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2/20/12 Space Pilot 3000 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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"Space Pilot 3000"Futurama episode

Promotional artwork for the episode.

Episode no. Season oneEpisode 1

Directed by Rich MooreGregg Vanzo

Written by David X. CohenMatt Groening

Production code 1ACV01

Original air date March 28, 1999

Opening caption "In Color"

Opening cartoon Little Buck Cheeser by MGM(1937)

Guest stars

Dick Clark as himselfLeonard Nimoy as himself

Space Pilot 3000From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Space Pilot 3000" (1st ever episode of Futurama) is thepilot episode of Futurama, which originally aired inNorth America on March 28, 1999 on Fox.[1] It is also thefirst episode to be set in the 30th century as the thirdseason and beyond are set in the 31st century. Theepisode focuses on the cryogenic freezing of the seriesprotagonist, Philip J. Fry, and the events when heawakens 1,000 years in the future. Series regulars areintroduced and the futuristic setting, inspired by a varietyof classic science fiction series from The Jetsons to StarTrek, is revealed. It also sets the stage for many of theevents to follow in the series, foreshadowing plot pointsfrom the third and fourth seasons.

The episode was written by David X. Cohen and MattGroening,[1] and directed by Rich Moore and GreggVanzo. Dick Clark and Leonard Nimoy guest starred asthemselves.[2] The episode generally received goodreviews with many reviewers noting that while theepisode started slow the series merited further viewing.

Contents1 Plot2 Continuity3 Production4 Cultural references5 Broadcast and reception6 References7 External links

PlotOn December 31, 1999, a pizza delivery boy namedPhilip J. Fry delivers a pizza to "Applied Cryogenics" inNew York City. At midnight, Fry falls into an opencryonic tube and is frozen. He is defrosted on Tuesday,December 31, 2999, in what is now New New York



Season one episodes

March 1999 – June 1999

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"

List of all Futurama episodes

Fry's first glimpse of New New York.

City. He is takento a fateassignment officernamed Leela, apurple-hairedcyclops. To hisdismay, Fry isassigned thecomputer-determinedpermanent careerof delivery boy,

and flees into the city when Leela tries to implant Fry'scareer chip designating his job.

While trying to track down his only living relative,Professor Farnsworth, Fry befriends a suicidal robotnamed Bender. As they talk at a bar, Fry learns thatBender too has deserted his job of bending girders forsuicide booths. Together, they evade Leela and hide in theHead Museum, where they encounter the preserved headsof historical figures. Fry and Bender eventually findthemselves underground in the ruins of Old New York.

Leela finally catches Fry, who has become depressed that everyone that he knew and loved is dead and tellsher that he will accept his career as a delivery boy. Leela sympathizes with Fry—she too is alone, and hatesher job—so she quits and joins Fry and Bender as job deserters. The three track down Professor Farnsworth,founder of an intergalactic delivery company called Planet Express. With the help of Professor Farnsworth,the three evade the police by launching the Planet Express Ship at the stroke of midnight amid the NewYear's fireworks. As the year 3000 begins, Farnsworth hires the three as the crew of his ship. Fry cheers athis acquisition of a new job: delivery boy.

ContinuityWhile the plot of the episode stands on its own, it also sets up much of the continuing plot of the series byincluding Easter eggs for events that do not occur until much later[1]: as Fry falls into the freezer, the sceneshows a strange shadow cast on the wall behind him. It is revealed in "The Why of Fry" that the shadowbelongs to Nibbler, who intentionally pushes Fry into the freezer as part of a complex plan to save Earth fromthe Brainspawn in the future. Executive producer David X. Cohen claims that from the very beginning thecreators had plans to show a larger conspiracy behind Fry's journey to the future.[3] In the movie Futurama:Bender's Big Score, it is revealed that the spacecrafts seen destroying the city while Fry is frozen are pilotedby Bender and those chasing him after he steals the Nobel Peace Prize.[4][5]

At the end of the episode, Professor Farnsworth offers Fry, Leela and Bender the Planet Express deliverycrew positions. The professor produces the previous crew's career chips from an envelope labeled "Contents



of Space Wasp's Stomach". In a later episode, "The Sting", the crew encounters the ship of the previous crewin a space beehive. When discussing this discontinuity in the episode commentary, writer of "The Sting"Patric Verrone states "we made liars out of the pilot".[6]

This episode introduces the fictional technology that allows preserved heads to be kept alive in jars. Thistechnology makes it possible for the characters to interact with celebrities from the then-distant past, and isused by the writers to comment on the 20th and 21st centuries in a satirical manner.[2]

ProductionIn the DVD commentary, Matt Groening notes that beginning any television series is difficult, but he foundparticular difficulty starting one that took place in the future because of the amount of setup required. As atrade off, they included a lot of Easter eggs in the episode that would pay off in later episodes. He and Cohenpoint these out throughout the episode.[7] The scene where Fry emerges from a cryonic tube and has his firstview of New New York was the first 3D scene worked on by the animation team. It was considered to be adefining point for whether the technique would work or not.[8]

Originally, the first person entering the pneumatic tube transport system declared "J.F.K., Jr. Airport" as hisdestination. After John F. Kennedy, Jr.'s death in the crash of his private airplane, the line has since beenredubbed on all subsequent broadcasts and the DVD release to "Radio City Mutant Hall" (a reference toRadio City Music Hall). The original version was heard only during the pilot broadcast and the first rerun afew months later.[8] Although the original line is still used on repeat broadcasts in the UK on Satellite channelSky One. (The Region 2 DVD has the redubbed line). According to Groening, the inspiration for the suicidebooth was the 1937 Donald Duck cartoon, "Modern Inventions", in which the Duck is faced with—andnearly killed several times by—various push button gadgets in a Museum of the Future.[7]

Cultural referencesIn their original pitch to Fox, Groening and Cohen stated that they wanted the futuristic setting for the showto be neither "dark and drippy" like Blade Runner, nor "bland and boring" like The Jetsons.[7] They felt thatthey could not make the future either a utopia or a dystopia because either option would eventually becomeboring.[8] The creators gave careful consideration to the setting, and the influence of classic science fiction isevident in this episode as a series of references to—and parodies of—easily recognizable films, books andtelevision programs. In the earliest glimpse of the future while Fry is frozen in the cryonic chamber, time isseen passing outside the window until reaching the year 3000. This scene was inspired by a similar scene inthe film The Time Machine based on H.G. Wells' novel.[7] When Fry awakens in the year 2999, he is greetedwith Terry's catchphrase "Welcome to the world of tomorrow." The scene is a joke at the expense ofFuturama's namesake, the Futurama ride at the 1939 World's Fair whose tag line was "The World ofTomorrow".[9]

In addition to the setting, part of the original concept for the show was that there would be a lot of advancedtechnology similar to that seen in Star Trek, but it would be constantly malfunctioning.[8] The automaticdoors at Applied Cryogenics resemble those in Star Trek: The Original Series; however, they malfunction



when Fry remarks on this similarity.[10] In another twist, the two policemen who try to arrest Fry at the headmuseum use weapons which are visually similar to lightsabers used in the Star Wars film series; however,they are functionally more similar to nightsticks.[10] The interaction between the characters was notoverlooked. The relationship formed between Fry and Bender in this episode has been compared to therelationship between Will Robinson and the robot in Lost in Space.[11]

Although both Futurama and The Simpsons were created by Matt Groening, overt references to the latter aremostly avoided in Futurama. One of the few exceptions to this rule is the appearance of Blinky, a three-eyedorange fish seen on The Simpsons, as Fry is going through the tube.[7]

Another running gag of the series is Bender's fondness for Olde Fortran malt liquor,[10] named after OldeEnglish 800 malt liquor and the programming language Fortran. The drink was first introduced in this episodeand became so closely associated with the character that he was featured with a bottle in both the RocketUSA wind-up toy and the action figure released by Moore Action Collectibles.[12][13]

The BBC 1990's hit Red Dwarf featured an almost identical pilot; their protagonist is frozen in a cryogenicfreezer and wakes up millions of years later to find everything has changed.

Broadcast and receptionIn a review by Patrick Lee in Science Fiction Weekly based on a viewing of this episode alone, Futuramawas deemed not as funny as The Simpsons, particularly as "the satire is leavened with treacly sentimental bitsabout free will and loneliness". The episode was rated as an "A- pick" and found to "warrant furtherviewing" despite these concerns.[10] Rob Owen of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted that although theepisode contained the same skewed humor as The Simpsons, it was not as smart and funny, and he attributedthis to the large amount of exposition and character introduction required of a television series pilot, notingthat the show was "off to a good start."[14] Andrew Billen of New Statesman found the premise of theepisode to be unoriginal, but remained somewhat enthusiastic about the future of the series. While he praisedthe humorous details of the episode, such as the background scenes while Fry was frozen, he also criticizedthe show's dependence on in-jokes such as Groening's head being present in the head museum.[15]

In its initial airing, the episode had "unprecedented strong numbers" with a Nielsen rating of 11.2/17 inhomes and 9.6/23 in adults 18–49.[16] The Futurama premiere was watched by more people than either itslead-in show (The Simpsons) or the show following it (The X-Files), and it was the number one show amongmen aged 18–49 and teenagers for the week.[17][18] The episode was ranked in 2006 by IGN as number 14in their list of the top 25 Futurama episodes.[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d Iverson, Dan (2006-07-07). ""Top 25 Futurama Episodes""(http://tv.ign.com/articles/716/716663p3.html) . IGN. http://tv.ign.com/articles/716/716663p3.html. Retrieved2008-06-15.

2. ^ a b Booker, M. Keith. Drawn to Television:Prime-Time Animation from The Flintstones to Family Guy



(http://books.google.com/books?id=oCJ1ExPYikQC&dq=Drawn+to+television&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0). Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 115–224. ISBN 0275990192. http://books.google.com/books?id=oCJ1ExPYikQC&dq=Drawn+to+television&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0.

3. ^ Cohen, David X (2003). Futurama season 4 DVD commentary for the episode "The Why of Fry" (DVD). 20thCentury Fox.

4. ^ Reed, Phil (2007-12-02). "Review: Bender's Big Score"(http://web.archive.org/web/20071212202740/http://www.noisetosignal.org/film/2007/12/review-benders-big-score.php) . Noisetosignal.org. Archived from the original (http://www.noisetosignal.org/film/2007/12/review-benders-big-score.php) on December 12, 2007.http://web.archive.org/web/20071212202740/http://www.noisetosignal.org/film/2007/12/review-benders-big-score.php. Retrieved 2008-06-09.

5. ^ Groening, Matt (2007). Futurama: Bender's Big Score DVD commentary (DVD). 20th Century Fox.6. ^ Verrone, Patric (2003). Futurama season 4 DVD commentary for the episode "The Sting" (DVD). 20th Century

Fox.7. ^ a b c d e Groening, Matt (2003). Futurama season 1 DVD commentary for the episode "Space Pilot 3000"

(DVD). 20th Century Fox.8. ^ a b c d Cohen, David X (2003). Futurama season 1 DVD commentary for the episode "Space Pilot 3000"

(DVD). 20th Century Fox.9. ^ "The Original Futurama" (http://www.wired.com/entertainment/hollywood/magazine/15-

12/ff_futurama_original) . Wired. 2007-11-27. http://www.wired.com/entertainment/hollywood/magazine/15-12/ff_futurama_original. Retrieved 2008-04-29.

10. ^ a b c d Lee, Patrick (March 22, 1999). ""Futurama: The future's not what it used to be ""(http://web.archive.org/web/20070612205432/http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue101/screen.html) . Sci Fi Weekly.Archived from the original (http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue101/screen.html) on June 12, 2007.http://web.archive.org/web/20070612205432/http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue101/screen.html. Retrieved 2007-06-25.

11. ^ Joyce Millman (1999-03-26). ". . . . . . . that 31st century show . . . . . . ."(http://www.salon.com/ent/tv/mill/1999/03/cov_26mill.html) . Salon.com.http://www.salon.com/ent/tv/mill/1999/03/cov_26mill.html. Retrieved 2008-06-15.

12. ^ Janulewicz, Tom (2000-02-29). "Pushing Tin: Space Toys With Golden-Age Style"(http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/toyfair_tinworks_000229.html) . Space.com.http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/toyfair_tinworks_000229.html. Retrieved 2008-07-06.

13. ^ Huxter, Sean (2001-06-11). "Futurama Action Figures"(http://web.archive.org/web/20080623210213/http://www.scifi.com/sfw/cool/sfw7099.html) . Sci Fi Weekly.Archived from the original (http://www.scifi.com/sfw/cool/sfw7099.html) on June 23, 2008.http://web.archive.org/web/20080623210213/http://www.scifi.com/sfw/cool/sfw7099.html. Retrieved 2008-07-06.

14. ^ Owen, Rob (1999-03-26). "Simpsons meet the Jetsons; 'The Devil's Arithmetic'" (http://www.post-gazette.com/tv/19990326rob4.asp) . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://www.post-gazette.com/tv/19990326rob4.asp.Retrieved 2007-08-08.

15. ^ Billen, Andrew (1999-09-27). "Laughing matters" (http://www.newstatesman.com/199909270044) . NewStatesman. http://www.newstatesman.com/199909270044. Retrieved 2008-06-13.

16. ^ Bierbaum, Tom (1999-03-30). "Fox sees 'Futurama' and it works"(http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117492811.html?categoryid=14&cs=1) . Variety.http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117492811.html?categoryid=14&cs=1. Retrieved 2008-06-15.

17. ^ de Moraes, Lisa (1999-03-31). "`Futurama' Draws Them In"(http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/40180027.html?dids=40180027:40180027&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=MAR+31%2C+1999&author=Lisa+de+Moraes&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=%60Futurama'+Draws+Them+In&pqatl=google) . The Washington Post.http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/40180027.html?dids=40180027:40180027&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=MAR+31%2C+1999&author=Lisa+de+Moraes&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=%60Futurama'+Draws+Them+In&pqatl=google. Retrieved 2008-06-15.



18. ^ ""Futurama" has popular premiere" (http://news.awn.com/index.php?ltype=search&range=all&search=Futurama&newsitem_no=703) . Animation World Network. 1999-04-04.http://news.awn.com/index.php?ltype=search&range=all&search=Futurama&newsitem_no=703. Retrieved 2008-06-15.

External links"Space Pilot 3000" (http://www.tv.com/shows/1534/) at TV.com"Space Pilot 3000" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0584449/) at the Internet Movie Database"Space Pilot 3000" at the Infosphere, the Futurama Wiki.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Space_Pilot_3000&oldid=474371745"Categories: Futurama (season 1) episodes Television pilots 1999 television episodes

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