Episode Capsule: [1ACV01] Space Pilot 3000

Title: Space Pilot 3000
Written by: David X. Cohen, Matt Groening
Directed by: Rich Moore, Gregg Vanzo
Opening theme promotion: IN COLOR
Opening theme cartoon: "Little Buck Cheeser" by MGM (1937)

Synopsis

After an accidental cryogenic freezing, Fry awakens at the dawn of the year 3000. With the help of his two new friends, a degenerate robot named Bender and a beautiful one-eyed alien named Leela, Fry defies his life assignment as a delivery boy. He tracks down his great-great-great-etc. nephew, Professor Farnsworth, who hires the three to work for his intergalactic delivery service. It's a brave new world and Fry is in for the ride of his life.

Voice Credits

Starring

Billy West (Fry, Smitty, Prof. Farnsworth, Nixon)
Katey Sagal (Leela)
John DiMaggio (Bender, Leela's boss, URL, Mr. Panucci, Bicycle thief)

Guest Starring

Tress MacNeille (Suicide booth, Head museum feeder)
David Herman (Terri, Terri's assistant)
Kath Soucie (Kid in Pannuci's, Michelle)
Dick Clark (himself)
Leonard Nimoy (himself)

Did You Notice…

Even though the show is supposed to begin in our time (1999), it is still in the future. (It premiered in March, showing December.) — Ellen Cohen
The ship of the game Mokey Fracas, at the very start of the series, is the Planet Express' ship. — Leandro Pardini
Panucci's Pizza does not want you tipping the delivery boy. — Dave Hall
A sign on the street says "AKBAR." (Akbar is a character in Matt Groening's "Life in Hell" comic strip, and the name of a Simpsons font.)
Applied Cryogenics is on the 64th floor. Powers of 2 are popular among computer geeks which the Futurama team has quite some of.
The Pope is counting down to the millennium in Roman Numerals. — Dave Hall
Some people claim to have spotted Nibbler in 20th-century New York! See "Comments."
A medieval civilization rose and fell during Fry's hibernation. — Dave Hall
The cryonics chambers used low-tech minute timers. — Haynes Lee
Upon learning the date, Fry comments "Wow, a million years!" when it's actually been only a thousand. He obviously doesn't have very good math skills, because this is too large a goof to actually be a goof.
The ceiling pipe has band-aids on it. — Dave Hall
They're still using dot-matrix, tractor feed printers in 2999. [According to {tjm}, "those government offices are so slow in updating their equipment."]
The probulator's dot matrix printer is also tractor-feed. — Dave Sweatt
the squeaking sound to the holographic monitor? — Dave Hall
The man in Leela's poster, who gives a thumbs-up, has five fingers on each hand. Most people in Futurama's universe have four. [{tpe}: "Maybe, not unlike Leela and her one eye, he's an alien/mutant? Hmmm... It's just crazy enough to work!"]
Twice, the cryonics chambers immediately set themselves to "1000 years." It must be the default setting. — Dave Hall
There was a flying billboard -- one of the kind with the rotating triangles, to show 3 different ads -- and one of the panels didn't rotate. — Jeff Johnston
One of the billboards in the future shows Angelyne, a real-life busty female entertainer that has billboards hanging around the Los Angeles area. In the cartoon billboard, she's hooked up to some sort of respirator. — Amid Amidi
There's a cat in a jet pack behind chased by a dog in a jet pack. — Wes Wasley
There's a Ralph Wiggum-like character when Fry rides the "travel-tube." — Dave Hall
In the intro, the Statue of Liberty holds a gun in her torch hand; during the episode, she holds part of the transport tube.
One of the fish underwater is a robot. — Dave Hall
Fry passes a three-eyed fish underwater in the transport-tube. This is a reference to "The Simpsons." (See "External References.")
The Circle Line ship is shipwrecked under New New York Harbour.
There's a corpse in the Circle Line shipwreck. — Paul Melnyk
All the people in line before Fry select the "quick and painless" method of killing themselves, with a simple zap and they're gone. It's also more courteous to the people behind you. — Dave Hall
A "life" is worth two bits. — Dave Hall
The knife in the suicide booth is programmed to thrust forward then twist. — Dave Sweatt
the Simpsonish music while the suicide booth is trying to kill Fry? — Dave Hall
The suicide booth is called a Stop-N-Drop. — Dave Hall
In 1999, Fry rides his bicycle past O'Harrison's Pub. In the future, O'Zorgnax's Pub looks quite similar.
Bender's libation is "Olde Fortran Malt Liquor" -- FORTRAN is a programming language.
when Bender motions with his hands the various degrees he can bend girders at, none of them are close to being accurate? (In fact, his motion for 32 degrees is more acute than his motion for 30.)
Leela is Officer 1BDI. (say it out loud) — Dave Hall
Dec 31, 2999 is on a Tuesday, sure enough. (Bender says the museum is free on Tuesdays.) — Paul Brinkley
The uniform worn by the feeder at the Head Museum looks a lot like the ones worn by employees of Hot Dog on a Stick! — Todd Paul Emerson
Matt Groening's head is floating in a jar in the Head Museum.
The top shelf presidents are displayed in chronological order from Nixon through Clinton; to Nixon's right is some gray-hair I didn't recognize (not Lyndon B. Johnson); to Clinton's left was Warren Harding. (Harding in 2000?) — Paul Brinkley
There are two heads of Grover Cleveland on the presidents' rack, with Harrison in the middle. — Paul Brinkley
One of the policemen says he going to "get 24th century on his ass"; "get 24th century" has the same meaning as "get medieval." And partway through Fry's suspension, say the 24th century, there was a medieval-type period, with New York rebuilt as castles before being destroyed again and rebuilt as the futuristic city. — Theodore Jay Miller
The Criminal room of the Head Museum can be locked from the inside. — Dave Hall
Bender and Fry hide out in the Head Museum a lot longer than it seems, because it's dark out once they escape.
There's a Chevy Building in the New York ruins. — Paul Melnyk
Bender keeps booze in his chest cavity. — Dave Hall
In the future, poor-sighted people still need eyeglasses. — Dave Hall
Professor Farnsworth has an old-fashion TV set, complete with rabbit ears. — Dave Hall
The brick dropping out of Bender as the peace officers come aknocking is supposed to symbolize him "shiting a brick."
When the different countries count down to the year 3000, France uses English "seven" (not "sept"). — John Jenson
Japanese society has been replaced by aliens. — Yuri Dieujuste
The Great Pyramid (of Cheops) hovers off the ground and spins. — Dave Hall
The beer Fry drinks in 1999 is called "LöBrau"? — Mitch Fishman
That the suicide both says thanks for using suicide booth even though the person is dead by then? — Paul
If you look very carefully, you can see on Leela's computer screen that Fry's full name is Phillip J Fry and his blood type seems to be B. — Marty McFly
Despite all the technological advances of the next 1000 years, they still use paper money and metal coins as opposed to say thumbprint money? — Marty McFly
Fry's beer brand (Löbrau) is still sold in the future? — Jack
The lightsabres sound and behave like 20th century wooden police clubs? (It's a good thing, or Fry would have been sliced to pieces.) — Jonah Falcon
That even spaceships, in traditional Groening style, can have an overbite? (Pointed out by Matt on the DVD commentary) — Katie
Fry wasn't frozen for exactly 1000 years, as he was frozen at mid-night in 1999 but was un frozen during the day in 2999 — J

External References

Babylon 5 (TV series/movies)

People have chips implanted in their hands. — Dave Sweatt Back to the Future I & II (movies)
When Fry runs out of the building to begin with, and looks around at New New York, it kind of reminded me of "Back To The Future II. — Adam King
Fry's character is based on Marty McFly; Fry shows a little kid how to play a video game, like Marty [in Part II]. {dj} [When Marty was playing that Western shooting game, the kid said it was "like a baby's toy." Maybe? Possibly? — Adam King Beneath the Planet of the Apes (movie)
When they go underground to the old New York. Right from the movies! — John Jenson The Caves of Steel (novel)
The way Bender swallowed his empty liquor bottle reminded by of a robot in this Isaac Azimov book. Doctor Who (1996, Fox TV Movie)
The countdown to the millennium occurred at the same time all over the world. — David Brunt Final Fantasy VII (video game)
The underground old New York City is similar to the slums underneath the city plates in Midgar. — Jeremy Michael Gallen War Games (movie)
The first scene (Fry teaching a kid how to play a video game) might be a reference to "War Games." In the movie, the first scene with David Lightman has him playing "Galaga." He has to go and gives control of the game to a kid. — Nicolás Di Candia The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (TV series/novels)
Similar premise (sans cryogenics). — Haynes Lee
Cynical Bender much like the manic depressive Marvin the robot. — Haynes Lee
The coffee machine in Professor Farnsworth's ship may be a reference to "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe," in which a spaceship's specialty was producing hot drinks. Logan's Run (TV series/movie)
Implanting a 'fate chip' in the palm of your right hand. — Mark E. Hardwidge Mystery Science Theater 3000 (TV show)
The word "3000" is written on the moon. It looks like the MST3K logo, a planet with the name on it. It's even in the same font. — Roscoe Mathieu Sleeper (movie)
Pretty much the same premise. — Haynes Lee
Suicide Booth: similar to Sleeper's Orgasmatron. — Haynes Lee Star Trek (TV series/movies/novels/other)
Theme played with the video game. — Dave Sweatt
Fry's comments on the automatic door. "Just like on Star Trek!" (Then he gets hit by the door.) — Jeremy Michael Gallen
Leonard "Spock" Nimoy says that he no longer does the Vulcan 'live long and prosper' sign. — Haynes Lee
Other Star Trek Sound Effects. — Haynes Lee
I was wondering if the whole head museum was a subtle Trek reference. The rows of jars containing heads, with the one jar containing Nimoy's head in front to greet people, reminded me of the original series Star Trek episode ("Return To Tomorrow" I think it was called) where the alien minds were preserved in glowing spheres, with Sargon in the one sphere in front. — Theodore Jay Miller Star Wars (movies)
Lightsaber clubs. — Joe Klemm
Other possible reference is the way New York is set like Coruscant, mostly in the opening theme song, and Farnsworth's ship in the seem song seemed to be a parody of the Millennium Falcon's entrance into Cloud City in ESB. — Paul Melnyk
A guy on a jet bike is wearing a helmet like Leia wore in "Return of the Jedi" on the speeder bike. — Wes Wasley
Akbar is also the name of a Star Wars character ... One of the players of the "Cantina." He's got orange skin and a white dress with a brown belt ... — Koan D. J.
When the policemen are beating Fry with their lightsaber clubs Leela says: "There is no need to use force" as a reference to "the force" in Star Wars. — Some Idiot The Time Machine (movie/novel)
The time-lapse lapse of civilization was a nod to the George Pal film of "The Time Machine." War of the Worlds (movie)
The space ships destroying the cities were similar to the ones in the 60's "War Of The Worlds. Young Frankenstein (movie)
The scene with all the heads in jars and the two live ones in the middle ... and then the camera shot doing a double take ... classic. — John Jenson Donkey Kong (video game)
The video game Fry was teaching the kid how to play, with the monkey throwing barrels [was similar]. — Daniel Janes The Simpsons (TV show)
Fry passes a three-eyed fish outside the pneumatic tube. This is a Simpsons character named Blinky, who plays an important part in the episode "Two Cars in very Garage, Three Eyes on Every Fish (7F01)."
The chef on the Panucci's Pizza box is very similar to the chef Luigi in the Simpsons episode "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song" (1F18). — Marty McFly
In Simpsons "Who Shot Mr. Burns" (S07E01), Smithers dreamed that Burns were in a race in the tv. In the intro to the race, a information text saying "In Color". The same font and color like in Futurama - Space Pilot 3000. — GNU Donald Duck
The Suicide Booth was based on a Donald Duck cartoon where he payed money for machines which hurt him. — aslate Red Dwarf
I think the cryogenic chamber may be a reference to Red Dwarf. The main character Lister is punished by being put in a cryogenic chamber for 15 years, except something goes wrong and everyone dies on the ship due to a fatal radiation leak. Lister is left for 3 million years until the ships computer decides that the radiation level is safe enough for him to be released. — Dave McGill Immortality, Inc. (short story)
Suicidal Booths are taken directly from one of Sheckley's novels. — Titus Fox Rebel Without a Cause (movie)
Fry's outfit is the same as the one worn by James Dean in this movie. (pointed out by Matt on the DVD commentary) — Katie

Futurama References

[2ACV10] A Clone of My Own

Forward reference: During the countdown to the year 3000, the French say "seven" instead of "sept". In "A clone of my own" it is revealed that french is now a dead language. — Martin Fink [1ACV04] Love's Labour's Lost In Space
Forward reference: Nibbler is formally introduced. — Clamps [3ACV07] The Day the Earth Stood Stupid
Forward reference: The Fry/Nibblonian story is continued. — Clamps [4ACV10] The Why Of Fry
Forward reference: The Fry/Nibblonian story is continued, and we finally find out what happened that night. — Clamps

Freeze Frame Fun

Video game:
Monkey Fracas Jr.

Clock on wall of pizza place:
11:35 PM (25 minutes to midnight)

Pizza Box:
   ______________________________________________
   I                       PANUCCI'S             I        
   I                        PIZZA    ____________I
   I   ____________________         I            I
   I   I Do not tip        I        I  [PICTURE  I
   I   I the Delivery Boy! I        I OF ITALIAN I
   I    ==============O             I   CHEF]    I
   I                  O             I            I
   I________________________________I____________I

Neswpaper headline:
2000!  DOOMSAYERS CAUTIOUSLY UPBEAT

Sign on door:
APPLIED CRYOGENICS - NO POWER FAILURES SINCE 199[7]

Countdown Sequence:
10- New York
 9- Paris, Eifel Tower Backdrop
 8- Rome, Pope on Balcony turning "Calendar" of Roman Numerals
 7- Egyptian Desert, Sphinx and the other three Pyramids as backdrop.
 6- Athens, Acropolis as backdrop, two highlights next on the sides of 
    it
 5- Great Wall Of China
 4- Taj Mahal, some people counting down in Water
 3- Minute African Village
 2- Tokyo, very similar to New York shot except for the Japanese 
    handwriting font
 1- Shot of the Earth from Space

Things seen in Fry's "Wow, the future" lecture:
- A Rocket taking off, white exhaust trailing
- A Metro System, rails connected by towers, green Metro trains going
  along
- A few starships being moved by propellers, some designs similar to 
  WW1 fighters
- A few blimps
- A line of traffic going as if there was an invisible road, some 
  things going random
- A Flying Saucerer of Earth religion, seen stopping in the reflection
  on the window
- One of the "Bachelor Chow" Ads, women holding a bowl of it, the food
  looks similar to refried beans

When Fry exits to the street he sees:
- A rocket-propelled dog chasing a rocket-propelled cat.
- An old guy wearing goggles, driving a rocket-propelled chair.
- A couple wearing clear plastic with black strips covering the
  naughty bits.
- A rocket-propelled cyclist.

Side of the suicide booth:

  SUICIDE            (Stop-N-Drop -
   BOOTH      American's favorite suicide
    25c             booth since 2008)

SUICIDE BOOTH - Modes of Death:
- Chainsaw
- Band-saw
- Knife
- Drill
- Electric shock

Bender's libation:
Olde Fortran Malt Liquor

Heads in Jars

- At First
   - Leonard Nimoy

- When Fry and Bender hide
   - Johnny Carson
   - Lucille Ball  {yd}    (?)
   - Ed Begley Jr.  {yd}   (?)
   - David Duchovny
   - Gillian Anderson
   - Liz Talyor
   - Dennis Rodman
   - Matt Groening
   - Barbara Streisand

- Hall of U.S. Presidents
   - ?
   - Richard Nixon  (falls off)
   - Gerald Ford
   - Jimmy Carter
   - Ronald Reagan
   - George Bush
   - Bill Clinton
   - Warren Harding
   - Andrew Jackson  {gw}
   - Grover Cleveland
   - Benjamin Harrison
   - Grover Cleveland  (again)

- Elsewhere in the Museum
   - Rodney Dangerfield (drawn like Larry Burns)  {gw}
   - A Hindu guy (not Apu)  {gw}

- Later on
   - Richard Nixon (again)
   - Dick Clark

Alien Language #1 sightings
- Slurm advertisement in O'Zorgnax's Pub:  "DRINK"
- Graffiti in alleyway:  "VENUSIANS GO HOME"
- Aliens counting down to 3000:  "6" and "7"

Animation, Continuity, and Other Goofs

Fry didn't have the noisemaker until he needed it. — Dave Hall
Before Fry enters the "travel-tube" it went up and sideways not straight up as we see later in the next scene. — Dave Hall
Leela's wrist-pad is on the wrong arm when she alerts the police. (Oddly enough, this is the first time in the series that we see Leela's wristpad, and the only time we ever see it on her left arm.)
They misspelled "Barbara" Streisand. It's actually Barbra. — Amid Amidi
When Bender snapped the bars in the hall of criminals, there were 2 bars left on each side of the window, but a quick close-up showed THREE bars left on each side, and then the scene resumed with the 2 bars... — Dave Rout
Bender's arm seemed to tear off as in break, not just the whole arm segment falling off, so they couldn't be re-attached. — Paul Melnyk
Leela wasn't wearing a ring prior to the handholding scene with Fry. — Dave Hall
How did the officers find Leela, Fry and Bender at Prof. Farnsworth's house? — Justin Thomas Cass
Prof. Farnsworth's slippers change color and shape from one scene to the next — Dave Hall
Bad framing error when Bender was carrying Farnsworth onto the ship. — Paul Melnyk
During the Countdown at '9' when they showed Egypt, the people didn't seem to resemble Egyptians. — Paul Melnyk
Regarding the problem that all time zones were counting down at the same time: Maybe the countdown WASN'T simultaneous. Maybe we saw "10" happening somewhere, "9" as it happened a few hours earlier, "8" from a few hours before that, "7" from a few hours later, etc., all edited together later on. — Theodore Jay Miller
The western hemisphere was shown in complete daylight, which would hardly correspond with Fry being in NYC at midnight — Todd Paul Emerson
If they were really blasted all the way back to the dark ages and had to start over, it's surprising that the Cryonics building - including it's apparently kick-ass self-contained power system - wasn't raided for parts and materials. Maybe the medieval look was just in fashion for a while... — Brian Leahy
How come when Fry first showed up in 1999 with the pizza, the Cryogenics lab was a huge room filled with blinking lights and machinery, but when he comes out, it is simply a regular sized room with a table and a chair? — Michael R. Flavin
My guess is that the cryo tubes were moved from their original building and moved into the new one, thus explaining why the room changed and why Fry didn't wind up underground. Of course, that doesn't explain the view out the window for 1,000 years ... Maybe time flew by so quickly, we simply couldn't see the pod being moved around, or it was moved between alien attacks. — Patrick Dolan
It's interesting that, despite two devastating attacks, they never had a fatal power failure in the cryonics lab. They must have one hell of a backup system... It must have been many stories shorter afterward, and the corpsicle room must have been near the top floor. — Brian Leahy
It's less-than-believable that they would have a free Cryogenics facility completely unmonitored, and yet fully maintained for 1000 years, and that if it's as simple as turning a dial to change the suspension period (as we saw with Fry's kind-hearted 5-minute thawing of Leela), then surely someone would have noticed Fry missing, and the Cryo guys would have seen some strange delivery boy in the freezer ... I mean they had a THOUSAND years to notice. — Denizen Auberon
1000 years from Midnight, January 1, 2000 (The countdown had already ended as Fry was falling into the Cryo booth) equals Midnight, January 1, 3000, NOT December 31, 2999. He actually was frozen for only 999 years, 364 days. And to be even more nit-picky, he "awoke" during the day; he was frozen 2-3 secs after midnight. — Chris Simmons
A possible explanation: Leap-seconds: "The solar year is not a precise multiple of the solar day, so "leap days" have been introduced to fill out the extra time. Our current calendar would take millennia to even get a day off, but is still not 100% perfect. So scientists have introduced an occasional "leap second" to fill out the time. My theory is, in 1000 years enough leap seconds will have been added to push the calendar back several hours. That's why Fry woke up several hours before Midnight, New Years Eve 3000." — Darrel Jones
One problem -- the Gregorian calendar lasts 365.2425 days, and requires an extra leap day once every 3333 years, since the solar year is 365.2422 days. And since we don't adjust seconds, since the Earth's rotation is constant. Why do you think that we change to Spring at a different time every year? — Andrew Gill
At the end of the episode, were people cheering the start of year 3001? If they were celebrating the start of year 3000, then how come the blimp said "3000" after he was defrosted? Part of a longer message that got cut out? — Andrew Krupowicz
It's unlikely that language, accents and slang have gone unchanged in 1,000 years. Leela's boss spoke in an Indian-American accent similar to Apu's from The Simpsons, but no such speech pattern could be retained for so long. (Unless he himself was unfrozen not long ago.) I'm surprised 20th Century English is still so predominant at all. One peace officer, as he's trying to shoot down Our Favorite Crew, remarks "Ah can't see nuttin'. Pretty, yo."
While this is quite true, it would be unlikely that the average "Futurama" watcher would be able to understand the language spoken in 3000. It reminds me of a comment made by Terry Pratchett. Someone mentioned that the Discworld couldn't have "gypsies," since they were named after Egypt, and the Disc equivalent of Egypt is Djelibeybi. Terry stated that, if he changed the entire language to fit the Discworld, the books would only be enjoyable to the kind of people who like to learn Klingon. — Nathan Mulac DeHoff
Perhaps by 3000, there English becomes the dominant language, while the others just fade away (like Latin). Who knows? I can't say what would be the driving force for such a momentary change in language by then. I didn't really gave it much thought myself. Though I assume there's still a few of us that like to wonder at the use of Japanese in Gothan City on the WB toon Batman Beyond (pretty much a Blade Runner rip-off). — Chris Sobieniak
English used to be a very lax vulgar (=common) language. Then the grammarians came along and decided that to now split infinitives would be wrong, &c. In fact, spelling didn't truly come along until the printing press. With this in mind, it's not hard to believe that English -- as she is spoke -- will become even more firmly cemented in our culture, to the point that it won't change after mid-2300. — Andrew Gill
If you want a "within-continuity" explanation ... When Leela was examining Fry on the Probulator, it inserted a chip to allow him to understand the languages it was programmed with. For Terri, Leela, and the others who spoke English before it was implanted, the building is equipped with a machine that does the same thing at a distance. My two cents, anyway ... — Robert Teague
Why did Bender bother pulling back his quarter with a string? He was in the booth to commit suicide; what good will keeping the quarter do him when he'll be dead in a minute? — Theodore Jay Miller
Perhaps, as a robot, Bender can't be killed in the same way that humans can? He seems like the kind of character that would enjoy going into the booths on a regular basis to be "killed," then he just gets repaired and everything is back to normal. Considering his contempt for the human "skin tubes," repeated use of a suicide booth is just his way of mocking us. Therefore, reusing the same quarter just adds more fuel to his fire. Or, even though he thought he was going to be dead in a minute, perhaps the ol' string-on-a-quarter bit was his way of symbolically sticking it to The Man. "I may be dead, but at least I didn't have to pay!" Fight the power! — Todd Paul Emerson
I agree with the latter. After all, Bender did voice his obvious distaste for the booths ... that is why he quit his old job. Although I think that was at least partly intended to set up the next gag. — Reznic de Bergerac
It's the principle of the thing, or perhaps his programming told him to do it. — Curtis Gibby
Anybody notice how Fry and Bender probably should've been vaporized before leaving the Suicide Booth? You see a flash of light after the guy who goes in before them, which I assume was him getting vaporized so the next customer wouldn't have to deal with a messy corpse in their way. How come Fry and Bender weren't disintegrated? Are we to believe that this was some sort of ... magical suicide booth? — Chris Cosby
On vaporizing: Perhaps vaporizings are done following successful suicides only though. — IS
On vaporizing: Or perhaps vaporizing was the Quick And Painless mode. — Yama
The career chips system introduced here is contradicted several times throughout the series through job changes, incompetents, examples of a free market economy and references to the Earthican dream. Supposedly, you are required to work the job you have the chip for and the assignment is permanent. Yet, two delivery people, an intern, and a doctor followed Bender, as hippies, (obviously not showing up for work) when Bender becomes a singer, but they werent punished. In fact, Bender in the governments eyes is at best a delivery boy, but more likely, he is still a bender. How did he escape detection or get another chip to become a singer? — Techieman

Comments and Other Observations

Nibbler is the whole reason Fry is in the 30th Century! While Fry's chair is tipping over, you can see Nibbler's shadow around the table and chair! — Ryan Pohlner
Many people that believe in the Book of Revelation in the bible see hand and forehead chip implants as the prophecy of the 666 mark. They believe that the chip will replace all identity cards, credit cards, etc. They believe that it will be a crime not to have the implant, and thus you won't be able to work. (Not only would you be a criminal, imprisoned or a fugitive, but without an income you cannot afford a place to live, eat, etc.) If true, then Futurama presents a dark future indeed. Tech companies are actually developing these chips and have been for several years now. The technology has been used with cattle and other farm animals, some new organ implants in hospital transplant surgeries, and pets, saying its better than branding or tags on farms and helps identify lost pets [or lost organs too I guess :)]. The technology was used to help identify refugees at the US military installation on the Cuban island (name?), but instead of implants, the chips were place in plastic wristbands and worn by the refugees at the camp. This is not the first science fiction show to use implants for identification -- Babylon 5 used them and I believe Star Trek has referenced it as well. — Dave Sweatt
December the 31st 2999 in fact IS a Tuesday. — Paul Gallagher
Last Friday [March 26th 1999] Dr. Jack Kervorkian got convicted for double degree murder for aiding the suicide of a terminally ill patient whose video was shown on 60 Minutes. Suicide Booths can't be too far in the future. — Haynes Lee
FORTRAN is the name of the first high-level computer language. My first job involved programming in FORTRAN-77, a descendant of the original language. — Benjamin Robinson
In the first and second network airings on Fox, the man who entered the pneumatic tube before Fry asked the tube to take him to "J.F.K. Junior Airport." After the plane crash death of JFK Jr, the line was changed to "Radio City Mutant Hall" for the subsequent airings.
I am sooo glad that they stuck with their formula of NOT having a laugh track. Never needed to be told when to think. — Jimbo Jones
I am grateful that they didn't use Clinton's head biting. I can just imagine the type of raunchy jokes that could have been used. — Daniel Tropea
When the head of Richard Nixon says "You just made my list!", this is a reference to ancient history: the Watergate Scandal. Nixon kept an "enemies list" of over 200 people whom he believed were part of a conspiracy against him. — Raymond Chen
We're living in the Stupid Ages? Whatever makes these ages stupid seems to be just as alive and rampant in 2999.
Bender proposes a celebration when Leela finally agrees to join him and Fry. He pulls out three beers ... and drinks them himself. It's been noted in the script, but I think it's important, since it's the first episode and it really establishes the pettiness of Bender's self-absorption. — Jonah Falcon
I swear that when Dick Clark's Head was talking, you could see Homer Simpson in the crowd in the background! It's way too grainy to make out in the realvideo version I have, and I only saw it for a few seconds, but it was either our lovable Simpson or somebody that looked remarkably like him ... — Jason Barrera
French culture will never be eliminated. Face it! — Yuri Dieujuste
Even with the pneumatic tubes, some of New New York City's residents still need to drive around in flying cars. I guess the tubes aren't useful when you're transporting cargo, or traveling in groups. Also, if you've travelled by vehicle to the city, and don't want to splurge for a parking lot, you'll want to keep it with you. Notice that the cars use a traffic system just like ours, even though it is completely unnecessary without roads. Also notice that the pneumatic tubes are 100% free.
Bender uses a coin on a string to fake out the Suicide Booth. Does this mean that, despite promises of electronic-only commerce and despite the forces of inflation, the United States (if that's what it's still called) still mints coins? Maybe that particular suicide machine was built way back in the year 2008.
One of the cars on the street before Fry and Bender enter the museum of heads looks like a Volkswagen Beetle. It swerves past a Slurm truck that was going too slow for the driver's liking, apparently.
The garbage cans on the city streets have tubes coming out of the sides that curve into the sidewalk. I wonder if the world's solved its waste problem yet ...
Speaking of which, how come the decaying ruins of Old New York aren't flooded to the top with garbage? How come the ceiling isn't supported at all? How come I'm writing so much about a half-hour cartoon show?
That Hindu guy? Could that be Gandhi? Think about it, they have a bunch of heads in the museum of famous people and who is the most famous hindu in the world? Gandhi! — JW
When Bender and Fry are in the bar, Bender said he doesn't need to drink. Thats not true, coz he need the alcohol to refill his energy — Schlund

Original capsule author: Futurama Chronicles