A Big Piece of Garbage

Last updated

"A Big Piece of Garbage"
Futurama episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 8
Directed by Susie Dietter
Written by Lewis Morton
Production code1ACV08
Original air dateMay 11, 1999 (1999-05-11)
Guest appearances
Episode features
Opening caption Mr. Bender's Wardrobe by ROBOTANY 500
Opening cartoon Elmer Fudd in "A Corny Concerto" (1943)
Episode chronology
← Previous
"My Three Suns"		Next →
"Hell Is Other Robots"
Futurama season 1
List of episodes

"A Big Piece of Garbage" is the eighth episode in the first season of the American animated television series Futurama . It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on 11 May 1999. The episode was written by Lewis Morton and directed by Susie Dietter. Ron Popeil guest stars in this episode as himself. Nancy Cartwright also has a brief cameo as a Bart Simpson doll. Much of the episode is a spoof of the 1998 film Armageddon ; however, instead of Earth being threatened by an asteroid, it is threatened by a giant ball of garbage. [1]

Contents

Plot

Professor Farnsworth invites the crew of Planet Express to join him at the Academy of Inventors' annual symposium, where inventors display their latest creations. He will be presenting his invention, the Deathclock, which displays the date of a person's death after that person's finger is stuck into the machine. At the symposium, the crew encounter one of Farnsworth's bitter former students, Professor Ogden Wernstrom. Wernstrom presents his invention, a reverse SCUBA suit that allows fish to breathe water while walking about on land, then taunts Farnsworth over his invention from the previous year—the Deathclock.

Mortified that he had previously presented the device and forgotten about it, Farnsworth hastily begins drawing on a napkin. He presents the drawing, which depicts a Smelloscope, a device that allows people to smell distant cosmic objects, but is humiliated when he smears the drawing. Back at Planet Express, Farnsworth invites everybody to see the Smelloscope that he had constructed last year and also forgotten about. Fry begins smelling objects around the Solar System and quickly discovers a foul-smelling meteor. After calculating its trajectory, Farnsworth announces that the object will collide with New New York City in 72 hours, reducing it to a "stinky crater".

After some research, they find a video that reveals the object to be a giant ball of garbage from Old New York, launched into space in 2052. After warning Mayor Poopenmayer, a plan is hatched to destroy the garbage ball. The Planet Express crew is sent on a mission to plant a bomb on the ball. Then, once activated, the bomb will be set to allow the crew twenty-five minutes to escape. Farnsworth also reminds them that if it blew up any time later, the explosion would cause garbage to rain across the entire Earth, killing millions.

Unfortunately, after starting the bomb, they find out the Professor put the bomb's countdown display in upside down, and it actually only allows 52 seconds. The crew panics, and Bender throws the bomb into space to save them, where it explodes harmlessly. Wernstrom makes several demands before quickly leaving. In a last-ditch effort to redeem himself, Farnsworth comes up with a second plan to save the city: launching a second ball of garbage to bounce against the first one and sending it flying into the sun.

Fry leads the city to quickly generate a second ball of garbage, which is fired at the first garbage ball. The rocket flies into the air and hits the other garbage ball, which slingshots around planets into the sun, while the new ball flies out of the solar system. For saving the city from the garbage ball, Professor Farnsworth is given the inventor's award, which was confiscated from Wernstrom as punishment abandoning everyone. Leela's concerns that the new garbage ball will return and destroy a future generation are quickly dismissed, as the new ball should not return for hundreds of years.

Cultural references

The plot of the episode is a reference to the 1998 film Armageddon , in which a group of astronauts attempt to destroy an asteroid heading towards Earth with a warhead. [2] It also references Mobro 4000, a garbage barge that originated in New York and was rejected from multiple ports in 1987.

The garbage ball contains Bart Simpson dolls that utter Bart's catchphrase "eat my shorts" to which Bender does, and later he would respond "mmm...shorts" the same way Homer Simpson does when he gets hungry.

During the end credits, Kate Smith's rendition of "We'll Meet Again" plays instead of the standard opening and closing theme music.

Reception

Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode an A−, stating, "More than anything else, 'A Big Piece Of Garbage' gives a taste of what’s to come. Other episodes will have more challenging, mind-boggling plots, and still others will find ways to move us more deeply than we thought possible from such a silly, weird little show. But this half hour is proof that the show can tell big, legitimately exciting (if utterly ridiculous) adventure stories without breaking a sweat." [3]

This episode was nominated for an Emmy award in 1999 for Best Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or Less)". [4] [5] However, it lost to the King of the Hill episode "And They Call It Bobby Love".

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Professor Farnsworth</span> Futurama character

Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth, commonly referred to in-show as either Professor Farnsworth or simply Professor, is a fictional character in the American animated television series Futurama. The mad scientist proprietor of the Planet Express delivery service for whom the main characters work, he is the great (×30) grandnephew and the great (×30) grandson of series protagonist Philip J. Fry because of a time paradox. He alternates between intelligence and amoral senility due to his greatly advanced age of 175. He demonstrates a mastery of any field of science necessary for the series' plots and is suggested to be one of the most brilliant inventors on Earth. However, he falls asleep constantly, and he routinely sends his crews on suicide missions.

"I, Roommate" is the third episode in the first season of the American animated television series Futurama. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 6, 1999. The title of the episode is a reference to collected short stories written between 1940 and 1950 by author Isaac Asimov titled I, Robot. The episode was written by Eric Horsted and directed by Bret Haaland. The plot focuses on Fry and Bender's search for an apartment after deciding to become roommates and the various difficulties they have in finding a place that is acceptable to both of them.

"Mars University" is the eleventh episode in the first season of the American animated television series Futurama. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 3, 1999. This episode was written by J. Stewart Burns and directed by Bret Haaland.

"Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch" is the first episode in the fourth season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 55th episode of the series overall. It first aired on Fox in the United States on January 12, 2003. The episode was written by Bill Odenkirk and directed by Wes Archer. The plot centers on Kif and Amy's relationship; Kif is suddenly impregnated so he returns to his homeworld to give birth. The episode was generally well received by critics.

"In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela" is the second episode in the sixth season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 90th episode of the series overall. It originally aired directly after "Rebirth" on June 24, 2010 on Comedy Central. In the episode, Zapp Brannigan and Leela end up on a Garden of Eden-like world after fighting a planet-destroying satellite called V-Giny.

"The Duh-Vinci Code" is the fifth episode in the sixth season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 93rd episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on July 15, 2010. In the episode, Fry finds a drawing of a lost Leonardo da Vinci invention which leads him and Professor Farnsworth to planet Vinci.

"That Darn Katz!" is the eighth episode in the sixth season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 96th episode of the series overall. It first aired on Comedy Central on August 5, 2010. In the episode, Amy's rejected doctoral dissertation—a device to harness the Earth's rotational energy—is used by evil invading space cats to fix their own slowing planet. Since the invention will cause the Earth to stop turning, Amy and Nibbler must team up to stop them while their co-workers have fallen under the thrall of the cats' cuteness.

"A Clockwork Origin" is the ninth episode in the sixth season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 97th episode of the series overall. It aired on Comedy Central on August 12, 2010. In the episode, Professor Farnsworth leaves Earth after being frustrated by anti-evolutionists' belief in "Creaturism", a form of Creationism. He and the Planet Express crew arrive at a lifeless planet and the Professor introduces nanobots into the environment. The nanobots rapidly begin evolving into mechanical organisms, allowing the crew to witness a whole new evolutionary history that unfolds before their eyes.

"The Prisoner of Benda" is the tenth episode in the sixth season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 98th episode of the series overall. It aired on Comedy Central on August 19, 2010. In the episode, Professor Farnsworth and Amy build a machine that allows them to switch minds so that they may each pursue their lifelong dreams. However, they learn that the machine cannot be used twice on the same pairing of bodies. To try to return to their rightful bodies, they involve the rest of the crew in the mind switches, leaving each member free to pursue their own personal endeavors in a different crew member's body. The episode is composed of multiple subplots, with the main subplot being Bender attempting to steal a crown, but ending up switching places with the Robo-Hungarian emperor.

"Cold Warriors" is the twenty-fourth episode in the sixth season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 112th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on August 25, 2011 on Comedy Central. American actor Tom Kenny guest stars in the episode, voicing recurring character Yancy Fry, Jr., as well as astronaut Buzz Aldrin, voicing himself.

Reincarnation (<i>Futurama</i>) 26th episode of the 6th season of Futurama

"Reincarnation" is the 26th and final episode in the sixth season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 114th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central on September 8, 2011. This is the only episode not to be animated in its regular animation style, instead featuring three different segments which each showcase Futurama "reincarnated" in a different style of animation. The plot of each segment forms part of an overall story arc, revolving around the discovery and subsequent destruction of a diamondium comet. A running joke for the episode involves a key plot point in each segment being obscured by the specific animation style, though the characters themselves express amazement over what they see.

"The Six Million Dollar Mon" is the seventh episode in the seventh season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 121st episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central on July 25, 2012. The episode was written by Ken Keeler and directed by Peter Avanzino.

"Free Will Hunting" is the ninth episode in the seventh season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 123rd episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central on August 8, 2012. The episode was written by David X. Cohen and directed by Raymie Muzquiz.

"Viva Mars Vegas" is the twelfth episode in the seventh season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 126th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central on August 22, 2012. The episode was written by Josh Weinstein and directed by Frank Marino. Its opening sequence is constructed from plastic, cardboard, and model ships that "fly" on wires and rods.

"Love's Labours Lost in Space" is the fourth episode in the first season of the American animated television series Futurama. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 13, 1999. The episode was written by Brian Kelley and directed by Brian Sheesley. This episode introduces the recurring character Zapp Brannigan when he attempts to prevent the Planet Express crew from completing their mission. It also introduces the characters of Kif Kroker, Brannigan's aide, and Nibbler, whom Leela adopts as a pet.

"T.: The Terrestrial" is the sixteenth episode in the seventh season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 130th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central on June 26, 2013. The episode was written by Josh Weinstein and directed by Lance Kramer. In the episode, Fry becomes marooned on a distant planet, where he befriends an inhabitant who helps protect him and find his way home.

"Fry and Leela's Big Fling" is the seventeenth episode in the seventh season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 131st episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central on June 19, 2013. The episode was written by Eric Rogers and directed by Edmund Fong. Fry and Leela attempt to have a romantic time together, but with everyone around they cannot get time alone.

"Murder on the Planet Express" is the twenty-fourth episode in the seventh season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 138th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central on August 21, 2013. The episode was written by Lewis Morton and directed by Frank Marino. In this episode, the crew get trapped aboard the Planet Express ship with a horrific alien creature. The episode's title derives from Murder on the Orient Express and parodies Alien and The Thing.

"Simpsorama" is the sixth episode of the twenty-sixth season of the animated television series The Simpsons, and the 558th episode of the series overall. The episode was directed by Bob Anderson and written by J. Stewart Burns. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 9, 2014.

References

  1. ↑ Booker, M. Keith. Drawn to Television: Prime-Time Animation from The Flintstones to Family Guy. pp. 115–124.
  2. ↑ Fitzpatrick, Kevin (6 August 2010). "Every Sci-Fi Reference Ever in Futurama". Ugo. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  3. ↑ Handlen, Zack (4 December 2014). "Futurama: "My Three Suns"/"A Big Piece Of Garbage"". The A.V. Club . Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  4. ↑ Variety Staff (22 July 1999). "Primetime Emmy noms — List 1" . Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  5. ↑ Azrai, Ahmad (31 October 2004). "Farewell to the funny future". Asia Africa Intelligence Wire. Retrieved 10 January 2008.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.