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============= THE FUTURAMA CHRONICLES ==== EPISODE CAPSULE =============
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Official Title: A Fishful of Dollars
Episode Number: 1ACV06 (#6)
First Airdate : Tuesday, April 27th, 1999 (8:30 PM)
Written by : Patric M. Verrone
Directed by : Ron Hughart & Gregg Vanzo
========================================================================
= Additional tidbits =
Opening theme promotion : LOADING....
Opening theme cartoon : 1932's "Betty Boop's Crazy Inventions"
{rw}
Subsequent Fox Airdates : 24-Oct-99
28-Apr-99 Nielsen ranking: 2nd in its timeslot (7.6 million) {dga}
MPAA rating : TV-PG-L
Length minus commercials : [21:16]
========================================================================
= Foxworld Synopsis =
Fry discovers he's a billionaire because his savings have been
accruing interest for 1,000 years. Caught up in the excitement of
his riches, he squanders his fortune to buy an unopened can of
anchovies -- extinct since the year 2200. What he doesn't realize
is
that Mom, the head of a mega-conglomorate, will do anything -- even
use Pamela Anderson's head-in-a-jar -- to get her hands on those
anchovies.
========================================================================
= Minutiae =
- It's a full moon when Fry has trouble sleeping.
- Unlike Bender, the robots in the apartment next door actually use the
"closet space" given to them by Robot Arms. Don't they feel
silly
playing cards in the closet? :-)
- Lightspeeds come in a 3-pack. {jb}
- Leela wipes the egg-yolk off her face, but she misses a spot on her
left cheek.
- Dr. Zoidberg has the only swivel chair. {jb}
- You can see Madison Cube Garden in the establishing shot after the
crew runs out to buy brand-name merchandise at low, low prices.
- Even though Dr. Zoidberg and Professor Farnsworth dash out with the
rest of the crew to buy "brand-name merchandise at low, low prices,"
they're in the group once they arrive.
- After Bender sprays oil on the intrusive Calvin Clone woman, guess
who rides on the escalator behind them ... the teacher from Fry's
dream! I guess Fry has ESP or something.
- Various robot pieces such as arms, feet, eyes, etc. are all in their
respective bins in Robot Accessories.
- The survaillence cameras look like little vacuum cleaners. {jb}
- One of the security robots passes Amy and Leela as it trails a
shoplifting Bender. {jk}
- Did you notice the 'subliminal' "mmm, tasty" in the Mom's
Old-
Fasioned Robot Oil commercial, as well as a split-second flicker?
{jb} [That 'subliminal' message is actually just Bender speaking in
the background.]
- The screens displaying Mom's commercial aren't exactly in synch. In
the screen all the way to the left, you can see a little more of
Walt's arm (in the photo behind Mom) than in the center screen.
- Among the things Bender shoplifts are a yo-yo and a lonely shoe.
- You can actually see the security camera behind Fry as he enters his
PIN number.
- Fry's congratulatory banner is decorated with $ dollar signs.
- When Leela and Fry shoot down those historic paintings, Fry's shot
is
the one that actually destroys the Mona Lisa, while Leela's veers off
in the wrong direction.
- Fry must've gotten those goggles Leela wore custom-made, unless one-
eyed aliens are common enough on Earth to warrant the goggle company
to make a single-eyed version. {jb}
- In Fry's twentieth-century-recreated apartment, hanging on his wall,
was that one of those Peter Nagel drawings from the Eighties? {mm}
- Fry has a lava lamp. {jb}
- Fry put Ted Danson's skeleton next to the radiator. {jb}
- Rap music is considered classical music. {hl}
- The 30th/31st century still has third-world kids. {jb}
- After so much progress, it seems security cameras still put out
black-and-white pictures. (Mom did call it "old-fashioned.")
- Fry didn't have enough sense to lock his door. {jb}
- There's a little yellow voodoo doll on Fry's mantlepiece with a
pincushion next to it. {jb}
- Fry has been watching static. {jb}
- Did anybody notice that when Mom's guys knocked Fry unconscious to
get his PIN number that they could have just stolen the sardines
right off of his table? {jh2} [This isn't a goof, because they'd
obviously overestimated Fry's intelligence and didn't bother
searching his apartment.]
- Apparently, the future offers tranquilizers in pill-form, and the
pills can somehow take effect immediately.
- The Panucci's Pizza set has no ceiling. {jb}
- Walt (as Mr. Panucci) tells Fry to work the "currency register."
- The only 3 items on the [Panucci's Pizza menu] are Cheese Pizza,
Large Soda and Anchovies. {jb}
- Did you see the poster on the wall behind Mom's oldest son when he
was pretending to be Fry's boss? It was a poster of Nixon. {aa}
- Pamela Anderson still has a nice pair (eyes, of course). {hl}
- I still like the line, "What century is this?", (when he
should be
able to easily tell by visual clues as to the century). {zz}
- Farnsworth is drinking strawberry milk. {jb}
- Mom takes her checkbook out from inside her "fatsuit" cleavage.
(Hey, those could act as two huge secret pockets!)
- Mom's checkbook has a fancy "M" on the cover.
- She's apparently right-handed.
========================================================================
= Parallels to Science Fiction =
~ "Red Dwarf" (TV show)
- Red Dwarf had a similar joke where Lister left some change in a
bank account and after 3 million years, he owns all the money in
the world except for the electric company. He left a light on
before leaving Earth. {lf}
+ "Star Wars" (movie)
- Mom's sons are dressed like the Imperial Officers. {jb}
========================================================================
= Other References =
+ "A Fistful of Dollars" (movie)
- The name of this episode, "A Fishful of Dollars," parodies
an old
(1964) Italian motion picture by the name of "A Fistful of
Dollars." It was a western, and was about a mysterious gunslinger
that comes to a desolate town and becomes involved with two warring
clans. It starred Clint Eastwood. {mr}
+ "Baby Got Back" (1992 Sir Mix-A-Lot song)
- According to Leela, the 31st century's definition of "classical"
music is apparently this genre of early-1990's (c)rap. ... as
opposed to the early-1980's, late-1980's and late-1990's variety
of
(c)rap. [See "Final Thoughts/Comments" for the full lyrics.]
+ Charles Atlas
- What Fry looked like in mirror. {hl}
~ "Cheers" (TV show)
- Sitcom with Ted Danson.
+ "Baywatch" (TV show)
- Fry may remember Pamela Anderson's head from such oscar-winning
pictures as "Baywatch: The Movie."
+ "Calvin Klein" (cologne)
- Calvin Klone. {jk}
~ "Doom" (video game)
- In Robot Accessories, the robot torsos that hang on the wall look
like the armor power-ups used in this game.
~ "Hogan's Heroes" (TV show)
- Bender does a great impression of Colonel Klink. {jb}
~ "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" (TV show)
- The scene with them blowing up the Mona Lisa reminded me of the
LNWCO with Hunter S. Thompson. [...] Hunter S. Thompson and Conan
sat around blowing stuff up with high powered weapons while a guy
brought them drinks from the outdoor wet bar. {mo}
+ "Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots" (game)
- The antique robot toy. {jk}
+ "Saatchi & Saatchi" (ad agency)
- "Staadgi & Staadgi" strikes me as a reference to the
power ad
agency of about 5-10 years ago (they've had some upheavals since),
Saatchi & Saatchi. (I worked one summer as a Creative Intern
for a
subdivision of S&S in the Chrysler Building in NYC.) I can't
imagine what the connection to "Futurama" could be. The
only thing
relevant I can think of is that one of the Saatchi brothers is
known for his art collection (hence the cartoon's auction house
name). {mc}
+ "Sanford and Son" (TV show)
- What Fry was watching. {hl}
+ "The Three Stooges" (TV show)
- Larry, Walt and Igner are the clones of Larry, Moe and Curly. {jb}
========================================================================
= Freeze Frame Fanaticism =
>> Ancient Egyptian Algebra {jb}
(eye)
----- = (squiggle)(man)+(delta)
2
h4<=a^2+(squiggly lines, water?)
(scales?)+(can opener?) . (eye)
----------------------- . . -----
34r^2 (sideways omega?)
>> Various stores / buildings
- Alien
Overlord
& Taylor
- NNYPD ASK ABOUT OUR
GENEROUS
BRUTALITY
SETTLEMENTS
- BAB | BIG APPLE
| BANK
- LE
SPA
- ORIGINAL
COSMIC RAY'S
PIZZA
- HISTORIC
20th-CENTURY
APTS.
[WITH ORIGINAL ASBESTOS]
- STAADGI & STAADGI
AUCTIONEERS
- MOM'S
friendly robot
company
>> Other signs
- COSMETICS
- LIGHTSPEED
BRIEFS
as seen
in your dreams
- OBJECTS IN MIRROR
ARE LESS ATTRACTIVE
THAN THEY APPEAR.
- ROBOT
ACCESSORIES
- NOW OFFERING
BANK-BY-BRAIN
- CONGRATULATIONS, FRY
- MENU
Cheese pizza
Large soda
Anchovies
- ROBO-REPO
>> Robot Accessories {jb}
Eyes
Arms
Feet
Robot oil
Torsos
>> Robot Oil can
MOM'S
OLD-FASHIONED
ROBOT
OIL
>> Mom's logo
MOM'S
OLD-FASHIONED
[oil ROBOT OIL
can] Made with
10% more love
than the next
leading brand
>> Stuff that falls out of Bender's sweater {jb}
Toothpaste
Robot oil
A yo-yo (?)
Pink boxes(turn to brown between shots)
A wallet
A red baseball cap
Liquor bottles
A shoe
>> PIN machine prompts; Fry's ATM card #
- SLIDE CARD
ENTER PIN
- 5431000892
>> Anchovy tin
[man] ANGRY
NORWEGIAN
ANCHOVIES
>> January 2000 calendar
JANUARY
2000
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30 31
>> Poster in the phony Panucci's Pizza set
- NIXON'S THE ONE
========================================================================
= Goofs =
- In Fry's dream, his classmates keep switching seats. Fry himself
moves from a middle seat to the aisle seat, and a girl who was
sitting behind him moves into his old seat.
- The Ancient Egyptian Algebra formulas change between shots. {jb}
- Fry's pillow looks like it's half-floating in midair, propped up
against nothing.
- The egg on Leela's cheek disappears after the camera cuts back from
Fry. {jb}
- The table in the PE lounge keeps changing its length. First, it's
a
small square, almost like a card table. Then, it's shaped like a
big, dining room table.
- Why didn't Bender just store the Robot Oil inside his chest cavity?
- Bender only puts four Robot Oil cans into his sweater, but there are
six bulges when he walks away. The sweater was clearly empty when
he
started.
- Fry says he's poor, yet he has three major credit cards in his wallet
that he at least thinks he can use.
- A small pink box falls out of Bender's sweater, but when the 'camera'
cuts to a closeup of Bender and then cuts back out, the box is brown.
{jb}
- In the beginning, the main room in Fry's and Bender's apartment
contains little more than a bed and a night stand. Later on, it's
fully furnished.
- If New New York is vaulted over the ruins of 20th century New York
(per the pilot), then how come that old apartment building that Fry
lived in while rich is up on the modern street level? {ac}
- In 1ACV04, Leela used a 20th-century style reciever when calling
Zapp. Is Amy so out of touch with the antiquated workings of the
ship that she didn't know what that thing was, either? {jb}
- Your standard VHS tape will start to deteriorate in quality after a
short period of time. If left unwatched for an entire millenium, I
doubt you'd be able to decipher _anything_, and that includes the
audio.
- Fry doesn't actually kiss his can of anchovies, his lips just sort
of
hang in the air and never touch the can when he's going "mwuh."
{jb}
- All Fry said about Panucci's Pizza was "back where I used to work."
How'd Mom and her sons figure out the rest of the story?
- There already is a "Baywatch" movie. However, it is only
a direct-
to-video release. {jk}
- The Robo-Repo truck disappears.
- The carton of milk next to Farnsworth changes from gray to pink.
{jb}
- The opened tin of anchovies next to the pizza rotates 180 degrees.
- Bender spits out the anchovy pizza even though according to MG he
doesn't have any taste buds. {jb} [Maybe it's the natural robot oil
in the anchovies that makes him dislike eating it.]
========================================================================
= Extended Goofs / Technical Nitpicks =
>> So much for my Get-Rich-Quick idea!
Probably the most obvious plot hole the show has given us yet; there are
just so many things wrong with Fry disappearing for a millenium,
returning to an active bank account, and becoming rich off the
compound interest. Why wasn't Fry declared dead after 7 years, and
all his bank account closed? Why hasn't inflation decreased the
value of the dollar at all over 1,000 years? Why was the bank's
interest rate _larger_ than whatever inflation was present? Why
wasn't the bank destroyed in either of the two alien attacks? Why
didn't the measley 93 cent account shrivel up and die from mere bank
fees regardless of the decidedly high compound interest? Why did Fry
bother to have a bank account when the only savings he had was 93
cents? Why did a high-profile bank like BAB even let him open an
account with so little money?
John Wasser: The quoted average interest rate for tonights episode was
2.25% compounded by 1000 years makes for interest of
460,592,306,400%. A principle of $0.93 would have a future value of:
$4,283,508,450.00 (roughly $4.3B).
At 2.25% he would make about $96M/year in interest.
Steve Brinich: The pair of fancy briefs (I forget the brand name, but
then I never did remember dreams very often) was $30, and bailing out
Bender was $80, so the value of a dollar is at least within an order
of magnitude of its real-world value.
Benjamin Robinson: I think they revalued the money so that, say,
$100,000 Year1999 dollars equals $1 Year3000 dollar. Germany did
something similar in switching from the Mark to the ReichMark.
Louis Silverman: The alien attacks probably shot the economy down so it
is just returning to its original value. (Kinda like how it took
about 1100 years to return to a money-driven society after the Roman
Empire.)
See "Final Thoughts/Comments" for a funny joke about all of
this.
========================================================================
= Reviews =
Dale G. Abersold: Assuming that "Futurama" will be a big hit
and last
for several seasons (and it's sure looking like the show will be
around for awhile), "A Fishful of Dollars" may become one
of the all-
time most beloved episodes for one simple reason: Mom. Yes, "The
Simpsons" has its evil characters in Sideshow Bob and Mr. Burns,
but
for sheer maliciousness and hatefulness, they can't hold a candle to
the evil that is Mom. With a grotesque character design and an evil
voice courtesy of Tress MacNeille, Mom is a terrific villain. Here's
hoping we see more of her.
"Fishful" was very funny, but, happily, that's become par
for the
course. It was the introduction of this new villain that made this
episode a standout in an already excellent first season. "Futurama"
is exceeding my high expectations for the show. (A-)
Joe Klemm: Today's episode is the obvious man-gets-rich-dumps-friends-
loses-money-apologizes-to-friends episode, which turned out to be
dull for the Futurama version. However, there were a few clever
moments, like Fry's second dream, and the doctor wanting more
anchovies, but it was nothing more than a weak episode of the show.
(C-)
Haynes Lee: Another major character introduced but the ending was a bit
abrupt. (B)
Yours Truly: One of this season's better episodes. As usual, the plot
somehow brushes itself against a multitude of different though-
provoking concepts without actually going out of its own way. Mom
was good, and it was funny, but in the end it's not the most original
story they've ever come up with. (A)
Average Grade: [19/4=4.75] (B)
========================================================================
= Final Thoughts / Comments =
>> Urban Legend Alert
Haynes Lee: Subliminal messages in advertising are ineffective, but
outlawed anyway.
Based on a bogus advertising survey based on ads flashed momentarily
on movie screen. <http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_187.html>
>> Style and comfort for the impulse-buying crotch
Rick Carlson: Anyone care to wager how long we'll have to wait before
"Merchandising" produces LightSpeed briefs for Futurama fans?
Mom's
Old-Fashioned Robot Oil may not have an immediate market, but the
briefs would be popular, as well as spin-offs, such as kids pajamas,
etc.
>> If there's a bad banking joke, I haven't heard it!
Amanda Cohen relates the plot to an old joke:
A guy has himself put in suspended animation so he can see what the
future is like. Five hundred years later, he wakes up and
immediate
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