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As the wedding begins, Fry and Bender break into the Forbidden Valley to find out Alkazar's secret, and discover to their amazement four other castles, identical except that the decorations show different types of aliens. They arrive back at Leela's wedding just before she is about to say "I do," and bring a surprise - four other women, each the last of her species like Leela. Alkazar, flustered, tries to reason with the women, shapeshifting each time to match their form; the women quickly beat him into submission, and he takes his real form, a green cockroach-like alien. He explains that he played with their emotions because he wanted to "make it with five weirdoes" and get them to become his personal maids, and that he had to stage all the weddings on one day because tuxedos that change shape are expensive to rent. All five of the women reject him, and Leela goes home with the rest of the Planet Express crew. The episode ends with Leela sadly contemplating her desire to find her true species, wondering "How many planets could there be?" as she looks out at a vast, starry space. However, the Professor says that she must pay up for the decades of popcorn she destroyed, then she can look for her home.
 
As the wedding begins, Fry and Bender break into the Forbidden Valley to find out Alkazar's secret, and discover to their amazement four other castles, identical except that the decorations show different types of aliens. They arrive back at Leela's wedding just before she is about to say "I do," and bring a surprise - four other women, each the last of her species like Leela. Alkazar, flustered, tries to reason with the women, shapeshifting each time to match their form; the women quickly beat him into submission, and he takes his real form, a green cockroach-like alien. He explains that he played with their emotions because he wanted to "make it with five weirdoes" and get them to become his personal maids, and that he had to stage all the weddings on one day because tuxedos that change shape are expensive to rent. All five of the women reject him, and Leela goes home with the rest of the Planet Express crew. The episode ends with Leela sadly contemplating her desire to find her true species, wondering "How many planets could there be?" as she looks out at a vast, starry space. However, the Professor says that she must pay up for the decades of popcorn she destroyed, then she can look for her home.
   
==Broadcast and reception==
+
== Broadcast and reception ==
 
*Color stylist [[Bari Kumar]] won an Emmy award for ''Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation'' for this episode in 2000<ref name="AllYourTV">{{cite web |url=http://www.allyourtv.com/awards/awardsemmys52creativewinners.html |title=2000 Creative Emmy Award Winners |author=Rick Ellis |publisher=All Your TV |date= [[2000-08-26]] |accessdate=2007-06-28 }}</ref>. [[Susie Dietter]] was nominated for an Annie Award in 2000 for "Outstanding Individual Achievement for Directing in an Animated Television Production" for this episode, she lost to [[Brian Sheesley]] for the ''Futurama'' episode "[[Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?]]"<ref name="AA">{{cite web |url=http://www.annieawards.com/28thannieawardwinners.htm |title=28th Annual Annie Award Nominees and Winners
 
*Color stylist [[Bari Kumar]] won an Emmy award for ''Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation'' for this episode in 2000<ref name="AllYourTV">{{cite web |url=http://www.allyourtv.com/awards/awardsemmys52creativewinners.html |title=2000 Creative Emmy Award Winners |author=Rick Ellis |publisher=All Your TV |date= [[2000-08-26]] |accessdate=2007-06-28 }}</ref>. [[Susie Dietter]] was nominated for an Annie Award in 2000 for "Outstanding Individual Achievement for Directing in an Animated Television Production" for this episode, she lost to [[Brian Sheesley]] for the ''Futurama'' episode "[[Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?]]"<ref name="AA">{{cite web |url=http://www.annieawards.com/28thannieawardwinners.htm |title=28th Annual Annie Award Nominees and Winners
 
|publisher=International Animated Film Society |date=2000 |accessdate=2007-06-28 }}</ref>.
 
|publisher=International Animated Film Society |date=2000 |accessdate=2007-06-28 }}</ref>.
   
==Trivia==
+
== Trivia ==
 
*The title spoofs the song Daisy Bell and its well known line about "A Bicycle Built for Two". This song is best known for its inclusion in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey; the song was the first information programmed into Hal 9000 the ship's computer, and he sang it as he was being disconnected.
 
*The title spoofs the song Daisy Bell and its well known line about "A Bicycle Built for Two". This song is best known for its inclusion in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey; the song was the first information programmed into Hal 9000 the ship's computer, and he sang it as he was being disconnected.
 
*There are two additional references to ''2001: A Space Odyssey'': As Fry enters the internet, the famous 2001 theme ''Also Sprach Zarathustra'' by Richard Strauss is played and moments later, he references Dave Bowman's line "My God, it's full of stars!" from the 2001: A Space Odyssey novel by saying "My God, it's full of ads!"
 
*There are two additional references to ''2001: A Space Odyssey'': As Fry enters the internet, the famous 2001 theme ''Also Sprach Zarathustra'' by Richard Strauss is played and moments later, he references Dave Bowman's line "My God, it's full of stars!" from the 2001: A Space Odyssey novel by saying "My God, it's full of ads!"
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==Continuity==
+
== Continuity ==
 
*In ''[[Love's Labors Lost in Space]]'', Leela said she wouldn't care how many eyes a guy had, "...as long as it's less than five". In one of his forms, Alkazar has five eyes.
 
*In ''[[Love's Labors Lost in Space]]'', Leela said she wouldn't care how many eyes a guy had, "...as long as it's less than five". In one of his forms, Alkazar has five eyes.
   
==Debut Appearances==
+
== Debut Appearances ==
 
*[[Alkazar]]
 
*[[Alkazar]]
 
*[[Pig]]
 
*[[Pig]]
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*[[Rat Woman]]
 
*[[Rat Woman]]
   
==Alienese==
+
== Alienese ==
 
*The [[Alienese]] signs read, "Plump Juicy Humans Web" and "Codebreakers Chat Room".
 
*The [[Alienese]] signs read, "Plump Juicy Humans Web" and "Codebreakers Chat Room".
   
   
 
{{Episodelist}}
 
{{Episodelist}}
  +
 
[[Category:Season Two|Bicyclops Built for Two]]
 
[[Category:Season Two|Bicyclops Built for Two]]

Revision as of 17:35, 3 August 2009


"A Bicyclops Built for Two" is episode nine in Season Two of Futurama. It originally aired in North America on March 13, 2000.

Plot

The Professor opens the episode by bringing the crew great news: several years ago he had tried to log onto AOL, and it finally connected. He sends the crew into the internet for fun. While playing Death Factory III, the legend of Death Factory II, Leela meets the only other cyclops in the known universe, but Fry dispatches him before she can find out who he is and where he comes from. The crew is sent on a delivery mission to bring popcorn to Cineplex 14, so Leela can't take the time to find him, but he recorded her screen name and sends her a video mail. Leela abandons the delivery, and heads off to the coordinates provided. Unfortunately, when she jettisoned the cargo, it missed by a margin and hit the sun, creating a popcorn nebula.

The cyclops reveals himself to be Alkazar, sole survivor of the destruction of the planet Cyclopia. He claims that Leela was sent away as a baby when the blind moles of Subterra 3 launched missiles in every direction, hitting forty planets including Cyclopia. Luckily, before the crash, Cyclopia's smartest scientist managed to save a baby that was possibly Leela. Alkazar was employed as a pool cleaner and was spared from the chaos while fishing out a dead opossum. Leela decides that it is her duty to help rebuild the Cyclopian civilization, which primarily includes marrying Alkazar. While Bender loots everything of value, Fry tries to find out "what makes the Forbidden Valley so forbidden", and stumbles right into the dungeon. While he is in the dungeon, Fry tries to convince Leela to dump Alkazar. Alkazar was being abusive to Leela by ordering her around and making a fool out of her in front of his rat and pig friends. Leela had planned to dump Alkazar, but she accepted his offer of marriage in order to save her race.

As the wedding begins, Fry and Bender break into the Forbidden Valley to find out Alkazar's secret, and discover to their amazement four other castles, identical except that the decorations show different types of aliens. They arrive back at Leela's wedding just before she is about to say "I do," and bring a surprise - four other women, each the last of her species like Leela. Alkazar, flustered, tries to reason with the women, shapeshifting each time to match their form; the women quickly beat him into submission, and he takes his real form, a green cockroach-like alien. He explains that he played with their emotions because he wanted to "make it with five weirdoes" and get them to become his personal maids, and that he had to stage all the weddings on one day because tuxedos that change shape are expensive to rent. All five of the women reject him, and Leela goes home with the rest of the Planet Express crew. The episode ends with Leela sadly contemplating her desire to find her true species, wondering "How many planets could there be?" as she looks out at a vast, starry space. However, the Professor says that she must pay up for the decades of popcorn she destroyed, then she can look for her home.

Broadcast and reception

  • Color stylist Bari Kumar won an Emmy award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation for this episode in 2000[1]. Susie Dietter was nominated for an Annie Award in 2000 for "Outstanding Individual Achievement for Directing in an Animated Television Production" for this episode, she lost to Brian Sheesley for the Futurama episode "Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?"[2].

Trivia

  • The title spoofs the song Daisy Bell and its well known line about "A Bicycle Built for Two". This song is best known for its inclusion in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey; the song was the first information programmed into Hal 9000 the ship's computer, and he sang it as he was being disconnected.
  • There are two additional references to 2001: A Space Odyssey: As Fry enters the internet, the famous 2001 theme Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss is played and moments later, he references Dave Bowman's line "My God, it's full of stars!" from the 2001: A Space Odyssey novel by saying "My God, it's full of ads!"
  • Parts of this episode are a spoof of Married... with Children, which also starred Katey Sagal, the voice of Leela. Leela dresses, does her hair like and acts like Peggy Bundy, Alkazar acts like Al Bundy (Leela in fact refers to him as 'Al' several times) and his friends act like the uproarious studio audience.
  • One of Alkazar's four other would-be brides appears to be a member of the Great Race of Yith, a species of time-travelling body-snatchers from the H.P. Lovecraft story, The Shadow Out of Time.
  • When Fry is on the internet playing a video game reminiscent of 2-D sidescrollers, Fry jumps and shoots some crates and a Donkey Kong look-alike. When he jumps he makes noises similar to the sounds Mario makes in his 3D video games. He also quickly tucks and rolls through a small space, almost exactly like the Morph Ball from Metroid.
  • A scene where Bender falls into a machine and slips between gears is a references to the Charlie Chaplin film, Modern Times.
  • During the video game, Bender is destroyed by being cut into a Slinky, then falling down stairs into a molten metal pit.
  • The story about the destruction of Cyclopia and the planet's greatest scientist sending a Cyclopian baby, Leela, to Earth is a reference to the origin of Superman, where before the destruction of his home planet Krypton, master scientist Jor-El sends his only son, Kal-El (Superman) to Earth. Leela, like Superman, is supposedly the last member of her race.
  • Writers Ken Keeler and Eric Kaplan are depicted as nerds in the chat room. The nerd Fry beats in the video game is executive producer David X. Cohen.
  • The Planet Express crew entering cyberspace could be a reference to TRON.
  • The Professor's head appearing as a giant blue hologram could be a reference to the Emperor's appearance in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.
  • Alkazar's castle resembles Angkor Wat and the mosaic of the goddess resembles Sandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus.
  • During the video game scene, Fry shoots a laser from his arm, much like Megaman.


Continuity

  • In Love's Labors Lost in Space, Leela said she wouldn't care how many eyes a guy had, "...as long as it's less than five". In one of his forms, Alkazar has five eyes.

Debut Appearances

Alienese

  • The Alienese signs read, "Plump Juicy Humans Web" and "Codebreakers Chat Room".


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