Episode Capsule: [4ACV02] Leela's Homeworld

Title: Leela's Homeworld
Written by: Kristin Gore (Daughter of Al Gore)
Directed by: Mark Ervin
Opening theme promotion: IT'S LIKE "HEE HAW" WITH LASERS.
Opening theme cartoon: "In a Cartoon Studio" Van Beuren Studio AKA "Making 'Em Move" (1931)

Synopsis

When Leela returns to the orphanarium in which she was raised, she is recognized for her success as a starship captain. Bender and Professor Farnsworth decipher something far more rewarding for Leela, as Fry helps her discover some long-lost secrets about her background, including what happened to her parents.

Voice Credits

Starring

Billy West
Katey Sagal
Jon DiMaggio
Tress MacNeille

Also Starring

Maurice LaMarche
David Herman
Phil LaMarr
Lauren Tom

Did You Notice…

The eagle on Hermes's Federal badge is hold a folder labeled "To Be Filed"? — Joe Klemm
The orphanage offers expresso to the orphans? — Joe Klemm
The pedestrian crossing sign in the sewers had an image of a person with two heads and three legs? — Tom Georgoulias
The leg sewer mutant was wearing a Boston Red Socks baseball hat? — Tom Georgoulias
Fry was lifting his shirt at Space Mardi Gra? — Tom Georgoulias
Leela's father's mouth was rotated 90 degrees so that it opened horizontally instead of vertically? — Tom Georgoulias
Warden Vogel is a bureaucrat grade 135, and have been so for the last 25 years. — Michael Nissen
when gradeschool Leela was shown doing math homework, one of her answers was wrong. — Bart Hibbs
One of the orphans who won an award for 'being seen in the background of news spots' appears in the background of Leela's interview 1 minute later — ElDragon

External References

Free Willy 3 (Movie)

Bender dumping the film's star into the sewers — Joe Klemm Bob's Big Boy (Restaurant)
Big Mutant Boy's — Joe Klemm Starbucks (Restaurant)
The coffee chain has it's own branch in the underground world. — Joe Klemm Skin Deep (Movie)
The glow-in-the-dark noses. (see comments) — Saturn S. Padua Bed Bath & Beyond (retail store)
Bed, Bath & Beneath shop in the mutant city — Michael Nissen The Truman Show (Movie)
When Leela is yelling at her parents — waterproofpoptart

Futurama References

[2ACV01] I Second That Emotion

Leela's parents appear in a mutant crowd but don't make contact. — Marc Wichterich [1ACV08] A Big Piece of Garbage
News paper front page in the "Leela Museum" about the PE crew saving Earth from the garbage ball — Michael Nissen [1ACV13] Fry & the Slurm Factory
Leela dives into a pool of green stuff. — RandomEngy [2ACV05] Why Must I Be A Crustacean in Love?
Bender tells the story about how he became known as Honest Bender — Michael Nissen

Freeze Frame Fun

Cookieville
Minimum Security Orphanarium

Wall of Fame Induction
No Really Loud Snoring

Hall of Fame award plaques:
* Often Seen in the Background of News Spots
* Diligent Flosser
* Has Tasted Every McDonalds Sandwich
* Successfully Switched from Heroin to Methadone

Shop signs in sewers:
* Big & Strange Men's Store
* Bed Bath & Beneath
* Bob's Big Mutant Boy
* Starbucks

billboard in sewers:
Head Reduction Surgery

Alien Language on the note:
Your parents love you very much

Animation, Continuity, and Other Goofs

Hermes' badge say "Federal Bureaucracy", yet in 2ACV11 "How Hermes Requested His Groove Back" he was working for the "Central Bureaucracy". — Michael Nissen
There are no ladders to reach the sewers, unlike in 1ACV01 and 2ACV01 — Archie2K
After Leela's mother puts her bracelet back on when Leela is yelling at her, the bracelete vanishes in the next scene. — Mc Grady
In "Mother's day" Leela's Wrist Thingy abandoned her and there was no bracelet under it. (The other times we have seen Leela without the Wrist Thingy she had opportunity to remove the bracelet as well, so those are not goofs.) — Bart Hibbs
The baby Leela in the basket has a card hanging around her neck saying "Hello! Turunga Leela". Later on when her parents remember leaving her there she doesn't have it anymore. — Marc Wichterich
Wouldn't Hemes have mutated after touching and eating the toxic waste or is it something else in the sewers that causes the mutation? — Joe25

Comments and Other Observations

Kinda obscure, but that glow-in-the-dark nose gag references a really bad 80's Blake Edwards movie called "Skin Deep." It was John Ritter's (Jack from Three's Company) brief shining moment. The movie was totally unremarkable except for a duelling glow-in-the-dark condom scene. I could be wrong, "Skin Deep" probably wasn't the first flick with glow-in-the-dark gags...but I sure do feel unclean for remembering it. — Saturn S. Padua
First, Leela's parents have had no problem getting to the surface repeatedly to help her out. Leela, Bender, Fry and Nibbler all got out somehow in "I Second That Emotion". In the First XMas show, the mutant catches the tossed slipper. In luck of the Fryish, Fry chats with a mutant in the ruins of old New York. And so on. Yet when the mutants decide to release Leela, Fry and Bender, they need to find some way to get to the surface. I think this may be a reference to "Alien From LA". Kathy Ireland goes to an underground civilization to find her father. She was not an "orphan", but she is trying to get to know her father. She turns out not to be an alien, but her voice is so annoying, she may be a mutant. During the dramatic, final escape scene, a scientist reveals his top secret machine designed to reach the surface, a cobbled together balloon. They are likewise told they can never come back tot he underground world. — Larry
The song at the end of the episode was "Baby Love Child" by Pizzicato Five.
The Truman Show is a 1998 Peter Weir film starring Jim Carrey. The film tells the tale of a man (played by Carrey) who has no idea that he's the star of a 24-hour television show and that his whole life (with the exception of him) is completely scripted. However, as some strange events happen (from a "star" falling from the sky to his "dad" (who supposedly died) appearing on a bus), the guy gets closer to realizing his fake life and tries to escape it, despite the matters of show's director (played by Oscar nominee Ed Harris). — Joe Klemm
The thre-armed Supreme Mutant have 2 ears, yet in 2ACV01 "I Second That Emotion" his thrid arm covered his right ear. This could either be a goof, or the result of continued mutation. — Michael Nissen
According to a writer for the show, mutant full names go surname first then real name. Leela's father is named Turanga Morris, and her mother is named Turanga Munda. — Mc Grady

Original capsule author: Tom Georgoulias