The one thing I did appreciate about this episode was the framing device / wraparound and awkward cuts to the segments. The idea of the show doing this super dramatic weird soap opera-esque storyline about Fry and Leela's relationship and it being interrupted by in-universe advertisements is a funny setup imo. I did see one theory that the episode is Fry's dream, interrupted by ads like the early season joke about Lightspeed Briefs. That would've greatly improved the episode if Fry waking up was the final scene of the wraparound, instead of the explanation given that still feels weird and noncanon anyway. It wouldn't solve the issue of the ad segments being poorly written, but it'd be an improvement.
I can see where you're coming from, but I don’t think they did a good enough job to get credit for it. I'll have to rewatch with that in mind because I just don't see it right now. The story was "dramatic" but soap-operatic feels a little generous. And if they were going for that imagery it probably would have served them to work in characters from their own soap opera All My Circuts. I guess there is a twist at the end with the champion, but soap operas are about twists on twists with known characters. And the ads didn't feel in-universe at all. Toys based on a failing delivery crew hardly seems like a marketable product. I don't think soap operas are known for sudden, unmotivated, ad breaks. Obviously they'll hold on a reveal through an ad break, but that's just TV in general. The ad choices are inconsistent with soap operas as well. Soap operas got their name from the soap companies that sponsored programs for stay at home wives to sell them soap. I'm not saying the ads should have been about soap lol, but it's very inconsistent. Toy commercials make a lot more sense in a kids program, but they already did that whole jam, aggressive commercials included with Purpleberry Pond in Sat. Morning Fun Pit. If it was what they were going for, C for effort, F for execution.
Honestly, I'd prefer if they came up with something that's actually fresh. Well, now that I think about it, is prefer we just skip the anthology entirely lmao. But What If is certainly the best format so far, and easily generates the best vignettes. Bender turns human is one of my favorite storylines in the whole show
@@WhoElseButZane This makes me think... what if they made an episode where Professor Farnsworth asked the What-if Machine, what if he remade the What-if Machine? Implying he doesn't have it... but he's asking the What-if Machine, that he doesn't have, what if he brought it back? You see where I'm going with this? Just like how Fry somehow created himself through a time-loop, the What-if Machine has some sort of self-creating recursion. They could then use that as a framework to talk about Fry's cyclical origins.
Or at least do an anthology in the format of in-show... shows. All My Circuits and Scary Door, of course, but I can't think of a third show other than Everybody Loves Hypnotoad. The idea has potential, as long as they don't fail the execution like in Saturday Morning Fun Pit.
@@chaoslord8918Elzar's cooking show probably could work, either that or the News. However the news more so exist to give the characters and us a status update of the trajectory of the plot.
@@R0-83-RT I think the News actually has potential. Linda and Morbo are great, and there's just about limitless options for what kind of segments they could do, including but not limited to a cooking segment even. They could report on just about anything happening in the show's world, and it's freeform enough that it could serve as the glue that ties the whole episode together.
You know I never had a problem with any of the anthology episodes. Sure they got worse at time went on but I thought they were fun. But there's a big difference, there were tons of good episodes before and after them, so it really felt like just a little treat. Why they decided to use 1 of their ten episodes for thus reboot I'll never understand.
This is really the thing at the end of the day. We get 10 now, 20 total, and this is what we get? Honestly, my biggest issue with the later anthologies, and I forgot to address this in the video, is the fact that they kept dropping them at the ends of seasons. I remember thinking, if they get canceled again is the last episode we get going to be Reincarnation? Or Naturama? It's clouded my opinion on the episodes.
They could have made a framing device where the Professor said he was trying out a new ai system after the previous machine wanted better treatment and pay. Or maybe a bunch of hulu execs showing this off to the cast.
I would have been shocked by the timeliness of an AI generated show because they're always years behind lol, but come on, it's right there. Would've been interesting at the very least
The first anthology of interest was actually character driven, especially the last segment where Fry never came to the future. That segment is the first time we get to see more of old New York after the pilot, and it also excellently foreshadows Fry being destined to come to the future. It’s also the episode that introduces Scruffy into the main cast, it’s really packed all around. It’s sad seeing what’s happened to the format at this point
Anthology I is actually a fav of mine. I love the big Bender story, and the lore of the last vignette is excellent. Interesting thing about Scruffy, though, while he is featured in the episode, technically, it's only within the What If Machine, because the entire EP is a What If Farnsworth invented the finglonger. I've wanted to pull this thread to see if I can come up with some deranged conspiracy theory around it. Might look into that once the season 11 recaps are done
The whole ad break framing device would have worked better if the "main plot" was incomplete. Like we get the first scene, first segment happens, and then we cut back something completely different is going on. Just frame it like it's the best Futurama episode better but the segments just happen to interrupt the best parts.
I like where your heads at. Lean harder into tue whole abrupt interruption. Wierd to say, but an impossible to follow framing narrative might have been better than what we got lmao
I did appreciate when each anthology episode segment always ended with all/most of the characters dying. It was really funny to me and a good reminder that they're not really cannon episodes. It's a shame that they kind of gave up on that with the latest one
1:35 the best Clip Shows are from Utena, mainly because the first one is our first look at the main villain and uses the clips as a way to characterize him through observations.the second adds a bunch of jokes that weren't there before and creates a few new scenes either through spliced footage or a couple new animations
I didn’t realize how universally hated this episode was until recently and keep finding all these videos destroying it. 😅 I actually (mostly) liked this episode, especially the Strawberry Shortcake parody 🤣 Am pretty sure this entire episode was an acid trip that’s gone very much out of control. Your points are valid though.
I hated it. I thought after Saturday morning fun pit they learned their lesson. Nope. I actually loved the first two Anthology episodes, Holiday Spectacular was decent, and I liked some of the jokes in Saturday Morning fun pit. I wish you mentioned though how one of the Anthology episodes reveleals a critical point in the main story about Fry being frozen. That was the best use of an Anthology type episode by far.
I'll stand by Anthology of Interest I until the sun explodes, I think it's great, and I like some of the vignettes of the second one for sure. I touched on the Fry not being frozen destroying the universe in the Xmas video, and didn't want to unpack it again until I can do a full video dedicated to Fry's relationship to time. But that vignette in general is crazy lore specific given how nonsensical anthologies often are, probably would have been worth bringing up in that capacity, good point.
I think as stand alone minisodes the vignettes are fine. I would have liked them to tied together more, but I laughed my ass off when Bender smashed into a mountain because he's only 40% aerodynamic
Truth. You could tell me watching a new episode of Futurama had that ring video in it that kills you (like this episode references for some bizarre reason), and I'd still be like "Well obviously I'm gonna watch it"
Totally admit that I'm bias because I don't like the anthologies that much because I think they format them poorly. The 40% aerodynamic joke is one of the best uses of Bender is 40% "blank" in the whole series. The ep had its moments, it's still Futurama after all, lol
This episode was actually awful and i can 100% see anyone having problems with it, but i still watched it cus deep down i want to like as much futurama as possible 😅 Thankfully, the finale felt like peak futurama imo
I sincerely enjoyed Saturday Morning Fun Pit and Naturama. Fun Pit was nostalgic for me and Naturama does a good job of feeling like our cast in a wildly (intended pun) different context. The earlier anthologies were good but they have overall declined. All that said, Worst Episode Ever indeed. The framing scenario (I will not call it a story) was such a confusing mess that if this were a live action show, I would suspect it had been ad libbed by the actors.
I've been unfair to Sat Morn Fun Pit. The GI Zapp bit is great and there are some very solid gags in the Scooby-Doo do parody. When they set up the multidoor hallway, right after cloning everyone, only to have Fry and Bender run through once, genius. These anthologies always have some clever ideas, but are clearly hamstrung by this outdated format that honestly feels like a remnant from Treehouse of Horror
I've enjoyed pretty much every other anthology episode, but this one was just awful, I was left so confused what was going on when we suddenly jumped into the first story.
I have nothing against the idea of the anthology episodes. Touching on the continuity issue, I think a show like this needs a vehicle to do some free-form, non-canon stuff. That being said, these episodes have definitely gone downhill over time. I think the core ideas have been at least acceptable, but the execution seems to just get worse. I think Saturday Morning Fun Pit is the best example if this. On paper, it sounds like it can't fail. The Futurama cast as the Scooby Doo cast? How can they mess that up? But when the """punchlines""" are violent children's shows, childhood obesity, and an incredibly flat "I'm mentally ill", it comes off as about as funny as Breaking Bad. I personally think that they "could" do an entire anthology of in-universe TV shows, or even one that's three different video game styles, but I really don't want them to ruin video games or The Scary Door for me.
If there were an episode consisting entirely of clips from The Scary Door, that would probably be my favorite episode ever.. I otherwise despite stuff like that and the only example that comes to mind where it's done right, though as a call-back episode that's funny, has a story, continues the plot, makes sense and is actually in the perspective of the their enemies, Avatar The Last Airbender's episode The Ember Island Players is supreme.. (And then Korra having an actual clip-show episode just goes to show how fucking awful that shit is..)
I literally turned this episode off within the first couple minutes because of how much it was disrespecting the established characters lmao. Both glad and sad to hear it was the right decision.
The best anthology episodes were on Fox. I don’t know if this one was the worst ever, but definitely the worst of the season. Naturama’s my pick for worst episode ever
5:03 I’ve always wondered, is the finglonger an invention that exists already, that the professor wishes he’d been the one to invent, or is it an idea that he has that’s impossible to turn into reality for whatever reason?
Maybe the Professor uses the What-If machine to vet his invention ideas. That way he doesn’t waste his time like he did with that Time Machine that sent him back 10 years.
