Katz v Taco: Futurama 261
JonKatz
When Richard Nixon's head falls out of a jar 1,000 years into the future, growls, and bites the arm of Fry, the hero of Matt Groening's new TV show "Futurama," it was clear Groening has another hit on his hands.
"Futurama" isn't much like Groening's "Simpsons," except for its bug-eyed (or in this case, sometimes one-eyed) characters.
This time, the target is us - nerds, geeks, the power of computing, the sci-fi culture and the insanely-hyped Millenium. In "Futurama (8:30 p.m., Sundays on Fox)," Groening's target is the hi-tech future, and if it isn't pretty, it's sure funny as hell.
Our hero Fry is a pizza delivery boy with higher aspirations who, through a series of mishaps, is catapulted 1,000 years into the future, where he hooks up with a shoplifting robot named Bender and a lonely Cyclops who was originally supposed to be his "fate" counselor - that is, it was her job to make sure he had as crummy a job in the future as he'd had in the past, because that's what the compute program chose for him.
When he thinks about it, Fry is delighted to be free of his former family, girlfriend and job. But he wants a better life for himself, running afoul of future regulations, which are centered on the universal principle that "You gotta do what you gotta do." With Bender's help, he runs from the police - who beat people of the future with wimpy "Star Wars" Jedi laser swords rather than guns and clubs.Fry takes refuge in the Hall of Heads, a repository for still-talking, important heads from the past.
Appropriately enough, the first head he runs into is that of Leonard Nimoy, who's being fed fish-flake food in his jar. Asked by the incredulous and worshipful Fry what he's doing there, Nimoy declines Fry's request that he do "Spock" talk. He tells Fry that he's leading a life of "quiet dignity." (Groening's head is one of those lined up in a row of jars).
The second head Fry encounter's is that or Richard Nixon, whose jar breaks in the tussle and who vengefully clamps his teeth into Fry's arm and won't let go.
Like the "Simpsons," "Futurama" is subversive, rebellious and scathing. In an upcoming episode, Fry - who ends up being an interstellar pizza delivery boy despite himself - meets a race of aliens who happen to spend part of their time in liquid form.
Fry gets along with them fine, until he accidentally drinks the emperor.
"The 10-year-old Simpsons" was a landmark in the bland history of commercial television. It defied almost every conventional wisdom about demographics and market research. No network executive believed that America was interested in a dysfunctional cartoon family led by an addled Mom in a bee-hive hairdo and a fat, bald wreck of a father. Only Fox, struggling to invent itself as a new network, dared to put it on. By May, there will be at least eight mostly iconoclastic cartoons on television, including "King Of The Hill", and "Family Guy", another Fox show that takes aim at families.
"Futurama isn't as revolutionary as "The Simpsons," mostly because the idea of the satirical non-kid TV cartoon isn't as original anymore. But judging from the first episode, it's as funny, and for the sci-fi worshippers, geeks and nerds it targets, hits even closer to home.
CmdrTaco
Matt Groening's "The Simpsons" is an icon. Its a hard act to follow, but he's actually done it with Futurama. Don't kid yourself- its not as good as "Peak Simpsons" (which I define roughly as Season 3 through 6 or so, give or a take several episodes on either side) but this is television we're dealing with. Its a cespool guys, and this show doesn't stink, so its good simply because of what its surrounded by.
The show is simply "Guy From Present Winds up in Future". (like Back to the Future 2, or The Time Machine, or maybe Planet of the Apes, and, well, thousands of other books and movies with the same premise). In this case, The Future that "Fry" (our hero, a pizza delivery boy) is a mishmash of every future you've seen or read about. It steals from Trek, Star Wars, 1984, and warps them appropriately through Groening's artistic and humourist perspective. In short, its worth seeing just to see the stunning parody of every sci fi you've ever seen, and done well.
Last nights episode suffered from the same problem as every premiere episode of every show: to much time spent introducing the characters and environment. On one hand, the environment is fascinating- the charachters look like Simpsons characters of course, its Matt's trademark style. It's just like Life in Hell. But the backgrounds have much more depth, and many of the objects are actually 3D objects. Its much more advanced then The Simpsons would ever try (outside of a halloween episode anyway), and it all works. It looks good. It feels right.
The advantage of a sitcom in its 3rd season is that you know the exactly how and why charachters operate, so you can simply enjoy their wacky misadventures. The struggle of a new show is to set the characters up. The first few seasons of The Simpsons struggled as the writers tried to find the angles that worked. As the shows focus shifted from Bart's wise cracking, to the "Family", with the major emphasis on Homer, the show improved. Likewise, Futurama has to find its footing.
Its got a good start. The characters aren't bad. Bender is especially interesting. But as with The Simpsons, the guest appearances are what really make the show shine. In this case, the Heads of famous people appear in jars and are quite funny (this weeks episode included the heads of Leonard Nemoy, Richard Nixon, and even Matt Groening himself).
Futurama suffers from the same flaw as modern Simpsons episodes though- the end of the show almost tried to have a moral. The best of the Simpsons never tried to preach, it simply did its thing- and while there often is a moral, it doesn't sit down and scream it at you like a minister on a roll in his Sunday Sermon. South Park has it right- the "Moral" is terribly overdone- a parody of the crappy sitcoms that it strives to mock. Early Simpsons had it right too- the "Moral" simply isn't summarized at the end of the show. Futurama blew that one with a cheesy little dialog about being free to choose your own destiny.
Some things are obvious guys. You don't need to say them. But this is a minor nitpick relative to the number of good gags and jokes (and yes, social commentary) scattered throughout the show.
Anyway, I'll tune in again. Its visually pleasing, and as long as its in a sweet time slot (between Simpsons and X-Files for example) I won't run off to check my email. And I'll give it a few episodes to find its footing.
Time Slot (Score:1)
Time Slot (Score:1)
Actually, it'll be in that sweet time slot next week, but after that will move to Tuesday nights.
I actually liked the show much more than I thought I would based on the commercials (which looked pretty stupid, actually), so I may be able to tune in on Tuesdays. Supposedly Groening was pissed that it wouldn't be on Sundays, though...
Anonymous Coward
Overall Good (Score:1)
Good show, but unfortunatly, if it replaces That 70's Show, it'll mean I won't have a free half hour after watching The Simpsons before seeing how the X-Files could sink to even new heights of idiocy. There's a race of aliens bent on our destruction... but enough about that, lets go see why this little girl can rotate her head 360deg, oh, oh and I hear there is a werewolf in Arkansas! I'll get your coat, you start the car!
"ol' Fortran" (Score:1)
Bender is hilarious! Here's some examples: (Score:1)
Whatever, Katz (Score:2)
Us?! Katz != geek.
I await the censors.
Futurama (Score:1)
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robosexual (Score:1)
Y2K (Score:1)
Actually, it was "Doomsayers Cautiously Upbeat"...
</nitpick>
do the obvious if you want to email me
Futurama's Future Time Slot (Score:1)
Sorry, CT.. it's not gonna be on Sundays before the X-Files..
Well (Score:1)
Well (Score:1)
Last night's Simpsons wasn't too bad, either. Especially the part with that Heimlich Maneuver Machine where the lady spits out the food, walks down, then trips and falls on it.
Meaningless Observations (Score:1)
Question, how much wood could a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood?
These questions demand answers!
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Futurama lightsabres *ARE* wimpy. (Score:1)
Futurama LightSabre: Good only for beating someone on the head, and not terribly well either. Subject remains conscious. Very flashy, yet no better than a billy club from the Stupid Ages.
Groening Mentions these in Wired. (Score:1)
Sorta like the way Klingon became a developed language, but I'm guess it'll be a lot less droll...
Sight Gags (Score:1)
I wish I'd taped the show, because I really want to go back through the sweep of the Head Museum and see what other heads were in the pickings... I'm sure Groening added a few subtle ones, just for us retentive nerds...
:)
Meat Bag and .... *something* Tube. (Score:1)
Mulder & Scully's heads (Score:1)
I loved the new show. Of course, I'm not someone who says Simpson's is anything but hilarious now. It's hard to do a show for 10 years and Groening and company do a fine job. Unfortunately Futurama's regular time slot is going be on Tuesdays so I'll have to keep not watching That 70s Piece Of Crap.
One Bottle of Old Fortran Please (Score:1)
The first episode of FutureRama was interesting. I hope that the seris actually goes somewhere (unlike most fox shows which are total flops). Now if Fox would only kill Family Guy...
Did I miss something? (Score:1)
Anyway, did anyone see the Matt Groening head? It was right next to Fry and Bender when they were trying to hide as heads on the shelf. I bet in low motion there are a lot of neat heads. The opening scene of the Simpsons shows almost every character sitting on a lawn. It's just too fast to see."
Apu's head was there, on the left side of the wall.
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Donald Roeber
Katz!! Rewrite the Wired artical next time!! (Score:1)
Is he supposed to revise his opinions on a subject simply to make them original for a different medium or forum? If he did, you'd surely complain that he couldn't make up his mind...
-YDeO
"It's not down on any map;
true places never are."
--Melville
Disappointed (Score:1)
I was disappointed. The only time I laughed out loud was when I saw Spock. In a couple years when Matt stops writing and Conan O'Brien starts, it could be as funny as The Simpsons.
Katz Again.... (Score:2)
Here we go again with another round of Katz... Notice how he skitters away from taking ownership of his opinions by the repeated use of the word, "our."
Katz, I am not happy with your attempt to group us all together like a hippy commune. If you're going to state your opinion, take ownership for it. Isn't this the basics of journalism?
One of those gags I didn't get at first... (Score:1)
Did I miss something? (Score:1)
Bender was hysterical (Score:1)
line for a cute retro tin-toy looking robot
is "Bite my shiny metal ass, meat bag!"
Bender got in at least 4 more very funny lines
during the whole episode.
I loved it. I hope it stays in the
same sweet time slot so I won't be forced to
have a life on Sunday nights.
It's been a long time since I laughed that
hard watching the Simspons.
"ol' Fortran" (Score:1)
No one else I was watching it with got it, even when I told them.
Bah.
Well (Score:1)
Yeah.. that was good, but I thought the doctor had some of the best lines in that episode :)
Vote? (Score:1)
I missed that one.. that's why I taped it. I need to watch it again just for that sort of thing ;)
A Magnificent Achievement in Art Direction (Score:1)
Disney's new Tarzan adaptation looks like it's 100% CGI, rendered to appear like conventional 2D cell animation.
What is wrong with Katz article... (Score:1)
No mention that she is an alien.
Well, apart from that bit where she said "I'm an alien."
But I suppose that's subject to interpretation.
I tried & failed (Score:1)
Sent them to bed, reemoved the board, and somehow they'd manage to stop it 20 minutes into the simpsons. . . . argh
Proprietary TV shows suck! (Score:3)
Meaningless Observations (Score:1)
If you're going to be picky, you could also ask why it was daytime instead of being a few seconds from midnight. Here's a couple reasons: The earth's rotation is slowly decreasing (hence some 7 leap seconds over the last couple decades). The timer in the cryofreezer wasn't exactly accurate for a span of 1000 years (that's off by 1 in 2*10-06!).
If you want to be more picky, the first time old New York was rebuilt, you see some buildings (castles?). Why weren't they underground instead of the original New York?
Best gag of the show (Score:3)
"Stop, we have you partially surrounded!"
And the brick falls out of Bender's ass. I rolled on the floor laughing.
Of course, like any PHB, I'm easily distracted by shiny objects....
-Randy
UK Dates? (Score:1)
Weirdness (Score:1)
Time Slot (Score:1)
Beer recipe: free! #Source
Cold pints: $2 #Product
Now hear this: I hate Katz! (Score:1)
Beer recipe: free! #Source
Cold pints: $2 #Product
Overall Good (Score:1)
Well if you're going to be P.C. (Score:1)
Hmm, in terms of being pro-meat, at least last night's Simpsons wasn't nearly as bad as some KOTH episodes I've seen. The most recent KOTH, with the photo of Hank's "beef filled colon", which mentions the (real) Texas law against "defamation of beef", was particularly disgusting.
If you're going to be politically correct, though, I'm not so sure what to make about the recent theme that Homer and Bart get to go on cool adventure while Lisa and Marge stay home and install a new doorbell. As others have noted, the episodes where Marge gets to kick ass and take names are often the funniest for me (like the recent episode where she saves Homer and family from the rhinos at the zoo in her new "F-series" Canyonero).
I know there's such a thing as "suspension of disbelief", but I just can't see how they could explain away Homer being able to drive an 18-wheeler (not to mention a train!) with no prior experience. It would have been just as bad if Fry was able to fly the spaceship perfectly with no prior experience, and notice how Groening doesn't try to do that in Futurama.
Again, for Homer to keep getting stupider in each new episode, while simultaneously gaining unexplained new skills, is a really poor effect.
Meaningless Observations (answered) (Score:1)
Answered.
Pet Lobster. (Score:1)
Lisa's character has changed from the show's confused manifestation of Matt himself into some fruity new-age stereotype. Homer is just stupid anymore in very predictable ways. I can hardly bring myself to watch it anymore. I hope Matt stays on the Futurama project a lot longer than he stuck with the Simpsons.
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As long as each individual is facing the TV tube alone, formal freedom poses no threat to privilege.
Akbar is a Life in Hell character. (Score:1)
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As long as each individual is facing the TV tube alone, formal freedom poses no threat to privilege.
Anyone notice? (Score:1)
Not that I'm complaining, I always thought it would make a good cartoon.
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As long as each individual is facing the TV tube alone, formal freedom poses no threat to privilege.
Groening is from Portland. (Score:1)
They don't call it the Left coast for nuttin'.
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As long as each individual is facing the TV tube alone, formal freedom poses no threat to privilege.
Best gag of the show (Score:1)
ROTFLMAO!
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As long as each individual is facing the TV tube alone, formal freedom poses no threat to privilege.
Moral at end was irony? (Score:2)
episode was intentially ironic. Remember, Fry
wanted freedom of selfdetermination because he
did not want to be stuck being a delivery guy the
rest of his life. And what did he end up as at
the end of the episode? a delivery guy.
Who's Gene and who's Roger? (Score:1)
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Gimme a break, I'm not that clueless... (Score:1)
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That 70's Show (Score:1)
I agree... but she did get me to start watching the show...
Hidden Messages (Score:1)
There are hidden "alien" messages all over the show... If you take a look at the "Slurm" Advert, you will see an alien language/code those "letters" translate to the word Slurm. In theory more hints will be in each episode so we can all look forward to decoding the messages
The funniest part, IMHO... (Score:1)
Bender is excellent! (Score:1)
Bender is definitely the best apt of the show.
Did you notice that when they were inside Fry's great-great-great....great nephew's house, that when the cops were pounding on the door, Bender shat a brick? I thought that was hilarious. And when he took the three bottles of booze out, and drank them all himself. That was truly excellent. I'm pretty impressed, considering that was the first show. I just know that show is going to be sooo funny!!
(he shat a brick! hee-hee!)
What is (and isn't) wrong with Katz article... (Score:1)
| No mention that she is an alien. With Xena on
| prime time, you might point out her purple hair
| and non-human species. Cyclops is a greek myth.
Huh? The character herself said she was an alien in that whole speechlet about how she understands what Fry is going through.
[lightsabers]
| And they aren't wimpy.
They were in Futurama. That's why that gag was funny in the first place.
Well done, Groening! (Score:1)
that great... the media hype had me a little worried there,
but on the whole I'd say it was consistantly funny,
even for a premier. It had a lot of geek appeal
(Light saber police batons. A riot!) Let's just hope we'll
see the tongue-in-cheek satire that made The Simpsons so great.
I also hope to see a variety in the episodes...
no one wants to see a "Fry goes to Planet X and screws something up" story every week.
The sci-fi genre gives Groening incredible freedom in what he can do.
keep up the good work, and I look forward to another big hit!
Not just a delivery guy (Score:1)
Anyone notice HHGTTG and Red Dwarf? (Score:1)
Moral at end was irony? (Score:1)
The moral of the story (Score:1)
Marge: Homer, it's the thought that counts. The moral of the story is a good deed is its own reward.
Bart: Hey, we got a reward. The head is cool.
Marge: Then... I guess the moral is no good deed goes unrewarded.
Homer: Wait a minute. If I hadn't written that nasty letter, we wouldn't've gotten anything.
Marge: Well... Then I guess the moral is the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
Lisa: Perhaps there is no moral to this story.
Homer: Exactly! Just a bunch of stuff that happened.
- "Blood Feud" [snpp.com]
Jamie McCarthy
UK Dates? (Score:1)
Personally, I always liked the 'wheel of morality':
Wheel of morality , turn turn turn, tell us the lesson that we must learn... and the moral of today's story is...
Futurama's Time slot... (Score:1)
My one beef would be that I was sad to see this take the time slot of 'That 70s Show'. I realize that it'll be back over the summer, but I hope that they give it a good time slot and keep it around - I thought it was a pretty funny show with some brilliant moments. And I'm not saying this just because the redhead was awfully darn cute.
Anyway, good reviews guys. (You know, I just realized I'll probably never see this response because my comment threshold is too high. Oh well...)
Pet Lobster. (Score:1)
No. All the Good Writers stayed away from OFF after about Season 6.
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I shoulda taped it (Score:1)
Best gag of the show (Score:1)
It stunk. (Score:1)
I'll watch a couple more episodes before never bothering to watch it again, though. Not worth my time at all.
ian.
Vote? (Score:1)
Also, did anyone else notice that Leela (or whatever, the one-eyed alien) was Agent "1BDI"? Say it out loud... It's subtle stuff like this that's going to make the show a hit.
Not the same Katz (Score:1)
sexbots (Score:1)
TV and the lowest common denominator (Score:1)
This is still the case with TV. The TV execs haven't yet realised that although its great to get as many people as possible watching your show for the exposure of advertising, it would be just as useful to target a smaller, smarter, more economically active segment of the population.
Thats why TV sucks. Its targeted at the moron next door.
Intel's Latest Chip bug... (Score:1)
A Magnificent Achievement in Art Direction (Score:1)
But the distortions in Groening's work are quite strong. I'm still floored that they were able to take 3D objects and make them look like Life in Hell.
Schwab
A Magnificent Achievement in Art Direction (Score:2)
As someone with limited amateur-level experience in creating 3D art and animation, Futurama is simply incredible. They took "real" 3D objects and made it look like a forced-perspective 2D cartoon.
Simply amazing!
Schwab
Re: (Score:1)
Weirdness (off topic) (Score:1)
Nowhere near as good as the other three.
ebw
Katz Again.... (Score:1)
Maybe you are mainly referring to his other articles (which I usually ignore).
Simpsons Morals (Score:1)
Parappa the Rapper! (Score:1)
Bender is straight man? (Score:1)
You're right about the spock thing, of course.
preaching (Score:1)
It's a "toon filter", that's all. (Score:1)
This isn't the best use I've seen of the technique: the 3D objects didn't seem flat enough, and their signature CGI motion made them stick out too much when they were background details. It was distracting.
If you want a truly magnificent integration of CGI and conventional animation, see "Princess Mononoke" when Disney releases it. Where's the CGI? YOU WON"T BE ABLE TO TELL!
Jon Acheson
realvideo clip for those who missed it? (Score:1)
unrelated: is our Katz the same as the one who created Dr. Katz on Comedy Central?
Was the social comentary needed? (Score:1)
fwiw, I thought the suicide booth (and the rest of the episode) was quite funny.
Matt's Head (Score:1)
Let Rob write the reviews from now on... (Score:1)
Who's Gene and who's Roger? (Score:1)
--Ivan, weenie NT4 user, Jon Katz hater: bite me!
Bender is hilarious! Here's some examples: (Score:2)
to his finger to pay for it, then yanks the
quarter out--even though he's committing suicide
and won't be able to use it again.
In the bar, Bender talks about how he could bend
girders to any degree... 30, 32,
Bender's 'Olde Fortran' Malt Liquor
In "Old New York" after Fry talks about never
seeing anyone he knows again, Blender
says "there's someone you know!" (Refering to
Leela, who at the time was hunting them down)
This is the best: When Fry and Leela have
their "moment" Bender puts his hand on top of
both of theirs, stealing Leela's ring. Leela
quickly notices and Bender gives it back. Then
he says "Well, that solves the case of the
missing ring! This calls for a drink." He then
pulls out 3 beers, and instead of giving one to
each person, chugs them all.
Another part, that everyone knows, is when they
are partially surrounded, he $h*ts a brick.
One other thing, I wasn't sure if it was
intentional or not... After he $h*ts the brick,
he says "We're Boned!" The first time I thought
he said "Doomed" but after playing it through
over and over I discovered it is "Boned." Can
they not say "screwed" on television, or was it
just something stupid that I took way to far?
One footnote--Another thing I noticed (not about
Bender) was Leela's
When she called for backup, she said this is agent
"1 B D I". Just something small and stupid that
I overlooked the first time thru.
__________________
~enucite~
Bender was hysterical (Score:1)
Maybe a twisted moral? (Score:1)
Katz!! Rewrite the Wired artical next time!! (Score:1)
jokes per minute (Score:1)
i jokes/minute, and how Seinfeld had one of the
largest numbers of all shows. The Simpsons has a
pretty high jokes per minute rate, but what makes
it interesting is the intertwining of chuckles and
the general abstraction that the show has developed.
Futurama didn't seem to have as many jokes. And
the ones it did have were annoyingly in the
background. (well, maybe I just missed a lot of
them because of that) I guess it needs time to
develop it's own pace (if it isn't crushed first)
of course, the funniest show in the world is The
Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin.. and these
shows just don't compare. imnsho.
Everything can be offensive. (Score:1)
More than being offended by the Slaughterhouse restaurant, you should consider that being the Simpsons it was not so much praising steak houses, but satirizing them, no matter how good an Outback steak tastes. (mmm aussie chips...)And if that doesn't help, remember that no animals were actually harmed by the filming of this weeks episode.
Is is just me, or should Senior DingDong get his own spin off?
Was the social comentary needed? yup. (Score:1)
-lx
Proprietary TV shows suck! (Score:1)
-lx
HHGTTG movie -- RSN, uh huh (Score:1)
-lx
Did I miss something? (Score:1)
From Katz:
"Asked by the incredulous and worshipful Fry what he's doing there, Nimoy declines Fry's request that he do "Spock" talk."
I thought the joke was because Fry wanted him to do the trademark Spock hand sign (not talk), and, of course, he couldn't. He's only a head. I laughed.
Anyway, did anyone see the Matt Groening head? It was right next to Fry and Bender when they were trying to hide as heads on the shelf. I bet in slow motion there are a lot of neat heads. The opening scene of the Simpsons shows almost every character sitting on a lawn. It's just too fast to see.
Hopefull these episodes will get better. At least half of what's funny about the Simpson's is Homer. And there's no Homer. They need to make one quick. I don't mean carbon copy that character onto this show, but make an equally funny character. It seems like they're all straight men. Maybe it's just me.
I like the views (Score:1)
Whatever people may think of the actual articles, this is by far two very different views on the same subject and I am glad I had the chance to see both views!
Katz and Taco did a wonderful job at taking two different directions while wondering the same path. I just wish more
Thanks
DavonZ
Quit ragging on the spelling already! (Score:2)
I don't remember where (maybe the faq), but Rob has said that he's a programmer, not a writer. I mean, come on; all the thousands of lines of code it takes to run a joint like Slashdot and you're going to fault him for some silly spelling mistakes? Have you ever noticed that the mistakes are generally always the same ones? For example, "to" and "too" are often switched, and the "charac(h)ter" example already mentioned. This probably means that this is how he thinks the word is spelt, in which case the mistake would not be detected upon rereading.
The emphasis on spelling is completely overdone in our society. We have all these spelling bees which really serve no purpose. The national spelling bee is broadcast on ESPN to give the kids a sense of importance, but honestly, spelling is one of the more useless talents a person can have.
Spelling is, of course, important. Proper spelling is necessary in major publications, such as the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times in order for them to be taken seriously. But such publications have armies of editors who proofread articles for a living, and are trained to pick up typographical, spelling, and grammatical errors. Would you suggest Rob employ such a person? What a waste that would be.
There was a guy in my eleventh grade English class who had atrocious spelling. I can't recall any illustrative examples right now, but I remember that it was pretty terrible. The teacher told us repeatedly that spelling had nothing to do with writing ability, and that some of the best writing she had ever seen was riddled with egregious ($5 please) spelling errors. I, being of the old "if-you-can't-spell-you-can't-write" school of thought, scoffed at her claims. But as the year progressed and I read more of Steve (the bad speller)'s writing, I began to see that she was correct. Despite the errors, his was some of the most beautiful writing I had ever seen. The Educational Testing Service agreed, awarding him a 5 (out of 5) on the English Language and Composition AP Exam.
And though it's true that spell- and grammar-checkers are available (if not ubiquitous [$5]), who actually writes up their Slashdot comments in Word (or whatever word-processor you prefer), spell-checks them, then cuts-and-pastes them into the Comment box? ANYBODY?
If you do, sir/madam, you are almost as anal as the guy I met freshman year who refused to make web pages because they didn't look "exactly" the way he wanted, and instead included links to
So in short what I am trying to say is lay off the spelling issue. If it bothers you that much, maybe just email Rob a version sans-errors that he can repost if he wants. I don't really know. I usually pride myself on correct spelling (not to say I don't make frequent mistakes) but I rarely come down on anyone else for their spelling ability (or lack thereof). It's rather petty and doesn't affect the quality of the content. Would you rather Rob stop to examine every "to" or continue writing splendid content? Hmm?
Right.
Number of errors in this post: _____
Ha!
PS - regarding the moderation, if a post is marked with a -1, how can people see the replies to it if their threshold is +1? Just wondering. I keep mine at -1.
-Begin Evan's Dumb Signature.....
What is wrong with Katz article... (Score:2)
"a shoplifting robot named Bender"
Shoplifting? Maybe in future episodes... they foreshadowed with the "swipe the ring" bit at the end. But you couldn't get that from this episode. The rest of the article has this problem - it sounds like he's reviewing the press releases than the actual episode.
"a lonely Cyclops"
No mention that she is an alien. With Xena on prime time, you might point out her purple hair and non-human species. Cyclops is a greek myth.
"beat people of the future with wimpy "Star Wars" Jedi laser swords"
They are lightsabers. "Jedi laser swords"? Think of your audiance when you write, Katz. We know and recognize the term "lightsaber".
And they aren't wimpy.
"the first head he runs into is that of Leonard Nimoy, who's being fed fish-flake food in his jar. Asked by the incredulous and worshipful Fry what he's doing there, Nimoy declines Fry's request that he do "Spock" talk. He tells Fry that he's leading a life of "quiet dignity." "
Wow, he beat this great scene all to hell. First off, Fry asked Nimoy to hold his hand in the Vulcan "V" hand gesture (a la "Live long and prosper". Nimoy indicates that he can't -- no arms. I don't see what the heck this has to do with "Spock" talk. (Actually it was that "Spock" talk phrase that made this rant occur).
The "quiet dignity" occurs just before the food is dropped in the jar. That makes it much funnier than the implication above - that Nimoy is being fed when Fry encounters him.
"No network executive believed that America was interested in a dysfunctional cartoon family led by an addled Mom in a bee-hive hairdo and a fat, bald wreck of a father."
Yeah, there was nothing like "All in the Family" (a predecessor), "Married with Children" (another FOX original series that set the tone of the network), or the proven sucess of the Simpsons as a regular segment on the "Tracey Ullman Show".
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Evan "Maybe it was that coffee I brewed with Water Joe... I seem to have very low tolerance, and I can't even type SQL statements today" E.
VCR Moments (Score:2)
There seemed to be a lot of signs and stuff in the background, you couldn't get to read unless you'd taped it... I should get A VCR....
This is similar to the simpsons which has (ie when bart cheats on his aptitude test, there is a picture of him next to einsteins picture in the principals office.) hard to see unless you've seen the episode many times.