Lamest line

[Reply #360 on:]

Billy West: Sorry, mister, but I'm no Bender. I'm just a simple farmer. Name's Billy West!
Fry: Billy West. What a stupid, phony, made-up name!

I don't know, I just felt like the whole Billy West joke/reference felt forced in.

I came here to post that line. Glad to see I'm not alone in hating it.

[Reply #361 on:]

Ooo, I will third the hatred of the Billy West line. I just listened to the commentary for that episode yesterday, and was utterly perplexed by the participants' insistence that it was a great joke; apparently it got a huge laugh at the table read. Yikes.

[Reply #362 on:]

I laughed at the initial "Name's Billy West!" line because it just sounded funny for some reason but Fry saying how stupid the name sounds got a half-hearted "hurr" and an internel explanation as to why that was mildly amusing.

What I'm saying is that it probably would have seemed funnier if no one pointed the "Billy West" thing out or at least just mentioned in passing that it was obviously a fake name or something, I dunno...

Don't hurt me.

[Reply #363 on:]

I agree with you there, Jezz. Had Fry not dwelt on the phony made-up-ness of his own voice actor's name, I think the initial reference would have been fine. It probably would have sailed over most casual fans' heads (though probably it still does, which makes the reference all the more frustrating to the diehard fans who didn't need an explanation for the whole "joke" in the first place).

[Reply #364 on:]

I just think most people on PEEL are miserable...

[Reply #365 on:]

I laughed at the initial "Name's Billy West!" line because it just sounded funny for some reason but Fry saying how stupid the name sounds got a half-hearted "hurr" and an internel explanation as to why that was mildly amusing.

I too agree with this. A simple reference could have worked, without Fry's comments on how ridiculous the name sounded. Sort of like Dr. Ben Beeler.

[Reply #366 on:]

I also agree, though I was still amused by Fry's comment. But it would have been perfectly funny with just Billy's line.

[Reply #367 on:]

It would have been much funnier if he just whispered to Leela and said something like 'What a stupid name' - The extra line dragged the joke out for longer and ruined the funny moment...

[Reply #368 on:]

I just think most people on PEEL are miserable...

That may be true. But don't worry: I'm just as miserable in real life as I am on PEEL!

[Reply #369 on:]

Definitely dependant on people's opinions.  Many of the lines listed here I got a good laugh from in some way or another.

Especially in TTWP, when Bender throws a brick at the hippy?  Ahh funny.  Especially because I dislike hippies.

[Reply #370 on:]

Especially because I dislike hippies.

.....Cartman?

[Reply #371 on:]

Especially because I dislike hippies.

.....Cartman?

That one flew over my head   I just don't like hippies. 

[Reply #372 on:]

Cartman is the fat kid in South Park and he hates hippies (as well as Jews and gingers and other things...), in one episode he goes around town exterminating them and locking them in his basement. Then they have a concert in South Park and they get in a huge drill and kill hundreds of them and play Slayer to make them leave. (The episode is called Die Hippe, Die... )

[Reply #373 on:]

Hmm...this sounds like something I would approve of.  Your everyday eco-friendlyish healthy eating hippy isn't too bad...but the extreme tree-hugging tofu-lion hippy...not so much.

[Reply #374 on:]

Most of them in South Park are the ones you hate.

[Reply #375 on:]

"Lady Gagaesque fame hag" what were they thinking...

[Reply #376 on:]

I feel like Fry chuckling at Billy West's name wasn't an explanation of the joke as much as a separate joke entirely. It's funny because of the irony of the character finding his own voice actor's name to be stupid (and imagining the voice actor saying that line). It was still pretty subtle insofar as the only people who would get it would be people who watch the show closely and know who voices who; I had to point it out to a group of friends I was watching it with for them to get it. It's not one of the best lines or anything, but I got a chuckle out of it.

My pick is either "nine, ten, a big fat hen....the name's Bender" or the whole bit with Roseanne over the credits. I cringe every time I hear either of them.

[Reply #377 on:]

Ahaha I love "nine, ten, a big fat hen..." It's funny because it makes no sense and is also the kind of dumb thing I'd say in real life.

Roseanne over the credits is stupid but I can just stop watching the episode then and not miss anything vital. I don't have to cringe through it.

[Reply #378 on:]

To be fair, I sort of can't stand that episode in general so I rarely have to see Roseanne anyway. It's the one episode I'll watch only once every few years, just to see if it's slightly better than I remembered it.

[Reply #379 on:]

"Lady Gagaesque fame hag" what were they thinking...

Its pretty hideously bad.  I mean seriously.  "Famehag".  What kind of insult is that?  If they are going to drag up 21st century pop culture for a fashionable Take That Popular Thing You Suck, they could at least be memorable and devestating in their insult.  Famehag is probably the title of her next album.

[Reply #380 on:]

I don't really mind modern references, but that one is kind of lame. Apparently it used to be "J. Lo-esque fame hag," which speaks to it being kind of an easy joke where just about any relevant name could have been dropped into it. That episode as a whole has some great moments, though.

[Reply #381 on:]

Most of the jokes in Less Than Hero were supposed to be like that, as they were making fun of the pathetic-ness of old superhero cartoons. However, here's a line from a Big Piece Of Garbage that is reeeeaaalllly lame, and not a little bit funny:
"Don't give up. There were plenty of times in the 20th century when I felt like giving up, but I never did. Are you even listening to me? Oh, I give up..."

That was a great line! A classical line that I will always remember!

[Reply #382 on:]

Most of the jokes in Less Than Hero were supposed to be like that, as they were making fun of the pathetic-ness of old superhero cartoons. However, here's a line from a Big Piece Of Garbage that is reeeeaaalllly lame, and not a little bit funny:
"Don't give up. There were plenty of times in the 20th century when I felt like giving up, but I never did. Are you even listening to me? Oh, I give up..."

That was a great line! A classical line that I will always remember!

Agreed, I love that line. It is a good example of smart humor.

[Reply #383 on:]

I don't really mind modern references, but that one is kind of lame. Apparently it used to be "J. Lo-esque fame hag," which speaks to it being kind of an easy joke where just about any relevant name could have been dropped into it. That episode as a whole has some great moments, though.

It does, I agree.  But it just shows how dated that line is going to be one day.  People gave a shit about J Lo at one point, now... yeah.

[Reply #384 on:]

Nothing can escape the grasp of age (except the Professor), but this was still a good line.

[Reply #385 on:]

I never felt that this show has a lame line. In my opinion, all of the lines are funny and GREAT!

[Reply #386 on:]

Farnsworth 1: Now don't give up yet, you cry babies. The box is gone but we still have one preposterously slim hope.
Amy A: Is it a kind of hairspray?

That's the definition of lame...

[Reply #387 on:]

Wait... what?

I hope Amy 1 punched her in the stomach for such stupid lamery.

[Reply #388 on:]

This whole show is pretty terrible.

[Reply #389 on:]

Ooo, I will third the hatred of the Billy West line. I just listened to the commentary for that episode yesterday, and was utterly perplexed by the participants' insistence that it was a great joke; apparently it got a huge laugh at the table read. Yikes.

I have learnt much in my days as a writer/actor for a student revue.  And meta-jokes are the most difficult jokes to do.  Don't get me wrong, meta-jokes can be some of the best jokes there is, but it requires great care.  Now, making a character named the same as its voice actor and then lampshade it by insulting the name, that's not only cheap, it's also not very amusing for people not involved in the writing, the acting and the general making of the show.

And that is an important lesson.  What may be funny to the writers, the actors, etc., may not be funny to the audience.  Rather than betting something on a joke like that, meta-jokes on television shows can often be visual cues, background jokes, etc.  Something Futurama has been known to do and have done since the pilot.

So after watching Mr Plinkett's review of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, where he notes that the same writers, directors and actors may have become too mature for this kind of stuff.  They have gotten married, have children, even grandchildren, etc., perhaps this is at fault for what they will create?  I wonder if the Futurama writers may have become victims of the same thing.

Only time will tell, and if season 7 is not noticeably better, I am getting worried about whether Futurama should have been brought back.

But I hope the writers can promise me this; if you ever feel that the show should stop.  Then please, stop.  We don't want a show dragged on far beyond its deathbed like The Simpsons.  I recently heard that Seth MacFarlane wants to stop producing Family Guy, but the fans refusing to want that.  Maybe that is a lesson we should take note of.

[Reply #390 on:]

This whole show is pretty terrible.

Get the fuck out.

[Reply #391 on:]

This whole show is pretty terrible.

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It's the best show ever you pussy. I will beat the shit out of you now.   

[Reply #392 on:]

This whole show is pretty terrible.

If you think this show is terrible, why are you on PEEL?

[Reply #393 on:]

This whole show is pretty terrible.

If you think this show is terrible, why are you on PEEL?

[Reply #394 on:]

And that is an important lesson.  What may be funny to the writers, the actors, etc., may not be funny to the audience.  Rather than betting something on a joke like that, meta-jokes on television shows can often be visual cues, background jokes, etc.  Something Futurama has been known to do and have done since the pilot.

You make a good point, Svip (throughout your entire post, actually, but I shall only quote this snippet for the sake of length). The Billy West line is not only a meta joke--it's also somewhat of an inside joke. The writers seem to have kept it not because it does the episode or the fans a great service, but because it got a lot of laughs in the writers' room. And such self-indulgence is a no-no, I think.

Also: I don't think the writers' age and/or growth as human beings since the show initially began is what's to blame for the lapses in quality. The writers' maturity would be an asset--it would allow the show itself to mature--if they weren't so fond of the reset button and the more puerile humor and the obligatory pop culture references. Episodes like "The Late Philip J. Fry" and (to a much lesser extent) "Overclockwise" are so interesting to me because they are willing to take certain dramatic risks; they're willing to be super-scientific, and to allow for quiet or contemplative moments between the characters, and to make meaningful statements about life.

Obviously every episode of the show can't be written in such a way--that would get old, fast. But if the writers treated every storyline--from the dramatically-hefty ones like "Lethal Inspection" to the silly ones like "Yo Leela Leela"--with a certain degree of maturity and respect (not just for the characters or the plots, but for the audience), then I think the show would be able to reach its former level of greatness (on an episode-by-episode basis; as a whole, I think season six is comparable to the original run. But the lows have been a hell of a lot lower, and the highs have only occasionally been really high).

I don't know if that makes any sense, but whatever. Leave me alone!

[Reply #395 on:]

I agree, i think we can reach our former glory. And although there were some cons, the pros outweighed them in 6B.

Also, what do those pictures have to do with anything? Do you think Leela is hot or something?

[Reply #396 on:]

Why draw stuff of something you don't like...

[Reply #397 on:]

Ya, I'm confused. Just get the fucking hell out of PEEL Freako. You don't deserve to be a "Urban Legend".

[Reply #398 on:]

What is perhaps even more interesting about the line, Gorky, is that it's actually not a new type of thing, the writers have done.  Countess de la Roca[1] and Dr Ben Beeler are both named after crew members in the Futurama production team, but there is no attempt to make a joke out of it.

In fact, if you ask me, if the robot was just named Billy West and no one made a comment on it, it would have been funny.

[1] I know the writers claim she is not named after Claudia de la Roca, but come on.

[Reply #399 on:]

I enjoyed the Billy West line. i think it's a good example of smart humor that most other shows don't have anymore.