around so many times since then I don't know if it's a goof or not.

The next time we see the Earth rotating after the events of TDK is in TDVC (right at the end), and it appears to be rotating in the same direction as at the end of TDK. We see it rotating again, near the beginning of ACO. It's going in the "new" direction. In LN, we see a tiny snapshot of it, with a small rotation observable between frames. This seems to be in the "new" direction. It's clearly going in the new direction in TFHS, and in Neutopia it's not possible to determine. Benderama seems to show rotation in the new direction. It's hard to tell though.

TSOTC doesn't show any observable rotation, neither does CW. It's hard to tell, again, but AFTA does show what seems to be "new direction" rotation for a second. It's impossible in D3012 to tell, and in TBE, it's going in the new direction. In VMV, it's impossible to tell, and in Naturama, it's going in the new direction.

That's the entirety of S6 & S7A. I might have missed a few shots, but it appears to have been treated with reasonable consistency that since the events of TDK, the Earth's rotation has been reversed. It's also possible that I might have gotten some of these wrong, since they're only onscreen for between a few frames and the better part of a couple of seconds. But in TTT, it's definitely shown going in the "old" (ie: the current) direction, near the beginning of the episode. I'd say that this is a goof, since it doesn't seem to have been switched around in the meantime. If it's been switched in other media than the cartoon (eg: the comics), that's non-canon.

Since that "Darn Katz" the Earth is supposed to be rotating from West to East but the first clip of the Earth in this episode has the Earth rotating from East to West.

As others have pointed out, this is backwards. The Earth currently rotates west to east. The eastern hemisphere of the Earth slips under the terminator (the line between day and night) before the western hemisphere as the planet spins eastward in space. In TDK, the Earth's rotation is reversed, so that it spins east to west, and in the goof you spotted, the Earth is rotating west to east (spinning eastward instead of westward).

[#89 :]

I find Zoidberg's line here hilarious:

"If you don't get me more 'Good News, Everyone!', my arthritis will make me seize up like a dried monkey carcass!"
"I've seen those, in the Great Monkey Desert!"

He looks so pleased with himself when he says it haha.

[#90 :]

I lost my post. Oh well, I didn't really say much except I found it to be a below-average episode. This new season so far isn't doing it for me :/

[#91 :]

Best episode this season so far for me. Not the most impressive plot ever done, but the "laughs per minute" ratio was definitely up there for me. I was hooked from "The Finder Outer." Fry's answering machine message was the biggest laugh by far (though I actually laughed more at the original message than Bender's re-working of it), and I think I'm one of the few people who enjoyed the turd jokes... They lost a bit of steam (tee-hee!) after a while and then became funny again at the end.

[#92 :]

Fry has had a history of eating things that come from the behind of aliens...hello Slurm.

[#93 :]

I really wish I could change my vote to a 7/10 for this ep. The 2nd and 3rd act was just bad, other than the Bender sticking up for the Professor parts. Fry and Jrrr was really Meh. Didn't like alot of parts, and I did really enjoy some parts. But in the end, it just didn't go through all the way for me.

Thank god the season's starting to pick itself up. SMFP don't really count, since it's non-canon, and they get away with more.

[#94 :]

If you people weren't so ovverly ciritical and judgemental about these new episodes these past few years.....it probably would've got renewed.

[#95 :]

No. Just no. Do not go around on the review threads and blame the users here for the series cancellation.

[#96 :]

If you people weren't so ovverly ciritical and judgemental about these new episodes these past few years.....it probably would've got renewed.

That is what I've been saying

[#97 :]

If you people weren't so ovverly ciritical and judgemental about these new episodes these past few years.....it probably would've got renewed.

That is what I've been saying

Well, it's not true at all. The mega-companies that fund the show couldn't care less if people don't like it.

[#98 :]

I just watched this for the first time, CC had a marathon on and I watched 40% through Assie for the first time.  Alot of times you have to watch an episode twice before you get most of the episode...that said:

5/10
Another not terrible, but lackluster episode.  While I welcomed another view into a new facet of Omicronian culture, It was largely unmemorable like the last few episodes.

[#99 :]

Not a bad episode, but it's not anything spectacular. The scenes where Bender is pretending that Fry is on earth were amusing, as were the scenes where Fry was learning more about Omicronian life from Jrr. The E.T. parodying scenes were a bit less fun, but they weren't too bad, and they did provide some good gags (other than the overdone Poop jokes). In the end, I liked, but it's not very much of a standout episode. 7/10.

[#100 :]

I wonder if some of T's content is underappreciated by younger viewers.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was a major cultural phenomenon. It grossed more than Star Wars. It was released in 1982 (and re-released a couple of times after) and wasn't surpassed in box office earnings until Jurassic Park.

Even I don't really get it. I was born in 1981. I wasn't part of E.T.mania (seriously Firefox? You think E.T.mania is a word but underappreciated isn't? And neither is Futurama?) but I imagine the Futurama writers were adolescents/young adults right around when E.T. took the world by storm. They probably put the poop jokes in to try and amuse the younger folks who wouldn't "get it".

[#101 :]

I saw E.T. as a kid. And I must admit that Alien really scared me out by that time. Of course, it now lost all of it's scaryness for me. Right now, the little guy just brings up memories of a really unpleasant cinema visit

Okay, now back to topic:
I liked that one moment of Fry laying out the SOS message:
He was shown as simple, but not stupid. And that simplicity enabled him to have an idea more complicated thinkers would not even get, but that is working (after all, it was the only successful passed message between Earth and Omicron Persei 8).
The "so simple it's brillant" theme can form some really good jokes and plots. More of those actions would have fitted Fry in the last season well. At least much better than "Something goes bad, so I just gonna cry and do nothing, except maybe kill myself".

[#102 :]

I can see how under-appreciation for E.T. may have led to dislike for this episode; especially from the younger crowd, seeing as they might not recognize what's parody and what's original.

However, I think most of the dislike come from aforementioned lesser jokes ( In my opinion, the poop jokes were simply annoying, but the marijuana jokes were truly unfunny). I think that's the same reason for most of 2-D Blacktop's dislike, but that's a different subject.

The "so simple it's brillant" theme can form some really good jokes and plots. More of those actions would have fitted Fry in the last season well. At least much better than "Something goes bad, so I just gonna cry and do nothing, except maybe kill myself".

I've noticed the newer run didn't have that many 'Simple' gags, which are something the FOX run seemed to have lots of. There were alot more straight-up jokes in the CC run, whereas the FOX run had more, such as this one, that for some would need a little thinking to find the funny in. On that not, this joke seemed very similar to one in 'Obsoletely Fabulous', where bender uses rocks (?) to write a very long help singal on the shore of an island.

[#103 :]

I liked it. And I've never even seen E.T.

*flame shield up*

[#104 :]

I disliked it immensely.  And I've never seen E.T.

* Tachy ducks behind Snrub's flame shield

[#105 :]

I wonder what the difference in ratings for this episode, or really any episode that pokes fun at another show or movie, would be between someone/a group who had seen the parodied material and someone/a group who hadn't seen the parodied material before viewing the episode?

[#106 :]

I didn't like it. And I have seen E.T. once.

The parody wasn't done so well and it just wasn't very interesting storyline with worn out subjects. The ending, however, was the worst part. Even good Bender-plot doesn't help much.

I wonder what the difference in ratings for this episode, or really any episode that pokes fun at another show or movie, would be between someone/a group who had seen the parodied material and someone/a group who hadn't seen the parodied material before viewing the episode?

Well, I'm pretty sure people who have seen parodied material, would generally rate better, but E.T. is so well-known that I don't think it matters.

[#107 :]

ET isn't exactly an obscure movie. I truly doubt the writers were concerned that people wouldn't "get it".

[#108 :]

I've watched the movie ET many times, and I love the movie. This episode, was complete horse shit though in my opinion.

I "get" the references. The problem is that they're not played off as well as references from episodes such as say, "Murder on the Planet Express" are played off. They're played off awfully, and a few even go on for way too long, and are tiring even after the first time.

The redundant jokes, poor characterization, and simple-written plot is what makes me hate the episode.

[#109 :]

Is it like the Scooby-Doo parody, where all of the jokes can be seen coming a mile away and have been done better already by other cartoons? Man, the Scooby-Doo parody was bad.

[#110 :]

Well, I mean since it's a parody, I'm a little more forgiving I guess.

But for a canon episode of Futurama to be this way, is purely freaking awful.

I mean SMFP's thing was a parody of scooby doo: The plot twists and jokes are all seen coming from a mile away in the scooby doo cartoons as well. They pretty much kept the same formula but shoved the Futurama Characters in there. I don't think it was too bad, concerning parodies and whatnot. It was actually a pretty good attempt. For Futurama Standards though, it's completely out of place. But hey, it's just a parody. So I'm more forgiving I guess.

But T was not really a specific parody, other than parodying ET. And it did a pretty awful job at it, for Futurama standards. It was still decent TV. But it was really fucking low for Futurama though. It felt like some autistic child named Unmentionable wrote it.

[#111 :]

I think TTT can be forgiven slightly since it wasn't really an exact parody. It still felt like an episode of Futurama, unlike The Scooby-Doo parody which was barely distinguishable from an actual episode of Scooby-Doo.

Also, some parts of TTT were actually funny.

[#112 :]

I agree, it SORT OF felt like an episode of Futurama.

Meanwhile I do think that Scooby Doo segment DID in fact feel a little bit like an actual scooby doo episode. Just if you take out some of the crappy adult jokes, the plot actually moves in the same direction, as do a couple of the jokes/character personas.

But hey, like I've said 3 times now, I'm more forgiveful when it comes to the non-canon things they do. Hence why I actually enjoyed this. It was a direct parody that was handled in a pretty okay way.

But T, was canon sadly. I just hated the overall plot of it. A couple of jokes made me chuckle, but alot of the others just sucked. Badly.  At first, I thought it was decent, since I haven't watched much Futurama until it returned with the final season. But after watching other good/great episodes, I can safely say this sucked for Futurama's Standards. It was still decent TV, but it sucked for futurama standards.

[#113 :]

But T was not really a specific parody, other than parodying ET.

That sounds specific to me.

[#114 :]

After rewatching this well-over a year later:

The use of the word "turd" in Futurama doesn't work for me, it feels too...forced, I guess? "Poop" is more Futurama-y, and definitely a word Fry is more likely to use.

The bicycles powered by love still leaves a sour taste in my mouth, just, ugh, why... I feel slightly better about it after reading this on the Infosphere:

Jrrr tells Fry that their flying bicycle is powered by love. In "Three Hundred Big Boys", which is also the sixteenth episode of its season, Kif gives Amy a watch that he says is powered by love.

I guess if they can have watches powered by love in the future, they can have bicycles powered by love, too. But even so, why would Omicronians use them? I get the joke: they're big, tough, violent, murdering aliens who ride around on little bicycles powered by love, but again, feels too forced.

I enjoyed Bender noticing the fleem and then just casually putting it in his chest compartment, I must have forgotten about that part.

[#115 :]

The bicycles powered by love still leaves a sour taste in my mouth, just, ugh, why...

As lame as that was, I actually laughed at Lrrr's line regarding them: "Aww... he's riding a bicycle powered by love... which is a normal thing on this planet!"

[#116 :]

Yeah, Lrrr's line completely saved that for me. Actually, most of the jokes in this episode that should have fallen flat wound up working due to great taglines. I really don't understand the hatred for this episode at all.

[#117 :]

This episode is pretty bad (for Futurama standards anyway). Some low-brow humour that felt out of place for the show, and a parody of E.T. that didn't work too well and was slightly cringeworthy in places. There are worse episodes though. A 6.5/10 by overall TV standards.

[#118 :]

Futurama's full of low-brow humour, though. All the "bad smell" jokes about Zoidberg (and pretty much the entirety of A Big Piece of Garbage), the whale vomiting in Three Hundred Big Boys, any episode that's heavy on the sewer mutants... There are many, many more examples on top of these, too.

I didn't mind it here because it wasn't too off-putting. Plus, "turd" is just an inherently funny word.

[#119 :]

I just thought this episode wasn't funny, period. The plot was incredibly lazy and the jokes didn't make up for it. This easily makes my top ten least favorite episodes.