Difference between revisions of "Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch"

	Season 4 episode; Broadcast season 5 episode
Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch
No.	55
Production number	4ACV01
Written by	Bill Odenkirk
Directed by	Wes Archer
Title caption	Bigfoot's choice
First air date	12 January, 2003
Broadcast number	S05E05
Title reference	Elzar's trademark phrase
Opening cartoon	It's a Greek Life, by Van Beuren Studios (1936)
Additional
Commentary; (Transcript)	Transcript
	Storyboard Pictures
Season 4
← Season 3	Season 5 →

Latest revision as of 20:49, 29 August 2023

"Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch" is the fifty-fifth episode of Futurama, the first of the fourth production season and the fifth of the fifth broadcast season. It aired on 12 January, 2003, on Fox. When Kif gets pregnant, Amy questions her readiness to become a parent.

The Story

Act I: "No-shoot fire stick in space canoe! Cause explosive decompression!"

Kif just can't stand his long-distance relationship with Amy any more - he wants more. Just at this moment, the crew is sent to deliver pain medicine to the hive mind of Nigel 7. The Nimbus is patrolling nearby, with Kif onboard. Amy smuggles herself on board of the Planet Express Ship and changes course towards the Nimbus while the crew is in hibernative naptosis to save oxygen.

Kif and Amy share an intimate moment on the Nimbus' Holo-Shed where he tries to display his romantic feelings to her, when the Holo-shed malfunctions and the holographic characters come alive. Kif and Amy flee towards the bridge, pursued by the holograms. Zapp fires on the pursuers, causing an explosive decompression that whirls everyone around on the bridge. In the process, Kif loses his right glove and has skin contact with everyone present. Later in sickbay, the doctor finds that Kif is pregnant.

Act II: "So the toilet seat is the uncle or something?"

It turns out that Amphibiosans can exchange genetic material over their skins when romantically engaged. Kif is delighted, but Amy does not quite share his enthusiasm. Besides, it is unclear who is the sire of Kif's offspring. They travel back to Earth and let the Professor figure it out with the Alien Cross-Species Genetic Analyzer - after expelling Fry, Zapp (much to Kif's relief), Zoidberg (who lives in the machine), and finally Amy, it turns out that Leela has provided the DNA.

But Kif states that his romantic involvement is with Amy, his smizmar, and according to the rules on his planet, she is considered the mother. At Kif's baby shower with the crew and Zapp in Fry's and Bender's apartment, everyone gives presents to Kif and Amy, and her parents' present is an ironing board (made out of Amy's party board) symbolizing her new responsibilities. Amy can't stand it any longer - she's not yet ready for the responsibility of motherhood and runs away in tears, leaving Kif behind alone.

Act III: "It's a poisonous froad!"

Just then, Kif's birthing process is about to start and he returns to his home world Amphibios 9 - accompanied by Leela, Fry, Bender and Zapp. They enter the ancestral birthing grounds of Clan Kroker in a swamp, where they meet the Grand Midwife. Since his smizmar Amy is not with him, he has to go through the beginning of the birthing ceremony alone, but then Amy arrives and assists in the birth of the several hundred tadpole-like offspring. Leela and Amy defend the little creatures as they are attacked by predators on the way towards the water and succeed. In twenty years time, the offspring will crawl onto land as children, and Amy thinks she will be ready then. Leela indeed turns out to be the genetic mother - many of the tadpoles have just one eye.

Additional Info

Trivia

Outside the Nimbus' sickbay, the sign reads "Sick Bay & Horta Burn Clinic", referring to a Star Trek: TOS episode featuring a race of crystalline beings named the Horta, which, among other things, had very high surface temperature.
Only in this episode, we see Amy's wristlojackimator in operation - as a holographic day-planner. (See Items on Amy's Calendar.)
The doctor in the Nimbus' sickbay greatly resembles Dr. "Bones" McCoy from Star Trek, as such he is named "Veins" in a deleted scene.
Fry has only 9 lines in this episode.
This episode's title is likely a reference to the catchphrase of Elzar.
The title caption is "Bigfoot's Choice". Bigfoot would later appear in "Spanish Fry".

Items on Amy's Calendar

This is the full list of items that appear on Amy's holographic day-planner. The calendar starts with the 1^st on a Monday and ends with the 31^st on a Wednesday. Unreadable portions are shown with question marks, while guessed portions are marked in italics.

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Th	Fri	Sat
	Bimonthly dimple rotation	Yoga Rave	Girlicure	Baby Shower	Shop	Drop
Lunch with Molly	Trash Molly with Tina	Trash Tina with Molly	Find new friends	Pony aerobics	Cuteness Trainer	10P??? Wang ???
Recharge Bra	Extreme Aromatherapy	Finish Thesis; Buy Stocks	Adopt All Puppies	Pity Party for the Less Popular	Green Shirt Day	New friends announced today
Hang with Walter Koening [sic]	Tolstoy Seminar	Neutron Croquet	Search Couch for Spare Millions	Do Something for Myself	Hair-t??? Olympics
Benefit for Divorced Princesses	Snub All Dark-Haired Boys		Rearrange Teddy Bears; Promote Mr. Fluffy

The only month that the calendar dates corresponds to in the year 3002 is March. The only month that the calendar dates corresponds to in the year 3003 is August.

The names "tina" and "molly" are slang for the drugs crystal meth and ecstasy, respectively.

Allusions

The Nimbus' Holo-Shed is a clear reference to the holodeck on Star Trek.
The docking bay door mechanism on the Nimbus is a reference to a similar docking mechanism on the rocket used by SPECTRE in the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice. In the audio commentary for this episode, Maurice LaMarche states that it references the 1979 Bond film Moonraker, further asserting that he cannot be stumped in James Bond trivia. He is, however, incorrect.
Evil Lincoln and Attila the Hun seams to be references to Star Trek: TOS "The Savage Curtain", Professor Moriarty, to the character's appearances in Star Trek: TNG, and Jack the Ripper to Star Trek: TOS "Wolf in the Fold".

Quotes

Amy: Spirit! Kif, that's the pony I always wanted but my parents said I had too many ponies already.
Kif: Yes, I programmed it in for you. Four million lines of BASIC!

Kif: The Holo-shed's on the fritz again! The characters turned real!
Zapp: Damn! The last time that happened, I got slapped with three paternity suits!

Zapp: Kif, I'm sensing a very sensual disturbance in the force. Prepare for ship-to-ship intimacy.

Kif: Well, I suppose I might have gotten pregnant that way. Or even from a toilet seat. Though that's impossible as I have a separate washroom.
Zapp: [He leaves Kif's bathroom.] By the way, Kif, your flush seems to be set on "stun", not "kill".

Kif: As long as Amy is with me in my heart, I will have the strength of two. *gnarg* Apparently, Amy hasn't been working out much lately...

Grand Midwife: I will now take my leave. I live here, so I won't actually be going anywhere, but you don't have to talk to me anymore.

Attila the Hun: Stop! No shoot fire-stick in space-canoe! Cause explosive decompression!
Zapp: Spare me your space-age techno-babble, Attila the Hun!

Evil Lincoln: Real holographic simulated Evil Lincoln is BACK!!!

Fry: Check it out, y'all! Everyone we invited is here.
Zoidberg: Also Zoidberg.

Amy: Kif's on patrol near there! You could drop me off on the way!
Prof. Farnsworth: We could, but we won't! It's a spaceship, dammit, not a prom limousine! [He growls.] If anyone needs me I'll be in the Angry Dome.

Goofs

Spirit the pony has cloven hooves. While cloven hooves are typical of animals like cattle, deer, goats, and sheep, equine mammals do not have them.
In the shot after Zoidberg is ejected from the Maternifuge, it looks as if he's got no pants on - belly and legs are carapace-coloured.
On Amy's Calendar, Sunday the 21^st says "Hang with Walter Koening", but his name is properly spelled "Koenig".
- Amy may have just misspelled his name by accident.
- It's also possible that "Walter Koening" is a different person to Walter Koenig.
This episode blurs the definition of the word species. Technically, two organisms are only members of the same species if they can interbreed and produce fertile offspring. However, from this episode, one can conclude that amphibiosians can interbreed with any organism in the universe.
- There's no guarantee that the offspring were fertile.
In the scene where there was explosive decompression, Kif's hand only makes contact with Leela's hand.
- That's why Leela turned out to be the mother. It's likely that Kif was so shaken by the incident he didn't realise he didn't make hand contact with Fry, Amy or Zapp.
- Kif may not have made hand to hand contact with Amy, but she did grab his face after he slipped.
In the scene where there was explosive decompression, there should not have been that much wind. It certainly wouldn't have drawn Bender (who apparently weighs over a ton) from the floor of the ship.
Depending on the radius of the centrifuge (assuming a range of 3ft-6ft), the characters would have experienced 100000xg-200000xg force for up to a minute if it was spinning at 10,000RPM.
- This is probably a case of cartoon physics, but relative g force that high would crush a human being within seconds.

Characters

(In alphabetic order)

Amy
Debut: Attila the Hun
Bender
Debut: Bigfoot (mentioned in text only, title caption)
Debut: Evil Lincoln
Professor Farnsworth
Debut: Froad
Fry
Debut: The Grand Midwife
Hermes
Debut: Jack the Ripper
Kif
LaBarbara (on the "TITANIC SURVIVORS" note)
Leela
Debut: Professor Moriarty
Leo and Inez Wong
Scruffy
Debut: Spirit
Zapp Brannigan
Zoidberg
Debut: Dr. Veins McGee

Episode Credits

Futurama episodes/films

1ACV
(Season 1)

"Space Pilot 3000" • "The Series Has Landed" • "I, Roommate" • "Love's Labours Lost in Space" • "Fear of a Bot Planet" • "A Fishful of Dollars" • "My Three Suns" • "A Big Piece of Garbage" • "Hell Is Other Robots" • "A Flight to Remember" • "Mars University" • "When Aliens Attack" • "Fry and the Slurm Factory"

2ACV
(Season 2)

"I Second that Emotion" • "Brannigan, Begin Again" • "A Head in the Polls" • "Xmas Story" • "Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?" • "The Lesser of Two Evils" • "Put Your Head on My Shoulders" • "Raging Bender" • "A Bicyclops Built for Two" • "A Clone of My Own" • "How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back" • "The Deep South" • "Bender Gets Made" • "Mother's Day" • "The Problem with Popplers" • "Anthology of Interest I" • "War Is the H-Word" • "The Honking" • "The Cryonic Woman"

3ACV
(Season 3)

"Amazon Women in the Mood" • "Parasites Lost" • "A Tale of Two Santas" • "The Luck of the Fryrish" • "The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz" • "Bendless Love" • "The Day the Earth Stood Stupid" • "That's Lobstertainment!" • "The Cyber House Rules" • "Where the Buggalo Roam" • "Insane in the Mainframe" • "The Route of All Evil" • "Bendin' in the Wind" • "Time Keeps on Slippin'" • "I Dated a Robot" • "A Leela of Her Own" • "A Pharaoh to Remember" • "Anthology of Interest II" • "Roswell that Ends Well" • "Godfellas" • "Future Stock" • "The 30% Iron Chef"

4ACV
(Season 4)

"Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch" • "Leela's Homeworld" • "Love and Rocket" • "Less than Hero" • "A Taste of Freedom" • "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on Television" • "Jurassic Bark" • "Crimes of the Hot" • "Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles" • "The Why of Fry" • "Where No Fan Has Gone Before" • "The Sting" • "Bend Her" • "Obsoletely Fabulous" • "The Farnsworth Parabox" • "Three Hundred Big Boys" • "Spanish Fry" • "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings"

5ACV
(Season 5)

Bender's Big Score	The Beast with a Billion Backs	Bender's Game	Into the Wild Green Yonder
Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3 • Part 4	Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3 • Part 4	Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3 • Part 4	Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3 • Part 4

6ACV
(Season 6)

"Rebirth" • "In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela" • "Attack of the Killer App" • "Proposition Infinity" • "The Duh-Vinci Code" • "Lethal Inspection" • "The Late Philip J. Fry" • "That Darn Katz!" • "A Clockwork Origin" • "The Prisoner of Benda" • "Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences" • "The Mutants Are Revolting" • "The Futurama Holiday Spectacular" • "The Silence of the Clamps" • "Möbius Dick" • "Law and Oracle" • "Benderama" • "The Tip of the Zoidberg" • "Ghost in the Machines" • "Neutopia" • "Yo Leela Leela" • "Fry Am the Egg Man" • "All the Presidents' Heads" • "Cold Warriors" • "Overclockwise" • "Reincarnation"

7ACV
(Season 7)

"The Bots and the Bees" • "A Farewell to Arms" • "Decision 3012" • "The Thief of Baghead" • "Zapp Dingbat" • "The Butterjunk Effect" • "The Six Million Dollar Mon" • "Fun on a Bun" • "Free Will Hunting" • "Near-Death Wish" • "31st Century Fox" • "Viva Mars Vegas" • "Naturama" • "Forty Percent Leadbelly" • "2-D Blacktop" • "T.: The Terrestrial" • "Fry and Leela's Big Fling" • "The Inhuman Torch" • "Saturday Morning Fun Pit" • "Calculon 2.0" • "Assie Come Home" • "Leela and the Genestalk" • "Game of Tones" • "Murder on the Planet Express" • "Stench and Stenchibility" • "Meanwhile"

8ACV
(Season 8)

"The Impossible Stream" • "Children of a Lesser Bog" • "How the West Was 1010001" • "Parasites Regained" • "Related to Items You've Viewed" • "I Know What You Did Next Xmas" • "Rage Against the Vaccine" • "Zapp Gets Cancelled" • "The Prince and the Product" • "All the Way Down"

Specials

Everybody Loves Hypnotoad: "Amazon Adventure" • "The Lost Adventure" • "Simpsorama"

S01E
(Broadcast season 1)

"Space Pilot 3000" • "The Series Has Landed" • "I, Roommate" • "Love's Labours Lost in Space" • "Fear of a Bot Planet" • "A Fishful of Dollars" • "My Three Suns" • "A Big Piece of Garbage" • "Hell Is Other Robots"

S02E
(Broadcast season 2)

"A Flight to Remember" • "Mars University" • "When Aliens Attack" • "Fry and the Slurm Factory" • "I Second that Emotion" • "Brannigan, Begin Again" • "A Head in the Polls" • "Xmas Story" • "Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?" • "Put Your Head on My Shoulders" • "The Lesser of Two Evils" • "Raging Bender" • "A Bicyclops Built for Two" • "How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back" • "A Clone of My Own" • "The Deep South" • "Bender Gets Made" • "The Problem with Popplers" • "Mother's Day" • "Anthology of Interest I"

S03E
(Broadcast season 3)

"The Honking" • "War Is the H-Word" • "The Cryonic Woman" • "Parasites Lost" • "Amazon Women in the Mood" • "Bendless Love" • "The Day the Earth Stood Stupid" • "That's Lobstertainment!" • "The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz" • "The Luck of the Fryrish" • "The Cyber House Rules" • "Insane in the Mainframe" • "Bendin' in the Wind" • "Time Keeps on Slippin'" • "I Dated a Robot"

S04E
(Broadcast season 4)

"Roswell that Ends Well" • "A Tale of Two Santas" • "Anthology of Interest II" • "Love and Rocket" • "Leela's Homeworld" • "Where the Buggalo Roam" • "A Pharaoh to Remember" • "Godfellas" • "Future Stock" • "A Leela of Her Own" • "The 30% Iron Chef" • "Where No Fan Has Gone Before"

S05E
(Broadcast season 5)

"Crimes of the Hot" • "Jurassic Bark" • "The Route of All Evil" • "A Taste of Freedom" • "Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch" • "Less than Hero" • "Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles" • "The Why of Fry" • "The Sting" • "The Farnsworth Parabox" • "Three Hundred Big Boys" • "Spanish Fry" • "Bend Her" • "Obsoletely Fabulous" • "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on Television" • "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings"

S06E
(Broadcast season 6)

"Bender's Big Score Part 1" • "Bender's Big Score Part 2" • "Bender's Big Score Part 3" • "Bender's Big Score Part 4" • "The Beast with a Billion Backs Part 1" • "The Beast with a Billion Backs Part 2" • "The Beast with a Billion Backs Part 3" • "The Beast with a Billion Backs Part 4" • "Bender's Game Part 1" • "Bender's Game Part 2" • "Bender's Game Part 3" • "Bender's Game Part 4" • "Into the Wild Green Yonder Part 1" • "Into the Wild Green Yonder Part 2" • "Into the Wild Green Yonder Part 3" • "Into the Wild Green Yonder Part 4"

S07E
(Broadcast season 7)

"Rebirth" • "In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela" • "Attack of the Killer App" • "Proposition Infinity" • "The Duh-Vinci Code" • "Lethal Inspection" • "The Late Philip J. Fry" • "That Darn Katz!" • "A Clockwork Origin" • "The Prisoner of Benda" • "Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences" • "The Mutants Are Revolting" • "The Futurama Holiday Spectacular"

S08E
(Broadcast season 8)

"Neutopia" • "Benderama" • "Ghost in the Machines" • "Law and Oracle" • "The Silence of the Clamps" • "Yo Leela Leela" • "All the Presidents' Heads" • "Möbius Dick" • "Fry Am the Egg Man" • "The Tip of the Zoidberg" • "Cold Warriors" • "Overclockwise" • "Reincarnation"

S09E
(Broadcast season 9)

"The Bots and the Bees" • "A Farewell to Arms" • "Decision 3012" • "The Thief of Baghead" • "Zapp Dingbat" • "The Butterjunk Effect" • "The Six Million Dollar Mon" • "Fun on a Bun" • "Free Will Hunting" • "Near-Death Wish" • "31st Century Fox" • "Viva Mars Vegas" • "Naturama"

S10E
(Broadcast season 10)

"Forty Percent Leadbelly" • "2-D Blacktop" • "T.: The Terrestrial" • "Fry and Leela's Big Fling" • "The Inhuman Torch" • "Saturday Morning Fun Pit" • "Calculon 2.0" • "Assie Come Home" • "Leela and the Genestalk" • "Game of Tones" • "Murder on the Planet Express" • "Stench and Stenchibility" • "Meanwhile"

S11E
(Broadcast Season 11)