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Fry and the Slurm Factory
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Futurama episode | |
| "Fry and the Slurm Factory" | |
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|---|---|
| Episode no. | 13 |
| Prod. code | 1ACV13 |
| Airdate | November 15, 1999 |
| Writer(s) | Lewis Morton |
| Director | Ron Hughart |
| Opening subtitle | Live From Omicron Persei 8 |
| Opening cartoon | The Simpsons shorts |
| Guest star(s) | Pamela Anderson as the Bikini Girl |
| Season 1 March 1999 – June 1999 |
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| List of all Futurama episodes... | |
"Fry and the Slurm Factory" is the thirteenth episode of the first production season of Futurama. It originally aired in North America on November 14, 1999 as the fourth episode of the second broadcast season.[1] The episode was directed by Ron Hughart and written by Lewis Morton. Pamela Anderson guest stars as the voice of one of the Slurm party girls.
Contents |
The episode opens with an advertisement for Slurm, announcing a contest: whoever finds a golden bottlecap inside a can of Slurm wins a free trip to the Slurm plant on Wormulon, a tour of the Slurm Factory, as well as a party with Slurm mascot Slurms MacKenzie. During the advertisement, an Alienese disclaimer flashes on screen which reads, "The following species are ineligible: space wasps, space beavers, any other animal with the word space in front of it, space chickens, and the elusive yak-face" ("Yak Face" being the name of a rare Star Wars collectible toy). Fry resolves to find the bottlecap by drinking massive quantities of Slurm.
Bender is sick with a high fever (900° F); Professor Farnsworth uses this as an excuse to test his experimental "F-ray", a device that enables the user to look inside anything. After repairing Bender the Professor leaves the F-ray in the custody of Fry and Bender. Fry realizes that they could use the F-ray to scan Slurm cans for the golden bottlecap. After checking "90 thousand" cans, they give up on finding the winning can, and return the F-ray. Fry settles in to relax with a Slurm and chokes on the winning bottle cap.
The Planet Express crew arrives at Slurm Centralized Industrial Fabrication Unit on Wormulon 4. The crew takes a tour down a river of Slurm through the factory, and see the Grunka-Lunkas sing their song. Fry tries to drink from the river and falls in. Leela dives in to save him, and Bender joins them for no good reason. The three are sucked into a whirlpool and deposited in a cave under the factory.
They discover that the factory they toured was a fake. Making their way through the tunnels, they enter the real factory and discover Slurm's true nature: it is a secretion from a giant worm, the Slurm Queen. They are discovered and captured by the worms. Bender is placed into a can-making machine. Leela is hung over a vat of royal Slurm which will turn her into a Slurm Queen. Fry is fed ultra-addictive "super-slurm", so that he cannot resist "eat[ing] until [he] explode[s]". They escape, but are pursued by the Slurm Queen. Slurms MacKenzie, exhausted from his years of partying, arrives and sacrifices himself to save Fry, Leela, and Bender.
When they escape, the Slurm Queen bemoans that the company is ruined; however, Fry is so addicted to Slurm that he keeps the nature of Slurm a secret, telling the government agent Professor Farnsworth contacted that "grampa's just making crazy stories again," so that it can continue to be produced.
Future Planets which appeared in this episode:
- Wormulon is a planet famous for the production of a soft drink called Slurm. Slurm's advertising catchphrase is "It's highly addictive". Wormulon has a ring system similar to Saturn's, but has been manipulated to display the Slurm logo.
In 2006 IGN listed this episode as number three in their list of the top 25 Futurama episodes, also stating that this episode was the "most memorable" episode of the series.[2]
The episode, including its title, is a parody of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, a movie adaptation of the novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.[1][2] The characters whom the factory paid to pretend to be workers, the Grunka Lunkas, resemble the Oompa Loompas from the film version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and the tour guide, Glurmo, also wears a Willy Wonka-like attire. Slurms MacKenzie, the Slurm party slug, is a parody of Spuds MacKenzie, the Bud Light spokesdog.[3]
Slurm is a fictional soft drink in the Futurama universe. It is popular, highly addictive, and is Fry's favorite beverage. It is ubiquitous in the show; Slurm delivery trucks and advertisements can be frequently spotted, including in the Futurama opening credits (shortly before the Planet Express delivery ship crashes into the billboard). The drink's slogan is "It's highly addictive!" The distribution of Slurm is handled by the Bureau of Soft Drinks, Tobacco, and Firearms, a parody of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Slurm has an active marketing campaign, similar to leading soft drinks today. It was spearheaded by the party worm Slurms MacKenzie until his death. The campaign's theme music is an instrumental version of "I've Got A Tan," by The Four Postmen. Slurm posters were also one of the first clues to deciphering the alien languages in the series and were meant to act in a manner similar to the Rosetta Stone for dedicated fans.[4]
In this episode the plot to create "New Slurm" is a parody of The Coca-Cola Company's attempt to introduce New Coke, and the conspiracy theory that New Coke was produced solely to make the public desire Classic Coke more.[5]
- ^ a b Booker, M. Keith. Drawn to Television: Prime-Time Animation from The Flintstones to Family Guy, 115-124.
- ^ a b "Top 25 Futurama Episodes". Retrieved on 2007-06-14.
- ^ Nancy Basile. Futurama Pictures. Retrieved on 2007-09-14.
- ^ Cohen, David X. (2003). Futurama season 1 DVD commentary for the episode "Space Pilot 3000" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ^ [1]
- Fry and the Slurm Factory at TV.com
- Fry and the Slurm Factory at the Internet Movie Database
- Fry and the Slurm Factory at TVSquad.com
- GotFuturama encyclopedia entry
- Everything2 node
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| Season one | 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 |
| Season two | 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31 • 32 |
| Season three | 33 • 34 • 35 • 36 • 37 • 38 • 39 • 40 • 41 • 42 • 43 • 44 • 45 • 46 • 47 • 48 • 49 • 50 • 51 • 52 • 53 • 54 |
| Season four | 55 • 56 • 57 • 58 • 59 • 60 • 61 • 62 • 63 • 64 • 65 • 66 • 67 • 68 • 69 • 70 • 71 • 72 |
| Season five | Bender's Big Score • The Beast with a Billion Backs • Bender's Game • Into the Wild Green Yonder |