Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences

Last updated
"Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences"
Futurama episode
Episode no.Season 6
Episode 11
Directed byCrystal Chesney-Thompson
Written by Patric M. Verrone
Production code6ACV11
Original air dateAugust 26, 2010 (2010-08-26)
Guest appearances
Episode features
Opening caption Two scoops of pixels in every scene
Episode chronology
← Previous
"The Prisoner of Benda"		Next →
"The Mutants Are Revolting"
Futurama season 6
List of episodes

"Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences" is the eleventh episode in the sixth season of the American animated television series Futurama , and the 99th episode overall. It aired on Comedy Central on August 26, 2010. In the episode, the ruler of the planet Omicron Persei 8, Lrrr, experiences marriage trouble with his queen, Ndnd. He departs for Earth, invading it in an attempt to overcome his mid-life crisis and reignite his marriage.

Contents

The episode was written by Patric M. Verrone and directed by Crystal Chesney-Thompson and guest stars Battlestar Galactica 's Katee Sackhoff and cartoonist Sergio Aragonés. Series creators and producers Matt Groening and David X. Cohen make cameos in the episode.

Plot

On his birthday, Ndnd becomes fed up with Lrrr [ broken anchor ]'s lack of motivation to conquer other worlds. He reluctantly invades Earth. However, he arrives during Comic-Con and is mistaken for a costume contest participant and leaves dejected. Concurrently, Fry attempts to author a superhero comic book featuring himself as the superhero saving a captured Leela from a malevolent alien. The crew is unimpressed with the comic, with the exception of the back page of novelty toy advertisements, including the Professor's disintegration guns, which are actually only teleportation guns. Leela's criticism leaves Fry to figure out how to make the story more compelling.

Back on Omicron Persei 8, Ndnd learns of Lrrr's failure and kicks him out of their home. Lrrr returns to Earth, seeking shelter at the Planet Express building. The crew diagnoses Lrrr and his marriage problems as symptomatic of a mid-life crisis. Leela encourages Lrrr to recommit himself to his marriage with Ndnd, but he listens instead to Bender and gets plastic surgery, flashy new clothes, and goes out to a club to meet new women. There he meets an attractive female Omicronian named Grrrl. While on a date with her, she reveals that she is actually a human woman from the Comic-Con wearing an Omicronian costume. Though she is very attracted to real Omicronians, Lrrr rejects her and seeks Leela's advice on how to win back Ndnd.

Leela and the crew help Lrrr stage an invasion of Earth using a fake broadcast with the help of the head of Orson Welles à la the 1938 The War of the Worlds radio broadcast. Ndnd is fooled, but so are the Earthican army, who surrender Earth immediately to Lrrr. Leela scolds Lrrr, demanding that he end the charade and tell Ndnd the truth, but he hesitates due to Ndnd's renewed romantic interest and forces the citizens of Earth into slavery. While enslaved, Leela constantly nags Lrrr about telling Ndnd the truth, which causes Ndnd suspicion about their relationship. She confronts Lrrr, demanding to know if he is having an affair. Grrrl reappears, announcing that she loves Lrrr and will fight for him, brandishing a disintegration ray. Ndnd quickly takes the weapon and shoots Grrrl. Ndnd reveals that she is not upset that Lrrr may have been minutely romantically involved with Grrrl, but that Lrrr allowed Leela to nag him, which Ndnd feels is her role as his wife. Lrrr is reluctantly forced to prove his love for Ndnd by shooting Leela, whom he values as a friend, with the disintegration ray.

As he fires, Fry leaps in front of Leela, sacrificing his life. Ndnd is moved by Lrrr's demonstration of love and the two happily depart back to Omicron Persei 8. Leela is devastated by Fry's sacrifice. However, as the Omicronians depart, Grrrl reappears, shocking the crew. She reveals that the disintegration gun is merely one of the Professor's novelty teleportation guns that she purchased from an advertisement in the back of a comic book. Realizing that Fry is alive, the crew find him back at Planet Express, putting the finishing touches on his comic. Inspired by his own heroic actions, his super hero counterpart attempts to rescue "Leela" from the malevolent alien by leaping in front of its ray gun. Leela is pleased with the new ending and commends the comic book, giving Fry a kiss on the cheek.

Production

This episode features a variety of guest stars including Katee Sackhoff as Grrrl, "the future's equivalent of a furry", [1] and Sergio Aragonés, Matt Groening, and David X. Cohen as themselves. [1]

Bongo Comics published a tie-in comic book, Delivery Boy-Man, as a free give-away at Comic-Con 2010. The comic is drawn in the same crude style depicted in the episode and features a fake letters page with fan mail from Bender.[ citation needed ]

Cultural references

The episode makes various cultural references and self-references. The episode title is a play on the title of the film Irreconcilable Differences .

One scene takes place at annual comic book convention Comic-Con, featuring a panel with cameos by series creator Matt Groening, co-producer and head writer David X. Cohen, and episode director Crystal Chesney-Thompson—along with visual references to other Futurama cast and crew, including the episode's writer, Patric M. Verrone, producer Claudia Katz, supervising director Peter Avanzino, and executive producer Ken Keeler [2] —premiering a futuristic animated program named "Futurella" while attempting to dodge questions about Groening's other successful animated series, The Simpsons . [3] Bender also asks if there will be a second Simpsons movie, to which Groening responds by shooting him with a laser gun. The episode also references the series' former television broadcasting company, Fox, and its cancellation policies. [4]

Other cultural references include Orson Welles and his famous 1938 radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds . [3] The episode makes a brief reference to U.S. President Richard Nixon with the phrase "Peace with honor", which was a phrase President Nixon used to describe the Paris Peace Accord to end the Vietnam War in a speech on January 23, 1973. [5]

Broadcast and reception

"Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences" premiered on Comedy Central on August 26, 2010. [6] In its original American broadcast, it had an estimated 1.981 million viewers, up more than 200,000 than the previous week's episode, "The Prisoner of Benda". [6] It also received a 1.1/2% Nielsen rating and a 1.1/3% rating in the 18–49 demographic, up three tenths of a point, matching the season high, not including premiere week. [6]

Merrill Barr of Film School Rejects gave the episode a positive review, stating, "Like some other episodes this season, everything worked. There wasn't a single joke that fell flat, and I'm glad to see Futurama running at 100% capacity." [3] Sean Gandert of Paste gave the episode a mixed review with an overall rating of 7.2. Gandert notes that after the recent run of excellent episodes his expectations made this episode a letdown. [1] Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B+, noting that he would prefer an episode which "pushes itself a little harder". [5] Handlen and Gandert both note that the main plot of the episode has been done many times on previous sitcoms. However, where Gandert finds that the use of Lrrr and Ndnd drags the episode down, Handlen praises the fact that Lrrr is getting more screen time. [1] [5] Both reviewers also praise LaMarche's Orson Welles impersonation, [1] [5] which led to a 2011 Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance. [7]

Patric Verrone was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Writing in Animation at the 63rd Writers Guild of America Awards for his script to this episode. [8]

Related Research Articles

<i>Futurama</i> 1999 American animated sci-fi sitcom

Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company and later revived by Comedy Central, and then Hulu. The series follows Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1,000 years and revived on December 31, 2999. Fry finds work at the interplanetary delivery company Planet Express, working alongside the one-eyed mutant Leela and the robot Bender. The series was envisioned by Groening in the mid-1990s while working on The Simpsons; he brought David X. Cohen aboard to develop storylines and characters to pitch the show to Fox.

Leela (<i>Futurama</i>) Main character in the television show Futurama

Turanga Leela is a fictional character from the animated television series Futurama. Leela is spaceship captain, pilot, and head of all aviation services on board the Planet Express Ship. Throughout the series, she has an on-again, off-again relationship with and got engaged to Philip J. Fry, the central character in the series. The character, voiced by Katey Sagal, is named after the Turangalîla-Symphonie by Olivier Messiaen. She is one of the few characters in the cast to routinely display competence and the ability to command, and routinely saves the rest of the cast from disaster. However, she suffers extreme self-doubt because she has only one eye and grew up as a bullied orphan. She first believes herself an alien, but later finds out she is the least-mutated sewer mutant in the history of 31st-century Earth. Her family parodies aspects of pollution and undesirability associated with industrial New Jersey when compared with New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patric Verrone</span> American television writer (born 1959)

Patric Miller Verrone is an American television writer and labor leader. He served as a writer and producer for several animated television shows, most notably Futurama.

"31st Century Fox" is the eleventh episode in the seventh season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 125th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central on August 29, 2012. The episode was written by Patric M. Verrone and directed by Edmund Fong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Space Pilot 3000</span> 1st episode of Futurama Season 1

"Space Pilot 3000" is the pilot episode of the American animated television series Futurama. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 28, 1999. The episode focuses on the cryogenic freezing of the series protagonist, Philip J. Fry, and the events when he awakens 1,000 years in the future and is the first episode to be set in the 30th century. Series regulars are introduced and the futuristic setting, inspired by a variety of classic science fiction series from The Jetsons to Star Trek, is revealed. It also sets the stage for many of the events to follow in the series, foreshadowing plot points from the third and fourth seasons.

"When Aliens Attack" is the twelfth episode in the first season of the American animated television series Futurama. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on November 7, 1999. This episode was written by Ken Keeler and directed by Brian Sheesley. The episode features an attack by aliens from Omicron Persei 8, when their leader, Lrrr, is outraged when the final episode of the series, Single Female Lawyer, is interrupted by technical difficulties caused by the clumsiness of Fry in 1999.

"Brannigan, Begin Again" is the second episode in the second season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 15th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 28, 1999. The episode was written by Lewis Morton and directed by Jeffrey Lynch.

"The Problem with Popplers" is the fifteenth episode in the second season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 28th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 7, 2000. The title is a reference to the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The Trouble with Tribbles". The episode focuses on the Planet Express crew discovering what they think is fast food they call "Popplers," but they turn out to be the young of the Omicron aliens, and the Omicronian leader Lrrr seeks revenge.

"War Is the H-Word" is the seventeenth episode in the second season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 30th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 26, 2000. The episode parodies several war films and shows, including Starship Troopers, Star Wars and M*A*S*H.

"The Sting" is the twelfth episode in the fourth season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 66th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on June 1, 2003. In the episode, the Planet Express crew is sent to collect space honey, and find themselves in a harrowing battle with giant bees. The episode's plot originated from the writers wanting to do a story where it seemed as though a major character had died. The episode was then produced faster than normal and was well-received by critics.

"Love and Rocket" is the third episode in the fourth season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 57th episode of the series overall. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 10, 2002. The episode is a Valentine's Day-themed episode that centers on Bender's relationship with the artificial intelligence of the Planet Express Ship. The subplot involves Fry trying to express his feelings for Leela through the use of Valentine's Day candy. The episode parodies 2001: A Space Odyssey.

"Spanish Fry" is the seventeenth episode in the fourth season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 71st episode of the series overall. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on July 13, 2003. Set in a retro-futuristic 31st century, the series follows the adventures of the employees of Planet Express, an interplanetary delivery company. In this episode, Fry's nose has mysteriously disappeared so he seeks to get it back. David X. Cohen admitted that this episode is one of the most "filthy" in the series' history.

The animated science fiction show Futurama presents a satirical look at politics and current affairs in a number of its episodes. Series creator Matt Groening intended from the outset that Futurama would lampoon not only the conventions of science fiction, but elements of present-day life, serving as a form of political and social satire.

"Rebirth" is the premiere and first episode in the sixth season of the American animated television series Futurama, the 89th episode of the series overall, and the revival of the series. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on June 24, 2010. The episode was written by David X. Cohen and Matt Groening, and directed by Frank Marino.

"The Late Philip J. Fry" is the seventh episode in the sixth season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 95th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central on July 29, 2010. In the episode, Fry attempts to make it on time to a birthday dinner date for Leela. He is sidetracked by Professor Farnsworth and Bender, who force him to test out the Professor's time machine, which only goes forward in time. After overshooting and thus going forward to the year 10,000 AD, they must keep traveling forward in time until a backwards time machine has been invented.

"Ghost in the Machines" is the nineteenth episode in the sixth season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 107th episode of the series overall. It originally aired June 30, 2011, on Comedy Central. The episode was written by Patric M. Verrone and directed by Ray Claffey. American actor Dan Castellaneta guest stars in the episode, voicing the Robot Devil. In the episode Bender, angry at Fry for valuing human life over robot life, kills himself in a suicide booth. Afterwards, he becomes a ghost, and learns from the Robot Devil that he is in limbo, and he cannot leave. Sharing a mutual dislike towards Fry, the Robot Devil offers to return Bender to his old body in exchange for using his new ghostly powers to scare Fry to death.

"Decision 3012" is the third episode in the seventh season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 117th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central on June 27, 2012. The episode was written by Patric M. Verrone and directed by Dwayne Carey-Hill. The plot is a parody of the Birther Movement.

"Naturama" is the thirteenth episode in the seventh season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 127th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central on August 29, 2012. The episode was written by Eric Rogers, Michael Saikin and Neil Mukhopadhyay, and directed by Crystal Chesney-Thompson.

"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.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Gandert, Sean (August 27, 2010). "Futurama Review: "Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences" (6.11)". Paste . Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Futurama - episode 6.11: "Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences"". The Sci-Fi Block. 2010-08-27. Archived from the original on December 23, 2010. Retrieved December 4, 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 Barr, Merrill (August 26, 2010). "Review: Futurama — Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences". Film School Rejects. Archived from the original on August 30, 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
  4. ↑ "Futurama Preview: "Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences"". IGN . August 25, 2010. Archived from the original on August 29, 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Handlen, Zack (August 26, 2010). "Futurama: "Lrrreconciliable Ndndifferences"". The A.V. Club . Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 Seidman, Robert (August 27, 2010). "More Cable Ratings: Jersey Shore, Burn Notice, Royal Pains Still On Top, Futurama Rises & More". TVbythenumbers. Archived from the original on August 29, 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
  7. ↑ "2011 Creative Emmy Award Winners" (PDF). September 18, 2011.
  8. ↑ Weprin, Alex (8 December 2010). "PBS Dominates News Categories in Writers Guild Award Nominations". TV Newser. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
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.