Difference between revisions of "The Tip of the Zoidberg"

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=== Goofs ===
=== Goofs ===
*Methan doesn't smell
*Methane doesn't smell.


=== Continuity ===
=== Continuity ===

Revision as of 19:46, 21 August 2011

Season 6 episode
Broadcast season 8 episode
The Tip of the Zoidberg
The Tip of the Zoidberg infobox.png
The Professor and Dr. Zoidberg are dropped on Triton.
No.106
Production number6ACV18
Written byKen Keeler
Directed byRaymie Muzquiz
Title captionIT'S TENTACULAR!
First air date18 August, 2011
Broadcast numberS08E10
Title referenceThe idiom "the tip of the iceberg"
Additional
Commentary
(Transcript)
Transcript
Storyboard

Pictures

Season 6
  1. Rebirth
  2. In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela
  3. Attack of the Killer App
  4. Proposition Infinity
  5. The Duh-Vinci Code
  6. Lethal Inspection
  7. The Late Philip J. Fry
  8. That Darn Katz!
  9. A Clockwork Origin
  10. The Prisoner of Benda
  11. Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences
  12. The Mutants Are Revolting
  13. The Futurama Holiday Spectacular
  14. The Silence of the Clamps
  15. Möbius Dick
  16. Law and Oracle
  17. Benderama
  18. The Tip of the Zoidberg
  19. Ghost in the Machines
  20. Neutopia
  21. Yo Leela Leela
  22. Fry Am the Egg Man
  23. All the Presidents' Heads
  24. Cold Warriors
  25. Overclockwise
  26. Reincarnation
← Season 5Season 7 →

"The Tip of the Zoidberg" is the one-hundred-and-sixth episode of Futurama, the eighteenth of the sixth production season and the tenth of the eighth broadcast season. It aired 18 August, 2011 on Comedy Central. The crew uncovers a dark secret concerning a covert mission undertaken by the Professor and Dr. Zoidberg many years earlier.

Plot

Act I: "We still have three or four coworkers with plenty of spare parts."

Frustrated with Zoidberg's incompetence as a doctor, the Planet Express crew demand Professor Farnsworth to fire him. The professor refuses, and the crew question why Zoidberg was ever employed in the first place. A series of flashbacks reveal that Zoidberg first met and befriended Farnsworth in 2927, during a mission to kill a Tritonian yeti for Mom. During the mission, Farnsworth became susceptible to hypermalaria, a fatal, incurable disease which can either strike instantly or remain dormant for years. As a favour to Farnsworth for killing the yeti and saving his life, Zoidberg agrees to an arrangement: when Farnsworth begins to experience symptoms of the disease, Zoidberg will perform a mercy killing before the disease can fully manifest. As a result, Zoidberg was employed by the professor for the purpose of carrying out the task.


Act II: "Your mistake is being Humans!"

In the present, the professor begins to experience the symptoms of hypermalaria, and insists that Zoidberg must kill him by surprise. The crew catch Zoidberg attempting to murder the Professor, and restrain him with the professor's lab coat and imprison him. Zoidberg notices a single white hair on the professor's coat and deduces that he does not have hypermalaria. Rather, he has contracted yetiism after being scratched by the Tritonian yeti. The illness mimics the symptoms of hypermalaria, but results in its victims transforming into a yeti.

Act III: "Also, the salad's ready."

Zoidberg escapes and goes to Mom, exchanging a coupon for a free tanning session for the yeti's head so that he may use its pineal gland as an antidote. Meanwhile, the professor reveals the truth to the crew, who decide to kill him themselves, using an elaborate mechanical killing machine. Zoidberg returns to announce his discovery to the crew, just as the professor begins transforming into a yeti. Zoidberg forces him to swallow the yeti gland, successfully curing him. As the crew goes to a tanning salon to celebrate, Zoidberg laments giving away his coupon. A grateful Farnsworth offers to treat Zoidberg to a free session, and they both depart as friends.

Production

While originally known as "Nine-tenths of a Zoidberg is Underwater", the episode title changed in the process.

During June 2011, Countdown to Futurama released two items of promotional material for the episode: concept art of Triton Base Camp on 3 June and part of the storyboard showing a young Professor Farnsworth and Zoidberg on a Yeti-hunting trip on 4 June.

On 12 August, Comedy Central released a video clip featuring Zoidberg performing surgery on Fry, Leela, and Hermes.[1]

Image gallery

Additional Info

Trivia

  • Mom's real name is revealed to be Carol.

Allusions

  • Zoidberg causes Fry to lose blood and develop a host of syndromes named after pop culture figures.
  • During Zoidberg's attempts at murdering the Professor, the song "Mr. Sandman" plays over the scene.
  • The Tritonian Yeti, including its poisonous nature, is designed like the Mugato of the Star Trek episode "A Private Little War."
  • The Murderlator is an example of a Rube Goldberg machine.
  • Mom's three sons are told to "Stooge out," a reference to the Three Stooges.
    • "Stooge out" could also refer to her sons being "stooges", e.g. devoted followers who are used by Mom for her own purposes.

Goofs

  • Methane doesn't smell.

Continuity

  • The flashbacks reveal once again that people in the future do not age the same as people of the 21st century. In 2927, Professor Farnsworth would have been 85/86, yet appears youthful and is healthy enough for the rigors of military duty.
  • Fry once again mistakes an inanimate object for a living alien, having previously made out with what he thought was "the radiator woman from the Radiator Planet", in "The Lesser of Two Evils".
  • Bender once again shows his love for cooking by making a salad before adding his drop of poison on the death wheel.

Characters

(In alphabetic order)

References