Talking Futurama - Roswell That Ends Well with Nina Matsumoto

This is a great episode for many many reasons but one underrated factor is that it includes some of my all-time favorite Farnsworth exclamations: the "wooo" when they're looking at the ovens and "wheeee!" when they find Bender's head always make me laugh out loud

trasparenti

Didn't mention this in my first comment, but I believe Bob and Henry were wondering what the first photo the conspiracy nut takes is a reference to, and as far as I can tell, it's to the 1997 Phoenix Lights, an event where many people claimed to see patterns of triangle-shaped lights flying through the sky: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Lights It seems the Info-sphere thinks so, too: https://theinfosphere.org/Roswell_that_Ends_Well under "trivia"

Andrew Bouvier

I think the name you're looking for at 1:23:10 in regards to the architecture/design is "Googie".

Seth Short

So a thought occurs and it just came to me now: if we assume this to be a closed timeloop scenario (which it is why else would Nibbler have sent Fry to the future if Fry hadn't always had his anti-brain brainwaves) then Fry's dad at some point SHOULD have mentioned that his own father died in an atomic blast. You'd think Fry would have heard this and seen his grandpa get blown away by an A-bomb and start to think something was up. I mean he IS an idiot so he might've just forgot or not thought about it so that's always a possibility. Good podcast! That Nina guest is real great! Ya ought to marry her and raise a Parrot together!

Devin Hoffarth

I have to respectfully disagree with Henry’s new timeline theory. In “The Day the Earth Stood Stupid” from slightly earlier in this same production season (possibly because they knew this was coming), it was already established that Fry singularly lacks a delta brain wave, which is later established as being the product of his temporal paradox descent. This suggests a closed timeline in which Fry was always going to become his own grandfather, which he already was. This is also consistent with later time travel episodes that also feature closed loops (and of course in one later episode we find out the entire universe resets - meaning time itself is one big loop). I think the writers favored this version of time travel because it’s screwier to get your head around initially, *but* has a certain mathematical logic to it similar to cyclic structures.

SomeBloke

For a long time, I missed the clues that Enos was gay. He's asking about dating women because he sees it more of a social obligation than something he actually wants to do, and would rather just stay single for a while. He looks at the next picture of the calendar because he's curious about what the other calendar pictures are.

Rhomega

I would gladly do a podcast where I show Bob every episode of Star Trek TNG (and beyond)

nina matsumoto

Great podcast! All the Star Trek discussion makes me want to see Nina lead a Talking Trek spinoff.

Kevin Mayo

That would make sense, except Fry shouts at Enos' crotch in this episode "Everything's gonna be all right, dad!"

Joe Hodgson

When Fry's father gives the speech about Yancy's name in Luck of the Fryrish, he says the following: "Son, your name is Yancy, just like me and my grandfather, and so on, all the way back to minuteman Yancy Fry, who blasted Commies in the American Revolution." It is entirely consistent with Enos not being named Yancy. They knew what they were doing.

Dan Vincent

I also don't think we explain EVERY joke... not every joke needs to be explained/pointed out.

nina matsumoto

But, but...dissected alien on a stick (probably)!

littleterr0r

Thanks for the info, but to be fair, no one should be surprised by anyone else's lack of knowledge about jazz standards. - Bob

Talking Simpsons

Thank you for the suggestion but he's not into this sort of party atmosphere parade/festival kitschy stuff. He's more into serious academic discussions about extra terrestrial life.

nina matsumoto

Another excellent episode! However— for how much you guys go deep into EVERY joke in an episode, I'm surprised none of y'all caught (or at least mentioned/explained) the "pick up the pieces/take five" gag in the first act. The last time I watched this episode, my fiance was in the room who had actually never seen it before. When Leela delivered that line, she started chuckling and I had to pause and ask what was so funny. She has somewhat of a background in jazz piano and she explained to me that both Pick Up the Pieces and Take Five are common jazz standards and Leela just prattling them off was one of those "if you know, you know" kind of jokes. Considering Futurama is truly fires off a joke every second its on screen, I wasn't surprised to hear that there was a quick snippet of casual musical wordplay that I had missed after all the years of rewatching.

John-Charles Holmes

Nina, your dad should go to the annual UFO Festival in McMinnville, Oregon. I went one year and it was out of this world! https://ufofest.com/

littleterr0r

This is hands down my favorite episode, for most episodes I do a quick rewatch to jog my memory but for this one it was not needed, I’ve watched this episode so many times it’s singed in my brain! So glad it’s finally been covered!

I can't be 100% sure, but I THINK Enos's order of a "pie with a fried egg on it" is a slight reference to how in northern New England, especially Vermont, it's actually tradition to serve warm apple pie with a slice of cheddar cheese on it. There's even one of those silly, superfluous state "laws" about it: http://www.leg.state.vt.us/DOCS/2000/ACTS/ACT015.HTM

Andrew Bouvier

I admit I haven't rewatched this in a while, but is Enos ever referred to as Enos Fry? Isn't it possible that he's Fry's maternal grandfather, which would explain the Yancy inconsistency? After all, in typical cartoon fashion, Fry's mom looks just like him and therefore Enos. Also, hearing you mention Michaels Ian Black and Showalter has me hoping that you'll eventually cover their highly underrated show Stella for a What a Cartoon April Fool's episode one day. Also, thank you Nina for standing up for Mystery Men. Great movie. And a less-problematic (arguably?) "master of accents" performance from Hank Azaria

Graeme Black Robinson