Fry and the Slurm Factory

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Season 1 episode
Broadcast season 2 episode
Fry and the Slurm Factory
Fry and the Slurm Factory.jpg
No.13
Production number1ACV13
Written by[[Lewis Morton]][[Category:Episodes written by Lewis Morton|Fry and the Slurm Factory]]
Directed by[[Ron Hughart]][[Category:Episodes directed by Ron Hughart|Fry and the Slurm Factory]]
Title captionLive from Omicron Persei 8
First air date14 November, 1999
Broadcast numberS02E04
Title referenceCharlie and the Chocolate Factory
Opening cartoonThe Simpsons shorts
Special guest(s)Pamela Anderson
Additional
Commentary
(Transcript)
Transcript

Pictures

Season 1
  1. Space Pilot 3000
  2. The Series Has Landed
  3. I, Roommate
  4. Love's Labours Lost in Space
  5. Fear of a Bot Planet
  6. A Fishful of Dollars
  7. My Three Suns
  8. A Big Piece of Garbage
  9. Hell Is Other Robots
  10. A Flight to Remember
  11. Mars University
  12. When Aliens Attack
  13. Fry and the Slurm Factory
Season 2 →

"Fry and the Slurm Factory" is the thirteenth episode of Futurama and the last episode of the first production season, and the fourth episode of the second broadcast season. It aired 14 November, 1999 on FOX. It guest stars Pamela Anderson as Dixie. Fry is obsessed with Slurm, and when a competition comes out for him to see the Slurm Factory, he cannot resist. However, at the Slurm Factory, the Planet Express crew discovers the horrible truth about Slurm.

The Story

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The Secret Ingredient

Act I: "Whimmy wham wham wozzle... let's party!"

Fry and Bender are watching All My Circuits, when a commercial for Slurm comes on. The commercial advertises a new contest; the grand prize is a chance to party with Slurms MacKenzie at the Slurm Factory on Wormulon.

Act II: "I've never seen anyone so addicted to Slurm."

Fry starts guzzling Slurm like crazy, hoping to win the contest. Bender is sick, and the Professor uses his new invention, the F-Ray, to see inside him and find the problem. He leaves the F-Ray with Fry and Bender "to be kept out of the wrong hands." They immediately start abusing it. At the 711 Fry gets an idea and they start to use it to search for the Slurm can with the winning bottle cap. Back at Planet Express, where Leela and Farnsworth are playing 3-D Scrabble, Fry and Bender decide to give up, but then Fry almost chokes on the cap, found in a can of Slurm in the fridge and wins the contest.

Act III: "Something's rotten on planet Wormulon!"

Fry and all of his friends arrive on Wormulon, and are greeted by Glurmo and Slurms MacKenzie. Glurmo leads them on a tour, where they encounter the Grunka Lunkas. While Glermo narrates the tour, they begin asking questions about the Secret Ingredient of Slurm. After Fry falls into the river of Slurm, Leela jumps in to save him; Bender jumps as well, just to fit in. Sucked down the drain, they wind up lost in an underground part of the factory. Fry tastes Slurm from the river, only to discover it's not slurm at all, and they begin nosing around, and discover the disgusting secret - Slurm is a fluid squirted out by a giant worm! Meanwhile, Zoidberg, Amy, and The Professor finish the tour, and Glurmo notices that the others are missing.

Act IV: "That's the secret ingredient of Slurm? Ewwwwww!"

Fry, Leela, and Bender try to escape, only to run in a circle and wind up back in the room with the Slurm Queen, where Glurmo captures them. Bender is recycled into Slurm cans, and Leela is going to be dipped into a vat of Royal Slurm, transforming her into a Slurm Queen. Fry is force-fed a taste of concentrated Super-Slurm, which is so addictive he can't stop eating, even to save his friends. Still eating, Fry drags the vat over until he can release Leela. She saves Bender, and then dumps the Super-Slurm down a sewer grate, to Fry's horror. They make their escape, and run into Slurms MacKenzie, who wants to escape with them. When the Slurm Queen finds them, Slurms MacKenzie sacrifices himself to allow the crew to escape.

Additional Info

Promo pic of this episode

Trivia

  • According to audio commentary, Glurmo's name was originally to have been "Slurmy Slonka" - furthering the references to Willy Wonka.
  • This episode is named #3 on IGN's list of Top 25 Futurama Episodes.
  • Mixing Hydrogen molecules, with Oxygen atoms to create water as the Grunka Lunkas supposedly do would cause a massive fire and blow up the tanks. Whether this was a hint to observant viewers of the upcoming plot twist, or a goof is unknown.
  • During the scene where Leela and the Professor, are playing 3D Scrabble (a reference to Star Trek's 3D Chess), the Professor's current letters are F, U, U, T, A, M, and R in that order; an obvious reference to the show's name.
    • Also during the Scrabble scene, the words on the board are One, Eye, Matt, Area, Prop, Only, Donut, One, and Emu.

Continuity

Allusions

  • The Factory, Grunka Lunkas, and Glurmo are references to "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"
  • The Slurm Queen's plan to use Leela to market "New Slurm" is a reference to "New Coke."
  • Slurms MacKenzie's name is a reference to "Spuds McKenzie", a former Budweiser advertising mascot.
  • The Soylent Cola is the first of many references to the film "Soylent Green" in the show.
  • 3D Scrabble, the game played by Leela and the Professor, is a reference to Star Trek's 3D Chess.
  • The translation says "...and the elusive yak-face.". Yak face is a rare Star Wars figure of Saelt-Marae not released in the USA. Mint figures have sold for thousands of dollars. It was added because David X. Cohen owns one.
  • When the Professor uses the F-Ray on Bender, his brain is shown to be powered by a 6502 CPU (a common CPU from the 1980's used in the Apple II, Nintendo Famicom/NES, and Commodore 64 computers).

Quotes

See List of song performances#Grunka Lunka Songs. for the lyrics of the Grunka Lunka songs.

    Advert Voice: Odds of winning mathematically insignificant.
    Fry: Hey, I like those odds!

    Fry: This is nothing. Back in high school, I used to drink 100 cans of cola a week, right up until my third heart attack.

    [Fry and Bender see a fembot walk by.]
    Bender: Hold still, sexy lady. [Bender uses the f-ray on the fembot but is stunned.]
    Fry: What's wrong?
    Bender: That's no lady!
    Hermaphrobot: Damn, chico! One more upgrade and I'll be more of a lady than you can handle! Why you so stoopid, stoopid?
    Bender: Hey, bite my shiny metal ass!
    Hermaphrobot: You couldn't afford it, honey!

    Glurmo: [about Grunka Lunkas] They think they have a good union but they don't. They're basically slaves.

    Slurm Queen: [about foul Slurm from Leela-Slurm-Queen-to-be]...we'll market it as New Slurm. Then, when everyone hates it, we'll bring back Classic Slurm and make billions!"

    Slurms McKenzie: Enjoy the tour, dudes!! ...I'm gonna go lie down.

    Slurm Queen: Honey comes from a bee's behind, milk comes from a cow's behind. And have you ever used toothpaste?
    Fry: Who's behind does that come from?
    Slurm Queen: You don't wanna know.

Goofs

  • Fry says he can't swim, but he is treading water, once Leela jumps in to save him. Additionally, in Bender's Big Score, he is seen swimming with Leelu.
  • Fry, Leela and Bender went down the drain in the Slurm river, yet when they open the door to the fake factory, it is revealed they are level with the river.

Alien Language Sightings

Time:01:19
Location: Rules of the contest
Language: AL1
Translation: The following species are ineligible: space wasps, space beavers, any other animal with the word 'space' in front of it, space chickens, and the elusive yak-face.

Time:03:25
Location: Eye Chart
Language: AL1
Translation:
n o
s q u i
n t i n g
f o u r
e y e s

Characters

(In alphabetic order)

Episode Credits