I Second That Emotion (Futurama)
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"I Second That Emotion" is the first episode in the
second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...
season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...
of the American animated television series ''
Futurama ''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 ...
'', and the 14th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on the
Fox network Fox Broadcasting Company, LLC (commonly known as Fox; stylized in all caps) is an American commercial broadcast television network serving as the flagship property of Fox Corporation and operated through Fox Entertainment. Fox is based at Fo ...
in the United States on November 21, 1999. The episode was written by
Patric M. Verrone Patric Miller Verrone (born September 29, 1959) is an American television screenwriting, writer and trade union, labor leader. He served as a writer and producer for several animation, animated television shows, most notably ''Futurama''. Schoo ...
and directed by Mark Ervin. The episode introduces the recurring sewer mutants, a society of humans who have been mutated by years of exposure to pollution and radioactive waste poured into the sewers from New New York.


Plot

When
Nibbler A nibbler (or pair of nibblers) is a tool for cutting sheet metal with minimal distortion. It may be used for " nibbling": cutting a contour by producing a series of overlapping slits or notches. One type of nibbler operates much like a punch a ...
chips his fang, he is taken to a vet, and during the time, is found out to be five years old. Nibbler has a birthday party, and Bender becomes annoyed that Nibbler is getting more attention than him. Having reluctantly made a birthday cake for Nibbler, Bender is aghast to see Nibbler gobble it all up before everybody else can praise Bender for the cake. In extreme annoyance, Bender flushes Nibbler down the toilet. Leela is distraught at the loss of her pet and wishes Bender could understand the emotions of others.
Professor Farnsworth 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 ...
proposes a solution: installing an
empathy Empathy is generally described as the ability to take on another person's perspective, to understand, feel, and possibly share and respond to their experience. There are more (sometimes conflicting) definitions of empathy that include but are ...
chip in Bender's head that will cause him to feel other people's emotions. After forcibly installing the chip, the chip is tuned to pick up Leela's emotions, so that whatever feelings Leela experiences, Bender automatically experiences them as well. After a night of experiencing a multitude of Leela's feelings, Bender misses Nibbler so much that he cannot stand it any longer. When Fry tells him that alligators can supposedly live after being flushed, Bender flushes parts of himself down the toilet in pursuit of Nibbler. Fry and Leela enter the sewers and quickly manage to find Bender and a crowd of mutants who live in the sewers. The mutants introduce them to their subterranean civilization. They also reveal that a monster called El Chupanibre has been terrorizing them. Leela, thinking that Nibbler is the monster, is happy until she is informed that the only way to lure the monster out is to offer a "snackrifice" in the form of a virgin. Although not one herself (because of her run-in with Zapp Brannigan), Leela is chosen anyway to be the sacrifice. At the sacrifice, Nibbler emerges from a pipe: however, the mutants point out Nibbler is not the beast they fear, but the large, reptilian monster behind him, who is the real El Chupanibre. Fry gets entangled in the trap that was meant for El Chupanibre, leaving only Bender to fight the beast; however, Leela is so scared, for herself and the others, that Bender is immobilized by her emotions. He and Fry teach Leela to stop caring about other people and care only about herself, and as a result, Bender is able to fight off the beast, whom he eventually flushes down a giant toilet into the sub-sewers. Back at Planet Express, the Professor removes Bender's empathy chip after Bender demands that he do so. When the chip is taken out the Professor says in amazement that it burned out, meaning Bender's feelings of empathy for Leela were his own. He then corrects himself, saying that the chip was actually running at triple capacity. Bender retains his 'in-your-face' interface and has apparently learned nothing, while Leela learns that adopting Bender's attitude is often better than being nice.


Continuity

*Before the episode, a fictitious short commercial for a product called "Glagnar's Human Rinds", a product similar to
pork rinds Pork rind is the culinary term for the skin of a pig. It can be used in many different ways. It can be rendered, fried in fat, baked, or roasted to produce a kind of pork cracklings (US), crackling (UK), or scratchings (UK); these are se ...
but made from humans, is featured, with the tagline "It's a muncha-buncha-cruncha human!". This gag would be reused in "
Raging Bender "Raging Bender" is the eighth episode in the second season of the American animated television series ''Futurama'', and the 21st episode of the series overall. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 27, 2000. Th ...
". *In the scene where Fry, Leela, and Bender are surrounded by the mutants, Leela's real
mother A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...
and
father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. A biological fat ...
(who are not introduced until season four) are clearly visible in the crowd. This appearance was intentional on the part of the creators who had conceived of Leela's true origin before they even pitched the idea for ''Futurama'' to FOX. This episode features the original design for Leela's parents in which Morris has a normal mouth and Munda has normal human arms. It was later decided that the characters would need to appear more mutated and the design was changed. *Raoul, the 'Supreme Mutant', is depicted in this episode with his third arm having replaced his right ear, with a few jokes being made referencing his reduced ability to hear as a result of it. However, later episodes show him as having both ears, and his third arm is placed slightly higher on his head. *Bender imitates a
Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters is an American Exhibition game, exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, entertainment, and comedy in their style of play. Over the years, they have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 124 ...
routine and whistles their theme song, "
Sweet Georgia Brown "Sweet Georgia Brown" is a jazz standard composed in 1925 by Ben Bernie and Maceo Pinkard, with lyrics by Kenneth Casey. History Reportedly, Bernie came up with the concept for the song's lyrics – although he is not the credited lyricist ...
". His love of the Globetrotters and desire to become one would become a subplot in the season three episode "
Time Keeps On Slippin' "Time Keeps On Slippin" is the fourteenth episode in the third season of the American animated television series ''Futurama'', and the 46th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 6, 200 ...
". *Although celebrating Nibbler's fifth birthday in this episode, it is later revealed in "
The Day the Earth Stood Stupid ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...
" that Nibbler is, in fact, seventeen years older than the universe itself. *Bender's catchphrase is "bite my shiny metal ass". Nibbler actually does so at the beginning of the episode.


Casting

Starting this episode,
Tress MacNeille Teressa Claire "Tress" MacNeille (; born June 20, 1951) >https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/macneille-tress-1951 is an American voice actress, who has contributed to voice-over work with credits including vo ...
is now credited under a "Starring" role instead of "Guest Star".
Maurice LaMarche Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor. Across a career spanning more than four decades he has voiced Chief Quimby on Inspector Gadget, Egon Spengler on ''The Real Ghostbusters'', The Brain on ''Animaniacs'' and its spi ...
, former ''MADtv'' castmembers
David Herman David Herman (born February 20, 1967) is an American actor and comedian. He was an original cast member on ''MADtv'' from 1995 to 1997, and played Michael Bolton in ''Office Space''. He has done voice acting work in hundreds of episodes of '' ...
and
Phil LaMarr Phil LaMarr is an American actor and comedian. He was one of the original featured cast members on the sketch comedy television series '' Mad TV'', where he stayed for five seasons. His voice acting roles in animated series include the Sam B of ' ...
, and ''King of the Hill'' voice actress
Lauren Tom Lauren Tom (born August 4, 1961) is an American actress. She began her career on stage, winning an Obie Award, and gained recognition for her role in '' The Joy Luck Club'' (1993). On television, she is known for her roles in the NBC sitcom ''Fri ...
, however, remain as guest stars and stay that way for the rest of the series until Season 6 in 2010.


Cultural references

* One of the animals in the vet's office is very similar to a
rust monster In the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game, the term monster refers to a variety of creatures, some adapted from folklore and legends and others invented specifically for the game. Included are traditional monsters such as dragons ...
from the ''
Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...
''
role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...
. * The title of the episode comes from the 1967 hit song by
The Miracles The Miracles (later known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles from 1965 to 1972) were an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1955. They were the first successful recording act for Motown Records and are considered one of the most ...
titled "
I Second That Emotion "I Second That Emotion" is a 1967 song written by Smokey Robinson and Al Cleveland. First charting as a hit for Smokey Robinson and the Miracles on the Tamla/Motown label in 1967, "I Second That Emotion" was later a hit single for the group du ...
" (as well as a pun on the expression "I second that motion", when an action has been suggested by one member of a group and another member announces his support for it). In the audio commentary for this episode, the commentators debate whether or not the episode's title is also a reference to the fact that this episode is the season two premiere.Futurama season 2 DVD commentary for this episode


References


External links

* * "I Second That Emotion" at
The Infosphere ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...
. {{Futurama episodes, 2 Futurama season 2 episodes 1999 American television episodes Works about emotions