"Mars University (1ACV11)" Episode Capsule Part One
Jordan Eisenberg
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============= THE FUTURAMA CHRONICLES ==== EPISODE CAPSULE =============
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Official Title: Mars University
Episode Number: 1ACV11 (#11)
First Airdate : Sunday, October 3rd, 1999
Written by : J. Stewart Burns
Directed by : Bret Haaland
========================================================================
= Additional tidbits =
Opening theme promotion : Transmitido en
Martian en SAP
Opening theme cartoon : "Pig in a Polka" {jk}
03-Oct-99 Nielsen ranking: 6.7 million viewers (#54 for the night)
MPAA rating : TV-PG
Length minus commercials : [21:20]
========================================================================
= Foxworld Synopsis =
When Fry returns to college to prove he can be just as good of a
dropout as he was in the Twentieth Century, Professor Farnsworth
surprises him with a dorm roommate, a super-intelligent monkey.
Meanwhile Bender, a legend of the robot fraternity Epsilon Rho Rho --
"ERR" -- leads a revenge of the robot nerds.
========================================================================
= Minutiae =
- Fry eats what looks like an amoeba and drinks from a Slurm can.
Bender drinks a bottle of LoBrau beer.
- Fry went directly for Leela's protection after the box started
yelping and moving. {trl}
- You can see one of Mars' moons in the establishing shot. (Either
Phobos or Deimos.)
- Outside the frat house is a broken-down hovercar.
- Inside: A ratty old couch and armchair, dartboard, guitar, fem-bot
poster, "ERR" crest, LoBrau Beer ad, unfumigated moosehead, discarded
magazines, pizza boxes & beer, MARS U flag.
- As Bender is being flattered by his ERR buddies, Leela is returning
from up a staircase. What was she doing up there?
- In 20th-Century Coney Island, two of the prizes at a game booth are a
Bart Simpson and Homer Simpson doll.
- Did anybody notice Fry's killer short-long back at Coney Island?
Then again, only I would find that funny ... =) {bt} [Did anybody
think it looked like Archie Andrews' haircut, circa 1975? {jb}]
- Robot House's midnight panty-raid takes place under the moonlight of
another aspherical Martian moon.
- As Bender and his buddies scan the womens' dorm, if you look closely,
you can see one of the ladies drop her towel to the floor. She's
facing the other way, though, and the 'camera' quickly deletes her
from its field of vision.
- Financial Aid Dorm Gag 1: Wooden sign with the name falls off and
scares away a goat.
- Tell me what's wrong with this line: "Pretty nice for a single. Two
desks, two chairs, a couple of beds ... "
- The contents of Guenter's suitcase are toiletries, a brush and an
old-fashioned hairdryer.
- When Professor Farnsworth explains the inner workings of Guenter's
hat, Fry scratches his head like a monkey.
- A character looking a little like Professor Frink (of The Simpsons)
is biking past one of the college buildings. {jk} (This same biker
appears when Farnsworth mentions Utah.)
- Look at Dean Vernon's model shipis a 30th Century spacecraft with
16th Century sails!
- It's funny that Guenter happened to ask Fry at the dining hall if he
likes bananas. Guess what was on Fry's plate at the time!
- At Parents' Weekend, Fry stuffs a bowlful of pigs-in-a-blanket in his
mouth at once.
- Financial Aid Dorm Gag 2: A brown piece of paper with the name falls
off.
- Financial Aid Dorm Gag 3: The name is written in chalk above the
door. The goat is eating the paper sign.
- A seagull flies below our heroes as they await Guenter's rescue from
the waterfall.
- Was Matt Groening standing in the crowd at the boat race? Coulda'
sworn I saw his face for a split second ... {fp}
========================================================================
= Parallels to Science Fiction =
~ "Mars Attacks" (1997 Tim Burton movie)
- The Martian depicted in the statue on MU's campus resembles the
Martian creatures from this movie, and sports similar weaponry.
~ "The Martian Chronicles" (Ray Bradbury novel)
- This was a science fiction novel from the early 50's that tells the
tale of man conquering and inhabiting Mars. The idea of the planet
being terra-formed with lush jungles was explored here, and it
probably wasn't intentional, but the line "Not even if you were the
last man on Mars!" parallels part of the novel. (I won't give the
whole thing away ... I'd like a few people to read it.) It's also
worth mentioning that one of the Martian colonies in the book is
named "New New York."
========================================================================
= Other References =
~ "Archie" (cartoon)
- Early-90s Fry's hair looks like 1970s Archie Andrews'. {jb}
+ "Animal House" (movie) [And I thought "Titanic" was overdoing it!]
- Mars University Motto "Knowledge Bring Fear," from Faber College's
"Knowledge Is Good." {ak}
- Similar Statues, though Faber's was not on a horse. {ak}
- Similar music at beginning. {ak}
- The house is nearly identical, with the junked car, old metal
drums, patio furniture, spool table, broken roof and hanging crest.
{ak}
- Fatbot is a direct take-off of Flounder. He wears the same beany
as Flounder did in the beginning of Animal House. He uses the
quotes "Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!" and "This is gonna be great!" in
the same voice. In the end scene, his freeze frame is identical
with Flounder's. {ak}
- The continuous track of "Louie, Louie," and the panty raid. {rc2}
- Similar music during the night time scene. Bender shuffles his
feet like Bluto. {ak}
- John Belushi's character puts a ladder up to the window to peek in
on the coeds clad only in their panties (and bras when it ran on
TV). {bb}
- The ladder stunt is done in Animal House, but is knocked over by,
uh, a different kind of extention. {ak}
- Snooty House is like the rival frat in Animal House, what with the
snootyness and the pipe-smoking. Though that might also be a
reference to P.C.U. {ak}
- One of the frat guys name is named Meiderneyer, which is similar to
Neidermeyer. {hl}
- Dean Vernon is a takeoff Dean Wormer,who's first name is Vernon,
and was played by John Vernon. He gives a similar list of Frat
offenses. In Animal House, Wormer puts Delta on double secret
probation. {ak}
- Bender acts like John Belushi, crushing a beer keg on his head.
{hl}
- Song "Shout!" plays at the end. {hl}
- The ending with a parade is from Animal House, as is the cake-
shaped float, and the freeze-frame and captions saying what
happened to the characters in the future. {ak}
~ "Big Guy and Rusty" (cartoon)
- This Fox Kids Saturday Morning cartoon features a talking monkey
(voiced by Kathy Kinney of "The Drew Carey Show") that looks and
sounds much like Guenter. {jb}
~ "Dilbert" (comic strip)
- Like Fry, Dilbert must deal with a super-smart monkey called Zimbu
at his office. Zimbu, like Guenter, appears to be smarter and more
competent than Dilbert. {sam}
~ "The Paper Chase" (70's movie/TV show)
- The professor who teaches the 20th-Century history class is drawn,
and voiced like, John Houseman. {dbc}
~ "Race for your life, Charlie Brown" (Peanuts movie) {jph}
- Charlie Brown and the gang rafted down the river in competition
with a team that cheated at every move. In the end, Snoopy won.
{jb}
~ "School of Hard Knockers" (movie)
- Dean Vernon sounded exactly like Dean Bitterman! {mm}
+ "Up the Creek" (movie)
- Another forgettable 1980s frat movie in which the climactic event
is a raft race in which every house cheats like mad. {dbc}
========================================================================
= Freeze Frame Fanaticism =
>> Signs / Locations
- MARS UNIVERSITY
Knowledge Brings Fear
- SOCRATES - VOS SAVANT - COGNITRON {da} (See "Final
Thoughts / Comments.")
- WONG
library
- FICTION NON-FICTION
Disc One Disc Two
- Notice of Failure
to Graduate
[ferris wheel]
CICC
- STUDENT REGISTRATION
[A-L] [M-Y] [Z]
- SNOOTY HOUSE
- 20th CENTURY HISTORY
TEST TODAY
- MENTHOLYPTUS
HALL
- PARENTS RECEPTION
- BIG FRATERNITY
RAFT REGATTA
>> At the carnival {jb}
- The Ferris wheel has a very hard-to-read title, and this is my best
guess:
- MICKEY CASY
HIWHEEL
- SNAKE BOY
- CONEY ISLAND COMMUNIITY COLLEGE
- YOU MUST BE --O
THIS TALL TO \|
ENROLL | |
>> Fry's classmates
- ?HESS PEREIRA MANDEL KIDD
- ?YTERSKI FRY GUENTER WONG
- ?ATRIZIO GUTRICH DEMPSEY MINGO
>> Chrissy's textbook & phone number
- ENGLISH
101
- Chrissy
789-3629
(The people on <alt.tv.futurama> had something else to say about this
... see "Final Thoughts / Comments.")
>> Farnsworth's lesson (again, very hard to read) {jb}
TODAY'S LESSON: Wd or "WITTEN'S DOG"
--------------
C
\_ ...................
P - /_/\ Wd Q . NEUTRON ENHANCED .
\ \ \________/| . STEAMING HOT .
\ /\ |-- . DARK MATTER .
| ___\/__| -- ...................
/ / / | |\ \ --
|_|_| |_||_| - V
C
e^2+p -> (?) + v
__ __
(Omega)y= (?) | / re \ < (Omega)2 Wd >^2 | "Superdupersquirmetric
[+] | | -- | + ------------------ | Steaks Theory"
|_\93er/ (z+1)^y __|
>> The test {jb}
Almost all of it is illegible, but there is one thing that can be
seen on the last part of question 2:
OJ Simpson steal?
>> Snooty House's boat
- S.S. Von Snoot
========================================================================
= Goofs =
- Why did Fry already have some books with him when he came across
Coney Island College? If he was a student at another school at the
time, he'd have either dropped out or graduated from that one, which
makes no sense. (This is assuming Fry would have no other reason to
carry books with him -- which he wouldn't unless he was holding them
for his girlfriend or something.)
- Fry shouldn't be able to enroll if, by 31st-Century academic
standards, he hasn't acheived a high-school diploma.
- When Bender and the other ERRers got on the ladder, they were not on
the top when it started going up, but they were at the top when it
stopped. {ddg} [With a panty-raid ladder in the 30th century, only
the rungs move. {jlm}]
- Guenter's note paper disappears from his desk as he explains the
television.
- According to the Instructor's seating chart, there is someone sitting
to Fry's right, but there isn't. (And there can't be, with only
twelve people in the class and Amy not being the furthest seat to the
left.)
- The word is "dodectuple," not "dodecatuple." (That would be like
saying "pentatuple" instead of "quintuple.") {ddg}
- Although Guenter says that monkeys can't cry, one can distinctly see
a tear in his eyes around the beginning of his lamentations to Fry
and Leela. {sam}
- How could Guenter have handed in a paper smeared with feces? We saw
him at all the final moments before he ran away.
- Robot House's boat magically reinflates itself.
- While Bender water-skis behind his team's boat, in the close-up of
Gearshift in the back of the boat, his rope disappears.
========================================================================
= Extended Goofs / Technical Nitpicks =
>> There Will Come Complaints
Jerry Cornelius: Well ... I was a little disappointed. Mars doesn't
have has much gravitational pull as the Earth here and I didn't see
anyone walking around with a lighter, bouncier step. Ruined
everything for me. [Sarcasm -ed]
Brent Allison: Perhaps, in the process of the terra-formation of Mars,
an electomagnetic field was added to the planetary core. In the
process, Mars Customs demands that all visitors, residents and
illegal humans wear magnetic strips on the soles of their shoes.
It's the only way I can think of to explain the tacky theme park
on the moon as well.
Dave Antonoff: Density? Aha! That's why they weren't bouncing around
on Mars. Its density was increased so the gravitational pull would
match that of Earth! ... so what's sarcasm?
Mike Zaite: I'd say they inject Dark Matter into the core of the planet
to increase it's gravitational field as part of its terra-forming.
The moon probably just used Artificial Gravity.
========================================================================
= Reviews =
Jason Barrera: This might actually be the tamest episode to date,
garnering only a TV-PG (The Simpsons even gets a TV-PG-D usually).
Nevertheless, it was great, if not the greatest. Fry and Guenter
were hilarious in their petty rivalry, as was Farnsworth's general
senility. The only thing it lacked was the irony present in a lot of
the best episodes of "The Simpsons" -- the nerds of Robot House ask
Bender to teach them how to be cool without a trace of irony in that
cliched message. The new musical score that Christopher Tyng seems
to have adopted worked well for a change of pace. (A-)
Haynes Lee: This had two subplots in it and Guenter was a bit weak. It
should have been more of the Robot Frat. (B-)
Patrick McGovern: _That sucked_. Every single Futurama was gold up
until this tragedy. Fry's plot sucked, the characterization was way
off, but that was nothing compared to the "Animal House" parody.
Why, Matt, why?! All it amounted to was a bunch of boring, lame,
immature jokes with coincidence wrapped around it. After a good
opener, it looks like Futurama has finally hit a bump. I don't think
it will be commonplace, but it still sucked. (D)
Yours Truly: I agree this may have been one of the corniest Futurama
episodes to date, but let's not go nuts ... it still did a great job
at tying some standard story with some heavy science fiction ideas.
Bender's plot was funny, but I wish he'd have some more interaction
with the crew itself this season. Guenter's story was an interesting
idea, but was full of holes and pathos that didn't quite make sense,
and became preachy near the end. All the elements of a fine episode
were there, but the final product was quirky and didn't really work
well. (C+)
Average Grade: [27/4=6.75] (C+)
========================================================================
= Final Thoughts / Comments =
>> Trivial Title Sequence Minutiae
Jason Barrera: The opening music seemed to be gleaned from a different
portion from the same piece of music by Christopher Tyng, and then
spliced down to fit into the opening sequence.
>> Knowledge brings fear ... especially in the form of lengthy capsules
Adam King: Mars University's motto "Knowledge Bring Fear" is from Faber
College's [of "Animal House"] "Knowledge Is Good."
The Mars University motto brings to mind the entrance to a WWII German
concentration camp (Dachau) that's been depicted in old art and
photography. The sign over the entrance gate was written in a
similar style and spelled the German phrase "Arbeit Macht Frei,"
which means "Work Brings Freedom." You can read more about it here:
<http://www.charm.net/~rbennett/TheDachauGate.html>.
>> You mean you've never been?
Rick Carlson: The line about the 20th Century having no clue that Mars
had a University is an inside joke to the internet community at
large. Mars University has it's own internet address domain
reserved. Click on the following link to get the full story:
<http://oac3.hsc.uth.tmc.edu/staff/snewton/tcp-tutorial/sec7.html>
I've been on the 'net for years, being a Unix programmer for almost
17 years now. I was expecting a reference, and I was not
disappointed.
One of the sources is: "Details about Internet addresses: subnets
and broadcasting" Copyright (C) 1987, Charles L. Hedrick. Anyone may
reproduce this document, in whole or in part, provided that: (1) any
copy or republication of the entire document must show Rutgers
University as the source, and must include this notice; and (2) any
other use of this material must reference this manual and Rutgers
University, and the fact that the material is copyright by Charles
Hedrick and is used by permission.
Because 0 and 255 are used for unknown and broadcast addresses,
normal hosts should never be given addresses containing 0 or 255.
Addresses should never begin with 0, 127, or any number above 223.
Addresses violating these rules are sometimes referred to as
"Martians", because of rumors that the Central University of Mars is
using network 225.
>> The boorish manners of an Earthling
Steven Aaron Monroe: Mars University was founded in 2636, exactly 1000
years after Harvard University was founded (1636), further suggesting
a similarity between the two universities (i.e., both are very old
and very prestigious schools, and were both founded (presumably) in a
colony early after its permanent settlement).
>> SOCRATES - VON SAVANT - COGNITRON
Jonathan S. Haas: Presumably everyone knows who Socrates was. "Vos
Savant" is a reference to Marilyn Vos Savant, the world's alleged
(and self-described) smartest human. She writes a column for some
publication or other, and has made several errors in it. Those
errors have been pounced on by people annoyed at the smarminess
inherent in calling yourself the world's smartest human.
"Cognitron", I'm guessing, refers to a robot or other thinking
machine that lived sometime between 2000 and 2999.
Matt O'Connell: I remember seeing this video tape in computer-science
class in high school a few years back ... they had this computer
that, instead of doing the 1's and 0's thing, worked via the
recognition of patterns ... the government wanted to use it for
finding snipers in crowds or some such. I believe it was called a
cognitron ...
>> "Heavy Metal" char at Mars U. ... sort of
Michael Morbius: At the end of the "Z" line at the registrar's office,
there's a guy with a purple head, a white shirt, an orange down vest
and brown boots who reminded me of Harold Ramis's character in "Heavy
Metal" (the alien that did huge lines of "nyborg" and then said he
knew how to drive stoned).
>> Mathematics of Quantum Neutrino Fields for Dummies
Steven Aaron Monroe: The professor mentions the "mathematics of quantum
neutrino fields." Although he made it up, it seems (to me, at least)
to be a possible subject which studies how neutrinos are released
from particles. It doesn't sound very interesting, though.
Professor Farnsworth mentioned the "taste" of an electron. Although
it would be easy to dismiss this as a ridiculous joke, we should
remember that physicists have applied some interesting qualities and
names to quarks, the subatomic particles that create hadrons (i.e.,
protons, neutrons, mesons, etc.), including "flavor," "color,"
"charmed quarks," "strange quarks," etc. It is possible that "taste"
could be some new aspect of subatomic particles that we have not yet
discovered. (NOTE: in this case, "taste" is not meant in the normal
sense)
I'd like to make a comment: any scientific inconsistencies that can
be found in "Futurama" may be rationalized and explained by two
ideas:
1. Most of the scientific explanations come from Farnsworth. Any
mistakes can be blamed on his senility.
2. Matt Groening has artistic license and can bend the laws of
physics, chemistry, biology and reality in general to make a
point (or a joke).
>> To ERR is robot
Haynes Lee: The Greek capital "rho" (equivalent to "R") actually looks
like the letter "P" in our Roman alphabet. The frat letters should
be "EPP," but this is less funny.
Daniel B. Case: I also like that Robot House's letters —- Epsilon Rho
Rho -— spell out "ERR," as in "error."
Brian Tivol: As long as we've had the "What does a capital rho really
look like?" discussion elsewhere in the group, I don't mind saying
that the sixth "digit" [of Chrissy's phone number] is a lowercase
lambda. [Fen Phen recognizes it as "the Greek letter used in Half-
Life."]
Although people may say the number looks like none of the 10 digits
we're used to, and therefore must be something more obscure, like a
lambada, I still maintain that it's a hastily drawn "2." Who has the
nerve to actually ask a producer? <g>
>> Do you think you could be a little _less_ evil than that?
Ceci M.: In "Mars University," I think you see another side of
Professor Farnsworth. It seems like he's not the "absent-minded
professor" type anymore -- especially with the way he treated Guenter
during the show. He seemed more like a villain. What does everyone
else think about this change?
Jason Barrera: Farnsworth has always been sort of a stereotype of the
"mad scientist"-types in sci-fi cinema. He's always been something
of a sadist, especially with sending OFC on some dangerous mission
every week.
Baron Calamity: From the first episode we knew that [he] has a habit of
going through crew members. We are talking about a society that
doesn't value life much. So he is probably as good natured as anyone
can be. He at least he gave them a _job_.
Mike Zaite: Am I the only one who thought Leela and Fry seemed badly
portrayed in this episode? Was it written by a new writer or
something? [No, it wasn't. -ed] They sort of seemed to be there
just to take up space and to bounce a few jokes off of. Anyone's
thought's on this?
Jason Barrera: I thought so too -- this episode had a lot less
substance and depth to the characters than last week's.
Ceci M.: Maybe the reason why is that it was supposed to introduce
another aspect of the year 3000 we haven't seen. In past episodes,
life on Mars has been talked about between certain characters. And
of course, Mars University has always been evoked from time to time
throughout the show. But we haven't seen what these places were like
until this week's episode. So, I tend to see it as another way to
set up future plotlines to add to the panorama of Futurama's world
within the program.
So, the main characters might figure into the plot ... but not in the
conventional way we're used to seeing them.
>> "Can't talk -- thinking about Amy."
Don Del Grande: According to the end, Fry dropped out and went back to
his job -- but what about Amy? Did she drop out as well? Maybe the
university gave her a degree in exchange for yet another Wong
contribution?
Benjamin Robinson: To borrow the term used be the computer-standards
committees, Amy's behavior is not defined. That is, she might have
dropped out, she might have graduated magna cum laude, or something
else might have happened [*]. Whatever it was, the writers didn't
feel it was important or funny enough to show.
Personally, I think Amy will be a MU student for some time. She's an
engineering intern, after all, and this gives her an excuse to be on
the PX crew. It also explains why she might be _absent_ from a
mission, like the one to Vergon 6: we can just assume she had a class
that day.
[*] "Up to and including World War III."
>> Last, and probably least ...
Adam King: A little aside, if a statue of a person is on a horse with
both feet up, he died in a war, if one foot, he died from wounds
gotten in a war, and all feet down, he died of something else.
Jason Barrera: The Macintosh-ish computer in the robot "panty raid" is
outdated even by today's standards. No wonder it keeps crashing.
(Naughty, naughty computer!)
Mike Zaite: I thought that was wrong. I always thought it was a comedy
convention that talking monkeys speak in a British accent. Or is
that just for Chimpanzees?
Jason Barrera: Both the 10/3/1999 episodes of "The Simpsons" and
"Futurama" had instances of characters being subjected to electric
shocks. Matt Groening must think they're funny.
Joe Klemm: Lite-Brite is a toy created by Hasbro. Kids make pictures
and signs by placing colored pegs in a screen. To make the toy even
neater, you can plug [it in and] turn on a light that makes the pegs
light up.
Bender and his buddies sure have their work cut out for them if they
expect to take a road trip to Tiajuana from Mars.
Don Del Grande: They never show Kappa Kappa Wong sorority.
========================================================================
= Fun Stuff =
>> References to Previous Episodes
- [1ACV01] Fry reduced to screaming at the push of a button
(Probulator cf., Classroom)
- [1ACV03] Fry: "Booooring!" cf., Amy: "Booooring!"
- [1ACV03] Fry eats an amoeba (?)
- [1ACV03] Fry is roommates with a non-human
- [1ACV04] Creature with a ferocious appetite (Nibbler cf., Fat-Bot)
- [1ACV10] Leo and Inez first appear
- [1ACV10] Bender operates underwater
>> Fan-made Alternate Titles for this Episode
"I, Primate"
"Mechanical House" {hl}
"The Ape in the Hat"
========================================================================
= Voice Credits =
>> Starring
Billy West ........................ Farnsworth, Fry, Gearshift, Carny
Operator, Instructor, Leo
Katey Sagal ................................................... Leela
John DiMaggio ................... Bender, Oily, Carny Professor, Chet
>> Guest Starring
Tress MacNielle ............................. Guenter, Intercom voice
Dave Herman ....................... Fat-Bot, Meiderneyer, Dean Vernon
Lauren Tom ............................................. Amy, Chrissy
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