Blernsball

[on:]

Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever found out how blernsball is played? 
I know that it is a jazzed up version of baseball, but what has been changed/modified?

[Reply #1 on:]

I think the writers said they deliberately didn't make up rules for it, so they can add any wacky stuff they can think of.  Obviously it's similar to baseball, but beyond that it's never said.

[Reply #2 on:]

There might not be much to say here.  There is specifically no canonical set of rules for blernsball, the producers wanted it to stay confusing, so it would be different every time.  I think they talk about it on the DVD commentaries. 

[Reply #3 on:]

Didn't it just start out as a joke in the first eposiode and was confusing so that it would be funny.

[Reply #4 on:]

I seem to recall something about this on the S1 DVD's.
The bottom line is: No. The writers thought it would be funnier if there were no disclosed rules for the game.
Remebmer Fry's reaction in FOABP? He thought it was like Baseball too, but became hopelessly confused.

[Reply #5 on:]

From the "A Leela of Her Own" audio commentaries:

Patric M Verone: "It's baseball with a rubber string."
David X Cohen: "Except when you hit a Grand Slam Blern, then crazy stuff happens."

But then again you have clown fundamentals, multiball, motorcycles, giant spiders and other stuff. They try to keep it just outside the realm of understandability (is that a word? well, it is now).

[Reply #6 on:]

 

Originally posted by Teral:
From the "A Leela of Her Own" audio commentaries:

Patric M Verone: "It's baseball with a rubber string."
David X Cohen: "Except when you hit a Grand Slam Blern, then crazy stuff happens."

But then again you have clown fundamentals, multiball, motorcycles, giant spiders and other stuff. They try to keep it just outside the realm of understandability (is that a word? well, it is now).

and MULTIBALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Reply #7 on:]

He said multiball.

The fans have tried to construct a concrete set of rules for Blernsball, but it seems with today's technology, impossible. And, despite, it never seems to be played the same way twice. I don't think we'd ever seen HIT IT HERE TO WIN THE GAME before "A Leela of Her Own" despite full views of the stadium before.

[Reply #8 on:]

Maybe it was a one-shot promotion, like the target Taco Bell floated in the San Francisco bay for Barry Bonds to hit.  Supposedly if anyone hit it, everyone in the USA could get a free taco just by walking into Taco Bell the next day.  Nobody hit it. 

[Reply #9 on:]

the giant mice running out on to the field was hilarious.. not that it has anything to do with the rules of blernsball.

[Reply #10 on:]

...and the fact that the other players (must?) look at the ground in sorrow when the scooter runs the bases.

That cracks me up for some reason

[Reply #11 on:]

Yeah, gotta love the Tron-esque Light Cycle.

"BLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEERRRN!"

[Reply #12 on:]

 

Originally posted by frythesolid:
the giant mice running out on to the field was hilarious.

I hate to be so picky, but those were chinchillas, not mice.

[Reply #13 on:]

Well, I have a little saying that goes..."it all comes back to Tron." It's amazing how much that movie has affected pop culture. Futurama, Family Guy, Simpsons have all referenced it (Family Guy so much as to recreated about a minute's worth of lightcycle sequence for a joke.) Spy Kids 3...now where have I seen those cycles before?

[Reply #14 on:]

I thought the multi ball sequence was hilarious. I mean, imagine if there was such a thing in baseball. People would get hurt big time! lol.

[Reply #15 on:]

Multiball was awesome, and that giant spider that came out of the bullpen made no frickin sense, but I hope they show more pointless Blernsball stuff again.

[Reply #16 on:]

As they said in the Fear Of A Bot Planet commentary, they try to keep the rules of Blernsball just out of understandability. At first, it was just some crazy game that made no sense whatsoever, and vaguely resembled baseball - but when it became vital to the story in A Leela Of Her Own, they did make the rules a bit clearer, although they still try to make it so that it can't fully be understood.

[Reply #17 on:]

Its like the Comic Book Store Guy in the simpsons he will never have an official name, dispite the rumours being thrown around. Just like Blernsball will never have any official rules.

[Reply #18 on:]

It might happen... if they can come up with a decent name for him, it'll be revealed in a 'very special episode'.
They did it with Kenny, Stan and Cartman's faces in South Park (though still not Kyle), and also in The Simpsons with Homer's middle name... there are probably several other examples, but my brain is tired...
Then again, it MAY be forever a mystery, like Charlie(the one with Angels)'s face, or Mr Bean's first name... just to cheese off the viewers.   

[Reply #19 on:]

 

Originally posted by Rage Dump:
Its like the Comic Book Store Guy in the simpsons he will never have an official name, dispite the rumours being thrown around. Just like Blernsball will never have any official rules.

"Comic book guy" isn't his official name?

[Reply #20 on:]

 

Originally posted by Ssarl:
It might happen... if they can come up with a decent name for him, it'll be revealed in a 'very special episode'.
They did it with Kenny, Stan and Cartman's faces in South Park (though still not Kyle)

Actually, they have shown Kyle's face twice in South Park!

Here's a picture of him from episode 510 - How To Eat With Your Butt, when he first took his hat off for school photo day:


Also note that he took his hat off in the change rooms in episode 706 - Li'l Crime Stoppers.

Anyway, getting back to Futurama - I think that we can all agree there are no rules to Blernsball. It's just a dumb game that's as funny as hell to watch because it makes no sense.

[Reply #21 on:]

BALL 3 LOCKED!
that is the fun of the game, if youy can just throw around rules and pointless stuff its funnier (by the way im in Digipen Institute of tecnology!)

[Reply #22 on:]

 

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Originally posted by Rage Dump:
Its like the Comic Book Store Guy in the simpsons he will never have an official name, dispite the rumours being thrown around. Just like Blernsball will never have any official rules.
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Originally posted by Coop:

"Comic book guy" isn't his official name?

Ok, let me rephrase that, he wont ever have a "real" name

[Reply #23 on:]

Alright imagine this:
his parent are on the hospital and the doctor says: Congratulations, its a boy! how would you like to name him?
dad: hmmm i thought of Martin but i dont know
Mom: How about Comic book guy!
Dad: Perfect!

[Reply #24 on:]

There are rumours about his "real" name, such as Lewis Lane (published in a wizards Mag interview) and a couple of others i cant remember off the top of my head

[Reply #25 on:]

Blernsball
The Earthican past time featuring mandatory steroids. A "jazzed-up" version of the ancient Earth sport "baseball." Players hit a ball on an elastic tether that is thrown, or "pitched," to the batter. Fielders try to prevent the ball from entering small holes in the field, which score blerns. Basic rules such as the strike zone and outs seem to remain the same as their ancient counterparts. The Blernsball Hall of Fame is located on the same plot of land as the ancient Baseball Hall of Fame, in Cooperstown, New New York. Notable players include over twenty generations of Hank Aarons, the last of which was regarded as the worst player ever, batting a record .000 his entire career, until Turanga Leela becomes the first professional female blernsball player in the 3002 season, in which she pitched in over 100 innings without getting a single out. Teams include the New New York Yankees, the New New York Mets, the Mars Greenskins, the Boston Poindexters, and the Atlanta Braves.