Talking Futurama - Anthology of Interest II
Added 2022-06-13 04:00:03 +0000 UTCIn this month's podcast, we return once again to the What If Machine as we cover the second and last Anthology of Interest episode. And this Futurama premise goes out with a bang, as it provides enough material for three inspired stories that don't outstay their welcome. Listen in as we discuss Bender becoming human and almost immediately doing himself in with vices, Fry transforming into a Last Starfighter-style hero in a world where video games are real, and also a Wizard of Oz parody for some reason. So sit back and get ready for the most video game references allowed by a television show in 2002!
Comments
I heard the wizard of oz gold standard analogy thing from a high school us history class so it's not just a party tidbit
skelly
2022-06-27 14:57:36 +0000 UTCThey also used Rush on king of the hill for the witch coven bobby joins. Specifically the tree song.
Paddy O'Rourke
2022-06-17 14:40:04 +0000 UTC"It's ok to take drugs instead of playing Rez" Why not both?
PurpleComet
2022-06-17 06:18:52 +0000 UTCI definitely agree with Henry about Black Magick by Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott! I own all three trades, maybe one of my favourite comics ever. They do some really great work with mostly black and white pictures, with colour occasionally creeping in. I know it will never be finished, but the final issue goes out on an emotional high point that's good enough for me.
Stephen Cass
2022-06-15 22:47:44 +0000 UTCCompletely fair!
Aaron Alcott
2022-06-14 18:41:22 +0000 UTCHey, only 85% of Weezer is straight trash!
Bob Mackey
2022-06-14 18:40:46 +0000 UTCI do remember hearing Billy West on Gilbert’s show saying the Prof. voice was based on Frank Morgan in Oz.
Steve D
2022-06-14 17:22:44 +0000 UTCProg is awesome. Weezer, however, straight trash.
Aaron Alcott
2022-06-14 16:08:37 +0000 UTCI had gone to Rush shows from the time I was a child to an adult in my 20s. What I was interesting was towards the end of their career, the crowds became significantly more diverse. The “no women at Rush shows” thing was always a bit overblown though but maybe I’m biased as they’re my mom’s favorite band.
Tyler M.
2022-06-14 11:31:07 +0000 UTCIt's funny that Tivo is mentioned in the tag for this episode because this may have been my most rewatched Tivo recording ever. I think this stayed in my Tivo until the end of the device's lifespan. I was equally online and basking in early retro gaming culture but this episode definitely felt fresh at the time. And even though the individual jokes are maybe a little on the obvious side, they're executed excellently. This was and remains my favorite 7 or 8 minutes of Futurama of all time. I'm slightly younger than you guys, so I didn't experience any of the games referenced here firsthand. But I did start getting into retro games in a big way in the late '90s after discovering some Golden Age arcade machines at a record store at the Jersey Shore. I unironically enjoyed these classics at the time and still do today (2600 games are another story). I'm not sure that anything since this episode could have been more "for me". The idea of retro games, this thing that only a small handful of gamers, not to mention the wider population, cared about at the time, appearing on my favorite TV show just blew my mind. Human bender is also a great segment. Wizard of Oz a bit of a letdown after that but still fun. I was very sad they didn't continue this format but what you guys mentioned of burning through plot ideas makes sense. I'd be a little surprised if we don't get at least one return to this in the new run given how much nostalgia there is for this episode in particular.
Michael Bentley
2022-06-14 03:55:37 +0000 UTCWhen I was a teenaged nerd, when given the choice between Weezer and Rush, I went Rush all the way. Not just because I was also a huge music nerd who dug the shit out of Neil Peart's complex drum solos, Alex Lifeson's catchy riffs and Geddy Lee's slick bass licks (I also played bass at that time), but also because, at the time, Weezer was in their "Beverly Hills" era and having that stupid song play every hour on the radio soured me on them for awhile. And while can appreciate Weezer now, the best song on Pinkerton doesn't hold a candle to the entirety of Signals (my favorite Rush album) Sadly, I never got to see Rush live and now I never will considering Neil died two years ago and is irreplaceable as a drummer. So I'll never confirm if the bathroom jokes are true.
KaiserBeamz
2022-06-14 01:43:35 +0000 UTCI think you're on to something, Bob. My now spouse beat the first boss in Bloodborne for me too. But the FIRST time we hung out, on a work trip together, it was a few days before Valentine's Day and he had just broken up with his ex. We were in a consignment shop checking out, and the person assumed we were a couple and asked if we had any plan, and he said "Play Dark Souls and cry." And now we too are wed.
Kat Heagberg
2022-06-13 22:08:34 +0000 UTCI love the 2 liter bottle of Shasta line. When I was a kid, I used to always choose the Shasta machine at my local grocery store because of this joke, and it only being $.25. Also, the machine was very easy to steal from. Just hitting random selections without putting money in it had like a 30% chance of dropping a soda.
Daran
2022-06-13 19:53:12 +0000 UTCMy first console was the NES and that's largely how my relationship with video games began. I still knew plenty about Atari though and most of that was due to an annual vacation to a lake house my grandparents would rent because that was a common middle class vacation in New England. That type of vacation was often cheap because you'd rent some upper class person's second home that they probably inherited because it was bought decades earlier and cheaply built. The house would be populated with secondhand furniture and dishware like gas station pint glasses of forgotten cartoon mascots. In the closet of the place my grandparents would rent was an old 2600 and that was honestly the best way to experience that console. If there was a rainy day that kept you inside, break out the old games and get an afternoon out of them. There were enough games to keep things entertaining, but it was hardly something that I would desire to play when home. It was also one of the only times my grandmother would show any interest in video games as she liked Breakaway and only Breakaway and would try to get me to play it, which I usually would, even if I was sick of it. The Anthology of Interest episodes were a lot of fun and I'm a little disappointed they didn't continue after this. The Comedy Central years did multiple anthology episodes, just not with this framing device. I wish each one had added some irreverent lore to the Fing-Longer, the actual punchline to the first one and not the What-If? machine. Alas, we're left to wonder what could have been. A man can dream, a man can dream!
Joe Hodgson
2022-06-13 19:28:17 +0000 UTCI showed Oz to my young kids (at the time 1, 3 and 5) at the beach and they were instantly mesmerized and delighted. Anecdotally a lot of other parents have observed similar reactions. There is just something so special about that movie and I believe it’s going to be (if not already) mentioned alongside Beethoven’s 5th or Romeo and Juliet as an enduring cultural achievement.
Steve D
2022-06-13 16:51:39 +0000 UTC
