The Series Has Landed

Episode Two: The Series Has Landed

Production Number: 1ACV02<br\> Title Caption: In Hypno-Vision<br\> First Aired: 4/4/99
AL Sightings: 1

The Story

Act I: "Here's your package, Mr. Horrible Gelatinous Blob."

Professor Farnsworth shows the new crew his new commercial, which he's paid to have aired during the superbowl ("Not on the same channel, of course.") The Professor then attempts to make breakfast, but is attacked by a giant bird that hatches from one of the eggs he was going to use.

Act II: "Is there a human doctor around?"

Hermes opens Planet Express for the day, and brings in a package to be delivered to Luna Park. Professor Farnsworth chooses Leela to be the new captain, and Hermes has her sign a "standard" legal release, which includes death by airlock failure, death by brain parasites, and death by sonic diarrhea. Fry goes to Dr. Zoidberg for a physical, and Bender gets cleaned. Amy Wong is introduced as the engineering intern, and Leela asks if she's of the Mars Wongs. Leela forces her to reveal that she is a member of the sorority Kappa Kappa Wong. Fry asks to do the countdown but is barely at nine when Leela says the've arrived. Fry asks for cuts in the line, but is denied.

Act III: "They landed an amusement park on the moon!"

Everyone but Fry is bored in Luna Park. But eventually, even he becomes frustrated with the fakeness of everything, and so he derails their car from the "Lunar Lander" ride and drives out into undeveloped moon. When there is an accident, Leela and Fry end up trapped on the moon and short of oxygen. Meanwhile, back inside the park, Bender and Amy are trying to recover the keys to the ship, which Amy accidentally dropped into the crate of claw-machine prizes they were delivering. Bender is caught trying to get the keys, and they assume he's cheating and eject him from the park.

Act IV: "Don't be a-touchin' my 3 beautiful robot daughters!"

Fry and Leela take refuge in the dome of a lunar redneck farmer. They're forced to do chores in exchange for oxygen and shelter. Fry and Leela are busy milking two Buggalo, when Bender is caught sleeping with the farmer's robot daughters. Fry, Leela, and Bender drive away in the farmer's moon-buggy, and the farmer and two of his daughters chase after them in the third robot daughter, The Crushinator. They are foiled when The Crushinator refuses to jump a chasm to continue the chase. Just when they think they're free, the lunar night comes. They run away from the lethal cold, and take shelter in the lunar lander from the original moon landing. They close the door before Bender can enter, and he leaves, only to make a pass at The Crushinator, whom he said needed to be romanced first. Bender is once again chased off by the lunar farmer. They are all saved by Amy, who has learned to control the winch by practicing the claw-machine when she was trying to get the ship's keys.

Additional Info

Trivia

• The 20th-century car on display at Luna Park is very similar to an AMC Pacer.
• Originally, the person who H. G. Blob ate was to disintegrate into a skeleton, but it was deemed too gruesome, and the milder version that we now know was made.
• This is the first time that it is shown that magnets affect Bender's inhibition unit (but only when they are applied to his head, as he wears a magnetic bowtie in Bendless Love and in the episode A Flight to Remember.
• The hydroponic farmer's moon car is modeled after the moon car used by the Apollo missions.

Games at Luna Park

• Skeeball
• Virtual Skeeball
• Virtual Virtual Skeeball
• Mortal Kooperation
• Gender-neutral Pac-Person
• Dodecapede

Quotes

• Dr. Zoidberg: Young lady! I'm an expert on humans! Now pick a mouth, open it and say *Unspellable words*.
  Fry: Thethethethethethethe!
  Dr. Zoidberg: What?! My mother was a saint! Get out!
• Fry: (meaning the "Goofy Gopher Revue) This is weak!
• Fry: That's not an astronaut, that's a TV comedian! And he were just using space metaphores for beating his wife.

Fast Forward

• In a deleted scene, The Crushinator reveals that she's pregnant. In Futurama Comic #9 we see that the child has been born.

Characters

(In alphabetical order)

• Debut: Amy
• Bender
• Debut: Buggalo
• Debut: Craterface
• Debut: The Crushinator
• Debut: Daisy Mae 128k
• Debut: Dr. Zoidberg
• Fry
• Debut: Goofy Gophers
• Debut: Hydroponic Farmer
• Debut: H.G. Blob
• Debut: Hermes
• Leela
• Debut: Lulubelle 7
• Debut: Moon Patrol
• Prof. Farnsworth
• Debut: Sal
• Debut: Whalers on The Moon

Inside References

• This is the first time we're shown that magnets applied to Bender's head interfere with his inhibition unit.

Real-World References

• "The happiest place orbiting Earth" is a reference to Disneyland, whose slogan is "The happiest place on Earth"
• The lunar farmer's hat, which reads "THE MOON SHALL RISE AGAIN" is a reference to similar sayings of the confederate south ("The South shall rise again").
• Crater Face, the moon mascot, after bender sticks his beer bottle into his eye, looks like a famous scene from Melies's movie "A trip to the moon" Picture

Episode Credits

• Writer
  • Ken Keeler
• Director
  • Peter Avanzino
• Voices
  • Billy West
  • Katey Sagal
  • John DiMaggio
  • Tress MacNeille
  • Lauren Tom
  • Phil LaMarr
  • Maurice LaMarche
• DVD Commentary
  • David X. Cohen
  • John DiMaggio
  • Ken Keeler
  • Matt Groening
  • Peter Avanzino
  • Rich Moore