Episode Capsule: [1ACV13] Fry & the Slurm Factory
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============= THE FUTURAMA CHRONICLES ==== EPISODE CAPSULE =============
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Official Title: Fry and the Slurm Factory
Episode Number: 1ACV13 (#13)
First Airdate : Sunday, November 14th, 1999 (8:30 PM)
Written by : Lewis Morton
Directed by : Ron Hughart
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= Additional tidbits =
Opening theme promotion : [LIVE] from Omicron Persei 8
Opening theme cartoon : Simpsons Ullman short "Making Faces (mg09)"
14-Nov-99 Nielsen ranking: 8.2 million viewers (#45 for the week)
MPAA rating : TV-PG-L
Length minus commercials : [21:18]
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= Foxworld Synopsis =
Fry opens a "Slurm" beverage container bearing the golden bottle cap
and wins a tour of the "Slurm" Factory (a la "Willy Wonka") to see
how the world's most deliciously addictive soft drink is made.
Wandering off from the tour, Fry is horrified when he accidentally
discovers the top-secret ingredient that makes "Slurm" so impossible
to resist.
========================================================================
= Minutiae =
- Bender's antennae droops forward while he's sick.
- Bender's internal thermometer is an oven thermometer. {hl}
- Dr. Zoidberg's human anatomy wall-chart, once again, is hanging
upside-down. (Also seen in 1ACV02.)
- Of the four protective goggles available, one is a single pane --
appropriate for Leela -- whereas the other goggles are two panes,
with an opaque section between them. {mp}
- According to the sign outside 7^11 ("Open [28] Hours"), in 3000, a
day will now consist of 28 hours? {jk} [Maybe they function by
Omicron Persei Time. (No planet in our solar system has a rotation
of 28 hours.) {jb}]
- On the shelves of 7^11 are cans of Mom's Old-Fashioned Robot Oil,
Bachelor Chow bags, Robo-Fresh capsules, Tanning Butter and Baked
Beans.
- A sign on the back wall of 7^11 advertises "Ice-Cold Slurmees."
- There is a 1990's surveillance camera in the store. {woh}
- The televisions in the store are turned on, but all they recieve is
blue. {woh}
- Instead of Hot Dogs there are Hot Logs. {woh}
- The 3-D Scrabble game has Farnsworh holding the letters FUUTAMR,
which is one "A" away from FUTURAMA. {mp}
- The horizontal word in the center board seems to say MATT. {jb}
- Mutant sized shirts had two extra arms. {dj3}
- The t-shirt that Dr. Zoidberg wears in the Slurm Factory Gift Shop,
that he thinks is too tight around the thorax, contains actual Hebrew
writing that spells out "Slurm" phoenetically.
- The 'authorities' that Farnsworth calls are the "Bureau of Soft
Drinks, Tobacco and Firearms." {da}
========================================================================
= Parallels to Science Fiction =
~ "Aliens" (movie)
- The Slurm Queen's body looks like the Alien Queen's swollen
ovipositor. The Slurm comes out of the end almost exactly like it
did when she lays an egg in the movie. In Aliens you only see it
in one shot, right after Ripley gets pissed and throws a bunch of
grenades into it. {dj3}
+ "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (movie/TV show)
- The game that Amy and the Professor are playing when Fry finds the
cap is 3D Scrabble -- Scrabble played on a 3D chess board. {sh3}
+ "Star Wars" (movies)
- The "elusive Yak Face" [as written in alien language in the Slurm
advertisement] is a Star Wars reference: Yak Face is the one
action figure never sold in America, only on overseas markets, and
stateside collectors pay through the nose for 'em. {th2} (See
"Final Thoughts / Comments.")
+ "Soylent Green" (movie)
- Soylent Green is a mysterious substance from the future that is
made from dead people -- much like Soylent Cola. [Now we know what
they do with contents of the suicide booths. {hl}]
~ "The Stuff" (movie)
- One of the influences on this story was Larry Cohen's 1985
sci-fi/horror comedy "The Stuff," about an insanely addictive goo
of mysterious origin that is marketed as a dessert. The Stuff's
slogan, in a maddeningly catchy jingle which I can still sing
fifteen years later, is "enough is never enough." This reminds me
of Fry's complaint, when told that he will get a sip of slurm "soon
enough," that "soon enough isn't soon enough!" If you don't
already know this film, I can recommend it. {gh}
========================================================================
= Other References =
~ "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" (movie)
- It's quite possible that the "Party on, Slurm" and "Party on,
contest winners" bit at the end was a reference to "Bill and Ted's
Excellant Adventure," where the title characters offer a similar
farewall to "Rufus" (George Carlin). {da}
+ Budweiser (beer)
- This beer has a mascot named Spuds McKenzie. Duuh.
- "The Slurmmaster," who inspects the Slurm for quality seems a lot
like "The Brewmaster" that Budweiser likes to show in their
commercials. {da}
~ "Earthworm Jim" (videogame)
- The final boss of this game is "The evil Queen Pulsating, Bloated,
Festering, Sweaty, Pus-filled, Malformed, Slug for a But......."
She looks strikingly like the Slurm Queen, right down to her
excretory functions. (The game's ending challenge is to fight the
array of egg-bombs that spew from her behind.)
~ "Fantasia" (movie)
- Cutting the Worm in half resulting in two worms was featured in
this movie with brooms. {woh}
+ "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (movie/book)
- Title, plot, characters, settings, concepts and dialogue. You
know, nothing major.
- Diving into the cola ... well that scene was lifted right out of
the movie, when the boy dove in the chocolate stream. {dt} [The
scene was a definite reference, but in the movie/book, Augustus
Gloop _fell_ into the stream against his will. {rb}]
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= Freeze Frame Fanaticism =
>> In the Slurm ad
SLURM HAS BEEN FOUND TO CAUSE
CANCER IN LABORATORY HUMANS.
EMPLOYEES OF SLURM CORP. AND
THEIR FAMILIES ARE ELIGIBLE TO
ENTER AND WILL PROBABLY WIN.
[Alien Language -- see "Fun Stuff."]
>> On the 7^11 shelves
[Mom's Robot Oil] [Robo-Fresh][Tanning Butter] [Indecipherable --
GLAGNAR'S
[Bachelor Chow] [Baked Beans] human rinds? ]
========================================================================
= Goofs =
- Notice that at the start of this episode Fry loses some of his teeth
because he was drinking all that Slurm? Look at him a few scenes
later. You will notice that he still has a full set of teeth. {av}
- Plus, if the slurm comes from a living creature's arse, then how come
it has any sugar in the drink at all, to make Fry lose teeth?
Wouldn't the Slurm queen digest the sugar and use it for energy?
Perhaps these space slugs use another energy source, like some of the
ingredients from the fake Slurm Factory. {av}
- When the crew moves to Farnsworth's lab, Bender's antennae no longer
droops, even though he hasn't been cured yet. [Probably because
having it straighten up at the precise moment would look awkward.]
- If the F-ray can see through everything, it's not much use -- you
shouldn't be able to see anything, as you should see right through
it. {ddg} [It seems that it can be adjusted to show of whatever you
what to see. {sof}]
- Isn't Bender equipped with x-ray vision anyway? What was the thrill
of having an F-Ray to him when most of the things they looked at
weren't anything you needed a "special" beam for?
- Fry says he can't swim but he treads water just fine once Leela pulls
him to the surface.
- Since Fry, Bender and Leela were deposited underground, in order for
the "Fake Factory" door to be on the same level as the "Keep Out!"
door, the river would have to be flowing upstream. (They were moving
with the current.)
- The freshly poured cans of Slurm, as they roll down the assembly
line, "slide" across the conveyor belt, a side-effect of imperfectly
choreographed animation.
- Even if the Slurm Queen worked around the clock, she would still
barely be able to produce 1% of the Slurm needed to serve just one
planet, let alone the entire galactic marketplace.
- The hole in Bender's torso disappears for a time and then reappears
when it's needed.
========================================================================
= Extended Goofs / Technical Nitpicks =
>> When you brood upon a starmap
Mark Poyser: Outside Planet Express at night, the stellar pattern does
not appear to correspond to our current distribution. The star
positions will change, but not in any appreciable way in only 1000
years.
>> When the sun turns green, we'll speed up again.
Mark Poyser: The 7^11 sign indicates "28 hours," which is in keeping
with the notion that the Earth's rotational speed is slowing down --
however, the slow-down rate is much much smaller than 4 hours / 1000
years.
>> "The neutrino beam it emits is a tad dangerous"
Mark Poyser: Since neutrinos have an extremely low chance of colliding
with matter (they are associated with the "weak force"), the F-ray
mechanism must emit an enormous flux of the particles. Also, the
wavelength of the neutrino is a factor in particle interaction.
Presumably the F-ray emits neutrinos that are more likely to affect
carbon-oxygen-hydrogen based life forms.
========================================================================
= Reviews =
Jason Barrera: Great episode from Calculon's first utterances to the
final "Burns, Baby Burns"-ish party sequence. Slurm has become a
much more interesting product than Duff or Buzz Cola ever was, and
its potent addictiveness was somewhat chilling. Best of the new
season. (A+)
Nate "Bender" Birch: This was a fairly decent episode, even if "Willy
Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" was a pretty odd movie to parody.
The first act wasn't too great, with a pretty unbelievable plot and
only so-so jokes. The second act was by far the best, and had some
pretty good lines. Unfortunately in the end it broke down into
another dumb generic action/chase scene. The animation was good, but
Futurama's certainly seen better. Not bad but certainly not a
classic. (B)
Phish Eggs: Great episode with good story and most importantly it was
funny. But some of the jokes were kind of dumb. (A-)
Doug Jacobson: Great episode, I was laughing throughout most of it.
The parody of Willy Wonka was great. The songs were hysterical. The
running joke of how discussing the Umpalumpa things was hysterical.
As was finding out they were basicly slaves (the book gives the back
story about the Umpalumpas so you find out why they work at the
factory) The X-ray flashlight was hysterical ("Ok, Everyone get on
goggles" then puts on radiation suit) and the characterization was
well done. So this is easily an: (A)
Scott Mase: Fry and The Slurm Factory was the best episode of Futurama
yet! It had me laughing throughout the whole thing. I loved the
Willy Wonka parody, and the Grumpa-Lunkas. A very clever episode by
Matt Groening, with the crew finding the secret ingredient of Slurm.
The best parts were when Farnsworth told the Oompa-Loompa people he
hates them, and when the worm split in half after Leela chopped it.
Overall, I think this episode deserves an: (A)
Will O'Hargan: Great episode, a few high points, but the chase scene
reminded me of a typical "Simpsons" episode. The ending was ok, but
where was all the Slurm coming from? (WHo cares it's a party!) (B)
Eric Sansoni: As much as the previous episode focuses on earthly
satire, this one emphasizes sci-fi comic book adventure. The
entertaining story progresses as slick as can be, but in the end
almost takes itself too seriously to rise above cliche. Although not
as excessively as in his "Garbage" ep, Lewis Morton expects too much
comedic mileage from a drawn-out gross-out gag. The queen slug's
argument was actually pretty good, making her a less effective
villainess than Mom. A number of smoothly integrated cultural
references do serve to lighten things up. They are a joy to spot,
but Fry's airheadedness, Bender's greed, and all of the usual cast's
personalities prove to be the most reliable source of laughs. (B+)
Yours Truly: I was disappointed. I thought the episode would be more
adventurous and focus more on the gadgetry and surroundings in the
Slurm Factory, and instead I saw dozens of jokes about Fry being
moronic. A lot of it was stylistic but the characters and a lot of
the situations were unspectacular and a little boring. (C)
Average Grade: [29/8=3.625] (B+)
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= Final Thoughts / Comments =
>> Sequential Title Sequence Tidings
Don Del Grande: The cartoon in the opening is the Simpsons short
"Making Faces" -- more accurately, the last scene, right after Mom
(she wasn't named Marge back then) tells the kids "I told you your
faces would freeze that way, and now they have"; the kids are looking
in the mirror, screaming "Aaaahh! We're doomed!"
>> A long time ago, in a fanbase far, far away ...
According to the alien language in the Slurm TV commercial, one of the
species ineligible for the Slurm contest is "the evusive Yak-Face."
Some avid fans explain how this was a reference to Star Wars:
Tim Harrod: "Yak Face" is the one action figure never sold in America,
only on overseas markets, and stateside collectors pay through the
nose for 'em.
Eric Sansoni: Funny indeed. To give more detail, Yak Face was the
final 3 3/4" Star Wars action figure released in the original Kenner
toy series, which ran from 1978 to 1985. The character was one of
several obscure background aliens from Return of the Jedi, seen only
in a few frames of the movie, that was nevertheless honored with an
action figure. Two years after the final episode in the trilogy hit
the big screen, the toy line was discontinued due to lagging sales,
as more heavily promoted toys like G.I.Joe and Transformers took its
place on store shelves. The final new figure, Yak Face, was the only
one who never made it into case assortments for U.S. distribution.
Now Yak Face sells for $150 loose, in mint condition, and upwards of
$500 still sealed in his original multi-language package. The price
for one in the much rarer U.S.-language package is hundreds more.
Fans on a budget may be glad to know that a similarly sized, but
newly sculpted action figure of the character was produced in 1997 as
part of the second Star Wars action figure line, and can be commonly
purchased for about $5.00.
>> One robot, indivisible, with contempt and resentment for all
Benjamin Robinson: Bender's CPU is apparently a 6502, a processor dear
to the hearts of early (as in late 70s) microcomputer enthusiasts.
The 6502's most famous home was in the Apple II and most of its
variants, like the IIe, II+, and IIc [*]. It also found its way into
the Atari 8-bit line -- 400, 800, 1200XL, and some others that I
forget. Meanwhile, Atari's arch-rival Commodore used the similar
6510 chip in the C64.
To give you an idea of how far processor technology has come: In the
Apple II, the 6502 ran at 1 (yes, 1) MHz. It also did not have a
divide instruction, so if programmers wanted to find out how many of
x went into y they had to write their own division routine.
[*] - Pedantic mode: Actually the IIc used the 65C02, the low-power,
low-heat version.
Bruce Gomes: The 6502 chip was made by MOS Technology, used in the
Apple-1, Apple II, Apple II+ and the Coomodore PET series, to name a
few of the popular systems.
Curtiss Howard: For those who don't know, the M6502 is the processor
used in the original Nintendo.
Zach Keene: And the Apple II computer line, and a few of the Atari
8-bit computers.
>> It's a Bunch'a-Munch'a-Crunch'a Humans!
Daniel Tropea: The line about Soylent Cola was cute but seemed a bit
too cheap of a gag. No real thought went into it.
J.D. Baldwin: I'd agree, if it hadn't been for the follow-up: "It
varies from person to person." That was a clever little twist on
what was, after all, an obvious joke. I think the whole thing would
have been better if they'd just stopped at saying, "There's already a
soda like that." Add an awkward pause, and it's genuinely
funny/disturbing. Add the soylent line and it's just another pop
culture reference. I enjoy pop culture references as much as
anyone, but they're not exactly in short supply on Fox Sunday nights.
>> If only he had used a modern language like Neptunian or HTML
Doug Jacobson: Usually when Jewish teenagers go to Israel one of the
things they buy are shirts written in Hebrew (because it looks cool).
A large percentage of them seem to get the Coca-Cola shirt which is
has the familiar logo in Hebrew, Zoidberg was getting one that said
(appropriately) "Slurm," which is funny since he has a very slight
touch of a Yiddish accent.
Benjamin Robinson: I wonder how many people saw Dr. Zoidberg's shirt
and said, "Oh boy! A new alien language for us to decipher!" [A few
did -- and you know who you are. <g> -ed]
>> Got Poop?
Haynes Lee tells us that milk comes from a cow's udder and honey comes
from a honeycomb.
Alan Hamilton: Right on the first, but wrong on the second. How does
it get from the flowers to the honeycomb? The bee swallows it, and
regurgitates it into a cell in the comb (along with some yummy
enzymes from its stomach). So the queen was still wrong -- it's bee
barf, not bee poop.
Brian Corvello: Apparently, she didn't know that cows are now extinct,
according to Amy. (Of course, they may only be extinct on Earth, and
alive on other planets.)
>> Image is nothing. Chemical dependancy is everything.
Haynes Lee provides two 'Cokelore' Alerts:
Slurm is the universe's most addictive soft drink.
T. Coca-Cola used to contain cocaine.
T. ... but people today get addicted the the caffeine. See
<http://snopes.simplenet.com/cokelore/cocaine.htm>
Slurm contaminated by Leela will be marketed as New Slurm as a
greater plan to market the original product.
F. The New Coke fiasco was actually a clever marketing ploy. See
<http://snopes.simplenet.com/cokelore/newcoke.htm>
Brian Corvello: The Queen's plan to turn Leela into a Slurm Queen who
makes "sour" Slurm, which they will sell as "New Slurm," and replace
months later with "Slurm Classic" is a direct parody of the "New
Coke" mess in the eighties. (I'm guessing that the Slurm Queen
studied Earth history.)
>> it's time to leave partying to the 120-year-olds
Andreas "Phreke" Harrison: Anyone notice when Slurms McKenzie said that
the Babes had been partying with him for 40 years? Poit! Just shows
how well people age in the future, I suppose. Makes you wonder how
old Leela, Amy, Hermes and the rest actually are. Also, one of the
Babes was voiced by Pamela Anderson (the blond, I assume).
>> Last, and probably least ...
Derek Robb, commenting on Fry's sterilization via the F-Ray beam, says
"I don't think it's actually going to affect any of his long-term
plans ... "
Daniel Tropea: When the tour guide stated that they were pretty much
slaves I thought of the first movie and got the feeling that the
Oompa Loompa's really were slaves and that Wonka was exploiting them.
At least I am not the only person to think that.
Terry Spafford: I know it hadn't been intended, but as a rather
interesting coincidence, SPACE up here in Canada was showing Soylent
Green at 8PM last night ... Which is, of course, when
Simpsons/Futurama/X-Files is on (Eastern time).
Haynes Lee: Slurm Queen looks like a termite queen.
Don Del Grande: Why didn't they cut Slurms McKenzie in two? Then they
would have one to save them _and_ one to help them party afterwards.
Brian Corvello: By dragging the trough full of "condensed" Slurm
towards Leela -- in order to save her without leaving the highly
addictive stuff -- Fry actually, for once, did something smart!
========================================================================
= Fun Stuff =
>> Alien Language sightings
Slurm ad disclaimer: " THE FOLLOWING SPECIES ARE
INELIGIBLE: SPACE WASPS,
SPACE BEAVERS, ANY OTHER ANIMAL
WITH THE WORD "SPACE" IN FRONT
OF IT, SPACE CHICKENS, AND THE
ELUSIVE YAK-FACE. "
Dr. Zoidberg's eye chart: " N O
SQ UI
N TIN G
F O U R
E Y E S "
>> References to Previous Episodes
- [1ACV01] Suicide Booth seen
- [1ACV02] Inside Dr. Zoidberg's office seen
- [1ACV02] Bender tries to cheat a machine using his arm
- [1ACV02] The crew uses the couch in the PE ship
- [1ACV03] "Robo Fresh" seen
- [1ACV03] "Bachelor Chow" seen
- [1ACV03] Amy slips and falls on her back
- [1ACV06] Fry ends Act One by falling unconscious
- [1ACV07] F-Ray cf., Z-Ray
- [1ACV12] "Tanning Butter" seen
>> Fan-made Alternate Titles for this Episode
"Can Doo"
"Close Encounters of the Thirsty Kind"
"Slurm, Baby Slurm" {hl}
"Slurm's Greatest Secrets Revealed: Part I"
"Slurm Is It" {es}
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= Voice Credits =
>> Starring
Billy West ....................... Fry, Farnsworth, Zoidberg, Glermo,
Grunka-Lunka 1
Katey Sagal ................................................... Leela
John DiMaggio .................................. Bender, Hermaphrobot
>> Special Appearances
Pamela Anderson ............................................... Dixie
>> Guest Starring
Tress MacNeille .................. Monique, Braided Babe, Slurm Queen
David Herman ........................................ Slurms McKenzie
Maurice LaMarche .......................... Calculon, Grunka-Lunka 2,
Commissioner
Phil LaMarr ....................................... Hermes, Announcer
Lauren Tom ...................................................... Amy
========================================================================
= Contributers =
{av} Austin Vaughan {jb} Jason Barrera
{da} David Antonoff {jk} Joe Klemm
{ddg} Don Del Grande {mp} Mark Poyser
{dj3} Doug Jacobson {rb} Rich Bunnell
{dt} Daniel Tropea {sh3} Scott Hiland
{es} Eric Sansoni {sof} Sean O'Flaherty
{gh} Gerard Hayes {th2} Tim Harrod
{hl} Haynes Lee {woh} Will O'Hargan
========================================================================
Honey comes from a bee's behind, lawyers = First uploaded: 12-Dec-1999
come from a bull's behind and this capsule = Revision B : 13-Mar-2000
comes from Jordan Eisenberg's behind. = E-mail me: <jedraw@aol.com>
