Neutopia
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Season 6 episode Broadcast season 8 episode | |||||
Neutopia | |||||
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No. | 108 | ||||
Production number | 6ACV20 | ||||
Written by | J. Stewart Burns | ||||
Directed by | Edmund Fong | ||||
Title caption | Provides a full day's supply of Vitamin F | ||||
First air date | 23 June, 2011[1] | ||||
Broadcast number | S08E01 | ||||
Title reference | A play on the words "neutered" and "utopia".[2] | ||||
Additional | |||||
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Season 6 | |||||
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"Neutopia" is the one hundred and eighth episode of Futurama, the twentieth of the sixth production season and the first of the eighth broadcast season. It aired 23 June, 2011,[1] with "Benderama" immediately following its airing.[1] Seeing as "The Futurama Holiday Spectacular" was broadcast between the two seasons as a holiday special, "Neutopia" is considered the season premiere.
Story
Act I
Planet Express is about to go bankrupt, and need money quickly. The men decide to do a sexy calendar, but unfortunately, there are only three women willing to do the photos, and no-one would want a calendar with only three months. The next idea is to turn the Planet Express ship into an airline, and this is done, with Hermes and Fry being pilots and the women being stewardesses. Unfortunately, the first flight crashes on an uncharted planet.
Act II
They encounter an alien that does not understand the concept of 'gender', and who wants to learn which gender is the best. The humans are forced to participate in several games to find the superior gender, including crossing the planet's surface for shelter in a cave, while the temperature is constantly rising.
Neither gender succeed in reaching the cave before the temperature is high enough for the mercury on the planet to start boiling, and they are all moments from certain death when the rock alien helps them, transporting them into safety. He explains that the real purpose of the quest was to force them to work together. To teach them a lesson, he takes away both of their genders, making them nuchacho like himself - without either male or female genitalia, nor the sexual feelings that follow.
Production
On 28 February, 2011, Comedy Central released[3] two promotional pictures for "Neutopia" in celebration of the show's 10 million likes on Facebook.
During May 2011, Countdown to Futurama released six items of promotional material for the episode: a video clip featuring the Planet Express crew members with swapped genders on 4 May, concept art of a female Zoidberg on 5 May, a promotional picture featuring Amy, Fry, and Leela sleeping together on 6 May, concept art of the Planet Express ship dressed as an airplane on 7 May, part of the storyboard showing the crew make a photo shoot on 8 May, and concept art of a female Scruffy on 14 May.
On 16 June, a video clip from the episode was released on io9, featuring humans (including the PE crew) on a desertic planet, discussing the concept of gender with a rock alien.[4]
Image gallery
Reception
In a preview of "Neutopia" and "Benderama", Katie Schenkel from CliqueClack TV commented that these episodes "[weren't] [her] favourite".[5] On "Neutopia", Schenkel felt the episode was too reminiscing of "Amazon Women in the Mood", but not in a good way.[5] Schenkel argues that the usage of stereotypical male jokes towards women (such as women likes shopping) – which is primarily what "Neutopia" is about – is rather tiring and used.[5] But where "Amazon Women in the Mood" excelled at the usage of these jokes, "Neutopia" falls flat, Schenkel writes, considering many of the jokes seem like they were the ones that didn't make it to the season 3 episode.[5] In fact, the sex changing plot, Schenkel writes, fells tacked on and ruins the pace of the episode, as it is resolved just as it happens.[5] Further, Schenkel feels the episode is unlike Futurama in that its reflection on gender and sex doesn't feel smart or witty, but rather lazy and unfunny.[5]
In a more positive preview, David Hinckley of The Daily News was more receptive of the episode however. He gave it three and a half stars out of five. He stated that the return of the show "doesn't seem to have lost much from either its edge or its attitude."[6]
Additional Info
Trivia
- It is among the few one-word titled media.
- It is also among few Futurama media featuring its title, as LaBarbara says the line "this is like a neutered utopia - a neutopia".
Allusions
- The rock alien resembles a gray-coloured Michelin Man.
- The design of female Scruffy's clothes resemble that of Cora in Fantastic Voyage. The same reference is made in "A Clockwork Origin", in which Amy's clothes are ripped in a similar fashion by the trilobots.
- Leela's line "thank God most of our fans are huge perverts" is an obvious reference to the Futurama fan base, and the many nude and semi-nude fan art pictures of the characters posted online.
Continuity
- The Professor's girlfriend from "Three Hundred Big Boys" appears. This is her only cameo appearance except for the audience scene in Into the Wild Green Yonder.
- Dr. Cahill, who handled Hermes' head in Bender's Big Score, makes an appearance.
- Zoidberg tries a poor comedy routine aboard the Planet Express air plane. His passion for comedy, and his lifelong dream to become a comedy star has been seen previously, and was the focus of "That's Lobstertainment!".
- When Bender switches gender and becomes a fembot, it is in his female persona Coilette from "Bend Her".
- Fry posing semi-nude for the calendar while inside a cryogenics tube is a reference to him being accidentally frozen in the pilot.
Quotes
Rock alien: Your gender differ in many ways. But as with all things that are different - chocolate and vanilla, Mac and PC - one is always better.
Bender: Chocolate, Mac, men. The end.
Characters
- Debut: Amana
- Amy
- Bender
- Debut: Borax Kid
- Dr. Cahill
- Farnsworth
- Farnsworth's girlfriend
- Fry
- Hattie
- Hermes
- LaBarbara
- Leela
- Petunia
- Debut: Rock alien
- Sal
- Scruffy
- Debut: Small rock alien
- Victor
- Zapp
- Zoidberg
References
- ^ a b c reed (03 May 2011). "How many Benders is too many?". CGEF. Retrieved on 04 May 2011.
- ^ "'Our big season premiere on 23 June is a double-decker. We start off with “Neutopia,” (which is a combination of the words “neutered” and “utopia”), our crew crash-lands on an unknown world, where they meet a strange creature that is unfamiliar with the concept of gender. It leads to the alien modifying the genders of our crew members, giving us amazing re-gendered versions of them!" — Cohen, David X.
Cohen, David X. (16 June 2024). Cohen Spills the Beans on Futurama's New Season. Retrieved on 16 June 2011. - ^ "Futurama Tops 10 Million Facebook Likes!". Comedy Central Insider. 08 February 2011. Retrieved on 03 May 2011.
- ^ io9: Exclusive Clip from Futurama's Season Opener!
- ^ a b c d e f Schenkel, Katie (20 June 2011). "Futurama comes back … with a stumble". CliqueClack TV. Retrieved on 20 June 2011.
- ^ Hinckley, David (22 June 2011). "'Futurama' review: Back after an 8-year hiatus with sharp social commentary and satire". The Daily News. Retrieved on 22 June 2011.