The Series Has Landed
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| Futurama episode | |
| "The Series Has Landed" | |
 Fry, Leela and Bender stuck on the moon. |
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|---|---|
| Episode no. | 2 |
| Prod. code | 1ACV02 |
| Airdate | April 4, 1999 |
| Writer(s) | Ken Keeler |
| Director | Peter Avanzino |
| Opening subtitle | In Hypno-Vision |
| Opening cartoon | Porky Pig in Baby Bottleneck |
| Season 1 March 1999 – June 1999 |
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| List of all Futurama episodes... | |
"The Series Has Landed", alternatively titled Episode Two: The Series Has Landed, is the second episode of the first season of Futurama. It originally aired in North America on April 4, 1999. The episode was written by Ken Keeler and directed by Peter Avanzino.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Settling into their new jobs, Fry, Leela, and Bender are introduced to the other Planet Express employees: company physician Doctor John A. Zoidberg, intern Amy Wong, and bureaucrat Hermes Conrad. It becomes apparent that the ship needs a captain and Leela is chosen.
On their first mission, a simple delivery to the Moon, Fry undergoes severe culture shock. Rather than being a daring voyage of exploration, lunar travel has become a day trip to an amusement park called 'Luna Park'. The actual documentation of the historical events of Project Apollo are somehow lost by the 31st century, and instead they are replaced by ridiculous "fungineering" musicals about "whalers on the moon" and "goofy gophers". This upsets Fry, who wants to see the "real" moon. Leela, however, does not share his feelings, saying the real moon is boring.
Attempting to see the real Moon, Fry hijacks a car from the lunar rover ride, despite Leela's orders not to, and takes it offroad. They accidentally fall into a crater, forcing Leela to use up almost all of their oxygen to save themselves. Meanwhile, Amy loses the keys to the ship, and has to recover them from a video arcade claw game. Bender attempts to help her, but he is caught reaching through the prize slot with his extendable arm and thrown out of the park, leaving him stranded on the Moon's surface.
Running dangerously low on oxygen, Fry and Leela take refuge on a hydroponic farm. After Bender arrives and seduces the farmer's robot daughters, the three end up on the run, trying to out-distance both the farmer's shotgun, and the lunar terminator. All the while, Leela berates Fry for refusing to accept that the moon, other than the amusement park, is nothing but a wasteland. As night begins to fall on the Moon, Fry and Leela manage to find the Apollo 11 lander, which was lost for centuries. Fry is utterly fascinated by the find, but Leela, finally fed up, ultimately crushes his spirit in order to shut him up and convince him to take shelter in the lander.
Fry apologizes to Leela for hijacking the car from the ride; he explains he did this because he had a childhood dream of being an astronaut, as in his time the moon was always visible from Earth but could never be reached by anyone but astronauts, which Fry considered to be a romantic symbol of an unattainable goal. After hearing this almost poetic speech, Leela finally begins to sympathize with why he always wanted to see it. They then view a stunning Earthrise together, which causes Leela to understand at last that the beauty of the moon ran deeper than she thought. In the end, Amy manages to rescue all three with her newly-developed crane operation skills.
[edit] Continuity
After Bender's magnet malfunction, it is revealed that he has a secret desire to become a professional folk singer. This later happens in the episode "Bendin' in the Wind", where he gets to sing with Beck, and Bender's magnet malfunctions are seen throughout the series. The giant beetles that Fry and Leela are milking on the Moon are buggalo, which appear later in "Where the Buggalo Roam".
Amy's angry Cantonese said when she is unable to win the crane game and get the key out is repeated in "Amazon Women in the Mood".
[edit] Broadcast and reception
Ken Keeler was nominated for an Annie Award for "Outstanding Individual Achievement for Writing in an Animated Television Production" in 1999 for this episode.[1] For its original run, the episode had Nielsen ratings of 8.1/14 in homes and 6.8/19 in adults aged 18-49. While this was a decrease from the pilot episode it did still build 5% from its lead in, The Simpsons. This was the second episode to air following The Simpsons and the final scheduled to air on Sunday evenings before the show moved to the Tuesday night lineup, where it was expected to suffer in the ratings.[2] In 2006 IGN.com ranked the episode as number 19 in their list of the top 25 episodes of Futurama due to its humor and the effective way in which it portrayed Fry's discovery of the changes in the future.[3]
[edit] Characters
Characters who make their first appearances in this episode are:
- Hermes Conrad
- Dr. Zoidberg
- Amy Wong
- Sal
- Horrible Gelatinous Blob
- Lulu Bell 7
- Daisy Mae 128K
- The Crushinator
[edit] Future products
Future products which appear in this episode are:
- Admiral Crunch
- Archduke Chocula
- Orlon Candy
[edit] References
- ^ 27th Annual Annie Award Nominees and Winners. International Animated Film Society (1999). Retrieved on 2007-06-28.
- ^ Tom Bierbaum (1999-04-06). 'Futurama' cools, but still holds on to auds. Retrieved on 2006-06-29.
- ^ "Top 25 Futurama Episodes". Retrieved on 2006-06-27.
[edit] External links
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