REVIEW: That Darn Katz

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REVIEW: That Darn Katz

Post by Kif White » Fri Aug 06, 2010 12:06 pm

I liked this one...
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Re: REVIEW: That Darn Katz

Post by kaspired » Fri Aug 06, 2010 8:23 pm

The bar/morning after scenes were hilarious.

Self refilling glasses (that were probably automatically charged to their bar tab)

Amy asking Kif if he got sick "again"
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Re: REVIEW: That Darn Katz

Post by c_nordlander » Fri Aug 06, 2010 8:59 pm

I liked this one a lot! The concept of
Spoiler
felt rather cheesy at first, but it was used the true Futurama way: there was a reason behind them. A silly reason, but still a reason. And the main plot and the Nibbler subplot were seamlessly integrated.

I'm really happy that it was an Amy-centric episode, and even better, one that took into account that there's more to her than the clumsy party girl. Leela's cutesy treatment of Nibbler got on my nerves a bit, but it was needed for the plot and not out of character.

I'll readily admit that I'm not the world's biggest Nibbler fangirl (I think I liked him more back when he was just a mysterious, incredibly dangerous pet), but his role in this episode brought home that he's outed himself as a fellow sentient, and that the interactions between him and the crew have changed accordingly. I wonder if future episodes will explore this change more. I hope so.

Katz (was he ever given a name? That's what I'm going to call him) was something I haven't seen since Hutch in "Into the Wild Green Yonder": a cool and memorable one-off character. Especially his conversations with Nibbler. And yes, excellent voice acting all around.

Also, this episode shone in terms of humour. It probably had the largest amount of really funny jokes of any episode so far this season. Amy
Spoiler
"Long dark nights in which to sleep... long sunny days in which to sleep", the edutainment toy professor, the Calculon scene, and many more.

I don't have a lot of problems with this one, but it seems to have seen a slight resurgence of gross-out or just random jokes (such as
Spoiler
And I could do without Kif doing random freaky stuff like inflating or turning into slime. The old seasons barely ever used that sort of stuff. (Well, I like him turning bright yellow and fainting every time he tries to smoke, but that's about it.)

Also, I agree with Kenneth:
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Also, what's with Leela saying "I may not have a man..."? I'm not a shipper, but... do the writers even *watch* each other's episodes? (And "Rebirth" went too far in the other direction, making it seem like Fry and Leela had been a couple for weeks, even though they hooked up just before the crash. Just putting this in here because it feels odd.) Show some consistency, people.

Many thumbs up. This season is still getting better!

EDIT: And one more thing...
Spoiler
Last edited by c_nordlander on Sat Aug 07, 2010 1:18 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: REVIEW: That Darn Katz

Post by Stretch_Dude » Fri Aug 06, 2010 9:46 pm

Once again, Chris and I agree, though I must point out an error:
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I memorized "Holy Grail" really well
I can recite it right now and have you ROTFLOL
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Re: REVIEW: That Darn Katz

Post by Gulliver63 » Fri Aug 06, 2010 9:48 pm

I agree with everyone here that this episode was good on the laughs...my wife even enjoyed it, and she's not really a Futurama fan. We're cat lovers (or at least happy owners of a cat), and we liked the little cat jokes they snuck in. I too like the focus on Amy's intelligence...my recent story has her becoming a skilled pilot. BTW, I really like the comment on one-off characters...I'm a huge fan of Free Waterfall Jr., and kind of wish that he hadn't been eaten (another great episode!). :amy
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Re: REVIEW: That Darn Katz

Post by c_nordlander » Fri Aug 06, 2010 9:50 pm

Gah, thank you, Stretch. Fixed it.

And said line was one of my favourites of the whole episode...
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Re: REVIEW: That Darn Katz

Post by Officer 1BDI » Sat Aug 07, 2010 4:04 am

Chris essentially summed up my opinion of the episode. Not only were Amy and Nibbler, two of my favorite secondary(?) characters, the focus of the episode, but it addressed two of the show's minor plot holes that have been bothering me: Amy's student status and Nibbler being out as a highly intelligent being while still inexplicably acting as Leela's pet. If only the writers hadn't thrown that wrench in by giving Leela that "dateless" line. :P

The episode felt a bit like a letdown after last week's awesome showing, but I still enjoyed it. My friend didn't think the episode was as funny as I found it, but I may have been easier on some of the weaker jokes because I love cats and (even if I'm also deathly allergic to them).

(I thought it was particularly cruel of CC to follow the new episode with "Jurassic Bark," though. I mean, given their recent trend of following new episodes with loosely-related older episodes I should have seen that coming, but still.)
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Re: REVIEW: That Darn Katz

Post by missy_misery » Sun Aug 08, 2010 2:06 am

Ditto to what Chris said about the plot (Yes, it's an echo chamber *echo!*), and I'll say that this episode was fun and funny, but it didn't carry the punch of last week's ep.

The joke that killed me:
Spoiler
I still have no clue what the heck is up with Fry and Leela's relationship. I guess they're going with 'casually dating', which, considering what was established in 'Rebirth' and 'IAGDL" doesn't QUITE make sense, but I could picture, giving the information we got in TLPJP.

I have to add that it was wonderfully refreshing to have an Amy plot that harkened back to Season 1 Amy, she who was determined and plucky and skillfull and even brainy and a great mechanic (they've sort of had Leela pick up the team's slack as mechanic, haven't they?). But wasn't she in some sort of engineering program back in S1?
Spoiler
.

But overall a lot of fun!

LETTER GRADE: B+

And I guess I'm going to make the first joke:
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Re: REVIEW: That Darn Katz

Post by archonix » Sun Aug 08, 2010 11:35 am

I don't know about the US, but in the UK an Engineering doctorate is a relatively new and focused professional degree that wouldn't involve much in the way of novel physical research, but it's been implied that Amy's degree is research-based in the past. Once you've got a MEng the traditional research path is a physics doctorate, either pure or applied. Applied would be more likely just because engineers like to make big things that work rather than sit around thinking about the mysteries of the universe.
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Re: REVIEW: That Darn Katz

Post by c_nordlander » Sun Aug 08, 2010 12:27 pm

That, and when Amy was introduced, she was just eighteen years old, so probably a BSc student, and a bunch of years have supposedly passed since then. (I find that really easy to forget, since the characters' appearances don't change, but then something like this pops up...)
Last edited by c_nordlander on Sun Aug 08, 2010 3:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Pretty little baby
Pretty little monster
Went to the good school
Left with honours
Brand new tycoon
Sitting with a harpoon


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Re: REVIEW: That Darn Katz

Post by Stretch_Dude » Sun Aug 08, 2010 3:37 pm

c_nordlander wrote:That, and when Amy was introduced, she was just eighteen years old, so probably a BSc, and a bunch of years have supposedly passed since then. (I find that really easy to forget, since the characters' appearances don't change, but then something like this pops up...)
Yeah, it's kinda weird to think that Amy's 30.
I memorized "Holy Grail" really well
I can recite it right now and have you ROTFLOL
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Re: REVIEW: That Darn Katz

Post by Gulliver63 » Sun Aug 08, 2010 5:27 pm

In my fanfics I have her as the mother of a 19 year old... :amy
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Re: REVIEW: That Darn Katz

Post by c_nordlander » Sun Aug 08, 2010 7:51 pm

Off topic, but you know, Gulliver, I've heard a lot about your fanfics. Why don't you post them here on the forum? We're always happy to get more fics, and we're a bit low on Futurama ones.
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Pretty little monster
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Brand new tycoon
Sitting with a harpoon


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Re: REVIEW: That Darn Katz

Post by Officer 1BDI » Sun Aug 08, 2010 9:05 pm

Re: Amy's Age; I thought she was 21 or 22 when the show first began? I don't remember where I saw that age, but it always made sense to me because she went to that bar with the gang in the 4th episode (although it's also entirely possible that 1000 years into the future the legal drinking age is no longer 21).

ETA: Wait, I got it from here. And even that's an estimate. So... nevermind. :P
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Re: REVIEW: That Darn Katz

Post by Gulliver63 » Mon Aug 09, 2010 3:41 am

Well, they change all sorts of things in the Futurama universe, unlike some shows and movies where a strict orthodoxy is held to. I sometimes wonder why people keep track of the "goofs" in the show, like the person that pointed out that there were no a-bomb tests in 1947 for "Roswell" - hey, it worked in the humor of the story. :bart:

And, on the subject of Fanfics, I may send my newest one along. My first three were cranked out at warp-speed (the first two being posted at Slurmed.com), but my latest one is a story that I really tried to work on character developement. I must tell you that my newest series of stories take place 20 years ahead of the show, and that they aren't the laugh-a-minute humor that you see in the show. A fellow dA guy was nice enough to proofread it for me, and I actually have it's cover page up at dA http://gulliver63.deviantart.com/#/d2vgqxt. Kaspired was one the first people to read it, and gave me helpful hints. Comparing this story to my first three is like comparing a nicer meal to fast food. And, any helpful tips for posting would be appreciated. :amy
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