Disputed canon

Episode-related article This article is about an episode the canon of which is considered disputed.

"Simpsorama" is an episode of The Simpsons the story of which features the characters of Futurama. It aired on Fox, on 9 November 2014. The crew goes back in time to 2014 Springfield to prevent the Simpsons from destroying the future.

The episode was announced on 20 July 2013, at Comic-Con, by Simpsons executive producer Al Jean. It was written by Futurama-and-Simpsons writer J. Stewart Burns. It was initially scheduled to be recorded in August 2013, [1] but it appears to have actually been recorded in September. [2]

During Futurama's original run and throughout the comics The Simpsons has been established as only a television series, with merchandise occasionally appearing. Matt Groening reinforces this in certain commentaries. Likewise, Futurama had previously been established as a television series in The Simpsons and this episode features Kang and Kodos, who typically only appear in non-canon Simpsons episodes. These and other factors lead many fans to believe the episode is not Futurama canon.

Plot

The episode's couch gag features the Simpsons' couch transforming into Hedonismbot, prompting everyone to stand up, except for Homer, who receives a massage and is fed grapes.

Act I: "What do I look like, a narc?"

At Springfield Elementary School, Principal Skinner is showing the late Mrs. Krabappel's class a time capsule that they intend to open a thousand years later and tells the students to each put something inside of the capsule. Bart, having obviously forgotten to bring something to put in it, puts a sandwich that he blows his nose on into it. At a ceremony, Mayor Quimby lowers the time capsule into the town square in front of the statue of Jebediah Springfield. When they dig up the hole, they notice some green ooze pouring out and all eyes turn to Mr. Burns. It begins to rain outside during this.

Later that night, at 742 Evergreen Terrace, the Simpsons hear a strange noise outside like something falling from the sky. Marge then hears something glugging and belching downstairs. Homer and Bart decide to go to the basement and investigate. Homer decides to send Santa's Little Helper down to see what's down there, but the dog runs away. He then tries the same thing with Bart, but this does not work either. Homer decides to set a trap, using Bart as bait. Down in the basement, Bart sees a shadowy figure opening up a can of Duff. Homer whacks at the shadowy figure with a broom and reveals the shadowy figure to be Bender, who reveals he is from the future. Homer decides to take this futuristic visitor to his "civic leaders".

At Moe's, Bender guzzles down several mugs of beer and "buys" several rounds for the patrons. Homer considers Bender his new friend, and Bender reveals that's the reason he's there..."for all you know". Bender then hangs out with the guys at Barney's Bowlarama, where Bender cheats a perfect game.

The next day, Bart and Lisa observe Homer and Bender sleeping on the couch and cannot help but pinpoint the similarities between the two. Lisa starts to doubt that Bender is actually from the future, since robotic technology is relatively advanced. So Lisa takes Bender to Professor Frink's laboratory. Bender admits that he does not recall why he was sent to the present, so Frink unplugs and replugs Bender's mission protocol, causing Bender to reveal his mission is to terminate Homer Simpson.

Act II: "Come on, Bender! Stabbity-stabbity!"

Homer is upset that his new bowling buddy wants to kill him. Bender admits he cannot do it. Lisa assumes that it is due to Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics, but Bender denies this, claiming he killed Asimov on the way. Suddenly, Bender's ass begins ringing and a hologram of Leela appears asking if he killed Homer yet. Bender claims he did, but Leela shows that an enormous number of rabbit-shaped creatures has invaded New New York and are multiplying. Leela catches Bender's lie. Fry also encourages Bender to kill Homer. Lisa asks why, and the professor replies that the creatures have Homer's D.N.A.. Hermes panics that they are grabbing all of the office supplies. Even Zoidberg speaks his only line. The professor elaborates that Bender was sent back to kill Homer before the creatures could evolve from him. So, the professor, Leela, and Fry go into the past to kill Homer themselves. Leela attempts to shoot him with her ray-gun, but Bender bends it. Frink offers a team-up with the professor, who suggests Homer take the rest out so he can explain "freemium games".

While walking through Springfield, Homer, Fry, Leela, and Bender pass by a Panucci's Pizza where Seymour is inexplicably waiting. When they get to the house, Homer introduces Marge to Fry and Leela. Marge and Leela attempt to exchange pleasantries while avoiding talking about the other one's tall blue hair and one eyeball respectively.

Back at the lab, Lisa asks the professor if he got to the present through a time machine, but the professor denies this. The professor explains they came through a portal which they equipped to Bender. He reveals that Bender, however, came here through a time machine. Just as Lisa is about to question this, the D.N.A. sample the professors were working on completes.

When the professor, Frink, and Lisa get to the house, the professor reveals that the D.N.A. was only *half* Homer's, with the other half belonging to Marge. The professor says they do not have to kill Marge, just one of her children. Bender's ass shows a hologram of Channel √2 News, where Morbo reports that the creatures started evolving. One of the rabbits eats Linda and transforms into a lizard-like creature that resembles Bart. Frink wonders how Bart destroyed the future. Bart reveals, through a sepia-toned flashback, that when he put his sandwich in the time capsule, it touched Milhouse's lucky rabbit's foot and the toxic ooze in the hole touched the items in the time capsule mutating them into rabbit-like creatures with Bart's D.N.A.. Lisa suggests they dig up the time capsule.

The Simpsons and the Planet Express crew arrive in the town square to dig up the capsule, but Groundskeeper Willie forbids them from doing so, since it cannot be opened for another thousand years. Bender's ass then shows a hologram of Amy, who assumes the creatures got a hold of Scruffy, but Scruffy reveals they only got his mustache. Since Scruffy figures life is not worth living without his mustache, he shoots his own head off. They see in the hologram that the creatures have destroyed the portal, and Bender sucks the crew and the Simpsons to the year 3014. Marge does a head count and realizes they left Maggie behind. Bender decides to take Maggie to the race track since he knows the outcome of every single horse race in this time.

Act III: "If there's one thing I know how to do, it's manipulate Barts."

In the future, the Simpsons all hang out at the Planet Express headquarters. Homer kills all of the Bart creatures by strangling them. Marge is discouraged that they cannot go back to their own time. Marge notes that Homer works at a nuclear power plant. When asked if he is good at his job, Homer takes pride in the fact that he was named "Employee of the Month" for April Fools' Day. The professor suggests that Fry and Homer fix the portal while the rest pray. Nibbler attempts to eat one of the creatures, but instead of pooping dark matter, he merely poops out another Bart creature. Lisa is surprised everyone has given up. The professor then proposes they shoot all the creatures into space. Lisa says she will round them up.

Back in Springfield, Bender bets on a horse named Bender's Bounty, even though he died during the race. When the horse starts to lose, Bender obliterates it in anger.

In New New York, Lisa tricks the Bart creatures into believing that Madison Cube Garden is full of Butterfinger bars and also annoys them by playing a saxophone version of a holophonor showing images of things she likes such as unicorns and kitty cats. Hermes locks all of the creatures into the cube and the Planet Express ship lifts the cube up and hurls it into space, to the excitement of the crew and Lisa, and to the discouragement of Bart.

Reconstruction begins in New New York and Fry and Homer successfully reactivate the portal, which sucks the Simpsons back to their present-day home. Marge is happy to be reunited with Maggie, and notices her diaper is full. Bender volunteers to change it, revealing the diaper is full of money he won at the races. Bender bids the Simpsons farewell and shuts himself off to be awakened a thousand years later. Homer drags the robot to the basement, but also pours him one more can of Duff.

Epilogue: "We're not done with the mash-up!"

Back in the year 3014, it is revealed that the creatures ended up on Omicron Persei 8. Lrrr and Ndnd are both annoyed that the creatures are destroying the planet, especially since "the Johnsons" are coming. "The Johnsons" turn out to be Kang and Kodos. Ndnd runs away sobbing and Lrrr asks "the one of [them] that is female" to console her, as both Kang and Kodos comfort her. The episode ends with a Simpsonized-version of the Futurama opening sequence.

Production

Al Jean said of the episode:

“ Futurama is such an easy fit. (...) It's really funny, and their show lends itself to any variety of plot lines. By having them on, we have a little freedom... The biggest thrill for me is that we don't have to adjust the animation style. [1] ”

On 19 September 2013, John DiMaggio posted a picture of the episode's production script on his Twitter page, [3] revealing the episode's title.

On 17 December, an interview with David X. Cohen revealed that the episode was being animated. [4]

On 4 March, an interview with Jean revealed that the episode would air in the fall. [5] At the time, the episode was expected to air in May, as the season-25 finale. [1] [6] It was also revealed that Maurice LaMarche, who often guest-stars on The Simpsons, would be in the episode.

On 21 May, Jean revealed through Twitter that the episode was "scheduled to be the first episode [to air] in November", [7] suggesting an air date of 2 November. The first episode to air in November was actually "Opposites A-Frack".

On 1 June, Jean revealed through Twitter that, besides Bender, the episode would feature "Leela, Fry, Farnsworth, Zoidberg, Hermes, Amy, Hypnotoad, Nibbler and more". [8]

On 20 July, Entertainment Weekly published an online article in which the episode's air date was first confirmed. [9]

On 26 July, Instagram user "steelesaunders" uploaded a short clip of a reinvented Futurama opening sequence, shot at The Simpsons's 2014 San Diego Comic-Con International panel. [10] This is not the same as the reinvented opening sequence featured in the episode.

On 4 September, Entertainment Weekly published an online article revealing the first official image of the episode and also provided more information on the episode's plot. [11]

On 6 September, Jean confirmed through Twitter that the Futurama characters would retain their normal skin tones in the crossover instead of being coloured yellow like the characters in The Simpsons. [12]

On 9 September, Lisa Simpson's voice actor, Yeardley Smith, spoke about the interaction between Lisa and Bender during the crossover in an interview with Nuke the Fridge. She said: "Lisa just questions the validity of Bender being one of the most advanced robots that we have ever created. She's like, "Really? I don't think so." But that episode really focuses on Bender and Homer's friendship and relationship, and the similarities, a dubious distinction if I do say so." [13]

On 26 September, David X. Cohen, Al Jean, and British author Simon Singh discussed Singh's book The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets at the London Science Museum, where a clip of Bender and Homer playing "tether boy" was shown. [14] The next day, Singh tweeted a photo of them watching the aforementioned clip. [15]

Reception

In its original airing, the episode was watched by approximately 6.7 million viewers. [16]

Additional information

Lyrics

Trivia

Click here to see revelations about the future made in this episode.

[18] A promotional picture for the episode, featuring Fry, Bender, and Leela with Homer Simpson, in Professor Frink's laboratory.

Sightings in the mash-up opening sequence

Allusions

Click here to see cultural mentions made in this episode.

ship. [18] A promotional picture for the episode, featuring Leela, Lisa, Zoidberg, Bart, Amy, and Hermes on the Planet Express

Continuity

Goofs

Willie's mouth doesn't move when he says, "There!"

The Futurama characters are often off-model.

characters are often off-model. Bender's slot, which Professor Frink opens, is visible at Moe's. It's possible that Bender did not have it in previous episodes.

Professor Frink addresses the professor as "professor", but none of the Futurama characters has used the word "professor". He may have just assumed that the professor was a professor. He and the professor were together while the camera was on other characters, so the professor might have told him that he was a professor.

characters has used the word "professor". Panucci's Pizza is shown in Springfield when it is actually located in New York.

The Bart Simpson creatures that destroy the time portal's generator instantaneously disappear when Fry, Leela, the professor, and the Simpsons get sucked back into the future. They may have jumped out the window.

Bart says his birthday is 23 February, even though it was previously established to be 1 April. This may not be so much a goof as it is a reference to the popularized rumor that Bart's birthday was on February 23rd. [21]

Hedonismbot's mouth doesn't light up when he says, "Your lips, my lips, apoca-lips!"

In the end credits, Simpsons guest star Sally Stevens is credited for singing "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" and "I Will Wait for You". However, her vocals are only heard in the former. The latter is heard instrumentally.

Quotes

Homer: Don't drink my loved ones!

Bender: Bite my shiny metal ass!

Homer: A robot! With a catchphrase!

Bart: Hey, Homer, you gonna kiss him? Or kill him? Homer: I know you're a robot and incapable of emotion...

[Bender sobs.]

Bender: It's true. I'm empty inside!

[Bender sobs harder.] Homer: Hey... Uh... What's the robot version of "bromance"?

Bender: *Ro*mance. Bender: *I can't do* Maggie. The "G"s look like sixes. Bender: My ass is about to project something!

Homer: [whispering loudly] You don't have to announce it. Just do it quietly...and blame the dog. Zoidberg: Looks like everyone gets a turn to say something. This concludes my turn. Marge: [thinking] Don't mention her eye. Don't mention her eye.

Leela: [thinking] Don't mention her hair. Don't mention her hair.

Marge: Eye...am so pleased to meet you.

Leela: Nice to be hair. Bender: [sleeping] Kill all humans... Kill all humans...

Homer: [also sleeping] Start with Flanders. Start with Flanders. The professor: Good news, everyone!

Fry: [to Bart] That means it's bad! The professor: [to Marge] We don't have to kill *you*.

[Marge sighs.]

Marge: Well, *that's* better.

The professor: We just have to kill all your children. [Lisa snaps her fingers.]

Lisa: That's it! All we have to do is dig up the time capsule!

Leela: And bury Bart in the hole!

Marge: I thought people in the future would be more full of peace and love. Like in Epcot Center.

Leela: In our time, Epcot Center is a work farm for the weak.

The professor: Oh, but it's not as crowded as the slave-labour camps at Universal Studios.

Marge: [scared] Hmmm... The professor: Oh, nobody's Father who art nowhere, I know You can't hear me. Completely ignore this prayer. Nothing art Thou, and nothing will Thou ever be. Jesus...was just a man.

Zoidberg, Fry, Hermes, Amy, Homer, and Bart: Amen. Lisa: I can't believe you're all giving up without a fight.

Leela: Lisa, we're just a package-delivery service.

Fry: And not a very good one! [Leela, Lisa, Zoidberg, Amy, and Hermes cheer.]

Bart: You realise you're cheering the death of millions of my children.

[They cheer harder.] Bender: Here's a souvenir photo of you guys comin' outta of my chest.

Homer: Awwwww. I will treasure this forever.

Bender: [monotone] Lie detected.

Alien-language sightings

Time: 20:23

Location: Building left to tallest structure

Language: AL1

Translation: RENT A SMITHERS Time: 20:29

Location: Red sign underneath transport tube (which usually reads "2D RULEZ!")

Language: AL1

Translation: EAT MY SHORTS Time: 20:30

Location: Sign right of Jebediah Springfield statue (which usually reads "TASTY HUMAN BURGERS")

Language: AL1

Translation: CONGRATULATIONS YOU'RE A NERD

Appearances

Characters

Places

Miscellaneous

Notes and references