Grossest moment in Futurama

[Reply #240 on:]

Yeah, I've always thought something about Bender's Game was a bit off in that regard. Maybe it's justthe really dodgy pacing.

[Reply #241 on:]

That's true, the episode's structure is non-existant (and the whole outing is just pointless, to be honest). It's got a few laughs - at least, up until they go into the fantasy realm - but it is easily the weakest of all the DVD movies.

[Reply #242 on:]

Violence in Bender's Game is more graphical and I think it feels different, because its purpose isn't being a joke by itself mostly. Similarly in Meanwhile with Fry splashing to ground - it just makes it more dramatic.

Also, Beast With A Billion Backs was worst of the movies. I have come to this conclusion recently; last part of the movie with Yivo really isn't good, especially after the build-up.

[Reply #243 on:]

I enjoy the B-Movie horror-ness of Billion Backs. It was almost campy. Also I don't care about ship continuity, which is probably I like it more than most.

[Reply #244 on:]

I also enjoyed the B-grade horror movie vibe of The Best With a Billion Backs. And as nonsensical as the plot was, at least it was original. And it's consistently funny for the most part, which is always a plus. Bender's Game, on the other hand, was 40 minutes of decent Futurama, followed by 40 minutes of Lord of the Rings/Dungeons and Dragons parody, along with a few other jokes about fantasy tropes, forced in a way that left it making no sense, and then all the time spent in the fantasy realm turns out to be pointless anyway! It was just a fucking abortion of an idea from the beginning and whoever greenlit it to be AN ENTIRE DVD MOVIE deserves to be shot.

[Reply #245 on:]

My main beef with "Bender's Game" is that it is so totally and completely self-indulgent and obnoxious--and, worse, it glories in its own self-indulgent obnoxiousness. There is nothing inherently wrong with the writers doing an episode/movie that sends up a series or genre of which they are personally fond ("Where No Fan Has Gone Before" does just that, and it's a great episode), but to do so in a tired and not even particularly loving way is just, like, insulting to your viewers.

If you're going to do a parody, do it all the way: "The Beast With a Billion Backs" owns its silly monster-movie origins, which is what makes that movie so much fun; "Bender's Game," meanwhile, pretends to be a film about character-based stuff (Farnsworth's past with Mom, Leela's anger issues, Bender's obsessive personality) but is really just an excuse for the writers to spend forty minutes lazily spoofing stuff that may be of personal interest to them but is not presented in a way that would be enjoyable to a general audience.

Compare BG, again, to "Where No Fan Has Gone Before": I know virtually nothing about the Star Trek franchise, but that doesn't prevent me from really liking that episode. And that's because, in addition to being really funny in its own right and clearly oozing with affection for its source material, the episode is about something: it's about how a TV show can connect with an audience (and a particular--socially-deficient, mildly lonely, intelligent--audience) and how that connection can be a truly life-affirming thing; moreover, the writers draw the sly parallel between Star Trek and Futurama itself, and the whole episode just leaves me with a better sense of why Fry and Melllvar like Star Trek, and why I like Futurama. And that's a pretty neat trick.

"Bender's Game," on the other hand, is a senseless mess of halfhearted spoofs on stuff the writers like, without any real comment on why they like it or why I should care about it. It's just sloppily, sloppily written--and that, to me, is pretty damn gross.

[Reply #246 on:]

1. Susan Boil/Mr. Chunks.
2. Seymore swimming in pizza sauce and adding "flavors".
3. Sewer surfing with Turanga Morris.

[Reply #247 on:]

All of the Eye-Phone episode. That one was practically made only for gross-out moments. It's not that all gross-out jokes are bad, it's just that seeing Futurama, a somewhat smart show, resort to them was just strange and unexpected.

[Reply #248 on:]

Yep, gotta agree with MRM. Specifically Mr. Chunks, I found that to be particularly disgusting as someone with a phobia of puke. The boil didn't really bother me though if I'm honest.

[Reply #249 on:]

All of the Eye-Phone episode. That one was practically made only for gross-out moments. It's not that all gross-out jokes are bad, it's just that seeing Futurama, a somewhat smart show, resort to them was just strange and unexpected.

The episode tried to poke fun at the internet phenomen of gross stuff catching easily the most attention. E.g. in the Youtube Hits Duel "The World most touching Shakespeare recitation" vs "The Worlds Biggest Booger Removal", the recitation basically hardly stands a chance.

Yet, the episode showed the gross stuff in a rather self indulgent way. The basically nearly Idiocracy-esque consumer behaviour was not highlighted and ridiculed enough.

My guess is that showing Fry's first vids to be more informative and intelligent might have shown a sharper contrast between "What viewers should see" and "What viewers WANT to see". (Admittedly, Fry coming up with something sophisticated and intelligent seems rather OC. Yet, a person dealing with an unfamiliar subject, spending time on it and becoming really good is a commong sitcom trope, that also succesfully worked in "Law and Oracle").

[Reply #250 on:]

I can't remember who said it, but a great man once said something along the lines of 'if you stoop to an idiots level to satirise them, eventually you're just two idiots laughing at each other'.

That's butchered as hell. I've always loved it though.

[Reply #251 on:]

I've found that I consistently flinch at blood splatters.

[Reply #252 on:]

"He sure has a lot of blood for a skinny guy."

I loved the ridiculous gore in "Meanwhile".

[Reply #253 on:]

I loved the ridiculous gore in "Meanwhile".

While I can't say I loved all of it, I can say it certainly gave 'Meanwhile' a very dark and dramatic feel that was perfect for such a generally lighthearted series' finale.

I think it was used best with Fry's suicide, because up until then, most of his (oddly common) suicide attempts or otherwise self-harming actions were either unsuccessful or simply goofy. But, with this one - There he is, on the pavement, blood & guts everywhere. Not quite as funny as falling down a waterfall in a barrel. While mutilation isn't uncommon for the Futurama finales (Hands chopped, Vice-President murdered, constant deaths of ceiling fans), it was great to get an actually shocking moment in the last hurrah.

[Reply #254 on:]

I loved the ridiculous gore in "Meanwhile".

While I can't say I loved all of it, I can say it certainly gave 'Meanwhile' a very dark and dramatic feel that was perfect for such a generally lighthearted series' finale.

I think it was used best with Fry's suicide, because up until then, most of his (oddly common) suicide attempts or otherwise self-harming actions were either unsuccessful or simply goofy. But, with this one - There he is, on the pavement, blood & guts everywhere. Not quite as funny as falling down a waterfall in a barrel. While mutilation isn't uncommon for the Futurama finales (Hands chopped, Vice-President murdered, constant deaths of ceiling fans), it was great to get an actually shocking moment in the last hurrah.

That's more-or-less where I was trying to get at with my rather vague comment. Thanks for dissecting my brain and sticking it all over PEEL.

[Reply #255 on:]

"He sure has a lot of blood for a skinny guy."

The above phrase was one of the gravest goofs.
Earlier episodes already stated that Fry -while not obese- is still rather well-fed ("You're becoming a fat sack of crap", Fry's JellyBelly in Rebirth, etc...).
It was basically the admittance "We forgot how that character looks like". That mistake not happening to a minor character, but to the protagonist, made it quite embarassing.

[Reply #256 on:]

I also liked the gore in Meanwhile, it wasn't unnecessary nor was Fry's remains funny by itself. Although, other than that one scene, there wasn't so much of it.

constant deaths of ceiling fans

Those poor fans, I felt like I could relate to them like those many fans of PE.
Also, it's one of the funniest jokes.

[Reply #257 on:]

"He sure has a lot of blood for a skinny guy."

The above phrase was one of the gravest goofs.
Earlier episodes already stated that Fry -while not obese- is still rather well-fed ("You're becoming a fat sack of crap", Fry's JellyBelly in Rebirth, etc...).
It was basically the admittance "We forgot how that character looks like". That mistake not happening to a minor character, but to the protagonist, made it quite embarrassing.

I don't think that's what the joke was trying to say - the joke was porbably just written as a funny little side-comment.

 Despite that, the lack of heft to Fry, despite his constant laziness, is a very similar problem to his lack of visible age, even though he'd been in the Future for fourteen years. I'm not really bothered by either inconsistencies, because after all, it is just a cartoon, and if they did add these more logical aspects to his design, he'd look pretty grotesque.

That's more-or-less where I was trying to get at with my rather vague comment. Thanks for dissecting my brain and sticking it all over PEEL.

You should be thankful I didn't head over to the vending machine fetish thread. 

[Reply #258 on:]

Fry seems to resemble most two stereotypes: fat, lazy couch potato and skinny, dorky nerd. He is mentally more like the former but has a closer physical resemblance to the latter. He is pretty young, though, and younger people are better, for the most part, at keeping their weight down. My exercise habits are similar to Fry's but I'm of healthy weight.

My biggest issue with the aging isn't that it doesn't occur, but that the voices are pretty much unaffected by it (unless it is relevant to the plot or for a joke, like in Bender's Big Score or Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles). Leela's voice especially does not change, no matter what he age--she sounds the same when aged in TLPJF and Meanwhile as she does in TMLH. The Professor's voice is also pretty identical from year to year, but I am not as bothered by that.

[Reply #259 on:]

That's probably more a voice actor thing. Lisa Simpson is the same. But it annoys me as well.

[Reply #260 on:]

It's definitely a voice actor thing. It's a little odd with the Professor, since Fry's voice has changed convincingly for certain occasions, but could have to do with how comfortable Billy West is with either character.

[Reply #261 on:]

The Professor is already really old, and it seems unlikely to me that his voice would change noticeably from year to year.

[Reply #262 on:]

I remember saying somewhere around here that the voices changing throughout the show's run could show aging, in a minor way. If you ignore 'Early Installment Weirdness', then the character's somewhat off voices in most of Season One could show a younger version of themselves, while their more refined modern voices could show the opposite.

Leela's voice especially does not change, no matter what he age--she sounds the same when aged in TLPJF and Meanwhile as she does in TMLH.

That's a pet-peeve of mine, as well. Again, It's easy to ignore, but at the same time, it is a (rare) flaw with the acting, albeit an inconsequential one. Admittedly, it can be oddly funny to hear Fry sound elderly and strained while Leela just sounds a bit tired. 

^{No negativity intended towards the voice acting; they all did great work, but hey, this is a forum, nitpicking is essential.}

[Reply #263 on:]

The Professor is already really old, and it seems unlikely to me that his voice would change noticeably from year to year.

Ah, I phrased that badly--anytime we saw the young Professor, he did not sound any different from the current Professor. The only modification in voice was when he was four or five (I'm bad at guessing ages) in TMLH. Then, the core voice was the same, but pronunciations were slightly different ("Weewa" instead of "Leela" and other things along those lines).

I think the voices are all well-chosen and the actors definitely do great jobs, but it's a small something I'm bothered by.