Episode Capsule: [1ACV07] My Three Suns
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============= THE FUTURAMA CHRONICLES ==== EPISODE CAPSULE =============
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Official Title: My Three Suns
Episode Number: 1ACV07 (#7)
First Airdate : Tuesday, May 4th, 1999 (8:30 PM)
Written by : J. Stewart Burns
Directed by : Jeffrey Lynch & Kevin O'Brien
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= Additional tidbits =
Opening theme promotion : presented in
DOUBLE-VISION
DOUBLE-VISION
where drunk
Opening theme cartoon : [Unknown]
Subsequent Fox Airdates : 11-Jul-99, 05-Sep-99
04-May-99 Nielsen ranking: 5.8% of audience (#72 for the week)
11-Jul-99 Nielsen ranking: 4.9% of audience (#57 for the week)
05-Sep-99 Nielsen ranking: 3.8% of audience (#80 for the week)
MPAA rating : TV-PG-V
Length minus commercials : [21:17]
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= Foxworld Synopsis =
The crew visits a planet inhabited by liquid aliens. Fry, after
delivering a package under the scorching heat of the planet's three
suns, finds a bottle of cool blue liquid to quench his thirst. But
when that liquid turns out to be the civilization's ruler, Fry finds
he has become the new leader. Initially drunk with power, he soon
discovers his life is in danger and must turn to his friends to help
him dry out.
========================================================================
= Minutiae =
- Robowash still takes quarters. {hl}
- Bender didn't try reclaiming his quarter. {br}
- He retracts his antennae before entering the Robot Wash.
- I love the expression in Bender's eyes when he's being rebuffed.
- The mechanical arms extend their pinkies when carrying Bender's air-
freshener.
- After the carwash, Bender literally has a shiny metal ass. {vy}
- When he's caught watching a cooking show, Bender rushes for the
remote control and accidentally knocks over a bottle on the table.
- A head shop in the 20th century sells drug paraphenelia. {hl} [Head
shop in the 30th century sells actual human heads. {ml}]
- A kid in Little Neptune is eating fruit right out of the vendor's
bin.
- Good thing Dr. Zoidberg didn't go to the Little Neptune shop with
them. They sold lobster-meat.
- Fry says he has trouble breathing underwater _sometimes_.
- The "nurse" has an interesting tattoo. A heart with antennae.
- Origin of the name Trisol: tri (three, as in tricycle) + sol (latin
word for sun, as in solar). {mr}
- Bender wears gloves with only three fingers.
- It's funny that Fry is able to say he was delivering things before
Leela was born, even though they're around the same age.
- Emperor's bottle shaped like a Coke bottle. {hl}
- The Emperor's guards aren't very good at their jobs. :-)
- Liquid planet has British parliamentary system. {hl}
- Almost everyone in the crew had a change of clothes for the
coronation. I guess the motto of interplanetary delivery crews is,
"Be Prepared!" {br}
- Amy is flirting with Gorgak during the pre-coronation. Remember that
this is shortly after she'd "touched him in ways he's never been
touched."
- On several places in the palace, you can see a symbol that looks like
a Mickey Mouse head with small ears. This is apparently a picture of
the three Trisolian suns. You can spot the symbol on Fry's and
Murg's crowns, on Bender's cane and many places at the pre-coronation
gala.
- Leela says that the average reign of an emporer is one week, and half
of the emporers are assassinated at their own coronation. This means
the other half must usually survive at least two weeks.
- There's apparently also a Coronation Oath Volume 2, 3, etc.
- One can assume that Throm the Chunky was the first Trisolian emperor.
- The bottom-most badge on Bender's sash has a somewhat-sketchy
picture of everyone's favorite fictional character ... Homer Simpson!
- Amy had her heels in her right hand as she ran away from the
Trisolians. She didn't lose them as most everybody thought. {gsc}
- Did anyone notice Zoidberg's little pun? When he goes "Let's face
it! We're in hot butter here!" Don't you dip lobster in hot
butter?? {ml2}
- Bender's dialogue over the televideo machine implies that he doesn't
like Leela.
- If you listen to Amy closely after Bender puts his hand over her
mouth, you can hear a muffled "Oh!" when she finally gets his plan.
{br}
- Is it just me, or did Amy Wong look particularly hot when Fry was
trying to cry out the emporer? I know she is "just a cartoon" but
she looks better every episode. {rc}
- It looked like she had a little bit of a 'thing' for Fry there too,
with that placement of her hand. {rs}
========================================================================
= Parallels to Science Fiction =
~ "The Abyss" (1989 James Cameron movie)
- The first movie to using "morphing" for liquid entities. It won an
Oscar for Visual Effects. James Cameron used the same effects
later for "Terminator 2." {hl}
~ "Enemy Mine" (movie)
- The Oath scene was a lot like the scene at the end of Enemy Mine
where the human had to site the names of the alien's parent, and
their parent, and so on. {rm}
~ "Space Goofs" (?)
- Elzar and some of the Little Neptune residence resemble Etno (now
if only one had a Orson Welles-like voice, then it's very close to
a dead ringer). {jk}
~ "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (franchise)
- Odo and the Founders live in a liquid state and refer humanoids as
"solids." {hl}
~ "Star Wars: A New Hope" (movie)
- The entire scene in Little Neptune seems to be a somewhat vague
reference to the Mos Eisley scene in Star Wars. Both seem seedy,
have a menagerie of robot and alien denizens, and both feature the
main characters going into a place that sell food. Also, the scene
where Fry is saved by Leela from the organ doctor and his
accomplice is similiar to when Obi-Wan saves Luke from Dr. Evazan
and his partner. {sam}
+ "The Twilight Zone" (TV show)
- Bender wears an apron that says "To Serve Man," which was an
important phrase in a Twilight Zone episode, as well as the title.
The joke is in the double-meaning of the phrase: To serve food to
man, or to serve man as food? And, we all know Bender's contempt
for humans ...
- "To Serve Man" was an adaptation short story by Damon Knight (I
think, from "Astounding Stories"). It can be found in some
antologies. {jr2}
========================================================================
= Other References =
~ "12 Monkees" (movie)
- Did the meat shop that Fry and co. visited to get the slug look
like the shop in 12 Monkees? I haven't seen 12M in a while, so I
can't remember what they sold in the movie. {jl}
+ "Carwash" (movie)
- The theme song plays as Bender uses the Robot Wash.
+ "Essence of Emeril" (cooking show)
- "Essence of Elzar" is an obvious parody of a cokking show called
"Essence of Emeril." The host of the show uses extreme sound
effects such as "Bam!" and "Pow!" to kick his dialogue up a notch,
just like Elzar does.
- Emeril Lagasse. From Fall River, Massachusetts, though his main
restaurant is in New Orleans and the show "Emeril Live" is taped
in New York. Before he did Emeril Live, they had a show called
"Essence of Emeril" and before I knew what the show was called and
the guy's name, I always refered to is as "Cooking with Vinnie."
{co}
+ "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!" (food)
- I Can't Believe It's Not Slug!
~ "Levis" (jeans)
- [The opening scene] reminded me of the Levis commercial where the
guy drives through the carwash in his AMC Levis-edition Gremlin,
with the windows down. They used the same music, and there was a
scene where the driver selected the type of wash he wanted from a
button board, as Bender did. {br}
+ "My Three Sons" (TV show)
- Title: "My Three Suns"
~ "Organleggers" (?)
- I thought of Larry Niven's "organleggers" (black market organ
dealers, by analogy to bootleggers) when Fry was talking to the guy
with a selection of black market organs. {sv}
+ Palmolive Diswash Liquid (commercial)
- When Dr. Zoidberg tells Amy that the people are mild, and that
she's soaking in one right now, that is a take-off of a well-known
commercial from the 60's for Palmolive Dishwashing Liquid. In the
commercial, a manicurist (named Madge) surprises her clients by
telling them that their hands have been "soaking in it right now."
{mp}
~ "Pay Back" (movie)
- [While trying to make Fry cry, Amy] kind of reminded me of the
oriental dominatrix girl in "Pay Back" with Mel Gibson. {jj3}
+ "The Simpsons" (D'uh!)
- The bottom-most badge on Bender's sash has a picture of Homer
Simpson's head.
========================================================================
= Freeze Frame Fanaticism =
>> At the Robot Wash
- PLEASE SELECT
WASH
[REGULAR]
[DELUXE]
[SUB-STANDARD]
- PLEASE PUT
SELF IN
NEUTRAL
- UNDERCOATING
25c
>> Outside Hermes' office
- HERMES CONRAD
BUREAUCRAT CHEWING OUT
[IN PROGRESS]
>> Little Neptune scenery
- GIRLS,
GIRLS,
ALIENS
- All-tentacle
Massage
- HEAD SHOP
- MARKET
- LITTLE
NEPTUNE
MARKET
>> Display case
- I Can't Believe
It's Not SLUG SLUG
SLUG!! TENDERS SHANK
>> Bender's apron
- TO
SERVE
MAN
>> Fry's reading homework
- CORONATION
OATH
--
VOL. 1
>> Other signs
- PRE-CORONATION GALA
- please
DON'T DRINK
THE EMPEROR
========================================================================
= Goofs =
- It doesn't make sense for Bender to insert his money, and _then_
select a type of wash. Either every form of wash costs the same or
Bender already knew what he was getting. And if he'd already payed
the extra money for a deluxe wash, why did he peruse the list a
second time?
- Leela's fork disappears after she says "Oh, dear God!" {zb}
- Dr. Zoidberg isn't actually shown taking a second helping of slug.
{vy}
- Dr. Zoidberg has difficulty taking salt water, even though he's a
lobster/crab. {vy} [Maybe it wasn't salty enough? {rm}]
- After he yells "In your face, Gorgak," Bender disappears.
- As the crew is lying on a stack of pillows in the palace, the clouds
out the window are moving to the right. In Fry's close-up, they're
moving in the opposite direction.
- What few garments the liquid beings wear do not show up through their
translucent bodies (i.e., we only see one side of a necklace, even
though we can see the wall through the person's neck).
- The little flap on Murg's chin is transparent as well. We can see
the wall through the flap, even though Murg is wearing a red cape
directly behind it.
- The reaction to Florb's comic routine would suggest that the audience
members are from under the red sun, but the closest sun to them is
the yellow one.
- Love that jacket [Leela] has, even if it does tend to spontaneously
come unbuckled while holding certain books. {jb}
- Emporer Bont's picture is replaced with a different one with no name
(from which a spy tries to drink Fry). Fry's picture is replaced
with an empty frame, also with no name.
- As Fry gives his speech, the suns are setting to his right, but his
shadow trails behind him.
- In the wide shot during the coronation, Bender has a martini glass in
his hand. Then in the closer shot he had a different kind of glass
and anounced that he was switching to hard liquor. He then threw
that glass away and took out a martini glass. {jg}
- Bender's sash disappears in the shot from behind.
- In the amount of time that Fry swallows the emperor and the emperor
glows in his stomach, the emperor should have completely passed
through Fry's bladder. {vy} [Maybe the salt from the slug caused
Fry to retain the emperor. {jm}]
- Amy lost her shoes running up the stairs to the throne room. (She
was barefoot when she came in.) Nevertheless, she had her shoes back
later in the scene. {br} [As she was kicking Fry in the stomach,
she had her shoes on. Where did the shoes come from? Why did she
put her shoes on to kick Fry? {gsc}] (This goof has been debunked.
See "Minutiae.")
- The strings on the collar of Fry's unisex robe start out very thin,
but change to thick, black lines.
- Emperor Bont looks lighter than he did in the trailer. Two corner
shots show his darker side ... Fry: "I was emperor of a whole
planet." ... Amy: "Leela's not the type to hold a grudge." {zb}
========================================================================
= Extended Goofs / Technical Nitpicks =
>> A mysterious planet in the depths of the Forbidden Zone
It'd be awfully boring, anal and time-consuming if we were to sit down
and discuss every bit of poetic license and inconsistent event in
this obviously unrealistic show and dissected and discussed them week
after week after week. So, what better time to start than right now?
(I'm just kidding, of course ... we started way back with 1ACV01.)
Here's my musings about the planet Trisol.
I'm not quite sure how it's possible for a liquid to have any
sentient powers or qualify, by any definition, for the title of
"living organism." Perhaps what the Trisol members are made of is
only a liquid by our Earthly definition, and are actually only a very
versatile and transparent solid matter, including their digestive and
nervous systems, etc. Heck, they were never actually referred to, by
a reliable person, as "liqid" (although they did do the reverse and
refer to Fry as "solid" -- and when science is involved, Leela _is_
an unreliable person). I hear there was a race of supposedly liquid
beings in a Star Trek episode. How was that explained?
Fry said he was emporer of the entire _planet_. These beings don't
look like they're capable of forming an entire global community.
Furthermore, the only reason they chose to make Trisol a barren and
desert-like planet rather than a cool, lush jungle seems to be as an
excuse for Fry to be thirsty upon arrival. A hot and dry environment
is the exact opposite of what you'd expect for a race composed of
liquids, as opposed to a jungle or possibly an underground society.
Come to think of it, maybe a good deal of the Trisol society lies
underground, and the above-grounders are just outcasts. Maybe they
told Fry that was all that existed of their planet out of denial.
There is no sign of any villaiges or communities near the palace.
Either the palace is actually an entire city or the tremendous crowds
of people that appeared for events such as Fry's coronation and the
Juice-O-Matic 4000 unveiling appeared out of nowhere. Or, this could
be further evidence of an underground society.
Note the existence of clouds in the sky. From the establishing shot
in space, there don't appear to be any major oceans, nor is there
anything greatly blocking our view of the actual ground's color.
Perhaps these clouds are made up of Trisol lawbreakers!
George S. Cutlip: Did it strike anyone else as odd that the Trisolian
soldiers had spears and pikes, even though as a liquid race their
weapons would be totally useless? They struck repeatedly at the
palace door and reformed, so what damage could a pike do to their
liquid bodies would be minimal. [I'll also point out that Leela's
kick-boxing attacks seemed to have some effect on them. -ed]
<lou@provost.com>: From what I know of astrophysics it should be
impossible for a planet like trisol to exist with life on it or human
life visiting it. The three suns (judging from the size and relative
mass in the sky) would pull the planet to the point where it's orbit
would be too chaotic or the friction put against the planet would
heat the planet to a state that should be not habitable or even
stable enough to land a ship on. Not to mention that it wouldnt have
any oxygen to breathe. (They dont wear spacesuits!)
If anyone has more musings about the Trisolians, please contribute.
========================================================================
= Reviews =
Joe Klemm: The show is now starting its average episode plan with this
one. Not as funny as some of the other episodes of the show, but
with a plot that can be enjoyed. Now if Bender is still the ship's
cook in later episodes, then continuity can be kept. (C)
Haynes Lee: The first half was good but the second half was hit and
miss. (B-)
Patrick McGovern: Second best yet, behind I, Roomate. The entire ep
was hilarious, with generous airtime for Zoidberg and Amy. Of
course, the plot setup was the funniest thing, but Bender as a chef
is worth the price of admission alone. (Bam! Well, wasn't this an
obvious Emeril parody?) (A-)
Paul Melnyk: God, things can't get really that much worse. Can
Futurama get out of the stereotyped sci-fi? A slug from Neptune is
stereotyped sci-fi, constant defying vacuum in space is sci-fi, I'm
sorry to take things seriously, but this is a sci-fi show. Well, we
start off with a boring parody of "Car Wash." Then, Bender becomes a
cook, and could it be any more predictable? And what's with Fry the
jerk? Geez, apparentely the writers have an illusion this is
humorous. When I first saw Futurama, I thought it had hope, I was
looking forward to watching it each week. Why? The characters were
actually human, now, every week, I get to look forward to a silly
episode full of stereotypes. (C-)
Matt O'Connell: I really liked this episode. (A-)
Vince Yim: On the whole, pretty good. Better than Fishful of Dollars,
not quite as good as Zap Brannigan. Some of the animation is really,
really nice, especially when you have Fry going through the desert.
The emperor's palace is well designed as well. (B+)
Yours Truly: Sadly, this episode takes its place at the very bottom of
my list so far. Were it not for the excellent opening act, my grade
might've been even lower. I'm not saying it wasn't enjoyable, but
there were a lot of things here that got boring and/or overdone near
the end. I hope that the other episodes this season are indicative
of the show's future, but not so much this one. (C+)
Average Grade: [40/7=5.714285714286] (B-)
========================================================================
= Final Thoughts / Comments =
>> Weasels are funny. Worms aren't.
David Nott: When Bender was watching the cooking show, the TV chef at
one point mentioned giving the dish he was preparing a "good blast
from your spice weasel." If they really wanted to "kick up a notch"
the joke, it should have been a spice WORM.
>> An eye for fashion
Jason Barrera: Leela seems to have a rather large wardrobe. She's got
the green tank top, and then she's got the white tank top, and maybe
some evening wear stashed away somewhere for when she actually gets a
date.
>> More Urban Legend Alerts
Haynes Lee: Dutch folklore has a little boy preventing a flood by
sticking his finger in the leaking dike.
Classic false urban legend about newbie in the Big City waking up
finding that various orgrans have been removed from his body.
There is a Neutral Zone today. It's near Saudi Arabia. See
<http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_304.html>
Also, the Little Neptune Market selling human meat is a false urban
legend about ethnic eateries (Chinese/E. Indian/Italian) using
cat/dog/human meat instead of expected meat.
See <http://snopes.simplenet.com/horrors/food/chinese.htm>.
>> He's the "love-potion" dealer
Mark Poyser: In the DrinkEmperor program, Fry & company go to Little
Neptune. Among the characters seen on the sidewalk is a bald guy in
a white robe that has a large number "9" on front. He is trying to
hand out some literature (or so it seems).
What's that about? The only thing I can possibly think of, is a
virus-writer who is known as "=9". (Refered to in
<http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~kes65601/>. Be careful, incautious use
of this site will ruin your computer.)
Any thoughts?
>> Unique product-placement
Theodore Jay Miller: I don't know if other places got this or not, but
where I am, the scene where Fry is incredibly thirsty, and drinks the
Emperor, was immediately followed by this commercial announcement:
"Futurama is brought to you by Gatorade Thirst Quencher."
>> On the Cutting-Room Floor
In the advertisement for this episode in "TV Guide," it shows a crowd of
Trisolians enjoying a nice swim in a large swimming pool ... and
acting as their own pool water. Nothing like this was in the episode
we saw. Perhaps the scene was cut?
========================================================================
= Fun Stuff =
>> Alien Language #1 sightings
Sign in front of Little Neptune head shop: "OPEN"
Televideo machine: "TELEVIDEO"
On the signpost next to the throne: "DON'T DRINK THE EMPEROR"
("DON'T DRINK THE EMPORER" was also written in the TV Guide ad.)
>> Alien Language #2 sightings
Robert X. Smith: On the signpost in My Three Suns, we've all seen the
sign with 7 red letters, all of them different, that seems to be
drawn to jump out on purpose. I haven't run across any decryption of
it, and I think it's the first instance of this particular alphabet
we've seen. I believe that the mummy sarcophagi are covered in
gibberish, by the way. I have a guess as to what the red lettered
sign says. Time will tell if I am right.
I believe it says "CAUTION."
>> Other alien languages?
There was a total of 12 signs next to the emporer's throne. It looks
like we'll be referring back to this episode for a very long time ...
>> References to Previous Episodes
- [1ACV01] Fry lies on an operating table
- [1ACV01] Quarters used in dispensing machine {hl}
- [1ACV02] Sonic Diarrhea, cf. Terrible, Nightmarish Diarrhea
- [1ACV02] Dr. Zoidberg forgets an essential element of human anatomy
- [1ACV03] Fry: "Whaddup?"
- [1ACV04] Videophones used
>> Fan-made Alternate Titles for this Episode
"Honey, I Drank the Emperor" {hl}
"The Glassed Emporer" {pm3}
========================================================================
= Voice Credits =
>> Starring
Billy West ......................... Fry, Junkie, Neptunian, "Nurse,"
Farnsworth, Zoidberg, Guard 1,
Gorgak
Katey Sagal ................................................... Leela
John DiMaggio ......................................... Elzar, Bender
>> Guest Starring
Dave Herman ....................................... Shopkeeper, Florp
Phil LaMarre ................................................. Hermes
Maurice LaMarche ..................... Shady Guy, Guard 2, Murg, Bont
Lauren Tom ................................. Amy, "Collect Call" lady
========================================================================
= Contributers =
{br} Benjamin Robinson {ml2} Mark Lewald
{co} Calyxa Omphalos {mp} Mark Poyser
{gsc} George S. Cutlip {mr} Matthew Riley
{hl} Haynes Lee {pm3} Patrick McGovern
{jb} Jason Barrera {rm} Rob Merritt
{jg} Jim Geraghty {rc} Rick Carlson
{jj3} Jason Jenkins {rs} Reagen Sulewski
{jk} Joe Klemm {sam} Steven Aaron Monroe
{jl} Jake Lennington {sv} Steve VanDevender
{jm} Joshua Moore {vy} Vince Yim
{jr2} Javier Redal {zb} Zapp Brannigan
{ml} Mike Lee
========================================================================
Futurama and its characters are the ==== First uploaded: 13-Jun-1999
properties of 30th Century Fox. Blame ==== Revision E : 13-Mar-2000
them for any omissions. This capsule ==== E-mail me: <jedraw@aol.com>
compiled by Jordan Eisenberg the Solid. ================================
