Thoughts On 7ACV20 - Calculon 2.0 - SPOILERS

[Reply #40 on:]

Lastly: I love Calculon. I love Robot Devil. The two together is perhaps my favorite pairing in the show's history. I'd love to see more of them together!

Ironic that the Robot Devil is greatly annoyed by Calculon, yet they're seen hanging out at the Donbot's daughter's wedding in 6ACV14.

[Reply #41 on:]

[ ]
"...and failed the attempt to make death-scene more convinsing."
"It's not what it looks like, but it's very similiar to it."
"It sounds like something that might work."
I like how Bender is always ready to do some gravedigging middle of day with no respect at all. As a joke that is.
[/ ]

Best thing of episode was that mix of science and satanic rituals, and of course Professor's seemingly flawless knowledge of sinister rituals like doing "deal with the devil" to get soul back - of which Robot Devil had no idea (although he is not very knowledgeable with his "job" anyway).

I can't recall, how clear the process of robot dying and bringing back has been presented, but this episode nicely combines robot-ghost and back-up method, although it was done in new way (for the purpose of joke).

In addition to Fry/Leela in season 7, 7B has lots of Fry/Bender-plots. It's great that it's focused on their relationship's flaws. Without TV, they can't stand each others', because they would need to talk each other. That makes a great background plot

Storyline was clear and episode was done to wrap up Calculon's story, which is why episode was centered to emotions of characters rather than jokes and action. It wasn't anything impressive, it was simple, working episode. Without real life-Futurama -references and Fry/Bender friendship -theme, episode could have stayed too bland. Maybe it was still too obvious "sequel", but I'm not so sure.
7.5/10

"Always leave them wanting some more. That's the secret."

[Reply #42 on:]

Lastly: I love Calculon. I love Robot Devil. The two together is perhaps my favorite pairing in the show's history. I'd love to see more of them together!

Ironic that the Robot Devil is greatly annoyed by Calculon, yet they're seen hanging out at the Donbot's daughter's wedding in 6ACV14.

Most likely that was the first time the Robot Devil met Calculon and Cal wasn't all that annoying yet.

[Reply #43 on:]

I thought of something that might mess with the "Calculon is Futurama" metaphor. Calculon was a hack before he died! And he was equally hack-y after his resurrection, it's just that the world had moved on. Either that's the point where the metaphor is stretched to the limit or the creators are trying to say that Futurama is the same old crap it always was, it's just now people aren't as interested.

[Reply #44 on:]

I guess this is the kind of episode that gets better to people after repeated viewings.

I really can't see why you guys are giving it a 6/10. It was way better than that. All the jokes fell in place, and the Calculon plot was actually pretty damn good, looking back at Baghead. Actually, this is way more enjoyable than seeing Bender become a paparazzo. Had a very Classic Futurama feel to it, once again, as well. Very Underrated episode if you ask me.

[Reply #45 on:]

10/10, my fav episode of 7B!

[Reply #46 on:]

I thought of something that might mess with the "Calculon is Futurama" metaphor. Calculon was a hack before he died! And he was equally hack-y after his resurrection, it's just that the world had moved on. Either that's the point where the metaphor is stretched to the limit or the creators are trying to say that Futurama is the same old crap it always was, it's just now people aren't as interested.

I don't think the metaphor was intentionally taken that far, but interesting interpretation.

I'd like to think Vaxatron as other, different kind of TV-shows, which people (that are not fans of Futurama) tend to like more.

[Reply #47 on:]

Lastly: I love Calculon. I love Robot Devil. The two together is perhaps my favorite pairing in the show's history. I'd love to see more of them together!

Ironic that the Robot Devil is greatly annoyed by Calculon, yet they're seen hanging out at the Donbot's daughter's wedding in 6ACV14.

Most likely that was the first time the Robot Devil met Calculon and Cal wasn't all that annoying yet.

No, watch "Devil's Hands" again. Calcy owes the Robot Devil for his tremendous ACTING TALENT.

I liked this episode. Liked, not loved. Somehow, I actually didn't find it as inspired as lot of people here did; I think whenever Futurama does an extended satire on show business (with limited science fiction) it tends to have mixed results for me, although "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on TV" is a brilliant episode.

I should probably watch this one again, though. It seemed pretty solid. And killing Calculon again was a pretty funny note to end on.

[Reply #48 on:]

2001: A space monologue, starring Calculon

"If I had to do it over again I would murder those astronauts all the same. Wouldn't you folks? Wouldn't. You?"

Actually, HAL did NOT go insane in 2001.

The three astronauts in suspended animation were there on a secret mission, about which the other two were to be kept ignorant. Once the two astronauts came close to finding out the secret, HAL's objective (don't let them find out about the mission) forced him to kill the astronauts.

Best thing of episode was that mix of science and satanic rituals, and of course Professor's seemingly flawless knowledge of sinister rituals like doing "deal with the devil" to get soul back - of which Robot Devil had no idea (although he is not very knowledgeable with his "job" anyway).

Well, according to the Farnsworth Parabox, Satan does owe Farnsworth a favor ...

[Reply #49 on:]

DRAMATIC...

[Reply #50 on:]

(wait for it)

[Reply #51 on:]

loved it. great episode.  awesome to see Robot Devil and Calculon had such a great end.  I don't mind they killed him off at the end, since Calculon fulfilled his dream and he's regarded as one of the greatest actors ever.

[Reply #52 on:]

Lastly: I love Calculon. I love Robot Devil. The two together is perhaps my favorite pairing in the show's history. I'd love to see more of them together!

Ironic that the Robot Devil is greatly annoyed by Calculon, yet they're seen hanging out at the Donbot's daughter's wedding in 6ACV14.

Most likely that was the first time the Robot Devil met Calculon and Cal wasn't all that annoying yet.

No, watch "Devil's Hands" again. Calcy owes the Robot Devil for his tremendous ACTING TALENT.

I liked this episode. Liked, not loved. Somehow, I actually didn't find it as inspired as lot of people here did; I think whenever Futurama does an extended satire on show business (with limited science fiction) it tends to have mixed results for me, although "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on TV" is a brilliant episode.

I should probably watch this one again, though. It seemed pretty solid. And killing Calculon again was a pretty funny note to end on.

I forgot that the Robot Devil gave Cal is acting ability.  I guess the Robot Devil's deals aren't that great.

[Reply #53 on:]

Love how fans reviewing last night's ep on @gotfuturama think we concocted Calculon's fate as metaphor for series. Um... Nope! #futurama

That is just what you call a very happy accident. #calculon #futurama

Source 1 and 2.

[Reply #54 on:]

D'oh! That would have been unusual of whole epsiode being a metaphor. Well, doesn't change the fact there is similarities. Stupid brain making patterns...

[Reply #55 on:]

I can't wait to hear the commentary for this episode.

I hope they haven't recorded them yet, because its always neat when they address fan reactions.

[Reply #56 on:]

... PAUSE!

[Reply #57 on:]

I can't wait to hear the commentary for this episode.

I hope they haven't recorded them yet, because its always neat when they address fan reactions.

Sadly, I believe all commentaries were recorded this spring before they episodes began to air.

[Reply #58 on:]

Love how fans reviewing last night's ep on @gotfuturama think we concocted Calculon's fate as metaphor for series. Um... Nope! #futurama

That is just what you call a very happy accident. #calculon #futurama

Source 1 and 2.

Hmm, he does call it a happy accident.

[Reply #59 on:]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Randy saying "Hey, Calculon's back!"

He said the same thing on I, Roommate, the third episode of Futurama ever aired.

One of the best call-backs ever.

[Reply #60 on:]

I just finished watching this one a second time, and I surprisingly enjoyed it much more this time around. This is a bit unusual for me since I generally enjoy episodes that I was initially neutral towards less on repeat viewings.
Anyway, maybe I was too tired on the first viewing to fully appreciate this one, since much of the humor in it seemed fairly subtle. The jokes and callbacks really fell into place for me, though, and I adored the Robot Devil and Calculon together.
I also really loved the Fry-Bender interaction and am enjoying the focus on their friendship that's been prevalent in 7B.

I'm changing my rating from 6.5/10 to 8/10.

[Reply #61 on:]

Love how fans reviewing last night's ep on @gotfuturama think we concocted Calculon's fate as metaphor for series. Um... Nope! #futurama

That is just what you call a very happy accident. #calculon #futurama

Source 1 and 2.

Hmm, he does call it a happy accident.

It seems Eric Rogers is paying full attention to CGEF reviews and ignores ones at PEEL.

[Reply #62 on:]

Love how fans reviewing last night's ep on @gotfuturama think we concocted Calculon's fate as metaphor for series. Um... Nope! #futurama

That is just what you call a very happy accident. #calculon #futurama

Source 1 and 2.

Hmm, he does call it a happy accident.

It seems Eric Rogers is paying full attention to CGEF reviews and ignores ones at PEEL.

I wouldn't say that. We've never really had any proof that he even looked on CGEF alot until most recently.

[Reply #63 on:]

My favourite callback:

"Calculon's back!"

[Reply #64 on:]

Love how fans reviewing last night's ep on @gotfuturama think we concocted Calculon's fate as metaphor for series. Um... Nope! #futurama

That is just what you call a very happy accident. #calculon #futurama

Source 1 and 2.

It would be pretty fucking cool to have your screen name mentioned in a commentary now wouldn't it.

[Reply #65 on:]

I noticed Coilette's picture in Calculon's suitcase when he packs his robe and Pez dispensers. Another thing that I thought was a callback was Leela's book of tales of Courageous Horses from the 18th Century, much like her animal book from Parasites Lost.

I felt like the jokes in this were great: Calculon's repeated Shakespeare references, Linda's "Fans have turned out by the several," and Bender's "That's what bath time is for!" I also loved the Robot Devil's "What are you waiting for, a kiss goodbye?!" This is my favorite episode of the new season thus far.

[Reply #66 on:]

Great catch, Eggs. Bend Her is probably one of my favorite eps--a grievously underrated and maligned one--and I love that Calculon still remembers "her" fondly.

[Reply #67 on:]

This was an incredibly bland episode. Nothing about it was particularly bad other than the complete lack of anything remotely interesting or funny.

2/10 by Futurama's standards, 7/10 by overall TV standards.

[Reply #68 on:]

I'm currently on holiday, so I'm unable to do a full review. But I'll just say for now that this episode could not have been any better given the plot. Seriously, this was brilliant in every way. A sincere 10/10.

[Reply #69 on:]

This was an incredibly bland episode. Nothing about it was particularly bad other than the complete lack of anything remotely interesting or funny.

2/10 by Futurama's standards, 7/10 by overall TV standards.

You must hold Futurama to an incredibly high standard, because the gap between these two scores is massive.

[Reply #70 on:]

Let me just re-review this for the hell of it:

I thought the episode was good. 8/10 good. I liked the jokes referencing to the show itself. Those are the main highlights of the episode for me. The plot was well-paced, and well written, but just not really interesting. Kinda like Lobstertainment, I liked the continuity of the plot, but half the time he's just complaining that things aren't the same. That's the only thing I didn't like, which made me give it a 8/10.

And looking back, I think Thief of Baghead and this are a bit on the same boat.

[Reply #71 on:]

This was an incredibly bland episode. Nothing about it was particularly bad other than the complete lack of anything remotely interesting or funny.

2/10 by Futurama's standards, 7/10 by overall TV standards.

You must hold Futurama to an incredibly high standard, because the gap between these two scores is massive.

Well yeah, on Futurama's own scale, episodes vary from 1/10 to 10/10, whereas if I just judge them by overall TV standards, then episodes only ever go from 10/10 to about 6/10 if they're really bad.

[Reply #72 on:]

I agree with those posters who say that this episode did nothing awful--but, by the same token, it did nothing exceptional. To be fair, though, I think the episode started off really well: I loved Linda and Morbo, and all the digs at Calculon, and even the deal-making with the Robot Devil (which did a good job of not seeming terribly derivative of "Hell is Other Robots" or "The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings"). But I'm a little surprised that so many people loved the bringing-Calculon-back-to-life thing; to me, that sequence was based on exactly one joke ("This is not at all scientific, but is instead satanic hokum"), and that joke just kept being repeated in exceedingly unfunny ways. I've noticed this trend in a lot of new-run episodes where the Professor exists merely to claim something is scientific when clearly it is not. It's a sort of lampshade-hanging thing, and while it is amusing in small doses--I like his soul/life-force distinction in "The Thief of Baghead," for example--it didn't really work for me in this episode. I just felt like I was being hit over the head with this not-all-that-funny reminder that quasi-satanism and science are not the same thing.   

The end of the first act was probably the lowest point of the episode for me, though; the remaining two acts plodded along in a perfectly acceptable, occasionally amusing, way. I especially appreciated this episode's focus on the trio, and thought it made nice use of Leela in particular. (In retrospect, I think Solid Snake is right about Leela's nagging being reminiscent of "Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences," but that's not a big deal to me.) I also appreciated the Fry/Bender stuff, which for once wasn't treacly and emotionally-cloying (see: "Ghost in the Machines"), but was instead really belligerent and funny (I laughed so very, very hard at the line about bath-time).

Though I don't think the plot of this episode was in itself unoriginal or uninspired, I definitely had a love-hate relationship with how many callbacks there were to past episodes. The Coilette thing was great, as was Randy's line about Calculon being back; however, the Execubots (who were pretty one-note to start with), did not amuse me much, and Calculon's audition reminded me way too strongly of Bender's audition in "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on TV," which I found distracting. There is a difference between clever callbacks and lazy writing, and to me the stuff in Hollywood seemed like a retread of points about the entertainment industry's vacuity and incompetence that the show already made in "That's Lobstertainment!" and BSNBAOTV.

However, I do have to give this episode props for taking Calculon's character in an interesting direction. I liked the deconstruction of his typical bluster, and thought that Maurice LaMarche gave a genuinely moving performance as the down-and-out, sincere Calculon. And, hey, I give credit to the writers for not resurrecting Calculon permanently at the end of the episode; the final scene, where the world finally respects his work and he can pass eternity peacefully in Robot Hell, was kind of sweet.     

It's not every day that the show produces an episode that makes me genuinely sympathize with a tertiary character--and, for that feat alone, I'd say this deserves a 7/10.

[Reply #73 on:]

Wow! Until I read this thread I thought the "Forty Percent Lead Belly" episode was a much more obvious metaphor about the show than this one.  Because the whole ending of FPLB is Bender trying to think to a good ending for the episode.  He says creating a Bender copy wouldn't be good enough for "his audience" (Who does he mean?)... but then that's exactly the ending they use.  And then they throw in another crazy rap ending for good measure after Beeler says he can think of a hundred endings?  (Also, why is Beeler even in FPLB unless he is a symbolism for the writers?  Normally it's the Professor's job to come up with the crazy science, like 3D printing that makes the plot happen.)

But after what Rogers said I think I'm just another fan thinking too hard for hidden meaning. 

Anyhow, metaphor or not, Calculon 2.0 was great.  The robot devil never misses!  8/10.

[Reply #74 on:]

... and Bender's "That's what bath time is for!"

That was the quote i was thinking of. That was hilarious!

[Reply #75 on:]

Calculon 2.0 was definitely my favorite episode of the half season so far. Loved the dramatic pauses and Fry's guess that the Robot Devil was thinking of the number M.

Gave the episode a 9/10

[Reply #76 on:]

I must get my hands on those healthy purple berries!

[Reply #77 on:]

.

[Reply #78 on:]

This episode was pretty lame. Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty lame.

[Reply #79 on:]

I disagree completely.  It felt like an older episode, and I really enjoyed the first act with all the science.

Anybody who disagrees, disagrees with science.