The Eagle has FIRED! (other SciFi in Futurama)

[on:]

Ok, Trek was of course in Where No Fan Has Gone Before, but did anyone notice that the ship that fired the 79 episodes and 6 movies into the quarantined world was an Eagle from Space: 1999?

I wonder, being a noob, how many other times there are "other" shows referenced visually?

Of course there are also many TOS sound effects to be heard as well.

[Reply #1 on:]

"2001 - A Space Odyssey" is one of the most referenced sci-fi movies in the show.

"Also Sprach Zarathustra" and Fry's "My God, it's full of adds" in "A Bicyclops Built for Two".

Computer going insane, the brain room, reading lips, etc in "Love And Rocket".

Bender sailing through space to the music of "An der Schöne Blaue Donau" (or something like that) in "Godfellas".

All 2001-references.

And ofcourse there is this:  

[Reply #2 on:]

*sigh*

He's uncurable  .

I believe in "I Dated a Robot", in the Twilight Zone parody, there was a book in the background with the title "The Red Dwarf of Courage". It's hard to tell whether it's a reference to the TV show or the stellar phenomena.

[Reply #3 on:]

that's a reference to the book "The Red Badge of Courage"..they usually make you read that in high school.

[Reply #4 on:]

One more thing Cyberknight...what's that about apple's being faster than PC's???  You'd be lucky to find an apple that could compete with a 2.66ghz with some pc2700 ram and a high end video card and motherboard.  Plus, even if they have that system set up for you, you'd pay a CRAPLOAD of money for it, because you can't buy parts for apples, you can only get systems.  sure, osX is reliable, but so is WindowsXP Pro, I've haven't shut down my pc is several weeks, and I've installed and configured many things in that time.  Lastly, who in the world could claim that apple's have more features?  Apple is still just getting by on people who think that they're intimately better at graphics and ease of use, when it's just not that true anymore.

Also, I agree with you on Beta tapes, but what are BSB and Sky?

[Reply #5 on:]

 

Originally posted by Teral:
"An der Schöne Blaue Donau" (or something like that)

"An der schönen blauen Donau" 

[Reply #6 on:]

   

Originally posted by Yorokobi:
but did anyone notice that the sh...

Yes. I did.

Here's another reference ... the Harlem Globetrotter's spacecraft is identical to the craft in the creaky 1950's classic 'The Day The Earth Stood Still'

Behold!

And is this guy Morbo's grandfather??

Ignore the next line, I *never* edit my posts.

[Reply #7 on:]

 

Originally posted by Chalic:
Apple is still just getting by on people who think that they're intimately better at graphics and ease of use, when it's just not that true anymore.

Oh let's not start that.  Just accept the fact that Apple is the superior computing experience - David X. Cohen will tell you that - and move on.

[Reply #8 on:]

 

Originally posted by Timo:
 Oh let's not start that.  Just accept the fact that Apple is the superior computing experience blah blah I bought an Apple

Didn't Hermes have an Apple laptop (or something closely resembling one) in The Problem with Popplers' ??

There ya go, another creaky 1950's technology reference from Futurama.

[Reply #9 on:]

Most computers shown in Futurama seem to resemble Apple, take the computer that Farnsworth uses in the meeting room (TLOTF, WAA), Patchcord adams comedy exporter, all look pretty macish to me.

[Reply #10 on:]

 

Originally posted by Chalic:
One more thing Cyberknight...what's that about apple's being faster than PC's???  You'd be lucky to find an apple that could compete with a 2.66ghz with some pc2700 ram and a high end video card and motherboard.  Plus, even if they have that system set up for you, you'd pay a CRAPLOAD of money for it, because you can't buy parts for apples, you can only get systems.  sure, osX is reliable, but so is WindowsXP Pro, I've haven't shut down my pc is several weeks, and I've installed and configured many things in that time.  Lastly, who in the world could claim that apple's have more features?  Apple is still just getting by on people who think that they're intimately better at graphics and ease of use, when it's just not that true anymore.

Also, I agree with you on Beta tapes, but what are BSB and Sky?

I was actually talking about the original Apples, which were pretty much superior to the PC (but proprietary, so never took off).

BSB was a satellite system back around 1990 here in the UK. The technology used was superior to Sky, but they were bought out by Sky to become the current BSkyB network.

[Reply #11 on:]

cant remember wat episode but in one there is a robot named after the super computer in 2001 - A Space Oddessy : HAL

i dont remember wat reference or wat episode but i seem to hav this feeling....

[Reply #12 on:]

The computer was named HAL 9000.

 

Originally posted by CyberKnight:
*sigh*

He's uncurable   .

Heh-heh. At least they made Fry say Janeway was a hero, so you guys get to gloat. All they did to DS9 was blow up the space station.

The references to Mac is numerous: i-Hawk, i-Zac, etc. At one point in the audio commentaries they joke about how they should get revenue from Apple for advertising their products, yet David X Cohen were still waiting for his complimentary Apple computer.

[Reply #13 on:]

 

Originally posted by Teral:
The computer was named HAL 9000.
The references to Mac is numerous: i-Hawk, i-Zac, etc. At one point in the audio commentaries they joke about how they should get revenue from Apple for advertising their products, yet David X Cohen were still waiting for his complimentary Apple computer.

Audio Commentary for Fear Of A Bot Planet i believe when they are being sentenced by the Mac

[Reply #14 on:]

Bender has an old Apple 6502 chip in him (Fry and the Slurm Factory), Bender and Robot House peep at a Mac (Mars University), Lucy Liubot is Mac-formatted (I Dated a Robot), the operating system in the Planet Express conference table shown in many episodes is a Mac OS... really, the list goes on and on and on...

It's no great surprise that the smartest writing team of all time would have an affinity for Macs.  What really does surprise me is that more Futurama fans don't share that affinity, particularly the artistically creative ones.  I'm still waiting for cool Futurama Mac OS X icons.  (There's one small set floating around out there, but that's all I've found.)

[Reply #15 on:]

Bah. I have a word : prenopra. Stands for prettiness not practicality. Applies very very well to the Mac  .

*Gets promptly beaten up by enraged Mac users*

I do like the look of the new Shuttle PCs, though. Guess I'll have to stick with my current PC for a while yet.

[Reply #16 on:]

The Episode where Bender has an affair with the Planet Express ship, the ships computer has several "interface" panels, complete with the red eye.

And of course Leela later pops those soda can's in the computer core which all slide out just like HAL 9000's lucite "chips" in 2001.

(Guys, can we avoid making this a PC v MAC thread.  It's really annoying when one starts a topic and it then gets TOTALLY hijacked by a completely unrelated subject)

[Reply #17 on:]

To Yorokobi:  Why is it annoying?  Do you have stock invested in this thread?  People talk, it's not a big deal.  Plus I bet this very plot thread has only been done around 30 times, so you could probably do a search and read some perfectly good discussions that weren't "hijacked" by a completely unrelated subject.

To Timo:  If you remember however, not all of those references were so positive, The Judge in "Fear of a Bot Planet" was a Mac, and he wasn't functioning too well :P  Anyway, I think the gratuitous use of Mac's in Futurama is more related to the fact that you can't make fun of the "PC" because no one company is responsible for making them.  Macs are just an easier target.  I don't remember David Cohen (The X is not part of his real name you know.) mentioning that he prefered using Macs. It certainly wasn't in the first season commentary. Where did you read that?

[Reply #18 on:]

Maybe because I want to...... PARTICIPATE in a discussion about it.  If I wanted only to read, I wouldn't have registered.

Guh!

[Reply #19 on:]

I can understand that being annoying.  Didn't mean to hijack the thread, just got a little carried away.  (I blame CyberKnight's cool siggy.)  In an attempt to re-track-ify:

Let's see, the titles "I, Roommate" and "I, Meatbag" (from "Anthology of Interest II" ) are both homages to Isaac Asimov's "I, Robot."

There are several movie posters within the episodes:

"Fear of a Bot Planet" features "Buffy the Human Slayer."

"Raging Bender" features "Planet of the Clams," about a world where lobster is slave to clam, a take-off on "Planet of the Apes."

I think my favorite is when Fry et al. sit down to watch the movie in "Raging Bender," and get chastised for talking by the silhouettes of Crow and Tom Servo from Mystery Science Theater 3000.

[Reply #20 on:]

 

Originally posted by Chalic:
If you remember however, not all of those references were so positive, The Judge in "Fear of a Bot Planet" was a Mac, and he wasn't functioning too well :P

Try Control-Alt-Delete.
Jiggle the cord.
Turn him off and on!
Clean the gook out of the mouse.
Call technical support!

How many times have we done this....

[Reply #21 on:]

I've noticed many sci-fi references throughout futurama, some more obvious than others, here are a few of the "not so obvious" ones:

In "A Clone of my Own" the Professor's hologram message ends with him bending his knees and reaching forward, exactly like Princess Leia's message in the original Star Wars

Many of the starship dogfights ( A Clone of my Own / When Aliens Attack ) replicate battle scenes from Star Wars 1 & 3 as well.

Come to think of it, Star Wars seems to be referenced quite a bit...but I won't bore anyone with a complete listing.

One other reference: In "The Series Has Landed" when Fry finally submits to Leela's opinion that the Moon is a dump, he casts his eyes down, and the rising Earth is reflected in his space helmet. I know this is a reference from some movie, but I can't think of it.....anyone?

[Reply #22 on:]

Oh yes, one more thing:

When Leela pops the "soda cans" to disable the starships computer, while the 2001 reference seems obvious, I was reminded more of Sigourney Weaver's attempt to disable the automatic detonation of the Nostromo in "Alien". The props used in the movie actually were soda tanks ( or looked very much like them )

[Reply #23 on:]

The Holochamber concept from 'Kiff Get's knocked Up a Notch' was taken from the Star-Trek continuim.

[Reply #24 on:]

Insane in the mainframe's Institut was the HAL Institute for criminally insane robots.

Actually HAL wasnt insane, he just a had problem understanding the sercurity of his mission!

[Reply #25 on:]

Becuase it conflicted with his basic assignement of providing honest and instant information to the astronauts.

Craterface, the Lunapark mascot in "The Series Has Landed" is an homage to an old sci-fi movie called "A Trip to the Moon". From 1906.

[Reply #26 on:]

To serve man - Not from Star Trek, but the Twilight Zone. Funny episode about Aliens landing on Earth, helping mankind with their problems and then "inviting" them to the Alien's homeworld.
"It's not a submissive statement, it's the title of a cookbook!"

[Reply #27 on:]

Hey nurdbot, that's "continuum", only one "i". 

[Reply #28 on:]

Shhh!

[Reply #29 on:]

The weapons aiming system in "godfellas" is the same that sports the X-Wing fighters in Star Wars: A new hope.

Some Dianogas can be seen in Space pilot 3000 and I dated a robot.

etcetcetc

[Reply #30 on:]

The internet city in 'A Bicyclops Built for Two' is very similar to the computer world in the film 'Tron', which you may have seen, in which Jeff Bridges (I think - correct me if I'm wrong) gets sucked inside a computer and has to fight for his life. I can't remember much else except that the evil computer programmes have cool tanks.