Shipping high into the sun.

[#560 :]

Ya, me neither. Maybe it would be a little too much, but whatever, haha.

[#561 :]

I have to agree with Josh on this one. Why is candy forbidden in the first place? Because kids love it and end up eating too much of it. Ever heard of a kid doing that with broccoli?

I thought it was because candy is extremely bad for you in large amounts. If broccoli could be made to taste like candy, kids would want it every day.

BTW - spoiler tags, please, if you're giving something of the new eps away? Us poor foreigners don't always see them when broadcast... 

[#562 :]

Topic: I really like broccoli.

Wait, that's not on-topic. That's not on-topic at all.

As far as the ship goes: I was satisfied with what was done in "The Late Philip J. Fry." I think it's safe to say that--although I described this episode to my brother as "like, if 'Time Keeps on Slipping' and 'Bender's Big Score' had a baby, and also there's some 'Sting' thrown in there"--TLPJF offered us something in terms of Fry and Leela that we had never before seen. And that has to mean there's been progress, right?

[#563 :]

Haven't been around much.
Just dropped in to say that I like what they're doing with the 'ship. Keeping it ongoing, but on the back-burner - ie, not a primary focus. Smart move. Of course, later down the track they'll need to dedicate an episode or two to explore it more prominently - but for now, this works really well.

...Yeah, I've been watching illegal downloads - but I will watch it again when its finally on TV here in Australia, okay?

[#564 :]

...Yeah, I've been watching illegal downloads - but I will watch it again when its finally on TV here in Australia, okay?

Everyone outside the US is.  Don't be so hard on yourself.

[#565 :]

I wonder when people will realize that airing things in one region will only cause bad-ness.

[#566 :]

Don't be so hard on yourself.

I'm always hard.

.......on myself.

I wonder when people will realize that airing things in one region will only cause bad-ness.

Probably about the same time they realise that nobody in the world has or will ever buy anything because it was advertised on television. But that will just about wrap things up for free-to-air.

[#567 :]

Probably about the same time they realise that nobody in the world has or will ever buy anything because it was advertised on television. But that will just about wrap things up for free-to-air.

That's not true, small children are always affected by commercials.

[#568 :]

Probably about the same time they realise that nobody in the world has or will ever buy anything because it was advertised on television. But that will just about wrap things up for free-to-air.

You can't really be that naïve?  You can't have that much faith in humanity?  Ahahaha... oh coldangel_1, the amount of trust you laid upon your fellow humans is staggering.

Yes, of course, commercials draw a profit, because, SPOILER ALERT, people are stupid.  And don't you ever forget it.

[#569 :]

Also: has anyone noticed that the episode acronym TLPJF also abbreviates to
Turanga Leela Philip J. Fry?

[#570 :]

Also: has anyone noticed that the episode acronym TLPJF also abbreviates to
Turanga Leela Philip J. Fry?

Great coincidence's ghost, you're right!

Just one more sign that this episode was the ship breakthrough we've been waiting for since Rebirth (heck, since ITWGY, I'd say).

Someone on another site/forum (NoHomers?) said that TLPJF shows that Fry and Leela are destined to be together. I was already saying the destiny thing, especially to ease my dissatisfaction with AOTKA, but yeah, TLPJF seems to prove it, right down to the acronym.

[#571 :]

BTW - spoiler tags, please, if you're giving something of the new eps away? Us poor foreigners don't always see them when broadcast... 

Sorry.  I thought about using tags instead of just blurting it out, but I figured most folks outside of Comedy Central's range would be streaming this stuff.  They need some sort of very modestly priced low-res internet subscription service for foreign superfans.

Spoiler Alert! Don't Read This! ->  I noticed Leela using a very similar chin-on-shoulder followed by head-tilting-toward-Fry gesture at the end of TLPJF and the end of Killer-Ap.  Maybe it's just something the chief animator likes right now, but I'd like to think that this is a little visual clue that Leela is letting herself fall for Fry.  Just a little nudge past something that "just friends" would do.  Am I nuts or does anyone else see this?

[#572 :]

You're not nuts, HipNoJoe, I saw it too. In fact, that shot was the glimmer of hope I could find in "Killer App", the one little bit that gave me some optimism that they weren't backpedaling on the ship.

In hindsight, after seeing TLPJF, I really do consider that little moment to be shippy, even in the context of the rest of the episode, with all the "friend" talk and that "looking for love" line. (I wonder what Verrone was thinking -- this is the guy who wrote "The Sting", fer cryin' out loud...)

That little head-nod thing is so cute and shippy in both episodes, and in TLPJF it really does seem to be a "visual clue" as you call it.

[#573 :]

I posted this in another thread. It pertains to the whole brouhaha over "I may not have a man, but..." Warning, it's long:

I have no idea what the thinking was. I am not going to join the doomsayers crying "reset".

It's obvious that the creative staff does have an end goal of following through with the ship - they're not Joe Quesada resetting Peter Parker's marriage to Mary Jane and throwing two decades of character development out the window (Google "Spider-Man One More Day" if you don't get the reference). However, perhaps they do think that non-shippers and casual watchers will be turned off if they play it up too much. Moonlighting is often used as an example (TV Tropes talks about this stuff in more detail than I ever could.)

I, for one, would not lose interest if Fry and Leela were a couple (since Fry and Leela's characters would most certainly allow for tensions even if they were in a stable relationship), but there are fans and casual viewers of the series (like the IGN reviewer who gave TLPJF a 7.5 and considers AWITM to be the best episode) who'd prefer it if the show were completely for laughs, and consider the shippy and emotional stuff to be "sappy"/etc.

I know we'd all prefer it if the ship, and these new episodes in general, were specifically written to please the diehard fans like us, but we aren't footing the bill for the series - Fox and Comedy Central are. We "nerdlingers" may feel a sense of entitlement because of our role in bringing the show back, but we alone can't keep the show alive. Like it or not, they are probably taking the general audience into consideration.

I'm not trying to be an apologist. If they are indeed downplaying the ship in non-ship-focused episodes to avoid a possibility of alienating the non-shippers, casual viewers, etc., I think they're mistaken in their judgment. But I'm just postulating on why they might be doing it, and I don't think it's because they don't want Fry and Leela to end up together.

Even if they vacillate on the ship in coming episodes, DXC did say that the second-to-last show will really focus on them. And since each "finale" has seemed to have come progressively closer to resolving the ship, and 6ACV25 has to serve as a "de facto series finale" in case CC doesn't order any more episodes, it must necessarily take the ship to a point beyond TDHAIP, beyond ITWGY, and beyond TLPJF. And if CC does end up renewing the series, and 6ACV25 takes the ship far enough, the creative team may well be forced to bite the bullet and make them a permanent, official couple in 7ACV and beyond.

So if all else fails, just think "6ACV25, 6ACV25, 6ACV25..."

[#574 :]

I don't view it so much as a reset but just a temporary woe is me kind of musing. Leela often pities  herself like that.

[#575 :]

It was a throwaway line - nothing more.

The events of TLPFJ indicate that they have been dating since Rebirth, it's just that aside from the occasional subtle reference it's not been brought to the fore for the most part.

It's quite amusing in a sense. Since ITWGY many have debated on how they should handle the F/L side story in future episodes and the vast majority seemed to agree that keeping it very much in the background save for a few epsiodes would be the best way to handle it...and yet, despite that being exactly what the writers have done, the same people seem to suffer an acute anxiety attack everytime an episode airs in which their relationship isn't overtly acknowledged.

You all got what you wanted - so relax...

[#576 :]

But I think there's a difference between keeping it in the background and denying it exists. That line "I may not have a man..." really startled me. I don't watch Futurama just for Fry and Leela, although it's an important component for my affection for the show, but I found myself even a little angry over that line. I feel like I'm being jerked around, which kind of pisses me off. I hope this yes-and-no isn't going to be a habit with the writers. I wish they'd either have Fry and Leela blow up and break up or be consistently attached to each other. These bizarre shades of gray kind of suck.

[#577 :]

The "I may not have a man......" line could simply be a joke. In the fact that she has Fry, more of a boy than a man. Not meaning they are not together, just that she loves his boyish charm etc, etc.  She states it right after the camera shows Fry and Bender dancing, and then she turns to Nibbler. 


Dear God, I am a 30 year old guy getting married this October and I am stressing over the relationship of 2 animated characters on a show set 1000 years in the future. LMAO.

[#578 :]

Um...

"I may not have a man... (at this precise moment, because he's off over there having some kind of weird robosexual experience with the walking trash-can and neglecting me slightly)".

[#579 :]

I always thought it was sort of a cut-off of "I may not have a man to dance with right now, since Fry and Bender are doing some kind of drunk disco thing."

You know.

I agree completely with TServo's statement. It was just a throwaway line so that the series isn't enshrouded in shippy mush (which we love, but that's because we're already so familiar with the characters) and scares away some of the potential viewers.

I will add, however, that while it wasn't really a big deal it did seem unnecessary. The line wasn't needed and stung just a bit, which is irritating.

[#580 :]

Yes, it did sting a bit and not in the way The Sting stung either.

I want to believe one or all of the possible explanations listed from FemJ's post through colda's post, but I also found that line a bit irritating.  It may have been an intentional barb thrown out there to rile up the shippers.  I hope that we see a hint or two that things are happening "off camera."  I doubt that there is much of a master plan for how the ship is portrayed in the episodes leading up to 6ACV25, but if there is then just maybe this is an intentional cooling off period which will play into some dramatic turn... nah.

[#581 :]

Perhaps it's all part of Groening's diabolical scheme to make us squirm. I bet that somewhere out there he's laughing his ass off...
And if not him, then someone who finds amusement in seeing fans freak out at the slightest nudge.

[#582 :]

It was just a way to show that Leela is use to being discarded, so the comment to Nibbler would have more weight:  "Wait, you're my pet, you can't break up with me."

Our dear Leela is has a rejection complex and is very defensive at times.  It was a line to show her attachment to Lord Nibbler.

I did like the way the episode made it a team of Amy and Nibbler to battle the Katz instead of Leela and Nibbler.

A different ship:  Nibbler has a great amount of affection for Leela.  His mission is to protect "The Mighty One", but he willingly spends time with Leela, allowing her to place her "Misplaced affections" on him.  The raw, juicy hams she provides don't hurt.

[#583 :]

"Speaking of Nibbler and shipping....
I wanna know when "The one line that was not addressed in the Original series" will be talked about!
This one, from the Why of Fry-- Nibbler: "hmmm...She must be the other."
Fry:You really think I'd have a chance with Leela?"
Nibbler: "You must not give up on her.....I will transfer to earth and offer what help I can."

I DEMAND AN EPIC SHIPPY SUB PLOT TO BE REVEALED!!
Lol..

[#584 :]

Hi everyone. I've returned after quite an absence to say I'm back on board the PEEL. I don't expect many, or anyone really, to recognize me but I've always enjoyed posting pics of Leela and Fry together in Ship threads like these, and if it's ok to do so, (I hope it isn't against PEEL rules) , I would like to go ahead and post this one.

My intention is not to cut in half what is on topic or anything like that, but maybe to bring a smile    to everyone else. Thanks, everyone.

[#585 :]

Awww, dat's shooooo shweeet! Great artwork, WAVer.

[#586 :]

That's a cute picture! Nice work.

[#587 :]

I'll put this in spoiler territory for the benefit of you losers upright, honest citizens who haven't seen the newest episode ("The Prisoner of Benda") yet:

So Fry and Leela (as Zoidberg  and Farnsworth) did the deed. Are we to believe that this was their first time? Because, though I thought the ship was handled really nicely in this episode, that notion doesn't sit very well with me.

[#588 :]

Watching The Prisoner of Benda.

Now we know what that Farnsworth/Zoidberg makeout clip was all about.

They could go ALL!...THE!...WAY!

...and they just did. Simultaneously disgusting, hilarious, and fuzzy-shippy-goodness. Looks like they've figured out how to write the upgraded 'ship and still keep it funny.

Somehow, it doesn't bother me like it bothers Gorky. I don't care if they're Zoidberg and Farnsworth on the outside, as long as they're Fry and Leela on the inside, and they enjoyed it, which it looks like they did. And they seem more appreciative of each other once they're back to normal, makin' with the eyes and all...

[#589 :]

It doesn't exactly bother me from a character or storytelling aspect (because, like I said, I think the ship was well done)--it bothers me in the same way that picturing your grandparents having sex is bothersome. It's not tasteless, it's just kind of icky. But, within the context of the episode, looking beyond outward appearances is kind of the whole point--guess I just can't do it.

[#590 :]

I do agree that I don't want to imagine what it looked like. But if they love each other more for it, more power to them.

And I had an easier time watching Fry and Leela get it on as Zoidberg and Farnsworth than I did watching that "Shallow Hal" movie...

[#591 :]

I'll put this in spoiler territory for the benefit of you losers upright, honest citizens who haven't seen the newest episode ("The Prisoner of Benda") yet:

So Fry and Leela (as Zoidberg  and Farnsworth) did the deed. Are we to believe that this was their first time? Because, though I thought the ship was handled really nicely in this episode, that notion doesn't sit very well with me.

Considering how quickly and carelessly Leela agreed to the Fry's "Mile Deep Club" plan, I doubt it.

[#592 :]

To paraphrase Austin Powers, "I mean literally.  How could you do it?  The sheer mechanics are mind-boggling."

Also, isn't Zoidberg's body supposed to perish after mating?  Maybe it's only after intra-Decapodian mating.

[#593 :]

Also, isn't Zoidberg's body supposed to perish after mating?  Maybe it's only after intra-Decapodian mating.

Well that's the excuse I go by for some of my artworks!

[#594 :]

Hi,

Sorry for my ignorance, but can someone explain the term Shipper and ship to me? I think I've deduced a basic understanding of it from context in the posts- the SHIP is Fry and Leela's romance, and SHIPPERS are those who are interested in that storyline? Is this close?

Thanks,

Peter

[#595 :]

I'd say you got it Joey; someone who is interested in the relationship. It is mainly regarding Fry and Leela, but also Kif and Amy.

Icky?  Yes.  Disgusting?  Yes.  But what it totally lacked in eroticism it made up for in romanticism. 

I will lay odds that this is meant to be the first time.  We'll never "know" given DXC's dodgy attitude about it.  That's the kind of thing that he would leave for the viewer to decide on his own.  As for me, unless there are clearer signs than the "mile deep invitation" I'm going with this as the moment.

Surely as the sun rises in the west and sets in the east the ship will go back into an ambiguous state, but now we know.  ...And to think that they have been showing it in previews all summer.

[#596 :]

Sorry for my ignorance, but can someone explain the term Shipper and ship to me?

'Ship. Short for relationship.

You should feel very very silly.


Just saw the latest one. Sweet and gross.
Also, Fry has now had sex with one of his ancestors, and one of his descendants (even though his descendant's body was occupied by Leela's mind).
Seems like an odd fixation on incest on the part of the writers.

[#597 :]

Maybe it's a less obvious jab at the bible, in a similar vein as the disgust from Zapp at the Adam and Eve thing. Also the fact that in evolutionary theory we all came from the same place; that's why everyone's DNA is so similar, with a few differences that arose out of the process of meiosis and various mutations. So really, we're all incestuous to some degree. I mean, a species is a species because it can reproduce with itself.. But there are boundaries, dammit! Fry-Zoidberg's outfit was exceptionally unflattering in that whole..event.

I was more upset by Scruffy's loss. He deserves to be happy

[#598 :]

Maybe you're incestuous but I only mate with animals. You know to EVOLVE the SPECIES.

anyway... was what we saw last night really a display of affection or one-upsmanship? Discuss...

[#599 :]

If you ask me it was probably a combination of both. Both of them are extremely competitive but at the same time I'm not sure they would have gone to the unspeakable disgusting lengths they did with anyone else. People sometimes hate losing to those who are close to them more than losing to their enemies.