FUTURAMA: Rebirth

[Broccoli]

Now that I think about it, Matt's destroyed "Futurama"'s future continuity.

SPOILERS





Think about it: all the characters DIED. What we have are clones with memories peaced together from video tapes from coridoors and the bathroom.

All the intimate moments not caught on tape, are gone. All Fry's passed memories are gone (aside from anything he might have spoken aloud on camera), including Seymour. That brain defect that made him so special and the savior of the universe, likely wasn't replicated a second time.

Exact details of in-jokes of previous mission not on tape, are gone (leading to probably repeating mistakes made before).

All that stuff leading Fry and Leela up to where they are now, is gone.

Not at all.

The only memories that were uploaded were for the robots.

Everyone else just got a new body through the adult stem cells as their heads were intact. The heads and skeletons were put into the pool and they came out with new bodies and everything was just as before.

 

[David cgc]

The only memories that were uploaded were for the robots.

I doubt we've seen the last of them.[/Voyager Coronary]

 

[tharpdevenport]

There was no head for Fry. As I recall, all that was left of Fry -- that the Professor threw into the batch -- was a small piece of scalp with hair.



You're right -- I forgot about the heads being dumped in.

 

[David cgc]

And yet, Fry came out of the stem-cell bath perfectly intact and quickly clothed, with no time for reprogramming or anything else. His brain is obviously located in his Fry-fro.

 

[Broccoli]

There was no head for Fry. As I recall, all that was left of Fry -- that the Professor threw into the batch -- was a small piece of scalp with hair.

Yes, but he came out at the end of the episode with everything intact. Presumably it worked, but took longer because there was only a little bit of him.

Also, there was no memory upload to rea Fry either.

 

[tharpdevenport]

Nibbler has been awefully quiet about all this.


I wonder, now that they've gotten these direct-to-DVD movies and larger ideas of plots, if we'll start getting mini arcs and maybe cliffhangers.



And, as a side note, is it me, or does it seem they shelled out for a real orchestra this time for Christopher Tyng (synth orchestra were used for all the direct-to-DVD ones, as I recall).

We need a score CD release.

 

[Broccoli]

I wonder, now that they've gotten these direct-to-DVD movies and larger ideas of plots, if we'll start getting mini arcs and maybe cliffhangers.

Somehow, I doubt it. Unless it was for some special episode or a season ending cliffhanger. Looking back at the films, they seemed really nothing more than four episodes merged together with a very flimsy through line.

 

[tharpdevenport]

I wonder, now that they've gotten these direct-to-DVD movies and larger ideas of plots, if we'll start getting mini arcs and maybe cliffhangers.

Somehow, I doubt it. Unless it was for some special episode or a season ending cliffhanger. Looking back at the films, they seemed really nothing more than four episodes merged together with a very flimsy through line.

Well, they had to write them that way so they could be broken up in re-runs. It's a necessary evil, sadly.



Well, I hope the show does well; I sadly won't be able to tune is for a long while, so I'll be avoinding the thread next week on.

 

[Christopher]

Obviously scientists in the Futurama universe have perfected Marvel Comics-style cloning, where copying the physical body automatically copies the entire mind and personality as well. This might be the answer to the long-standing question of how they can have preserved heads in jars of people who died long before such preservation technology existed, like all the former presidents.

And, as a side note, is it me, or does it seem they shelled out for a real orchestra this time for Christopher Tyng (synth orchestra were used for all the direct-to-DVD ones, as I recall).

As I remarked above, the score here sounded very electronic to me, even more so than the DVD ones.

 

[nx1701g]

Ugh my DVR didn't record these episodes for some reason... I set it to record both of them and it only recorded two minutes of them...

 

[bigdaddy]

^ They will be rerun to death so I wouldn't worry.

 

[RJDiogenes]

What we have are clones with memories peaced together

At least they're at peace.

This might be the answer to the long-standing question of how they can have preserved heads in jars of people who died long before such preservation technology existed, like all the former presidents.

But not why they don't have bodies. I'd love to see them do a storyline explaining the Historical Heads phenomenon.

Ugh my DVR didn't record these episodes for some reason... I set it to record both of them and it only recorded two minutes of them...

I hate when that happens. Since I use a VCR, it's always my fault, which makes me hate it more.

 

[Amaris]

I hate when that happens. Since I use a VCR, it's always my fault, which makes me hate it more.

It makes the complaint "they don't make them like they used to!" feel that much more painful.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

For the first half hour (the actual premiere): Excellent. The second episode was merely Good - Futurama sometimes has a tendency to extend a joke past the breaking point - but a very satisfying debut overall.

Sweet Uncancellation of Copenhagen, Futurama is back!

 

[Mr Light]

Maybe I need to watch the episode again but I thought it was the robot duplicates that had the memories taken from the records. The original bodies still had their brains preserved.

 

[Christopher]

^That's correct. It was only the robot doubles that had memories compiled from the computer records of their lives. (Which may have been a nod to Caprica, since that's basically the same way the AI duplicates of Zoe and Tamara were created.)

 

[tharpdevenport]

It ws too much of a throw away to simply have the "Evil" robot duplicates walk out the door with no bang. Anyone seriously doubt we won't be seeing them again, and by the end of the season?

 

[Broccoli]

^ We could see them again. Or we won't. It depends if the producers have a good idea for a story. There have been several times in Futurama's past where there was some cord dangling by the end of an episode and was never picked up again.

^That's correct. It was only the robot doubles that had memories compiled from the computer records of their lives. (Which may have been a nod to Caprica, since that's basically the same way the AI duplicates of Zoe and Tamara were created.)

Maybe, but I am guessing it was more of a nod to Blade Runner basically because of the Professor's line. Besides, it is not as if robot duplicates are specifically original to Caprica.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

It ws too much of a throw away to simply have the "Evil" robot duplicates walk out the door with no bang. Anyone seriously doubt we won't be seeing them again, and by the end of the season?

Oh we'll definitely see them again. Hilarity is sure to ensue.

One oddity: was it really so surprising to everyone that "robots can have sentience"? Poor Bender! Do they really see him as just a toaster, albeit with an eminently bite-able shiny metal ass?

Here's a plotline I hope we see: romantic rivalry beween Bender and Robo-Fry over Robo-Leela. Or even better: a romance between Bender and Robo-Fry. What's human Fry gonna make of that?

 

[Christopher]

Maybe, but I am guessing it was more of a nod to Blade Runner basically because of the Professor's line. Besides, it is not as if robot duplicates are specifically original to Caprica.

Please reread my comments. I'm not referring to robot duplicates in general, but to the specific concept of creating an accurate AI simulation of a personality by extrapolating it from computer records of the original person's behavior. That is not a common SF idea, but is a fairly new concept that is indeed specific to Caprica, at least where mass-media SF is concerned.

After all, the replicants in Blade Runner (which I happen to have in my DVD player right now, so it's fresh in my mind) were not robots, but synthetic biological organisms. And though they were given some memories copied from real people, they were nonetheless individualized rather than being full-on duplicates of pre-existing humans. So the Professor's Blade Runner reference should not be taken too literally.