Anthology Of Interest 2

Production Code: 3ACV18
Original Airdate : Sunday January 6, 2002
Written by : "I, Meatbag" by Lewis Morton, "Raiders of the Lost Arcade" by David X. Cohen, "Wizzen" by Jason Gorbett & Scott Kirby

Note:  This capsule is still a work in progress.  Send additional comments or missing information to tomg at io dot com or post to alt.tv.futurama for possible inclusion in the next revision. Thanks for helping out!

Synposis

Three stories unfold when Professor Farnsworth fine-tunes his "What If" machine. Bender discovers that if he were human, it would only take him a week to over-indulge and kill himself. Fry learns that his video game skills wouldn't be good enough to protect earth from Space Invaders if life were more like a video game. Leela wonders what would happen if she found her true home... but gets knocked out before she can see what the machine answers and dreams that her space ship crash lands on Planet Oz and crushes an evil witch with ruby red boots.

Title sequence

Opening theme promotion :
Hey TiVo, Suggest This!

Opening theme cartoon :
 unknown

Did You Notice?

... The professor fine tunes his "What If?" machine with a hammer?

... The sign at Dinkin Donuts went from "Closed" to "Open" when human Bender entered, then back to "Closed" when he left?

... The glassware used for drinks at each table in the Academy of Science were beakers and Erlenmeyer & Florence flasks?

... The professor was able to determine the time of human Bender's death by taking only his pulse?

... As Donkey Kong jumps across the roof of the UN building, the floors underneath drop at an angle to form slopes just like the beginning of the first level of Donkey Kong?

... The "wakka wakka wakka" sounds the characters made when moving about are the same as those made by a moving, eating Pac-Man?

... Three new ways to start the "What If?" machine: (1) Pulling a string like a speaking doll (2) Lighting  incense and paying homage( 3) Pulling a large lever like a poker machine.

... The Centipede game screens in the war room background? Each screen was from a different zoom level view of the same game.

... Zoidberg vomits a pixelated pretzel, key, and cherry after leaving the escape tunnel.

... The ship Fry was piloting was able to fire multiple shots at the Space Invaders. (see comment)

 ... The space invaders video game characters that descended from the ship were Donkey Kong, Brain Wave from Robotron: 2084, Berserk robot, Burger Time egg, and Q-bert.

 ... Scruffy the Janitor was the Man-Witch of the West?

...The creatures who "resembled, but are legally distinct from the Lollipop Guild" consisted of Tiny Timbot, a Grunka Lunka, Dwight (Hermes' son), Cubert, the Neptunian couple from "A Tale of Two Santas",  and a baby slug from Wormulon.

... Scarecrow Fry never complained that he wanted a brain, but everyone suggested that the Professor could give him one?

... Scarecrow Fry gently patted out the fire on his arm caused by Tin Man Bender's whiskey induced burp, instead of freaking out like the scarecrow did in the "real" Wizard of Oz?

References (movies, books, etc.)

+ I, Robot by Issac Asimov
First story title

+ T.G.I. Friday's
D.U.I. Friday's

+ Former Mayor of New York City David Dinkins
Dinkin Donuts
+ Raiders of the Lost Ark
Second story title

+ Asteroids Deluxe
Blue Vector Planet Express spaceship

+ Battlezone
Green Vector Tank

+ Atari
Military headquarters

+ Colin Powell, Pac-Man
Colin Pac-Man, escape tunnels

+ Super Mario Bros.
Exit pipe from Pac-Man escape tunnels

+ Space Invaders
Space Fight between Fry and Nintendians

+ Q-bert, Donkey Kong, Burger Time, Berserk, Robotron
Nintendians include characters from these games

+ Zero Wing
"All your bases are belong to us" (see comments)

+ The Wizard of Oz
Third story plot

Coloration of Oz world. (see comments)

+ NBC
Peacock in Oz world

+ Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
One of the Munchkins is an Oompa Loompa (or Grunka Lunka, as they are called in Futurama)

+ Christine by Stephen King
The book Fry reads from to try to scare a crow

Freeze Frame Fun

>> Buildings/Signs

O'ZORGNAX'S PUB
Well Drinks $5
Sewer Drinks $2

MILATARI HQ

Door signs inside MILATARI HQ:
MISSILE COMMAND
SECRETARY OF DEFENDER
MOON PATROL

Logo on ProfessorLand Fun Bucks:
"In Fun We Trust"

FAL1 (Futurama Alien Language #1) references:
1) TALE OF INTEREST (really nice graphics of the letters in this one, too)
2) in the upper right hand corner of the Professorland Fun Bucks: TOXIC INK

Animation, continuity, and other goofs

OK, here's something about [3ACV18] that's really silly, but it has bugged me: Human Bender says "butt" instead of "ass." Why? Note that "ass" is his favorite word, followed by "daffodil," "metal," "shiny," etc. He couldn't really make his customary use of "shiny" and "metal," but what stopped him from saying "ass?"  {Jym Dyer}

It wasn't an ass-less episode though. We got some A-S-S from Fry when he got the high score. {Luther Miller}

Previous Episode References

The toaster's third appearance as a character:
[2ACV14] Mother's Day: "The toaster's not working right either"
[2ACV08]  Raging Bender: "I've taught the toaster to feel love"

Other Comments

TiVo is one of many TV set digital video recorders available in the market. These devices allow you to record programs on television without the confusion of programming a VCR. Among the features on these devices includes one where the recorder would automatically record your favorite shows as well as those that the device feels you may like.

Zero Wing is a mediocre shooter video game that was released for the Sega Genesis in Japan and Europe, yet never arrived on American shores. However, it was able to receive some popularity in America thanks to one thing: the European version of the game, thanks to poor translation job, has some of the funniest examples of bad translation. Among them is the simple quote "All Your Bases Are Belong To Us," which has quickly become a recurring Internet joke on the Internet and has even inspired a song. See here for more details.

The original version of Space Invaders would only allow the player to have one shot active at a time on screen, so if the player missed his/her target they were forced to wait helplessly until that shot went off of the screen. There was a cheat to allow two shots to be active on one screen. See here.

Another point on the Space Invaders sequence. Shooting through your own defenses so you could shoot back in safety was a strategy generally used by beginners. Better players realized that it only provided limited protection for a very short time and you were trapped in one place while you used it.

When Q-bert steps off the ship, he says one line in his characteristic backwards fashion. Reversed wav & mp3 files were created to unravel Q-bert's line: "Where can a guy get some pants around here?" Fitting indeed, since Q-bert wears no clothes! Sound file can be
found here.

In regards to the nearly eye bleeding color of the Oz world, color film started being used in the 1920s, a limited two-color system with red and blue-green prints. The full three-color system was used starting in 1932. Disney was one of the first to use it, for cartoons including "The Three Little Pigs". Technicolor was much more expensive than B&W (remember, not just the negatives but all the prints sent to each theater had to be in color as well), but it was popular so the studios used it more and more in the late 30s, including in the 1939 "Wizard of Oz". I think the B&W to color transition, plus the garish Oz, was a way of saying, "Hey, everybody! COLOR!" "Oz" was not colorized, and despite jokes about it, the Kansas segments are still in B&W.

Contributors

Capsule authored by Tom Georgoulias, using postings from alt.tv.futurama

Joe Klemm
Tom Georgoulias
Ken Lilly
Jym Dyer
Boldra
Luther Miller
Robert J. Muldoon
Michael Herzog
Alan Hamilton