When Aliens Attack
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| When Aliens Attack | |||||
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| No. | 12 | ||||
| Production number | 1ACV12 | ||||
| Written by | [[Ken Keeler]][[Category:Episodes written by Ken Keeler|When Aliens Attack]] | ||||
| Directed by | [[Brian Sheesley]][[Category:Episodes directed by Brian Sheesley|When Aliens Attack]] | ||||
| Title caption | Proudly Made on Earth | ||||
| First air date | 7 November, 1999 | ||||
| Broadcast number | S02E03 | ||||
| Title reference | When Animals Attack! and other Fox shockumentaries | ||||
| Opening cartoon | "Daffy The Commando" | ||||
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"When Aliens Attack" is the twelfth episode of Futurama and of the first production season and the third of the second broadcast season. It aired 7 November, 1999 on FOX. The Omicronians invade Earth due to Fry knocking out FOX a thousand years prior.
The story
Act I: "Like anyone on Earth cares..."
Back in the 20th century, Fry is delivering a pizza to a technician of a Fox affiliate. He sits down to watch "Single Female Lawyer" and accidentally spills a beer, shorting out the entire broadcast tower and taking Fox off the air. A thousand years later one thousand light years away, Lrrr, Ruler of Omicron Persei 8 and his wife Ndnd are watching the show when it is cut off. Lrrr is enraged and destroys the TV with a laser.
Act II: "Who's up for one last summer beach trip?"
It's Labor Day and the Planet Express crew heads to Monument Beach, a beach full of old monuments, although Fry prefers watching TV he is forced to go. He builds a sand castle, while Hermes finds Bender under the sand with a metal detector, so now Bender has to find Hermes hidden in the sand (like a game) but he just lies in a sunbed. They all play volleyball but Zoidberg bursts the ball so he decides to go on a scuttle. Bender turned his chest in a grill to eat burgers and his ass gets burned and goes to the water to put it off. Nibbler eats Amy's bikini, then Farnsworth gaves her All Purpose Spray to "paint" a new bikini on her body. A "Professional Beach Bully" kicks Fry's castle, Leela wants to date him but he is actually gay. Zoidberg, underwater, gets caught in a lobster trap, then Bender frees him. Everyone goes next to Fry's castle to take a picture, using Bender's eye as camera while his headless body appears in the photo, but just as he is about to take the picture, a fleet of flying saucers arrives and begins destroying everything, including the monuments and Fry's castle. The crew return to Planet Express, with the saucers chasing them.
Act III: "You heard the windbag, we've been drafted."
The Omicronians make their demand on TV: "Give us McNeal!" The people of Earth think he means President McNeal, the President of Earth. Pres. McNeal says they have to give the aliens everything they want, but when he learns they want him, he addresses the people of Earth, and declares his intention to fight to the death rather than cave to alien demands, and places Zapp Brannigan in charge of the defense of Earth. The Planet Express Ship, along with all other ships on Earth, is drafted into the defense fleet. Bender won't fight but all robots (including Bender) have their patriotism circuits activated, so he has to fight anyway. They confront the mothership, and when Bender's cocktail spills, Fry goes for it and shoots it, destroying it once and for all, so they celebrate with a Martini. But another ship looking similar to the other appears, the only difference is that this is huge. They realize that is the mothership and what they have destroyed was the Hubble Telescope. The fleet is overwhelmingly defeated by the Omicronians, and the crew flees. During Pres. McNeal's next speech, Zapp bags him and drags him away to surrender, receiving applause from congress. Lrrr tells them it is the wrong McNeal as an afterthought so he should be free, but Lrrr kills Pres. McNeal anyway. Lrrr and Ndnd didn't want Pres. McNeal after all, they wanted Jenny McNeal, the protagonist of "Single Female Lawyer". They will raise Earth's temerature by one million degrees a day for five years until they see McNeal. After watching the broadcast, only Fry remembers the character or show.
Act IV: "Why does she not simply tear the judge's head off?"
Under Fry's direction, the crew assemble an stage of "Single Female Lawyer" and broadcast it so Omicronians watch it. Leela plays the role of Jenny McNeal (with a fake eye added on her face), Farnsworth is the judge, Zoidberg is a lawyer and Hermes is the foreman of the jury. They act while reading the script and Omicronians seem to enjoy but when they reach the end of Fry's script on page 2, they are forced to improvise. After a well-meaning blunder by Leela declaring she gives up the law and being single, Fry cuts to commercial. Omicronians don't like that so Fry tells Leela people doesn't want new things on a show. So they continue and end the episode. The Omicronians call saying they are satisfied so the day has been saved, though New New York is burnt on ruins.
Additional Info
Trivia
- The star Omicron Persei (also called Atik) really is approximately one thousand light years away.
- An unspiky version of the Near Death Star from 2ACV10 can be believed from fans that it appeared while the TV communicators were going through space. It can be known to be seen after the Asteroid Belt (the white ball-like figure before Jupiter).
- The man who Farnsworth is going to make delivery boy bears a striking resemblance to parallel Fry from The Farnsworth Parabox.
- In the final scene, the Statue of Liberty (now on fire) is seen holding her classic torch, not the Tube Transport System seen in 1ACV01.
Allusions
- Single Female Lawyer is a spoof of the show Ally McBeal
- The sequence where the Omicronian Saucers destroy all of Earth's monuments is based on the movie Independence Day.
- Star Wars:
- The shot of the Planet Express Ship flying by is based on an identical shot in the re-released Star Wars (time 11:47).
- Fry wears a Rebel Alliance X-wing starfighter Pilot's helmet while flying the Planet Express Ship.
- The battle planning session (and battle) is very reminiscent of the scene in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
- During the attack on the mother-ship, you see a turret swiveling while trying to shoot down a fighter. This is exactly the same as a small scene in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, during the attack on the Death Star.
Quotes
Zapp Brannigan: Stop exploding you cowards!!
Zapp Brannigan: The alien mothership is in orbit here. If we can hit that bullseye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards. Checkmate.
Lrrr: Prepare the water cooler, that we may gather around it later and discuss things.
Bender: I refuse to fight, I'm a conscientious objector.
Fry: A what?
Bender: You know, a coward.
Bender: Single female lawyer, having lots of sex!
Fry: I prefer shows with the genre of world's blankiest blank.
TV Guy: She is wearing the world's shortiest skirt.
Fry: I'm in!
Zapp Brannigan: What the hell is that thing!?
Kif Kroker: It appears to be the mothership!
Zapp Brannigan: Then what did we just blow up!?
Kif Kroker: [checks on a map] The Hubble Telescope.
Characters
- Amy
- Bender
- Debut: Fox Technician
- Fry
- Debut: Fry, Bender and Leela's replacements
- Hermes
- Debut: Professional Beach Bully
- Prof. Farnsworth
- Debut: Jenny McNeal
- Kif
- Leela
- Linda
- Debut: Lrrr, Ruler of Omicron Persei 8
- Debut: Ndnd
- Nibbler
- Number 9 Man
- Debut: President McNeal
- Debut: Supervillian Governor of New York
- Zapp Brannigan
- Zoidberg
Episode Credits
- Writer
- Director
- Voice Actors