1. Space Pilot 3000

28/03/1999

Dick Clark (Himself) Leonard Nimoy (Himself)

IN COLOR

Fry, a 20th-century New-York pizza delivery boy receives a prank call and is frozen in a capsule and wakes up in year 2999. He meets an alien named Leela that wants to assign his permanent career... delivery boy. Fry refuses, so he escapes. He then meets Bender, a robot who likes to drink and has suicidal tendencies. Together, they start running away from Leela, arriving to the ruins of old New York. Leela finds them, but instead of inserting the permanent chip on Fry, she removes her own. All three go to Prof. Hubert Farnsworth's house, Fry only living relative, becoming his new space crew.  If you look very closely at Leela's computer when she takes Fry's details, you can see that his full name is Philip J. Fry. Homer's name is Homer J. Simpson. Matt uses the "J." middle name, referring to one of his favorite shows, Rocky and Bullwinkle.  The famous three-eyed fish from The Simpsons makes a cameo appearance when Fry passes through the ocean in the transportation tube.  In the original airing of the episode when Fry was about to use the tubes to take him someplace, the guy in line before him says, "JFK Jr. Air Port". When the episode was re-aired on Cartoon Network, though, this line is replaced by "Radio City Mutant Hall".  Although the JFK Jr. reference has been dubbed out (even on the DVD) in the Spanish dubbed version of this episode the man can still be heard asking to be taken to JFK Jr. Airport.  According to the DVD's audio commentary John DiMaggio originally auditioned for the voice of the Professor and co-developer David X. Cohen considered doing the voice of Bender.  In the opening credits you can see the cast of the show flying though the tubes.  This episode is the most watched premiere episode in FOX's history.  In the head museum, you can recognize several famous heads: Johnny Carson, David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Liz Talyor, Dennis Rodman, Billy Corgan, Barbara Streisand and Matt Groening, this series creator. In the Hall of the U.S. Presidents: Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton, Warren Harding, Andrew Jackson, Grover Cleveland, and Benjamin Harrison.  When Matt Groening and David X. Cohen were starting this show, they decided to add little secrets to some episodes that would pay off in later episodes.  In the Rough Draft of the script, Michelle was named Janet, and Fry was actually named Curtis Fry. It was changed to Philip after Phil Hartman, who was set to have a recurring role as Zapp Brannigan on the series until his unfortunate passing.  The Original Alien Language devised by the writers and hidden throughout the episode was solved completely by fans after only the first airing. The Second language took several months.  If you notice you can see a sign outside that says "Akbar." If you don't know Abkar, it's a name of a gay character in Matt Groening's comic-book series "Life in Hell".  When the police tell the job deserters that they are partially surrounded, Bender, quite literally, "sh*ts a brick."  This was voted the best episode of Futurama during the Adult Swim marathon.  The opening titles have several things written in Alien code. There are three different signs that go by real quickly, but they all read in order: "Rent A Human," "3d Rulez!," and "Tasty Human Burgers."  As they're escaping the restaurant, there is graffiti written on the wall in the alley in Alien code. It's a test to see if the viewers figured out the code yet. It reads "Venusians go home".  In the opening sequence, you see a taxi cab pass by with an advertisement on its roof. Roughly translated it either says "Liquid Wisdom" or "Liquid Solids."  When Fry is delivering the pizza, he passes by a sign written in Chinese. When translated the characters say "fire" and "women." Probably meant to stand for "Hot Women"  You can see Nibler's shadow on the floor as Fry falls backwards into the tube. A story line that was set up in advance when the show was being created.  The Robot Policeman says he would go 24th century on their a**. This has the same effect as someone today saying that they are going to go Medieval.  Leela's officer code is 1B-DI (One Beady Eye).  Bender takes Fry to hide inside the Head Museum saying, "It's Free on Tuesdays." 31 December 2999 will, in fact, be a Tuesday.  The introduction of the code is shown in the restaurant Fry and Bender first go to. A sign on the wall reads "Drink Slurm." The same sign appears off to the left, but the word DRINK is written in Alien Language #1. This was to help viewers learn the code and try to decode it.

2. The Series Has Landed

04/04/1999

IN HYPNO-VISION

After joining Planet Express, Fry, Bender, Farnsworth's assistant Amy and Captain Leela must deliver their first package... to the moon. Fry imagines himself walking on the moon, but he finds out that there is an amusement park on the moon - Luna Park. While lowering the package, Amy drops the ship keys inside it. Fry is the only one who wants to walk on the real moon, so he goes with Leela to a educational trip, yet he interferes the road and they are now marooned on the moon with almost no oxygen. Amy and Bender discover the key that fell inside a crane game machine. Bender is thrown out of the park after putting his hand inside the machine. Fry and Leela arrive at a farm in the middle of the moon where they have to work for oxygen. After Bender sleeps with one of the robo-daughters of the farmer, he starts chasing Fry, Leela and Bender, but right in time, Amy appears to save them.  We learn that exposure to magnets messes up Bender's inhibition unit, causing him to folk sing.  First appearance of Amy, Hermes, and Dr. Zoidberg.  According to the DVD commentary, Amy does in fact speak actual Chinese when she gets upset.  According to the DVD commentary, the Professor's line about the commercial being aired during the Super Bowl was written when they thought this episode would premiere right after the Super Bowl, but Family Guy took the time slot instead.  A rabbit that resembles Binky from Matt Groening's syndicated comic-strip "Life in Hell" can be seen in the vending machine.  While on the moon in the amusement park, a pink sign in Alien Code #1 appears behind Bender. It reads "TASTY HUMAN BURGERS"  Plaque inside the Lunar Lander: Lander returned to this site by the Historical Sticklers Society.  When CraterFace tries to confiscate Bender's booze, Bender sticks his bottle in the mascot's right eye. This is a spoof on a classic French SciFi short from 1902, Le Voyage Dans la Lune "A Trip to the Moon."  First appearance of Mr. Horrible Gelatinous Blob and Crushinator.

3. I, Roommate

06/04/1999

AS SEEN ON TV

Everyone is sick of Fry living at Planet Express, so he is forced to move out to become Bender's roommate. The only catch is that Bender's apartment is too small for the two. After some searching they find a great apartment. A problem arises when Bender's antenna interferes with the TV reception. Bender decides to cut off his antenna so that he can live with Fry again. However he doesn't feel right without it, so he decides to leave and go back to his old apartment where he feels lonely. Leela convinces to convince Fry going back to the "small" apartment.  Bender's apartment number is "00100100." Obviously binary, when translated it stands for "$".  First appearance of Calculon, Monique, Boxy Robot, Hettie and Randy.

4. Love's Labors Lost In Space

13/04/1999

PRESENTED IN BC-BRAIN CONTROL (WHERE AVAILABLE)

On a mission intended to save endangered animals on a collapsing planet, Leela and the crew run into legendary starship captain Zapp Brannigan. A self-proclaimed ladies man, Zapp sees Leela as a potential new conquest. When the captain refuses to aid the animal rescue, Leela and her crew try to leave Zapp's starship. But Zapp throws Fry and Bender in jail, and summons Leela to his "Lovenasium." They ultimately escape and arrive on the doomed planet, where Leela finally finds love - with a cute, and very useful, creature named Nibbler.  This episode introduces Kif, Nibbler, Leela's new pet. It also introduces Zapp Brannigan, whose voice was originally going to be done by Phil Hartman, but he passed away too soon.  The portrait of Zapp Brannigan which hangs over his bed is a parody of Aaron Shikler's posthumous portrait of John F. Kennedy. The original hangs in the White House.  Kif said in the end the star-date was April 13th, that's the same day it was played.  The big painting of Branagan with his head held low is a remake of the famous JFK painting that hangs in The White House.  We learn about Zap Brannigan's ability as a military commander in this episode: He has none. Knowing that each Killbot had a preset kill limit, he sent "wave after wave" of his own men at killbots until each shut down.  It seems that Fry does not yet have a crush on Leela in this episode because he does not mention or hint at an attraction to her, despite all the references to her love life.  Endangered species of Vergon 6 are: Purple Fruit Snake, Sharktopus, Chilean Space Bass, Parasitic Puppy, Gretchen Mole, Windy Shrimp, Vampire Slug, Excommunicated Cardinal, Four-Legged Mimic, Molotov Cockatoo and Hermaphlamingos.

5. Fear Of A Bot Planet

20/04/1999

Tom Kenny (Robot, Judge)

FEATURING GRATUITOUS ALIEN NUDITY

At Madison Cube Garden watching a blernsball game, Bender complains about the poor treatment of robots. They're only there to clean up, polish the balls or water the fields. They never get any respect. Later, Bender must deliver a package to a planet inhabited by murderous robots that kill humans on sight. He discovers a robotopia - a land where the robot is king! However, when Leela and Fry are captured, Bender must choose between protecting his celebrity status or saving his friends.  The robot construction team uses Tetris-based blocks for building.  Several of the show's staff members' names can be seen on the score card Leela is holding, though only their last names are shown. The staff members are: Eric Horsted, Patric Verrone, Ken Keeler, J. Stewart Burns, David X. Cohen, Eric Kaplan, and Lewis Morton.

6. A Fishful Of Dollars

27/04/1999

Pamela Anderson (Herself)

LOADING... A thousand years is a long time to save up money, and Fry's savings account has been racking up interest. When Fry discovers just how much - over 4 billion dollars - Fry goes a little overboard. After completely redecorating the apartment, splurging on expensive spa days and treating his friends to innumerable luxuries, Fry discovers the ultimate expense. Anchovies. This rare delicacy as been extinct for years, and Fry must battle the evil conglomerate known as Mom, plus Pamela Anderson Lee's head in a jar, to get them!  Pamela Anderson makes one of 2 appearances on the show. Here, she voices her own head in a jar, but she will also voice Dixie in Fry and the Slurm Factory.  The "classical music" Fry is listening to is Sir Mixalot - Baby Got Back.  After Bender sprays oil on the intrusive Calvin Clone woman, you can see the teacher from Fry's dream ridding on the escalator behind them.  Apparently, Zoidberg's species was responsible for the extinction of anchovies.  In Fry's dream, he is in a class studying Ancient Egyptian Algebra. After checking, it is real Egyptian Algebra. The answer is still unknown.  Mom's sons are dressed like the Imperial Officers from Star Wars.  Fry, Leela and Bender destroy the "Mona Lisa" painting.  First appearance of Mom and her sons: Walt, Larry and Ignar.

7. My Three Suns

04/05/1999

PRESENTED IN DOUBLE VISION (WHERE DRUNK)

The crew visits an arid planet in the Galaxy of Terror distinctive for it's three suns and liquid alien inhabitants. Fry, after delivering a package under the scorching heat, quenches his thirst with a bottle of cool blue liquid. Fry soon finds out he drank the planet's royal leader and is named the new emperor. Fry abuses his newfound power, even appointing Bender second in command, until the aliens retaliate and the real battle for power begins.  Professor Farnsworth briefly appears in this episode.  There are several signs written in Alien Code #1 in the screwed up alley. Most have the translation written right next to them. In order of appearance they read "Open, Ring," "Televideo," "#'s 1-12," "Market, Boxing," and "The Eye Will Come"  While most of the signs around the Emperor's throne cannot be translated, one is written in Alien Code #1. It reads, of course, "Don't Drink The Emperor". There is a sign in red off to the side that does look like Alien Code 3, but it isn't.  The Liquid planet has a British style parliamentary system.

The badge at the very bottom of Bender's sash is a picture of Homer Simpsons.  Leela mentions that Fry is 25.

8. A Big Piece Of Garbage

11/05/1999

Ron Popeil (Himself)

MR. BENDER'S WARDROBE BY ROBOTANY 500

A big piece of garbage that was released a thousand years ago is now on the way to Earth to destroy it. After Fry, Leela and Bender fail on placing a bomb on it, the city has to build another big piece of garbage, yet that may be a problem since trash doesn't exist in year 3000.  We learn that to end a suggestive joke, Uranus was renamed to Urectum in 2620 - but rectum also means ass.  Futurama got its only Emmy nomination "Outstanding Animated Series" for this episode, but it lost to King of the Hill.  First use/appearance of Farnsworth's Smelloscope.  In the picture of the Professor at his science club, he had the same but smaller version of Fry's hair-do.  A different ending theme ("We'll Meet Again") is used for this episode.  The Bart Simpson dolls are the second reference to the Simpsons in the show.  First appearence of Odgen Wornstrum, Morbo and Linda.

9. Hell Is Other Robots

18/05/1999

The Beastie Boys (Themselves) Dan Castellaneta (Robot Devil)

CONDEMNED BY THE SPACE POPE

During a Beasty Boys concert, Bender runs into a high school buddy, Fender. Fender invites him to a party, which turns out to be robots getting high off of electricty, or "jacking on". After one try, Bender is hooked. On a trip back from Sicily 8, the crew runs into an electrical disturbence. Bender sabotages the ship and it flies right into the field, allowing Bender to get stoned and Fry and Leela nearly get killed. Realizing what he has become, he decides to join Robotolgy, a robot religion. It soon becomes apparent the crew prefers the old Bender. To get him back to normal, they fake a delevery to Atlantic City and begin tempting Bender. Eventually, Bender gives in, and is kidnapped that night at a hotel. He wakes up with Beelzebot, the robot devil. He's in Robot Hell. The next morning, Fry and Leela use Nibbler to track Bender down to a carnival. They find the entrence to hell in a broken down ride. A trap door opens beneth them, sending them down a slide. Beelzebot gives Bender several ironic punishments in an up-tempo musical number. Fry and Leela eventuall catch up and Beelzebot says if he is bested in a fiddle contest, they win Benders soul. They lose, but manage to escape anyway.  Dan Castellaneta who voices The Robot Devil is more famous for the voice of Homer Simpson.  The episode title is also the name of the pamphlet that Beelzebot gives to Bender in RobotHell.  Lady Luck's Array of Tortures: Parboil, Fricasee, Saute, Pleasant Massage, Deep-Fry, Bake.  The "Good Book" (ver. 3.0) is on an Iomega Zip Disk.  Jack-In-The-Box is still in business in 3000.  Fender who makes 20th century musical instruments and amplifiers are apparently still in business.  Robot Hell has an above ground entrance with a sign that says "The Inferno."  Dan Castellanetta has his own head in a jar in this episode!  First appearance of Preacherbot and the Robot Devil.