| "In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Futurama episode | |||
| Episodeno. | Season 6 Episode 2 | ||
| Directed by | Dwayne Carey-Hill | ||
| Story by | Matt Groening Carolyn Premish | ||
| Teleplay by | Carolyn Premish | ||
| Production code | 6ACV02 | ||
| Original air date | June 24, 2010 (2010-06-24) | ||
| Guest appearance | |||
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| Episode features | |||
| Opening caption | Apply directly to the eyes | ||
| Episode chronology | |||
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| Futuramaseason 6 | |||
| List of episodes | |||
"In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela" is the second episode in thesixthseason of the American animated television seriesFuturama, and the 90th episode of the series overall. It originally aired directly after "Rebirth" on June 24, 2010 onComedy Central.[1] In the episode,Zapp Brannigan andLeela end up on aGarden of Eden-like world after fighting a planet-destroying satellite called V-Giny.
The episode was written by Carolyn Premish, who created the story for the episode with series creatorMatt Groening.Dwayne Carey-Hill directed. It features references toAdam and Eve, and Matt Groening's other show,The Simpsons, along withself-parody. The episode received positive reviews from critics.
Notably, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela" is the first of several episodes to use a significantly shortened intro sequence this season, and consequently is the first episode in the series not to show a brief clip of a classic cartoon before the opening credits.
Sometime in the 31st century, a death sphere appears, destroying planets in its path.Professor Farnsworth soon discovers that the death sphere is headed for Earth. After running several simulations, he realizes that the death sphere is the result of a collision between two artificial satellites that were launched into Earth's orbit in 1998. One satellite, launched by the U.S.Federal Communications Commission (FCC), was known as the "V-chip" which censors inappropriate programs likeThe Pimpsons andAssarama, and the other satellite was called the "USAF Flying Destiny." Shortly after launch, the two mysteriously disappeared. The collision effectively created the death sphere and also gave the death sphere the name "V-GINY," aportmanteau of the two former satellites' names. The death sphere's purpose is later revealed as censoring indecent planets, thereby destroying them.
Zapp Brannigan andLeela are sent to destroy the death sphere in an undetectable one-man craft built by Farnsworth. Upon confronting the sphere's control center, Leela utters "holy cr—", triggering the censor, which sends a black, crude oil-like substance towards them. Their counterattack weaponry proves to be ineffective against the mysterious substance, forcing the duo to retreat. They end up stranded on aGarden of Eden-like planet (complete with atalking serpent, though Brannigan dismisses this as ahallucination) where Brannigan tries to woo Leela through deceit and purposely leaving her trapped and mentally addled. However, Brannigan ultimately scammed Leela; the two really landed on Earth.
In the meantime, the Planet Express crew travels toLo'ihi Island inHawaii, the one spot where humanity has not made its mark. There, they desperately attempt to convince the death sphere that there is still some decency on Earth by performing a purity chant. However,Bender cannot keep to himself and begins fornicating with the satellite encoder.
Following the incident,Fry wanders the island in search of a good spot to "take a dump". As he wanders, he finds the stranded Leela, at which point V-Giny appears on Earth, and in a bargain made between it and the Planet Express crew, agrees to spare the planet if "Adam" (Brannigan) and "Eve" (Leela) consummate their relationship. Brannigan tries to bargain his way out due to the uncomfortable setting but Leela forces him into it, which causes Fry a great deal of grief, and he begs for it to be censored. V-Giny states that it is "approved for all audiences" and leaves Earth.
By August 20, 2009, the writing of this episode was ready for itstable reading. This episode and the fourth episode of the sixth season feature some coarser language that would previously not have been possible onFOX.[citation needed] The episode's screenplay was written by Carolyn Premish, with the story written by her andFuturama creator,Matt Groening.
This episode had to be toned down when it aired onSinclair Broadcasting affiliates, but it still kept a TV-14 rating for suggestive dialogue (D), offensive language (L), sexual situations (S), and violence (V).
The episode title itself is a spoof ofIron Butterfly's 1968 song "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" (originally titled "In the Garden of Eden"). The episode makes references to the typical 1950s B-Movie serials with Zapp Brannigan's dreams.[2] Zapp and Leela are in anAdam and Eve type planet and take on the roles while on the planet.[2] The Death Sphere is a reference to "Death Star" inStar Wars,[3] its creation and its name are a reference to V′Ger inStar Trek: The Motion Picture. It is also a reference to theStar Trek: The Original Series episodes "The Changeling" (in reference to the fact that the V-chip and the USAF Flying Destiny colliding like the Nomad probe) and "The Doomsday Machine" (an ancient military starship that has gone rogue and destroyed several planets, before heading toward the Federation). Hermes uses a reference database calledJaneway's Guide, a portmanteau ofJanes Fighting Ships andKathryn Janeway.[4]
The main plot line of the episode, involving a "Death Sphere" on a course to destroy the Earth, is analogous to the plot of the 1997Luc Besson filmThe Fifth Element. The movie's antagonist, referred to as the "great evil," is a giant sentient sphere with the ability to communicate with humans on a mission to destroy life, and shares many attributes with Futurama's V-GINY. In both cases the President of the Earth meets with a military leader to discuss how to handle the death sphere, and they end up consulting a third party (the priest and then the scientist who rebuilds/revives Lelu inThe Fifth Element, and Professor Farnsworth inFuturama) for an alternative solution to military action. In both cases, the great evil is defeated through an act of "love."
In its original American broadcast, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela" was viewed by an estimated 2.78 million households with a 1.5 rating/5% share in the 18-49 demographic becoming the second highest rated episode of the night afterBurn Notice,Royal Pains and the previousFuturama episode, "Rebirth" according to theNielsen Media Research.[5]
The A.V. Club reviewer Zack Helden while reviewing "Rebirth" gave the episode a B saying "'Gadda' is the weaker of the two premiere episodes. It's still funny (though not quite as funny as 'Rebirth'), but the storyline doesn't build to the sort of wild, resonant pay-off that Futurama does best".[6] Robert Canning ofIGN gave the episode an 8.0/10 calling it "Impressive" and also stated "While 'Rebirth' was forced to reacquaint and catch people up, 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela' was essentially a standalone episode delivering a lot of laughs and a quintessential Futurama story."[2] Danny Gallagher ofTV Squad stated in his review "It was nice to see 'Futurama' stick with its satirical roots. The best of the old episodes always had a touch of something that spoke out about something (i.e. global warming in 'Crimes of the Hot,' environmental awareness in 'A Big Piece of Garbage'). It really knew how to drive the episode, both on plot and humor, and it works here, for the most part." However, he also stated it lacked "cleverness" and delivered few laughs fromBender.[3]
