Future Stock

Production Number: 3ACV21

Title Caption: LOVE IT OR SHOVE IT

First Aired: March 31, 3002 Title Reference: The book Future Shock by Alvin Toffler, or the album of the same name by Herbie Hancock

Act I: Awesome! Awesome to the max!
Planet Express' stockholder meeting is taking place at the Lodgatorium Comfort Dome Inn, and Fry and Zoidberg get hungry and visit the Bot-Mizwah next door to get some free food. Zoidberg must stay out (no shell fish). Hermes tells the stockholders of Planet Express that the company is on the verge of bancrupcy, while Fry and Zoidberg move on to a Cryogenic Support Group which also offers free food. There Fry meets That Guy, a 1980ies stockbroker who had himself frozen until a cure to his terminal disease, boneitis, could be found. Fry invites him to work for Planet Express, and they return to the stockholder meeting where Hattie is demanding to nominate a new CEO because the Professor has insulted her cat. Leela, Bender, Amy, Hermes and the Professor (10.000 shares each) vote for Farnsworth, Fry (10.000 shares) and Scruffy (40.000 shares) vote for That Guy. Now Hattie (1 share) demands the floor and votes for That Guy, making him the new CEO of Planet Express.

Act II: Miss Johnson, have I changed? - No Sir, Mr. Fry!
That Guy is turning Planet Express upside down and blaming everything on the old management, that is the Professor. He makes Fry his vice chairman and intends to bring Planet Express right to the top of the delivery business, which means that they have to attack Mom's Friendly Delivery Company. Of course, Mom is not amused to learn this. That Guy follows his secret of success, which is that everything is about appearances, and gives Planet Express a completely new look and a completely new image. Zoidberg is not happy about the companys development, and sells all his shares to That Guy for a sandwich. Mom is getting agitated about the new "Delivery Kings" that business magazines write about so much (even if PlanEx hasn't made even one delivery since the takeover), and has a private meeting with That Guy after they have a talk at Elzar's Fine Cuisine. As the crew is voicing their concerns about the way That Guy is handling business, and Fry is defending him, That Guy tells them they are all fired and that Mom is going to take over Planet Express.

Act III: My only regret is... that I have... boneitis.
Fry insists that he is innocent of the selling of the company, but no one listens to him. He decides to block the takeover, and goes to the Intergalactic Stock Exchange in Earths orbit where the takeover is to take place in the Business Centre. All of PlanEx stockholders are there, plus Mom, her three sons and That Guy. Both companies have to agree to the takeover, and even though all of the Planet Express crew vote against it, it turns out that the shares Zoidberg sold to That Guy gave him majority control. The takeover is approved, and Momcorp now wants to buy all the shares it doesn't own at the price of 107 $ per share, which makes every remaining stockholder a millionaire. Fry asks That Guy if he will not stop the takeover, but he refuses because he's an 80ies guy. Just then, That Guy realizes that he forgot to get his boneitis cured, and dies horribly on the spot. After his death, Fry now has control of his shares and gives control of the company back to the Professor. The crew tries to stop him doing the right thing, but it is too late - the shares of Planet Express are, once again, worthless and the takeover has been stopped. The crew grudgingly goes back to work.

Trivia

 * The businessman from the 1980s is loosely based on the character of Gordon Gekko from the movie Wall Street. In turn, Gekko was modeled after real world corporate raider Ivan Boesky. That Guy's real name in the scripts was Steve Castle.
 * In the scene where That Guy and Fry are watching an ape fight, Calculon is struck by an oversize tricycle hurled from the ring. His angry "Get your stinkin' trike off me, you damn dirty ape!" is an obvious parody of George Taylor's line "Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!" from the 1968 movie Planet of the Apes.
 * The stock exchange space station bears a striking similarity to Space Station Five from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey
 * The stock exchange's giant-image holographic public-address system ("I am Jor-El, Master of Scheduling!") is a reference to a scene in the 1978 Superman film, featuring a character named Jor-El and a tribunal of larger-than-life projected faces.
 * That Guy had a Miami Vice lunchbox.
 * At the Bot-mitzvah, the banner reads Hayom ata robot,or Today, I am a robot.
 * Scruffy reads the National Pornographic which looks a lot like a National Georgraphic publication.
 * That Guy and Fry get their new suits at Giorgio Amonster.

Quotes

 * Scruffy: Now hold on there. Scruffy votes his forty thousand shares for the mysterious stranger. Leela: Forty thousand? How come you have four times as much stock as the rest of us? Scruffy: Scruffy believes in this company. *sniffles*
 * Leela: Oh my god! I'm a millionare! Suddenly I have an opinion on the capital gains tax!
 * That Guy: There are two kinds of people. Sheep and sharks. Anyone who is a sheep is fired. Who is a sheep? Zoidberg: Errr, excuse me... which is the one people like to hug? That Guy: Gutsy question, you're a shark.
 * Hermes: We can't compete with Mom! Her company is big and evil! Ours is small and neutral! That Guy: Switzerland is small and neutral! We are more like Germany, ambitious and misunderstood! Amy: Look, everyone wants to be like Germany, but do we really have the pure strength of will?
 * Professor: I'll ruin you like I ruined this company!
 * That Guy: (checking his new business suit) That's what I call a hostile makeover!
 * Professor: This isn't a business! I've always thought of it as a source of cheap labour, like a family.
 * Leela: Zoidberg owned 51% of the company? Hermes: The shares were worthless, and he kept asking for toilet paper!

Outside References

 * The PlanEx logo in the commercial looks a lot like the FedEx logo.
 * The PlanEx commercial is a parody of that of Apple Computers in 1984.

Characters

 * Fry
 * Leela
 * Bender
 * Professor Farnsworth
 * Hermes
 * Zoidberg
 * Amy
 * Scruffy
 * Hattie
 * Mom
 * Walt, Larry and Ignar
 * Thog
 * Calculon
 * Horrible Gelatinous Blob
 * Debut: That Guy

Episode Credits

 * Writer
 * Aaron Ehasz
 * Director
 * Brian Sheesley
 * Voice Actors
 * Billy West
 * Katey Sagal
 * John DiMaggio
 * Tress MacNeille
 * Maurice LaMarche
 * Phil LaMarr
 * Lauren Tom
 * David Herman
 * Frank Welker
 * Tom Kenny


 * DVD Commentary
 * Matt Groening
 * David X. Cohen
 * Rich Moore
 * Jeff Westbrook
 * Brian Sheesley
 * John DiMaggio
 * Billy West
 * Tress MacNeille