Mars University

Last updated

"Mars University"
Futurama episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 11
Directed by Bret Haaland
Written by J. Stewart Burns
Production code1ACV11
Original air dateOctober 3, 1999 (1999-10-03)
Episode features
Opening caption Transmitido en Martian en SAP
Opening cartoon "Pigs in a Polka" (1943)
Episode chronology
 Previous
"A Flight to Remember"
Next 
"When Aliens Attack"
Futurama (season 1)
List of episodes

"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.

Contents

Plot

While delivering a crate to Professor Farnsworth's office at Mars University, Fry finds out that his 20th century college dropout status is equivalent to only a 31st-century high-school dropout. Knowing this, he vows to enroll, and drop out all over again. Fry gets a room in the financial aid dorm, and finds his roommate Guenter is an intelligent monkey wearing an undersized hat. Farnsworth reveals that Guenter was the content of the crate that they delivered, and that the electronium hat is the source of Guenter's intelligence.

While touring the campus, Bender comes across a chapter of his old fraternity, Epsilon Rho Rho (Err). The nerdy fraternity brothers beg Bender for his help in the art of being cool so they can restore their reputation. After Bender and the Robot House boys climb a ladder to peek in a girls' dorm window, a risque mishap happens when Bender's extendable eyes causes them to fall, crushing Snooty House's servants' quarters and presumably the servants themselves. Bender and the Robot House members get called before Dean Vernon, who places them on dodecatuple secret probation. Robot House enters the fraternity raft regatta in a bid to lift their probation status.

At the parents' reception, Fry humiliates Guenter by releasing Guenter's unintelligent, feral parents from their cage. Later, Guenter expresses his unhappiness at his current life. At the 20th century history exam, the stress finally becomes too much for him, and he tosses the hat aside, jumps out the window, and flees into the Martian jungle. Fry, Leela and Farnsworth track Guenter down, where Farnsworth offers him the hat, and Fry offers him a banana. Before Guenter can decide, Robot House speeds past with Bender on water skis. The boat's wake drags the humans into the river and towards a waterfall. Guenter puts the hat on and rescues them, but falls off a cliff. The Planet Express crew rush to save him and find him unharmed as the hat broke his fall and is now only working at half-capacity. Guenter announces that he likes the new reduced-capacity hat, and that he has decided to transfer to business school, to Farnsworth's horror.

While Fry successfully drops out of college and returns to Planet Express, Guenter obtains his MBA at business school and eventually becomes the FOX Network's latest CEO. Robot House wins the regatta, and a parade in their honor is held, led by an unhappy Vernon, who then goes on one date with Leela, only to never call her back. With his task done, Bender steals everything of value from Robot House and runs off.

Reception

In a review of the episode, Space.com criticized Futurama for the disconnectedness of the episodes and the lack of a large recurring cast and questioned the time spent in developing Günter's character when it is unlikely that he will return as a major character. The episode itself was praised for its references to classic frat films such as Animal House and Revenge of the Nerds though the reference to Lite-Brite was found to be lacking. [1] Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B+, stating, "Even with a plot as fundamentally absurd as this one, the writers still manage to find some authenticity. That makes a for a good half-hour of television, even if it’s not one I have a lot to say about." [2] In 2006 IGN ranked this episode as number 21 in their list of the top 25 Futurama episodes. The episode was initially ranked higher in the list, particularly for its many references to Animal House and its appeal to fans of the film, it was eventually moved to 21st place and replaced by episodes which were perceived as having better storytelling. [3]

Cultural references

Much of the plot references scenes from Animal House Robot House takes the place of Delta House, and the school is headed by "Dean Vernon" instead of "Dean Vernon Wormer"; Delta House's "double secret probation" becomes Robot House's "dodecatuple secret probation", and so on. There are also references to Good Will Hunting . [3] [4] When Professor Farnsworth is lecturing on the effects of quantum neutrino fields, the blackboard behind him displays an explanation of "Superdupersymmetric String Theory" and a diagram explaining "Witten's Dog". Witten's Dog, named after Ed Witten, is a parody of the classic Schroedinger's Cat paradox. Astrophysicist David Schiminovich created both the equations and the diagram, based on "an equation that constrains the mass density of neutrinos in the universe". [5]

Related Research Articles

"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.

"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.

"A Flight to Remember" is the tenth episode in the first season of the American animated television series Futurama. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 26, 1999. The title is a reference to Walter Lord's non-fiction book about the Titanic disaster A Night to Remember. This episode was written by Eric Horsted and directed by Peter Avanzino. Dawnn Lewis guest-stars in this episode as LaBarbara Conrad. The episode is a direct parody of the 1997 film Titanic.

"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.

"Anthology of Interest I" is the sixteenth episode in the second season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 29th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 21, 2000. This episode, as well as the later "Anthology of Interest II", serves to showcase three "imaginary" stories, in a manner similar to the "Treehouse of Horror" episodes of Matt Groening's other animated series The Simpsons.

"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.

"Bend Her" is the thirteenth episode in the fifth season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 67th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on July 20, 2003. In the episode, Bender changes into a female robot and adopts the name Coilette.

"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 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.

"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 seventh 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.

"Overclockwise" is the twenty-fifth episode in the sixth season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 113th episode of the series overall. It originally aired September 1, 2011 on Comedy Central. The episode was written by Ken Keeler and directed by Raymie Muzquiz. In the episode, Bender is overclocked by Cubert Farnsworth, gradually becoming more powerful in computing ability, until eventually becoming omniscient and able to foresee future events. Meanwhile, Cubert and Professor Farnsworth are tried in court by Mom for violating Bender's license agreement, and Fry's relationship with Leela takes a turn for the worse.

"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.

"Near-Death Wish" is the tenth episode in the seventh season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 124th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central on August 15, 2012.

"2-D Blacktop" is the fifteenth episode in the seventh season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 129th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central on June 19, 2013. The episode was written by Michael Rowe and directed by Raymie Muzquiz. Professor Farnsworth joins a gang of street racing punks, and ends up in a two-dimensional world. The title is likely a reference to the movie Two-Lane Blacktop.

"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 Edund Fong. Fry and Leela attempt to have a romantic time together, but with everyone around they cannot get time alone.

"Calculon 2.0" is the twentieth episode in the seventh season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 134th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central on July 24, 2013. The episode was written by Lewis Morton and directed by Stephen Sandoval. Calculon is backed up and put into the body of a new robot so he can return to All My Circuits, only to learn that his over-the-top acting was never appreciated.

"Assie Come Home" is the twenty-first episode in the seventh season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 135th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central on July 31, 2013. The episode was written by Maiya Williams and directed by Raymie Muzquiz. Bender searches the universe for his missing body parts after an alien street gang has him stripped down to his bulb eyes and mouth grille.

"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.

References

  1. Sorid, Daniel (October 4, 1999). "TV Review: Futurama - 'Mechanical House'". Space.com. Retrieved June 29, 2006.
  2. Handlen, Zack Handlen, Zack (December 18, 2014). "Futurama: "Mars University"/"When Aliens Attack"". The A.V. Club . Retrieved January 6, 2022.
  3. 1 2 Iverson, Dan (July 7, 2006). "Top 25 Futurama Episodes". IGN. Archived from the original on October 13, 2007. Retrieved June 15, 2008.
  4. Booker, M. Keith (2006). Drawn to Television: Prime-Time Animation from The Flintstones to Family Guy. Praeger. pp. 115–124. ISBN   9780275990190.
  5. Farrer, Gordon (January 6, 2006). "Sum thing to do with maths genius". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved January 6, 2022.