Fun on a Bun

"Fun on a Bun" is the one hundred and twenty-second episode of Futurama, the eighth of the seventh production season and the ninth broadcast season. Fry is the victim of a horrific sausage-making accident.

Act I: "I had to have the break-up sex by myself."
The Planet Express crew are lazying around, Fry and Leela are seen sharing a dip. Leela reacts to his actions by calling him disgusting because he double dipped. Meanwhile the Professor states that the team are working to hard, Bender agrees with him. The Professor decides that the team should get to know one another in a social setting, The Professor states that he in fact doesn't know their names. Amy reply's to the professor asking where the team are going to go. The professor reply's by answering "Lets wait three months and go to Oktoberfest". The crew celebrate with a cheer. The Planet Express Crew arrive at Oktoberfest, whilst Fry is unsure what has happened to the original Oktoberfest, Amy explains that Oktoberfest has developed into a sophisticated event over the years, Leela commands Fry to be on his best behaviour. Fry is outraged and wants to party. Meanwhile Bender wants to enter his Food in the Sausage Contest, however Elzar states that he cannot enter just any type of meat and that he needs to be more creative, Bender is upset and promises to kill his craigslist Pig, Grundy another day. The crew however, are seated at a dinner table and Fry wants more beer and it is strictly off limits, however he drinks the alcohol from a spitoon and becomes drunk whilst embarrassing Leela with his chicken hat dance, Leela is so outraged that she breaks up with Fry. Fry is heartbroken, he starts discussing his problem with Bender and states that he had to have the break-up sex by himself.

Act II: "Where happened? What am I?"
Fry continues to cry whilst Bender joins him because people have fancier sausage meet than him. Fry is full of anger and stating Oktoberfest shouldn't be boring, however a projection showing the history of Germany states that Oktoberfest is held in Neander Valley, where Neanderthals and mammoth lived. Bender decides to use Mammoth meet for his sausage entry. Bender and Fry take the Ship out looking for Mammoths with the elephant detector. Bender then locates a Mammoth whilst flying the ship over the Glaciers, Fry replies to Bender b y stating "Bender I smell burning Tusk". Bender runs toward the hole in the Glacier and pulls out a Mammoth. Bender then uses a Mammal Mulcher to turn the mammoth into sausage, whilst fry jumps on the mammoth to push it into the mulcher. Fry is then caught on the machine and then sucked in. whilst screaming in panic to bender screaming turn it off, Bender does not hear Fry screaming an continues to create sausages whilst singing. Bender has then entered into the competition, and his sausages are great according to the judge. Bender is then moved onto the next round. Leela congratulates him and then eats one of Benders hot dogs, who is revealed to have Fry's clothes and hair on, in a panic Leela screams. Back at Planet Express The crew are seen having a funeral for Fry whilst Leela states that she cannot go on knowing what she has done, and Leela goes to Annie's Forgettery, where all her memories of Fry are erased. The crew find it very difficult not to tell Leela about what has happenend. Meanwhile Fry is seen frozen in a Glacier, he then gains conciousness and asks "Where happened? What am I?".

Act III: "Battalion A: smash things. Battalion B: smash different things."
It is then revealed that Fry had been sucked into Benders sausage machine however, he escaped without his clothes only his chicken hat and fell down the Glacier and hit his head and is knocked unconscious. Meanwhile Fry is found in the Glacier by Neanderthals, who free him. Fry is scared for a few seconds whilst gazing upon the Neanderthal world. Meanwhile the crew are still trying to prevent Leela to remember Fry. However, Leela still finds traces of Fry and feels upset. Fry is also reminded of Leela, By looking at the tail of a prehistoric Warthog, Fry feels whist-full, Confused and Sad. Fry is then told the story of why Neanderthals were living in the Glacier and how homo sapiens rule the Earth. Back at Planet Express, Benders sausage had made the final of Oktoberfest for a brief moment everyone is silenced because Leela almost remembers Fry but does not. Under the glacier, the Neanderthals find the hole in the glacier leading up to the surface. Fry then commands the Neanderthals to invade Oktoberfest to rightfully take back what is theirs. Leela is still upset because of Objects that remind her of Fry, Leela states she should be happy because Benders sausage had won third place, however Bender is upset stating that this is the worst crime that Germany has ever committed. Zapp Brannigan tries to flirt with Leela however, before he can go any further there is a tremor caused by falling Glaciers. After the smoke clears Fry is revealed with a army of Neanderthals riding Mammoths to attack Oktoberfest, The Planet Express crew are in shock gaping at the army. Fry commands his army to kill all humans, Bender happily states that "This guy is all right before being crushed by a Mammoths foot. The Mammoths continue to recklessly smash various stalls and tents whilst the confused Planet Express crew and others run. Meanwhile Bender finds the contestant who was in second place from the sausage competition and then kills him by standing him in front of a charging Rhino, Bender then steels the contestants trophy and sash. Fry then releases the Giant Sloth who scares Hermes, the Sloth tries to hit Hermes however the sloth fails because of his slow movement. Zapp Brannigan in a foolish attempt tries to stop the army with Drones however a Mammoth steps on the control device and the ships explode. Meanwhile Bender kidnaps the first place winner of the sausage competition. Zapp tries to use the Nimbus however that fails and Fry and Leela end up in combat with each other. However, Leela and Fry remember each other and imbrace in a romantic passionate kiss, Bender then enters and states that the winner of the sausage festival was thrown down an icey slope and that Bender is the new winner. The Neanderthal Chief forgives homo-sapiens for their ancestors ways, and Oktoberfest is returned to how it was back in Fry's day. Leela asks Fry if he wants to dance the chicken dance, Fry replies with "just this once I will let you embarace me", the episode ends with Leela dancing the chicken dance.

Production
In 2011, a few revelations concerning the episode were made. On 15 November, Futurama assistant director Aimee Steinberger revealed that "[the production team was] done with [the episode]", calling it "[her] most time intensive grueling ep ever", and that the animatic would be screened "on the FOX lot [on the next day]". On the next day, after leaving the screening, she revealed that "Everyone [had] liked it" and, after watching the animatic, Futurama writer Eric Rogers revealed that it "might be [the best episode of the ninth broadcast season]", calling it "EPIC".

In 2012, more revelations concerning the episode were made. On 29 February, CGEF revealed the episode's title, its writer to be Dan Vebber and its director to be Stephen Sandoval. On 20 April, Steinberger revealed that she "[had seen] fully animated color acts 2 and 3 back from Korea on [her 7ACV08 the previous day]" and that she "still [thought it was] a really great show" and Rogers jokingly asked her if "[she had been] expecting it to be worse". On the next day, she, in reply to him, revealed that "[it had been] demanding a lot" and that "[she thought that] when [it was] done [it would] be nice" and he, in reply to her, revealed that "[it was] a monster, for sure, but [that Rough Draft] always [delivered]" and that "[it would] be awesome as always". By 8 June, had revealed the episode's plot and air date.

In June, Countdown to Futurama began releasing promotional material for the episode. It has so far released seven items: a design of the cover of Unfrozen Dude Magazine on 13 June, a design of a Neanderthal chief on 14 June, part of the storyboard set in a sausage contest showing Bender angry about winning third place and Zapp as a judge on 15 June, a design of a Neanderthal version of Fry on 16 June, a promotional picture showing a drunk Fry on 17 June, a video clip featuring Bender and a drunken Fry, wearing a chicken over his head, searching for woolly mammoth with an elephant detector on 18 June and a promotional picture of a group of Neanderthals charging with woolly mammoth on 19 June. The seventh Countdown to Futurama podcast revealed more information about the episode, including elements of its plot.

On 12 July, following the broadcast of the episode "Zapp Dingbat", the public were given the opportunity to participate in a live chat with the Futurama cast and crew. Several clips of "Fun on a Bun" were shown during the live stream.

Reception
On 3 May 2012, Aimee Steinberger revealed that she had "watched the finalish color, full animation for [the episode] at the FOX lot [on that day]", that "it really did turn out nice" and that she was "Really proud of [it]" and Eric Rogers called it the "2013 Emmy nominee", "Epic fun" and "awesome".

Trivia

 * This episode is among the Futurama media featuring its title within the story.
 * This episode was first broadcast the same day Futurama Comics issue Lost Our Leela was released, both stories feature Leela loosing memories.
 * Polka/rock band recorded two songs to be used in the Oktoberfest scenes during this episode, as well as a cover of the . The band have also appeared in Matt Groening's other show The Simpsons, in the episode . Groening is a long-time fan of the band.

Allusions

 * The episode's title is a reference to Bender's catchphrase "fun on the bun".
 * Bender putting a giant set of ribs in front of Zapp Brannigan is a reference to the closing credits of the.
 * Leela's memories of Fry are erased in Annie's Forgettery, this could be an allusion to the film.
 * The region of Valley corresponds with the modern Bundesland of.
 * The "double dip" might be a reference to a Seinfeld episode.

Continuity

 * Zapp tells Leela that "this time I'm the one criticizing the sausage."
 * When Leela regains all her memories of Fry, scenes of them together are shown from "Space Pilot 3000", "The Series Has Landed", "Fear of a Bot Planet", "My Three Suns", "A Flight to Remember", "Leela's Homeworld", "Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles", "The Sting", "The Farnsworth Parabox", "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings", "Bender's Game", "Into the Wild Green Yonder", "The Late Philip J. Fry", "The Prisoner of Benda", "The Mutants Are Revolting" and "Overclockwise".
 * When Leela regains all her memories of Fry, scenes of them together are shown from "Space Pilot 3000", "The Series Has Landed", "Fear of a Bot Planet", "My Three Suns", "A Flight to Remember", "Leela's Homeworld", "Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles", "The Sting", "The Farnsworth Parabox", "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings", "Bender's Game", "Into the Wild Green Yonder", "The Late Philip J. Fry", "The Prisoner of Benda", "The Mutants Are Revolting" and "Overclockwise".

Goofs

 * The Neanderthals already speak English when they find Fry.
 * Ground sloths and saber-tooth cats were only found in the Americas, thus Neanderthals would have never interacted with them. Furthermore, the Neanderthals would have froze over before these species went extinct
 * During the invasion, the ship is seen firing, but in previous episodes a gunner (Fry) was in place. The gunner position itself is unnecessary if Leela can control the ships guns all from her console.
 * It is most likely that the ship has a targeting system via Leela's console, but a manual gunner position is available to take the strain off of the captain so he/she can concentrate on flying.
 * Although the map of Germany and the location of the famous Neanderthal are quite accurate, the Oktoberfest is actually held in Munich, in the southeast. The glaciers of the Alps nearby would have made a good place for finding prehistoric mammoths and people, since for example Ötzi the Iceman was found there.
 * The history booth specifies that Oktoberfest has been held in the Neander Valley for "hundreds of years," implying that it had been held somewhere else earlier.
 * Bender says that the mammoth will have been aged for 30,000 years -- but freezing meat does not age it.
 * The Neanderthals are shown having a catapult, but the catapult wasn't invented till about three thousand years ago, long after the Neanderthals were trapped.However they may have invented themselves

Characters

 * Amy
 * Bender
 * Elzar
 * Farnsworth
 * Fry
 * Debut: Grundy
 * Hermes
 * Kif
 * Leela
 * Debut: Neanderthal chief
 * Ron Whitey
 * Zapp
 * Zoidberg