Thoughts on 3ACV15 - I Dated A Robot

[Reply #40 on:]

Don't get me wrong, IAGDL was far worse than this one (its bad ending dragged it down from a below-average to arguably Futurama's worst episode). Of the classic Futurama episodes however, this one is one in the bottom 5. My main point is that a bad ending really drags down an episode very much (I think this is even more true with music albums). The final impression is the lasting one... I remembered that, as you said, this one had a lot of great scenes, which makes it all the more disappointing that the writers went for a "in your face!" ending.

[Reply #41 on:]

Fair do's, I do see your point. There were a few weak endings in the original run, The Cryonic Woman being the worst offender (sorry to bring that up again ). Sure I Dated A Robot could have had a better ending, it did seem a bit cheap I guess...

It's not one of the greatest eps ever, but I guess personally I enjoyed what came beforehand within the ep so much that I forgave it a little more than you, but it's fair enough if you felt it dragged it down more due to it having had so much great material beforehand...

[Reply #42 on:]

Also, I still agree with my 2001 review; this ep was "averidge" ...

Ah, considering the ending, not really. I know that it's not being completely fair, but if the ending is bad - and this one definitely was - that ruins your impression of the whole episode. Same problem with IAGDL.

IAGDL had a far worse ending than IDAR. Not that IDAR had a good ending, just that IAGDL is more comparable to AOTKA or TCW in terms of endings.

[Reply #43 on:]

This is a pretty solid episode. I love the first act. I agree that the ending isn't great, but it could be a lot worse (see: a number of Season 6 episodes, apparently).

I don't know that a bad ending completely ruins an episode. Yeah, it brings down the rating a bit, but there is some pure genius in this episode and it has some nice romp-in-the-future moments.

[Reply #44 on:]

7/10

A pretty good episode. The plot pretty much dumps on the whole Fry/Leela thing, which is okay with me. (Although it isn't okay with the shippers.....) It had some good gags, like seeing the internet again. And Fry had some pretty funny quotes that I still remember off of the top of my head as well. All in all, I'll use FishyJoe's "averidge" to best describe the episode.

[Reply #45 on:]

7.5/10

I didn't love this episode, but it was decent. It had a few good jokes, but it was pretty much mediocre for me.

[Reply #46 on:]

I'll never understand the dislike toward this episode; I think it's absolutely brilliant.

[Reply #47 on:]

So, are the Lucy Liu bots sentient or not?

[Reply #48 on:]

An interesting question.  See the opinions batted around in this thread.

[Reply #49 on:]

I really don't get the hate for this episode.  It took something very specific but made it universal, and came up with a very original and fun role for a very talented guest star, and made the sci fi be so inventive that the episode really doesn't feel dated to me at all.  I feel like this was en example of an episode that uses a) topical humour and b) a guest star well and it holds up well.

Plus I do sometimes get really sad or teary when Liubot gets blanked out.

[Reply #50 on:]

I think this episode is mostly fine. I enjoy the set-piece that kicks things off, with Fry doing everything he ever wanted to do in the future (except that), and Lucy Liu's performance is solid (I'm especially fond of the "Would you like to take a moment to register me?" back-and-forth). Yeah, it takes a current event and tries to future-ify it, and it that way is a predecessor to less successful new-run outings like "Attack of the Killer App" and "Yo Leela Leela"--but it does it in a fairly clever way, drawing an analogy between illegally downloading music and illegally downloading celebrity's images, making a sort-of comment on the ethics of media piracy while mostly just being a goofy sci-fi romp with plenty of funny moments.

So my beef with this episode is not in its handling of a current event. No, it's more that it feels like it belongs in season two--which was lousy with love-interest-of-the-week episodes for Fry ("Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?", "Put Your Head on My Shoulders," "How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back," "The Deep South," "The Cryonic Woman")--not in season three, which sort of dug its heels in on the whole Fry-loves-Leela thing. I recognize that this criticism is purely contextual and a little unfair, but there you have it: content-wise, this episode feels like a step back from the character work they were doing in season three. I'm probably overly sensitive to perceived continuity fumbles in the characterization and emotional development, but whatever--no apologies, man!

[Reply #51 on:]

Yeah, it takes a current event and tries to future-ify it

The fact that I had no idea what "current event" you were talking about until you mentioned piracy is telling. Maybe piracy was a "current" thing back then (hey, don't ask me!) but it's still a relevant and widely-discussed topic. It's gonna exist forever.

In the heat of the moment, people seem too eager to jump on the "This is too topical, and will be redundant in a year!" train. Remember "Decision 3012"? People were acting like making references to any kind of current event dooms it by default. In reality, that episode doesn't hinge on the understanding on whatever bullshit about Obama's birth certificate it was referencing.

Aaaanyway, I stand by my single-sentence review a few posts up. I think it's genuinely one of my favourites from season 3 (however, I'm also at the point where my memory of the show, as a whole, is slipping a bit. I'm sure that would end up being an exaggeration if I sat down and thought about it properly).

[Reply #52 on:]

I don't know, I think this is an episode that will age well.    I think it was a really really inspired sci fi take on internet piracy: going from stealing artists music to directly stealing their images. 

I still don't get why Fry blanked out Liubot.   If I was Fry I would have said Eff Off to the real Lucy Liu and kept her especially after she pretty much sacrificed herself to save him.  Liubot really couuld have been an interesting character in her own right and her actions do make you question what her programming was and if she was not truly sentient, what did her programming allow her to do?  Was she bound by the 3 Laws, or was it a genuine desire to save the man she was programmed to love?

Interesting.  I think the weakness of the episode is Fry allowing himself to be convinced to essentially kill Liubot so goddam easily.   She deserved a better ending.   It would have been tidier to have her severely malfunction from corn fire or something, and then request her own deletion.  Or be killed outright by Liubot army.

Anything but

"Erase her Fry."

"No I love her!"

"No fak u Fry u delete her her existence pisses me off"

"Oh ok Lucy Liu."

"I'll always love you."

DELETE

"There she dead now.  Wanna hook up?"

"Piss off I'm with Bender now."

[Reply #53 on:]

You know, the button to erase her is in a pretty vulnerable spot. I wonder how Fry managed to avoid accidentally killing her during make-out sessions...

[Reply #54 on:]

I basically stand by my original comments upthread, but I came here to say that I rewatched this episode last night and absolutely guffawed at Lucy Liu’s line about having only her image…that, and the largest gold nugget in the world, one mile in diameter. Like, it may be one of my favorite line deliveries in the whole series. She says it so matter-of-factly, with an almost flat affect, and it’s such a ridiculous non-sequitur. The episode itself is maybe a 6/10, but that joke is a 100/10, true perfection, no notes.

[Reply #55 on:]

Honestly, one of my favorite things is from this episode.

"You should write a book. People need to know about the [CAN EAT MORE]".

I say it all the time with [CAN EAT MORE] replaced with whatever random everyday thing somebody is talking about. For example; "You should write a book. People need to know about [I CAN'T STAND ERICA]".  Or "People need to know about you [KILLED A HOBO LAST NIGHT]". Y'know, normal, boring, everyday shit.

And it really is all in the delivery. Futurama might not nail it with every episode, but the deliveries tend to land well for a lot of the quirkier lines, making otherwise-average episodes that little bit harder to grade badly overall.