Episode Capsule: [1ACV04] Love's Labour's Lost In Space
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============= THE FUTURAMA CHRONICLES ==== EPISODE CAPSULE =============
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Official Title: Love's Labors Lost in Space
Episode Number: 1ACV04 (#4)
First Airdate : Tuesday, April 13th, 1999 (8:30 PM)
Written by : Brian Kelley
Directed by : Brian Sheesley
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= Additional tidbits =
Opening theme promotion : presented in
BC[brain control]
where avaliable
Opening theme cartoon : "The Wacky Wabbit" {pm2} (1942)
Subsequent Fox Airdates : 27-Jun-99, 22-Aug-99
28-Mar-99 Nielsen ranking: 3rd in its timeslot (7.4 million viewers)
{dga}
27-Jun-99 Nielsen ranking: 5.0% of audience (#57 for the night)
22-Aug-99 Nielsen ranking: 5.0% of audience (#57 for the night)
MPAA rating : TV-PG-DS
Length minus commercials : [21:08]
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= Foxworld Synopsis =
While on a mission to save all the animals on a planet verging on
collapse, Leela encounters Capt. Zapp Brannigan, a self-proclaimed
ladies' man looking to add Leela to his list of conquests.
========================================================================
= Minutiae =
- The piano in the restaurant (Leela & guy w/snake-tongue) is a mirror
image. Low notes to right, hight notes to left -- based on profile
of the raised lid. Also, the lid is raised on the right side. {mp}
- The piano is played by a robot with four arms.
- It may have been obvious to some people, but I didn't see the pun in
"The Hip Joint" until watching it for the 100th time!
- The waitresses at The Hip Joint carry trays that hover over their
hands.
- Gaydar has a pink receiver. {hl}
- Only Leela and Bender don't go home with someone. Amy goes with the
M5438, Fry with the 21st century woman, and the Doctor the Lobster.
And at least Bender goes to a saucy puppet show ... {jr}
- They still have taxes and charitable writeoffs. {hl}
- Zapp Branigan's ship is called the "Nimbus." {sv}
- The "doop" banner in Branigan's dining area is the same upside-down
and rightside-up. {jk}
- Democratic Order Of Planets acronym DOOP sounds like Dupe. {hl}
- If you look at the bench in the cell (after Fry, Bender, and Leela
have been arrested), Fry's doggie bag has been wrapped up into a duck
like you would get at an expensive restaraunt. {dcm}
- Zapp, like a good Scotsman, doesn't any wear any underwear under his
tunic. {hl}
- The outfit suggested for Leela has nothing covering the pubic area.
- Did you notice the captain's portrait? {jmg}
- The candles in Zapp's "Lovenasium" are melted after the commercial
break.
- As Leela sneaks out of the room, she's holding her boots in her hand.
She remains wearing only her socks for the rest of the scene.
- The prisoner holding cell's force field retains gases. (The steam
remains confined until Kif opens up the chamber.) {mp}
- The doomed planet cracks when the spaceship lands on it. {jk}
- Vergon 6 has moons and/or suns. {mp}
Large: blue, white, purple
Medium: white
Small: blue
- The planet still has some stalagmites and stalactites inside. {jmg}
- As the crew sets foot on Vergon 6's surface, Bender's feet are
partially submerged in the ground.
- There actually seems to be 1 of each alien animal in the cargo bay,
not 2, so it doesn't really matter if they all get eaten. Unless,
they're all like the hermaphlamingos ... {jr}
- It was kind of irresponsible of the crew to just stick all the
animals into a big cargo bay together. They should've anticipated
some inter-species aggresiveness.
- Nibbler gives Leela the cutest little shrug when she asks him if he
made that pile of starship fuel.
- After planet implosion, hard to say what survives, but one looks like
sharktopus. {mp}
- The final scene takes place on April 13th. The episode first aired
on April 13th, 1999. Hmmm.
========================================================================
= Parallels to Science Fiction =
+ "Alien" (movie)
- There is a scene at the end where Leela is sitting in her panties
and tanktop while Nibbler is sitting in her lap. Except for her
diary entry, it is very reminiscent of the end of "Alien" where
Ripley and her cat are getting ready to go into hibernation for the
trip back to Earth. {rd}
~ "The Jetsons" (TV show)
- The "Hip Joint" looks a lot like something from the Jetsons. {jr}
+ "Lost In Space" (TV show/movie)
- Title: "Love's Labors Lost in Space" {jk}
+ "Star Trek" (TV show/movies/novels)
- The original series uniforms were made of velour. {zz}
- Prime Directive / Brannigan's Law. {hl}
- Expendable crew members. {hl}
- M-5438 looks like various Star Trek entities. {hl}
- Zapp confuses poker with chess (favorite Kirk analogy). {hl}
- Captain's Log. {jk}
+ "Star Wars IV" (movie)
- The planet hologram from the attack on the Deathstar briefing,
and the Dark Matter hologram is I believe the targetting computer
of the Millenium Falcon. {jr}
- The crew escapes as Vergon 6 self-destructs, similar to the
Deathstar exploding.
+ "Star Wars VI" (movie)
- I think that the hologram of Vergon 6 looks a lot more like the
hologram for Endor in Star Wars VI. Both were green, translucent,
and orbited slowly. {sam}
~ "Terminator" (movie)
- Cyborgs in 21st century. {hl}
~ "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" (novels)
- Planet Vergon 6 sort of rhymes with Vogon Ship. {mp}
========================================================================
= Other References =
+ "The Art of War" (historic text)
- Zapp mentioned Sun Tzu's "The Art of War." I read in school that
that book was writtin in 500 BC! How the hell did Zapper know
'bout that? {trl}
+ "Big Books" (book series)
- Zapp shows his book "The Big Book of War." This may be a reference
to (DC Comics offshot) Paradox Press' series of "Big Books," like
"The Big Book of Death," "The Big Book of Conspiracies," "The Big
Book of Freaks," "The Big Book of Scandals," and many more. Very
fine books, if I may say so. {pdm}
~ "Chockey" (British childrens' show)
- In it, a boy, and later a girl, communicates to an alien life form
that, to the viewers, is a green ball of energy, just like M-5438.
{jk}
+ JFK's Presidential Portrait
- The captain's portrait looks very similar in pose. {jk}
+ "Love's Labors Lost" (Shakespeare play)
- Title: "Love's Labors Lost in Space" {dj}
+ "Noah's Ark" (story)
- Saving animals from doomed planet. {hl}
- Gaelic folklore about unicorn missing the ark. {hl}
~ "Ren & Stimpy" (TV series)
- The exotic landscape of Vergon 6 reminds me of an episode in which
the duo are trapped in another dimension.
+ Surround Sound
- "Brain Control" in the changing title under "Futurama." {jk}
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= Freeze Frame Fanaticism =
>> Small sign outside "The Hip Joint"
TEN DRINK
MINIMUM
>> Animals on Leela's clipboard {mp}
- Purple Fruit Snake (8 eyes)
Sharktopus
Chilean Space Bass
Parasatic Puppy
Gretchen Mole
- Windy Shrimp
Vampire Slug
Excommunicated Cardinal
- Four-legged mimic
Molotov Cocatoo
Hermaphlamingos
========================================================================
= Goofs =
- Leela and Doug had already finished their meal. How come Leela
didn't notice his lizard-tounge until now?
- Amy and Leela switch places before Bolt Rollins sits down. {ar}
- When Leela says "could you guys _please_ stop talking about my
personal life?", we see the hangar in the background, and the ship is
missing. {lp}
- The "typewriter" Kif uses with the first captain's journal only
appears then; in all other scenes, is replaced by what looks like a
full computer panel. {lp}
- When Zapp Brannigan predicts his "light dinner," his hand is animated
to rub against his chin, but it is actually floating a few inches to
the left.
- During Fry's "Wow... _the_ Zapp Brannigan?" line, Leela's seat and
the navigation console are directly behind Fry. (It should be behind
and to the right, like when Fry says "Leela's got a boyfriend.") {lp}
- Zapp's chair only havs the book container with his "Big Book of War"
when he shows the book; it's not seen when he dictates his first
journal and dissapears the next time we see the chair. {lp}
- When Zapp is telling Fry about the Killbots' weakness, the left door,
the door's control panel, and the controls directly behind the
captain's chair look WAY different than when he says "I'll be in the
escape pod." The buttons are bigger and in less quantity, the
control panel is double in height, etc.; and the chair haves two
buttons at each side that weren't there in the previous scenes, but
appear again when Leela calls him. {lp}
- The medal Zapp displays is not worn moments earlier. {mp}
- The lever controlling Zapp's "motorbed" disappears.
- The seats where Zapp and Kif are when Zapp's looking through the
telescope ("never mind... just give me a backrub") weren't there
during the "you lay off my formal shorts" line. {lp}
- Nibbler's third eye shrinks after he's first introduced.
- A greater variety of animals are seen in the Planet Express cargo
hold. {mp}
- Nibbler dropped his pellet in a litterbox that appeared from nowhere.
{sp} [Well, maybe they figured the other animals could take turns
using it on the return trip. :) {cw}]
- How could they look to Vergon 6 after it exploded? They're heading
_away_ from it, and the bridge is in the front of the ship. {lp}
- At the end, Leela's writing her "Captain's Dairy" with Nibbler on her
lap. When the camera pans up, we see her right arm, and she doesn't
have her wrist comm. Then, we get a general view, and she is wearing
it again. {lp}
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= Extended Goofs / Technical Nitpicks =
>> Wind _out_, stupid.
Mark Poyser: Spiral galaxy is shown rotating with trailing arms (as if
winding up), as opposed to leading arms. (Still an unresolved issue
in astronomy.)
>> Interspecies boinkage
Many people argued over this one. If Leela really is a "humanoid alien"
rather than an actual human, she would not be sexually compatible
with Zapp Brannigan, right? Well, the main argument was that all the
complex genetic science and chromosome studies don't mean squat when
all you're doing is just, um, having a good time as the two of them
were. And while an argument like that should be the final one (as
long as the foot fits in the shoe, who cares if the shoes match?),
that didn't stop our internet cabal from brainstorming. Here's some
solutions to the quandary, assuming Leela and Zapp had actual
reproduction in mind:
- Leela's race is actually only a distant ancestor of ours, which
branched off centuries ago, so enough similarities exist to
warrant compatibility.
- There is nothing inherently alien about Leela's family. She was
simply a one-eyed mutant in a largely binocular society, and
that's why she was abandoned on our insignificant blue planet in
the first place.
- Zapp Brannigan is actually a one-eyed alien himself, only he's
undergone intense surgery to hide this fact. (Perhaps he got
it done at the Implant Hut, or from a low-profile organ dealer in
Little Neptune.)
>> Mind Over Dark Matter
Steve VanDevender: Nibbler consumed many, many times his weight in
other animals from Vergon 6, and excreted a tremendously dense "dark
matter" pellet, yet Leela could still easily hold him.
Paul Melnyk: He probably has phaser-strength bile if you will.
Vince Yim: If Leela had struggled to lift the thing up, it would have
given too early of a clue to the viewer that there was something a
little different about it.
Boffo Bill: Remember 1 pound of dark matter weighs 10,000 pounds.
Judging by volume, that Nibbler scat couldn't be more then a 1/4
pounds worth. Leela could lift an extra 1/4 pound without even
noticing. When Bender goes to pick it up however, you must recall
the conversion rate of 1 to 10,000. Even a robot would find 2,500
pounds difficult to move. If that didn't help, remember the coyote
doesn't fall until he looks down.
>> One Small Step for Nibbler
Paul Tomko: My question is, why did the space ship suddenly shudder
when the animal pooped, even though the weight of the dropping was on
the ship the whole time?
Jim Frank: Now I know I've got to brush up on my physics, but assuming
the ship had some kind of artificial gravity, when the pellet
dropped, the potential energy converted to kinetic energy and
transferred itself to the ship's hull when it hit ... thus the
shudder. I could be wrong on this, so prepare for a whole host of
replies from people who have more time on their hand to research it
if I am. ;)
Valery Tsyplenkov: Take a 20-pound dumbbell in your hand, and drop it
onto the floor. Even though the weight remained in the house all the
time, the resulting thud will be noticeable. :)
Vince Yim: I think the ship lurches when Nibbler pooped the dark matter
because it wasn't sitting in the litter box when it let go. I could
get into the physics of all this, but let's just say that most
animals don't sit down to take a dump. They usually let it fall out
of their butts.
In my opinion, the "shudder" had nothing to do with gravity. You'd get
the same effect if you threw it at the wall.
Nick Zielinksi: Actually, the little antenna on Nibbler's head is a
gravitational field generator. This allows the creature to move
about freely and carry it's own mass. Once he poops, the dropping is
outside the sphere of influence (kinda like a warp field) and returns
to it's original weight.
Jeff Lee: How about this: the creature's digestive tract exists in
another dimension. This could explain:
1. How it was able to consume all of the other animals in the hold
without appearing engorged.
2. How Leela was able to pick it up even with the weight of all of
those animals in its digestive tract.
3. Why the ship shuddered when the dark matter was excreted (and
therefore reappeared suddenly in this universe).
Elliot Marc Davis: When Nibbler ate the animals, they got transported
to dimension Q, where they get digested, hence Nibbler does not
increase in size. When it gets ready to crap fuel, it gets
transported back into Nibbler. It makes perfect sense!
Robert Teague: Which leaves only the question of how Nibbler gets any
nutition out of it.
========================================================================
= Reviews =
Dale G. Abersold: For many reasons, I felt that this was the best
episode yet. First of all, the Zapp Brannigan character is a
brilliant parody of a certain Starfleet captain (certainly a funnier
parody than the "William Shatner" impersonation on the most recent
"Family Guy." The plot was both clever AND hilarious (this was the
first time that I ever broke up laughing while simply recounting the
plot of a television show to another person). And would it be
chauvinistic to point out that I liked Amy Wong's nightclub outfit?
It would? Oh well, who cares. True, the episode wasn't perfect,
(Brannigan's alien sidekick was a bit tiresome), but all in all, this
was the first episode (first of many, hopefully) to truly realize
Futurama's terrific premise. (A)
Scott Henrichs: "I've got Gay-dar!" That along with "Brannigan's laws
are like Brannigan's love -- hard and fast" were tonight's two best
quotes. However, I do think the Simpsons and Futurama are starting
to overdo it on the gay jokes. But tonight's episode was still
great, I give it an: (A-)
Haynes Lee: The Star Trek/Captain Kirk humor was a far improvement from
last Sunday's The Family Guy episode. I can't believe Fox gave the
Sunday timeslot to that show. (A)
Paul Melnyk: Worst Episode of Futurama so far. Most jokes didn't seem
to hit off too well either. I would have given this episode an F,
but a few things saved it. Very brief appearances by Amy, and Dr.
Zoidberg. Now it's just good old Leela, Bender, and Fry. I also
liked the Sci-Fi plot as well. Hopefully the show's gonna stay like
this. Some good CGI effects too. (C+)
Paul Turner: I dont know, I didn't really like this one as much as I,
Roommate. Zapp was annoying (he was obviously written for Phil
Hartman, not that Phil was annoying). And, from what Ive seen of
Leela so far, she would never just sleep with Zapp for no reason.
Eh, (C+)
Yours Truly: It gets credit for being the first episode to expand the
show's scope beyond our own solar system, but there were a few slow
parts, mostly the interaction between Zapp and Kif. It's funny in
that they're almost the exact antithesis of Burns and Smithers, but
started to become a one-joke deal. Some parts I just loved; Vergon 6
was blissfully weird! (B+)
Average Grade: [25/6=4.1(6)] (B+)
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= Final Thoughts / Comments =
>> Ah, Mr. Bender? Your gaydar is ready
Benjamin Robinson offers more proof that the future is now: Tyler Gray,
a columnist for the Orlando Sentinel, reports on a new way for single
people to meet-n-greet. Called the "lovegety," it's a little beeper
that comes in different versions for men and women. You're supposed
to set a switch to "love," "chat," or whatever you're looking for in
a girl- or boyfriend. When you get in proximity with someone of the
opposite sex with a similarly configured beeper, both go off and --
viola -- you've broken the ice.
The relevance of this to "Futurama?" Well, there's also a gay
version called -- you guessed it -- "Gaydar." Lovegetys (and
Gaydars) are the latest chic import from Japan. The U. S.
distributor, Mike Borer, thinks they'll be a big hit Stateside.
"From what we've heard, every gay male on the planet would go without
food in order to purchase this product," Borer says.
>> At least Zoidberg didn't name his new girlfriend "Pinchy."
Does anyone think the name "Vergon 6" sounds like "virgin sex?"
Pablo del Moral: I don't know if this is just a coincidence or some
spanish-speaking writer prank, but the name of the planet, Vergon 6,
is quite a nasty word in spanish (well, without the 6). It means
something like "the big penised one," only much more vulgar. Really
not something you say over at the Christmas dinner table.
>> Don't Overestimate Our Producers
Sharif Sahwan: When they were at the 'light dinner' on Zapp's ship, the
sign above them had the letters 'doop', obviously standing for the
Democratic Order of Planets, but the way it was written is exactly
the same way as that really annoying tune from a couple of years ago
called doop, by a bunch of people calling themselves doop.
Perhaps there's some other significance to it, but it's probably just
a coincidence and therefore I'm talking out of my very own meatbag
arse.
Jeremy Reaban: The symbol/emblem for "Doop" looks familiar. Either for
an old video game called "Zoop," or maybe the hand cleaner "Goop."
>> Last, and probably least
Billy West used the same voice for the gaseous being, M-5438, as he used
in his Jackie Martling impersonations back when he was a regular on
the Howard Stern Show.
Daniel Tropea: Why didn't they bring Amy? They had to collect animals
and the more people the better.
Jeremy Reaban: Kif looks remarkably like a (early) sketch of the aliens
reportedly seen by Betty and Barney Hill. Of course, they would
change the description a bunch of times, so it's probably a
coincidence. But ...
John E. Thelin: Gretchen Moll is an up and coming actress. I only
remember her playing Matt Damon's girlfriend in "Rounders," but I
know she's done a few more movies.
Bender says he has a _pair_ of Hermaphlamingos. So, is it one animal or
two?
========================================================================
= Fun Stuff =
>> References to Previous Episodes
- [1ACV01] "Hip Joint" music was the same as in Fry's first visit
outdoors in the future
>> Fan-made Alternate Titles for this Episode
"Looking for Lobsters in all the Wrong Places" {ds}
"Sex, Lies, and Videophones" {ds}
"Sexy Eye" {ds}
"The Trouble With Nibblers" {hl}
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= Voice Credits =
>> Starring
Billy West ................................. Doug, Fry, Dr. Zoidberg,
Bolt Rollins, M5438, Janitor,
Professor Farnsworth, Zapp Brannigan
Katey Sagal ................................................... Leela
John DiMaggio ...................... Bender, "Rings" guy, "You suck!"
>> Guest Starring
Lauren Tom .......................................... Amy, Fry's date
Phil LaMarr .................................................. Hermes
Maurice LaMarche ................................................ Kif
>> Uncredited
Frank Welker ................................................ Nibbler
David X. Cohen ................. "This is Vergon 6" (digitized to the
point of indistinction)
========================================================================
= Contributers =
{ar} Amanda Ross {lp} Leandro Pardini
{cw} Clarke Wyvill {mp} Mark Poyser
{dcm} David C. Morrison {pdm} Pablo del Moral
{dga} Dale G. Abersold {pm2} Patrick McNulty
{dj} Daniel Janes {rd} Robert Dugan
{ds} Dave Sweatt {sam} Steven Aaron Monroe
{hl} Haynes Lee {sp} Susan Pinochet
{jk} Joe Klemm {sv} Steve VanDevender
{jmg} Jeremy Michael Gallen {trl} Team Rocket Leela
{jr} Jeremy Reaban {zz} Zachary Zulkowski
========================================================================
Futurama and its characters are the ===== First uploaded: 09-May-1999
properties of 30th Century Fox, who ===== Revision E : 13-Mar-2000
are willing to send wave after wave of ===== E-mail me: <jedraw@aol.com>
lawyers at our disposal. Compiled by =================================
Jordan "The Windy Shrimp" Eisenberg. =================================
