Transcript:Commentary:The Beast with a Billion Backs

Commentary Participants:
 * David X. Cohen
 * Matt Groening
 * Claudia Katz
 * Peter Avanzino
 * Michael Rowe
 * Lee Supercinski
 * Billy West
 * Maurice LaMarche
 * John DiMaggio

Billy West (as Announcer): There is nothing wrong with your DVD. The Beast with a Billion Backs. What are ya waitin' for? A commentary? [people laughing] Release date: June 24 2008. The proud result of...
 * [Title Caption appears.]

BW: ...prison labour, that's what it says? Oh, hi, I'm Billy West. And, uh, this, is commentary for Beast with a Billion Backs, eagerly awaited and, uh, we got a whole crowd with us today. Umm... hi Mo. Maurice LaMarche (comedic voice): Hey, what a crowd! What a crowd! I tell ya' I'm alright now, but last week I was in rough shape. (normal voice) Oh, look at this. I love this. This is, this is gonna be amazing. I'm Maurice LaMarche. I'm an actor on the show. I play Kif, Morbo, Calculon, Schlomo, Sportsbot 5000, Hedonism Bot, Destructor, Elderly King Kong, Lrrr, Horrible Gelatinous Blob and Fishy Joe.


 * [Alternate Opening Cartoon appears.]

David X. Cohen: Okay, let's finish introducing ourselves after this. Pete Avanzino, director, you wanna talk a little about this black and white section and the inspirations. BW: Excellent. Peter Avanzino: I'm Pete Avanzino, the director. I was fortunate enough, uh, you guys wrote this great scene and we had the great Steven DiStefano, who's a comic book artist and Popeye historian, storyboard it and we pretty much traced his drawings for the design and, uh...umm... DXC: Any inspirations? PA: Well, of course, Steamboat Mickey, Steamboat Willie, one... I mean. Is that the inspiration you want? DXC: Sure. [people laughing] And, uh, John DiMaggio did the whistling that you heard. Michael Rowe: And we owe Disney money now. BW: John's here? Where? Matt Groening: Cartoons are written? DXC: Matt Groening! MM: So now that I sound like a raving egomaniac 'cause I'm the only person who introduced all his credits. Ladies and gentlemen, please let me introduce MG. MG: Hi, this is Matt Groening. BW: Hi. DXC: This is David X. Cohen. X-ecutive producer. MR: This is Katie Segal and I have a cold. [people laughing] This is Mike Rowe, one of the, uh, writers somewhere in here. Claudia Katz: Claudia Katz, producer for Rough Draft. PA: It's Peter Avanzino again. Director. LS: Uhh, Lee Supercinski. A producer. JD: And I'm JJ. Voice of Bender and Randy, who you just saw a second ago. (as Randy): 'Cause he's great! I can't believe he's still around. My God! Stuff happens. DXC: And, obviously, this movie actually starts out where the last one left off. Very surprisingly. Normally when a cartoon ends with the universe blowing up you just go, "Oh, it's a cartoon. They're not gonna deal with that," but we decided to deal with it so...


 * [Intro to Sports with Sportsbot 5000.]

JD: (laughing) I just noticed the dude playing marbles in the uh... There's a guy playing marbles in the highlights in sports. PA: That scene is packed with great sports footage. JD: I didn't - I... that's great. MR: Rough Draft did a lot of work for that. It was a lot of animation for a joke.

PA: Ya, when you guys write a joke like that I don't like to cheat on it. DXC: Well you have it even worse later. We'll get to it later, but there's that screen with 64 simultaneous bits of information later, so we'll talk about that. PA: Yes and I think you guys said "Well, can't you just repeat some?" and... I'm not gonna do that.


 * [Professor ignites his own head.]

BW: Hey, he's burnin' up. PA: This is the first time I'm seeing this, so I'm just gonna watch. [people laughing]


 * [Fry enters with Colleen.]

DXC: That's guest star Brittany Murphy there as Colleen. [people cheering] JD (as Shaft): Yeah, that's right. Brittany Murphy. Aw, she a bad mutha'... MR: Watch yo' mouth. JD (as Shaft): I'm just talkin' 'bout Brittany Murphy, baby. BW: We can dig it. JD (as Shaft): Aw, man. BW: L-O-L. JD: (laughs) (surfer voice) Totally hot. Wow. BW: Rofflemow {as in R.O.F.L.M.A.O.} MR: I see her bellybuttons. JD (as Shaft): That's crazy. DXC: So, we had some qualms about this a little bit - although it didn't stop us - about Fry is immediately smitten with this other woman, apparently days after the last episode in which he and Leela has this real big love story going, but we figured "Ah, well, six months will pass between people actually seeing that one and this one so they'll probably forgive us about this story twist." MM: Until now, you let the cat out of the bag. BW (as Fry): I've always been a bit of a hussie. PA: I listen to my commentaries at home in the nude.[ people laughing]


 * [Fry and Zoidberg talking about Colleen in the park.]

MM: I love this little bit right here with the... just snaking us in and then... JD: I liked the little blood on the pancakes joke. I laughed [i]out loud[/i] when I heard that joke. MM: A flashback within a flashback. JD: Sorry. {for interrupting MM} DXC: There used to be a third part to this sequence and if you watch the Deleted Scenes extras in the DVD you'll see this actually continued another step further. Fry and Colleen met each other the next day. JD (as Shaft): Those Deleted Scenes are a bad mutha'- MM: You chose to break the rules. DXC: We stuck to two.


 * [Bender is turned back on.]

BW: Hey, is that Iron Man? (does excessive electronic sounds, then stops) Sorry. LS: Nice segue, Billy. DXC: MM, you have a lo-. You have, actually, a large role in this... MM: I have a story line. Yah, I was very thrilled. DXC: You're actually playing Kif, who's involved in this story line, and Calculon, who is heavily involved in another story line. MM (as Calculon): Yes I am indeed, my friend, Mr. Cohen. DXC: And Hedonism Bot, who also has a heavy role in that story and... MM (as Hedonism Bot): I'm afraid you're making a weight reference and I will not acknowledge it. [people laughing] DXC: And Morbo, who explains everything to us, so I'd have to say MM has a... MM: I think we should just change it to "Mo-arama" at this point. JD: Aw, yeah. MM: And we're done. Yah, I actually selfishly went through and counted all my characters in the episode just to make sure I still work here. [people laughing] JD (drowned MM's previous comments): Hey, did I...? MM: Did you what? JD: Never mind.


 * [Flying toward Amphibious 9.]

MM: Wait, we're on Amphibious 9 now. JD: Yes, that's right. We're on your home planet. MM: That's right. JD: You're character's home planet. MM: Alright. This is- JD: It's about you, Mo. [MM laughing] It's about you. MM: No, I'm just thrilled that I'm doing this.


 * [Leela exits the ship-eating plant with a blow torch.]

BW: That's sexy. JD: I'll break out the... the Stoke-Longer. [people laughing] I just invented it. MM: "Mo's Big Score." JD: A new thing. CK: The Back Patter. DXC: Now this planet was established for "Kif Gets Up..." (confused mouth sound) "Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch," episode 401. MM: But we've never seen it at night.


 * [Enter Kif's parents.]

DXC: And we've never seen Kif's parents before. But one interesting this is when we last saw this planet Kif was giving birth to his and Leela's babies due to the strange circumstances of that episode and so we were originally planning to revisit their babies here but we just decided it was so confusing to anyone that didn't have a clear memory that it was him and Leela and he gave birth. They were tad poles so we decided we would not deal with that, but on the other hand the fact that they start as tad poles and turn into whatever Kif is inspired us to say, "Hey, what if they then turn into something else?" So that's where these flies came from. MM: What David is saying... JD: These Hook Flies, are these a real type of fly or did you make them up? MR: They're very cool. DXC: Flying Hook Worms? JD: Yah. DXC: I really don't think that's a real thing. CK: I think they're... JD: Okay. BW (in Kif's father's voice): Nice to meet you. DXC: That's a great effect though. That computer graphics there. And the audio. JD: And that was Billy doing that voice without any... DXC: How many flies are there? MM: Billy was not audio effected. That's just Billy doing Billy. that's how genius he is. BW (in Kif's father's voice): Thank you. JD (weird voice): That's just Billy being Billy. 'BW (in Kif's father's voice): I love you. DXC: There's also an audio effect on it, there is. JD (weird voice): That's just Billy being Billy. PA: Billy did the voice for each one of those flies. [DXC and KK laugh]


 * [Leela is playing Pong on her wrist.] [MM laughs]]

DXC: How many flies are animated there? BW: Who cares? It was a buyout. CK: Thousands! PA: Uhh, those are 3-D. I dunno, somebody would have to count them. CK: I think they're some sort of particle based effect. PA: Yah, we... flying bugs are something that come out choppy a lot in 2-D so... CK: The research was very difficult to...  MR: They were inspired by what we found on John's back. [people laughing] JD: After coming back from Thailand. MM: Tress MacNeille, ladies and gentlemen, coming up. DXC: Tress also has a huge number of roles in this DVD. BW: Yes. MM: She's every woman in the... MR: I had a number of roles for lunch. Does that count? [people laughing] I had to say it, I'm sorry. Cut that in post. BW: I like the look on Leo Wong's face. MM: I love that she's wearing something borrowed, something blue. DXC: Oh, yah! JD: Oh, she's got the blue garters on! Nice! MM: Nice! CK: We don't miss anything. PA: This scene came from the inspiration of my wedding. [people laughing] Don't want to get into it, but... JD: Nice. PA: There ya' go. JD: Did the mud burn? That's all I wanna know. Did it burn? MG: I want a transcript of this audio commentary. [DXC and MG laugh] DXC: Uh, by the way, I gotta credit Eric Kaplan, the writer of the DVD who could not be here today. In fact he's out of the country, but fantastic script Eric Kaplan. BW: Abu dabu. PA: Long story. BW: Yah. CK: Is he coming back? JD: I actually drove past him on the street the other day and noticed it was him as I passed and I yelled out "Mister Kaplan!" And I looked in the mirror and he was like. [people laughing] Where did that mystery voice come from? DXC: John is acting this out on a voice commentary. JD: Yes! It's something that you can't see at home! MM: But the facial expression was priceless. JD (high pitched voice): Wow! Incredible!


 * [Kif pulls out his bouquet.]

MM: Now is this some organ of Kif's or umm...? BW: Yes. MM: Cause I played it that way. [DXC and KK laugh]


 * [Fry and Colleen star into each others eyes.]

JD: Wow. MR: Which one is Fry? [people laugh]


 * [Zoidberg devours the bouquet.] [groans of disgust are shared throughout the group]

BW (as Zoidberg): But I have sweet breath. JD: I love this. This is great. BW: Bed head. (does a electric razor noise) [people laughing] JD: Awesome. PA: Good timing. MM: You know what happens is you create stuff like this in fiction and then people go on to create it in real, you know, actual scientists create it in real life. So within 20 years there will be Barb-O-Mite. JD: Would you use it though? I wouldn't want mites on my hair. Even if they... MM: If I could get the same haircut, the perfect haircut every time? I dunno. JD: Only if you knew that the lifespan of the mite was, like if it ate that much it would die. Like, you'd have to... no there'd be too much! DXC: So you're okay with having a head full of dead mites? JD: Yah, see, yah. That's the thing. They'd be alive when you put 'em in and then like eat the hair and then because of that... LS: Maybe they decompose. JD: Yah. LS: Into a nice conditioner. JD: See, that's the other thing. CK: A leave on conditioner. JD: Well, you know. It's... MR: The director's saying, "Why aren't they talking about the colours?" JD: I don't know. All I know is Barb-O-Mite. (Bender as announcer) Everybody's favourite stuff to put in their hair! It's Barb-O-Mite!


 * [Bender pulls out a head of cabbage for Fry.]

BW: I love how... watch the cabbage. JD: Done. MR: How about the Flow-Bumblebee? [MG laughs] MM: I love how Bender has the talent to actually draw. JD: I like this part. BW: Wilson! LS: Bender draws a really good Fry for being upset. CK: Yep. MM: So, on the last DVD we did a full episode of Everybody Loves Hypnotoad. Can I put in my two cents now and say on the third DVD, a full episode of All My Circuits? MG: Oooh! DXC: Yah, get started on that. [people laughing] JD: Nice job dude. Way to go.


 * [Fry and Colleen enter 2-D ride.]

MG: I think this is one of my favourite scenes of all time on the show. This is great. JD: I like barker. MG: This is conceptionally great and well executed. DXC: Actually there's a shot coming up that we fought... :[side view of Fry.] Well that, that's a great shot in itself. Sterling animation. [people laughing] CK: If you blow that up like 200 times you would not believe what's going on there. LS: That is the scene that I animated myself. DXC: I like this-... oh really? MM: No, this is the scene I animated myself. DXC: This is the angle I love, right there. BW: That is great. JD: And this one. wait... the one that. That one. [people laughing] DXC: That, a credit to our editor Paul Calder who had the idea to use that as... to reuse that as a reaction shot. JD: "At the fuut of the bed." At the... DXC: And John DiMaggio, that dog whimper was not called for in the script. You just did that. JD: I think I... yah... DXC: It just had like "pathetic whimper" or something and then John did that dog whimper and we used it for Bender. LS: I drew him like a cat though. [people laughing] A cat rubbing his head. JD: See? Yep. There goes- there goes that Emmy award. [people laughing] DXC: Get ready for our next guest star. PA: Here he comes. JD: Ah... oh... and... DXC: Making his second appearance in Futurama.


 * [Stephen Hawking descends into frame.]

JD: Yah. DXC: Professor Stephen Hawking. [people clapping] PA: Do you remember our discussion on how Stephen should... MM: That was amazing. He actually has terrific timing. [DXC laughs] I was watching this last night going "Hawking is funny. He's got really great timing." BW: You know what it is? He's got that Stephen Wright style of comedy. [people laughing] MR: What's funny is his phone machine sounds normal. [people laughing] JD: Hey, uhh... BW (as Stephen Hawking): I saw a wooden man the other day. JD: Hey is somebody... I don't mean to, I don't mean to bring it down, but somebody that was on the show, umm... MM: Yah. JD: Just passed away recently. MM: Gary Gygax. JD: Gary Gygax, and I think we should say just, you know... ah, best... you know... say the best. DXC: Heavy inspiration of our third DVD, Bender's Game, um... so, yes, thanks to Gary Gygax for the inspiration and the good times. JD: May he rest in peace. MM: Not that we're giving away much about DVD three. BW: (laughs) He's reduced to throwing his teeth now, that's so great. I'm not gonna come down there and punch him out. (chomps teeth) Ow! JD: Ooh! (chomps teeth) Ow! CK: Hey, Pete, is this our largest crowd ever in lab coats? PA: In lab coats. CK: Definitely. MM: Are lab coats hard to draw? DXC: There was an early version where this was called the Institute for Advanced Studlies and the scientists all had tremendous physiques. [MR laughs] We decided that it was just confusing the issue. JD: "I didn't know I could do that." [MM laughs] Funny. Funny, funny, funny. LS: I remember David, you were maybe contemplating Hawkins' head could actually move. Like his mouth would move, but he would still have the robot voice. DXC: Yah, we had to decide what to do in the future, like, would he change technology, but we decided "you know what, everyone's preserved in the jar the way you best remember them." My guess from their career, what they're known for. CK: Their quintessential version. DXC: Yah, so we stuck with the straight up.


 * [Scene: Deathball.]

MG: So David and I can't get over this scene. We played this over and over again watching the animation in this. It's, uh... BW: I love this. CK: We actually built a life sized version of this at Rough Draft and our workman's comp. rates are just outta control. [LL laughs] MG: Well, when Fry's riding that ball. LS: This should be the next Halloween party. CK: Yah, this should be the next... JD: Oh, that would be awesome. BW (as Zoidberg): Think of the insurance. DXC: I'm gonna point out this scene that blows me away when it's gets there. I mean, it all does, but it's a use of 3D in a way we've not used it before. For one thing, you know, it's just a totally novel use of 3D in the show. LS: I think we're gonna do a special on this somewhere, but... DXC: Okay, watch Fry's hands in this shot, the subtlety of like...  MM: The finger movements! DXC: He's balancing with, like, his fingers. That is unbelievable. MM: That is great. DXC: I actually thought you guys had done motion capture when I saw that shot. LS: Please! DXC: It's so... it looks so detailed. LS: We did, uh... we did, umm... It's a weird combination, 'cause we built scenes like that one in 3D. The floor is tilting and then we print them out and the layout artist draws the layouts on top of those print outs. And then the end, we send all the print outs to Korea and they have to register all the drawings to each print out, one by one. And that shot of Fry on top of the ball, it came out really incredible and, um... DXC: Who did the...  LS: J. Kim did the layouts. I should say, Edmund Fong boarded this whole section and we planned it from the start. We knew all the... everything, you know, all the scenes, but there's about a dozen or 15 where the floors really tilt well and then we replaced all the balls. CK: In 3D, right. LS: The bocce ball type things. BW: Look at his little butt! PA: We mixed these movies in 5.1 and that scene in particular, every... I hope everyone's listening to it in 5.1 at home. The subwoofer roar of the balls, and it's a fantastic mix on that part. DXC: Yah, in the surround sound you can really hear that those balls weigh about ten thousand tonnes each as the "boom." BW: Well, when I'm in my tub at night I-.. no! [people laughing] MR: I like sitting on my subwoofer. BW: You sunk my battleship! [JJ still laughing] DXC: This is Phil LaMarr as Ndulu, Maurice as Schlomo and, by the way, the character of Schlomo with the bow tie there, that is... that's an old design based on Eric Kaplan. MM: Eric Kaplan! I was gonna say. JD: Totally. DXC: And Bolt Rolands, the other boyfriend, is also Phil LaMarr from episode 104. PA: Phil LaMarr was doing every voice in that scene at one point. DXC: At one point he was also Schlomo. BW: Did you guys ever think of having a.. MM: But you decided to give it to a real Jew. [people laughing] A real Jew with a fake French name. MG: well... you're outing yourself. CK: I had no idea. MM: Once you've had your brake lines cut it's just... you know. Hey, I wanna tell ya... DXC: Now, oh! A, just a general com-... oh and the Enema Bot. JD: And the Enema Bot. I love the Enema Bot. That's hilarious. BW: Was that... who was that? DXC: That's Dave Herman. BW: Oh, course! MM: Course! JD: Course! BW: Dave, why are you never here? JD: Dave "Everything I Touch Turns To Gold." BW (as Dave Herman): Because I'm not stupid. I don't have money to travel like you guys do. MR: Comedy gold. MM: But we just live here. BW (as Dave Herman): I live in Texas. MM: Now they... that's how they load the Dark Matter onto the...? DXC: This week. PA: In this episode. MM: That's very funny. Well enjoy that. BW: They got strong. DXC: We're gonna finally learn the deep dark secrets of Dark Matter in DVD number three. MM: That's right! That was my cryptic comment.


 * [Kif's head expands with pressure.] [MM laughs]

DXC: Another new feature of Kif there. JD: I like this part. :[Kif's eye sticks out and Amy pokes in back in.] Pow.
 * [Professor stands behind Enema Bot and slightly groans.]

JD: HA HOO! [people laughing] Sorry. DXC: That Professor "moan" there is so disturbing. It sounds so... JD: Well there's steam coming off his behind. You didn't see that? Of course you saw that. MM: No, I missed that. BW: Can you rewind? JD: You missed that. MM: I missed that, I did. DXC: It's so, the moan is so quiet. It just sounds like he lost the will to live. BW: That was the "death rattle." JD: After a hot coffee enema, pretty much... yah.


 * [Fry fails to catch his futon.] [DXC laughs]

JD: Ow.


 * [Fry looks up at Colleen's apartment complex.]

MM: Any significance to the numbers there, David? DXC: Ah, not that I know of, actually. MM: Really? Just random 2-4...


 * [The complex lowers into the ground.] [BW laughs]

JD: This is a funny bit. BW: It's gonna happen some day. [DXC laughs] DXC: Here's a, I was gonna make a writing note to explain our thinking process a little bit with this non-monogamous relationship story here. The idea here, if it was not obvious, is that Fry gets involved with this relationship and he... it's just too much for him. He gets overwhelmed and he says, you know, "I can't deal with this woman who's got five boyfriends," but later he becomes the ultimate spokesman for the opposite point of view with Yivo where he is the pope of this religion espousing this relationship with a quadrillion people, so this is kind of a micro version of the giant story later in which Fry finds himself on the opposite side of the yard. MR: Would that be foreshadowing? DXC: I don't know what it'd be called. It might just be repetition. MR: Oh, okay. But you need to know for the test. LS: Maybe we should say spoiler at this point. [people laughing]


 * [Hermes performs the Crack-Slam on Wernstrum.]

JD: By the way, that made me laugh really hard. The crack-slam. DXC: Really, a naked butt made John DiMaggio laugh? JD: Yah. Yah. Yah. CK: I think there's a lot less naked butt in this one than the first one. MM: Do you think people... JD: The crack-slam! MM: ...people, there's nobody who's gonna listen to the commentary track first and then watch the movie. DXC: No, no. MM: We're not really spoiling... JD: We're not spoiling it. MM: They're watched the movie once, right? JD: If they watch... MM: Write us if you've watched... if you've actually put this in and watched this first and listened to us first and then watched the actual movie. MR: But then mail the envelope first and then write the letter. JD (as Bender): I love Bender dot com.


 * [The six-some have dinner at a table in Colleen's apartment.]

DXC: This dinner scene is inspired by Spike Lee's "Do The Right Thing." There's a scene with several boyfriends at the table at once, so... certain type of... an homage. JD: Ohh. An homage to Spike Lee. MR: Except nobody's on a dolly walking. JD: Yes! [DXC laughs] DXC: He stole that from us, that's our trademark. JD: And Public Enemy isn't playing in the background. (long pause) Hello? [people laughing] Hello? Did I say something wrong? MM: No, I was joining in with... mumbling on... JD: Public Enemy's awesome. Their tunes are great. MM: I got involved with my character Schlomo, who you can see to the left of your screen. JD: I even like "25th Hour" for cryin' out loud. Come on. BW: John. JD: Hello? BW: W-G-A-S. JD: Wha... uh... oh... DXC: What? JD: I don't know what the... BW: On the computer. W-G-A-S. Who gives a... JD: Ahh! DXC: Ohh! Got it. BW: Nobody cares. Now we can sing it at you! "Nobody cares!" DXC: Anything that starts with W-G-A, I assume it's the Writer's Guild of America. JD: Oh. Is Patrick here?


 * Bender poops multiple bricks.]

DXC: Speaking of, uhh... MM: Oh my God. MG: Call back and top 'er! DXC: Dating to the pilot. MM: The very pilot. Only I notice these bricks are not metallic covered, er, coloured. BW: And they were set up like a mason did it. DXC: Were they metallic coloured in the pilot? MM: Yah, he dropped a... that was a regular brick. Everybody: (a mix of yes, no and "umm") JD: Maybe they were cinder blocks. Could have been cinder block-ish. [MG laughing]

MM: Cinder blocks. BW (as announcer/jingle singer): I know it sounds a bit bazaar, but with cinder blocks! That's how conditions are. [JJ laughing] Sorry.


 * [Bender begins his walk toward the Anomaly.]

DXC: Here comes a beautiful cinematic sequence. MM: Yah. DXC: I love these real wide shots. CK: That's one thing that 16:9 has been really fun to work in. DXC: You gotta tell us how you did that uh... the Anomaly effect. BW (deep voice): Aww, yah. LS: Umm, you're design notes were that you wanted a fractal edge on the... which you had to explain that to me a number of times and then I and the 3-D supervisor had many discussions. This scene came out really good.


 * [Bender gets blown away from Anomaly:[

BW: That was the greatest scream. LS: There's a few extra bricks there. JD: Yep. More. CK: Turns out he wasn't quite finished. [people laughing] MG: I never saw those bricks. MM: I missed those bricks the first time. MG: Yah! That's good. BW: Did you have bean bricks for lunch? JD: Yep. Yep. I did. MR: Bender was full when they took off that day. DXC: The Anomaly's in 3-D. PA: So, yah. The Anomaly's in 3-D and we did the main thing that I think helps the fractal is it kind of... instead of the edges moving smoothly it kind of pops a little and, uhh... DXC: Little more electrical. PA: Yah. DXC: Cause the whole thing, we've decided that the other universe has kind of an electrical theme- electro-matter and lightning when you go into it and it destroys machinery at the cost of that - so there's, everything was supposed to have kind of an electrical feel about that interface. PA: And it's got a nice, kind of reflective surface on it and we never see the back. I think if you went around the back it would disappear. Notice we never see it! JD: This is great. PA: I'm sorry, I'm talking through acting. JD: "...sit through a tampon commercial," I love that joke. DXC: Now, you see this. This is Billy was Judge Whitey here. Now this joke "ow." This is what's known as, you'll see as we come to it, there's another joke that is essentially identical later that we, it got through unnoticed by us that we had used the same joke twice. MR: Well it's noticed now. DXC: That is known in writing circles as a "sock barrel" when you do two very similar jokes twice by accident. MR: Wow. DXC: I believe the origin of that is, you have a barrel of socks of all different colours and you happen to pull out two of the same colour. Is that right, Mike or is there... BW: It's the rule of two "ows." DXC: ...you're a comedy writer. MR: I never understood the sock barrel theory. DXC: That's... MR: I never pursued it. DXC: I just guessed that that's the etymology of it.


 * [Fry is onscreen crying in a Psychiatrist's office.]

BW (as Fry): It all started when I auditioned for this show called Futurama. [people laughing]


 * [Fry is onscreen playing in an arcade.]

JD: Honkey Kong. Oooh...! MM: Normal Combat. DXC: I invite everyone to freeze frame... JD (different voice): Yes! A game called Honkey Kong! MM: [laughing] Ms. Marple Madness! DXC: I think I made up most of those video game names as somebody who had spent a lot of time in video game arcades, except, actually Normal Combat. That was you, Pete. PA: I think I wrote that, yah. DXC: You wrote that one. But Honkey Kong, that was me. PA: Due to a strike. DXC: Oh, yah. DXC: Bender had his built in wheelchair once before in the "War is the H Word" episode. So nothing's new. It's all just cobbled together. [people laughing] CK: But it's the way you reuse them. MM: We have seen too many body bags and ball sacks.


 * [Calculon's operation scene.] [JJ intermittently laughing]

DXC: I was looking back at, kind of, some of the earlier versions of the script and the outline. Eric Kaplan had this idea early on that we had to drop because it was too complicated, but uhh... oh, wait! I'm going to interrupt myself. Look at this shot. The "Crotch P.O.V. Shot." [people laughing] That was called for actually by Eric Kaplan so I just want to credit him, I love that shot. Anyway... BW: Is that the "sock-crotch theory?" DXC: Eric had this idea that Fry, after he got really lonely from this break-up, he got this thing called the virtual companion. It was this robot that buffed him up and stooped his ego. But... seemed like too much on top of everything else. BW: That scared, that shocked me that move. His last move of throwing Bender. It was like, "Wow, this guy's come to life." DXC: That wasn't Bender, that was the doctor. BW: Oh, the Doctor or rather. DXC: Are you still shocked? [people laughing] BW: Yah, I'm still shocked. Well he got arnory. Or ornery.


 * ["No time, woman! No time!".] [JJ laughs]

MM: There's a lot of- We always imaging the future of being very sanitary... [people laughing] JD: Yah. It's gross though. Every time somebody puts their nose on the Smell-o-Scope there's this disgusting noise. MM: A little "shlurp." JD: It's just like, it's so gross. BW: And there's no Alco-Gel or whatever you use to... JD: Ohh... no. It's hilarious. MM: The one thing they've cured in the future is obsessive compulsive disorder. [people laughing] Nobody cares about germs at all. MR: Everybody has a perfect immunity system. DXC: The Smell-O-Scope is one of many things in Futurama that we just threw in once as a joke back in episode 108, still uhh... my memory's still working here - the Big Ball of Garbage {A Big Piece of Garbage}, and we just though it...


 * [Wernstrum is onscreen in a thong.] [everybody "ewws"]

PA: Speaking of big ball of garbage. DXC: But we though the Smell-O-Scope was a throw away joke, but now it's come back 50 times, so. BW: It's so beautiful because instead of sending your eyes out millions of miles away you're sending your nose out there. MR: I do not recommend the toy though. DXC: Matt, will you talk about that character we just saw? Pocket Pal. MG: Well, back at the beginning, the first couple of years when we were just thinking about this and writing this, we came up with a bunch of character that we never got around to introducing and that's, I think, is that the last character that we... DXC: I think so. MG: Last character that was supposed to be in the original series. Pocket Pal. That little robot that we just killed. CK: Yah, I remember him being one of the first designs when we first started... LS: And he was actually very hard to design for this show because I knew I had seen drawings of him aand it took us like a week to find 'em. I didn't want to just do them over. DXC: The idea is that his body's the exact size to accommodate a Double-A battery and that's it, he's just filled with battery.


 * [Farnsworth and Wernstrum being throwing Pocket Pals into the mini-Anomaly.] [people laughing]

DXC: So we killed it... CK: And apparently quite inexpensive. MM: Pretty much using up all the storyline right there. DXC: We killed him off, but by showing all those other ones we left open the possibility that another Pocket Pal could come back, so. MG: The original idea was that Fry was going to have Pocket Pal as his little pocket pal and Bender would be jealous. DXC: And Fry would carry him around in his pocket and he would help explain the future to Fry. MG: Right. DXC: But we just realized that wasn't really necessary, to explain everything. You just do it. BW (as Zoidberg): Just let it happen. LS: Is Pocket Pal seriously a... MM: It's funnier if he doesn't understand it. LS: Is it a reference to an adult thing? MG: It could be... [people laughing] MM: By that I mean...


 * [Setting: The White House.]

MM: Why is there a stegosaurus on the White House? JD: What? Why is there a pterodactyl on the front lawn- MM: No, a stegosaurus. JD: A stegosaurus. MR: 'Cause it's the future! PA: Was that scripted or was... JD: (laughing) "'Cause it's the future!" MM (as Paul Lynn): "It's the future!" JD (as Paul Lynn): It's the future, people! MM: Everybody do Paul Lynn. [MG laughs] JD (as Paul Lynn): Ah... I love Nixon. BW (as Paul Lynn): Well here's proof we didn't go to war in Iraq.


 * [Nixon speaks.] [people laughing]

MM: I love how you throw in, Billy, a cheek flap in the m- at the end of a Nixon line. It was so serious. I can't remember which one it was. But there's this extra little (flaps cheek into mic). BW: Well I have to give credit to the editors. I heard a little "wiz-bang" noise and I swear I couldn't make it and I think they edited it together. PA: Sometimes you put them in the middle of a word too. MM: Yah, it's, that, that, that is really... JD (as Nixon): Arrooou! BW: You know what it is? I'm tired of doing impressions, so you boil somebody down to a noise. You know, (as Nixon): Barrooou! [people laughing] (growls more) LS: Look at that crowd. MR: Billy, what would Paris Hilton sound like in a bottle? [people laughing] MM: Yah, speaking of boiling. BW: Okay, in a jar. It's not a bottle, it's a jar. MM: In a jar, here. BW (as Pairs Hilton in a jar): That's really hot. [people laughing] (normal voice): Hey, ever hear of the Holocaust? (as Paris Hilton): That's really hot. [people laughing] (normal voice): Hey, you know your brother's going to jail for D.U.I.? (as Paris Hilton): Dude, that's so hot.

[people laughing]

JD: Wow. BW: Heads in a jar. JD: The views expressed on this are (makes fart noise), excuse me.


 * [Colleen is beating Wernstrum over the head with her nightstick.]

DXC: We had to, ah... JD: I love this! DXC: Yah, we had to be very careful to remind ourselves that these futuristic saber-like devices just conk you on the head like a broom handle and the sound effects... BW: Like the ones at ComiCon. [people laughing] MM: I thought you weren't going to talk about that night as ComiCon, Billy? JD: Yah, I know. BW: My head still hurts. JD: You were supposed to let that go, Billy. DXC: Hey, Pete. How come there's hover vehicles everywhere, but also helicopters? PA: The... there aren't helicopters. They look helicopter-ish, but they're hovering. MM: They're hovering, they just have... (Jewish voice): ...they have a beanie on top! PA: Even if you freeze frame and see that the blades are spinning... :[helicopter is seen flying onscreen.] Oh, they are spinning. Those are force field blades. MM: Oops, I forgot. Billy was actually... DXC: Ahh... got it. MR: This looks great. I can't wait to buy it. [people laughing] BW: It'll be out. MR: Over onto Amazon. JD (as Bender): Leaguey weaguey. (normal voice): Sorry. DXC: There's something so adorable whenever Bender has these childish fantasies of... JD: That's because I'm adorable. MG: Like all this other insane stuff goes on in Futurama and they're making fun of Bender for, you know. PA: Believing in the League of Robots. MG: Like, "how dare you."


 * [Bender speaks.] [people laughing]

BW: Way to play the game, John. JD: Sorry.


 * ["Tears" scene.]

MM: This is brilliant. This part, with the tears. JD: Yah. DXC: I, I guess that's some kind of wiper fluid coming out of Bender's eye.


 * [Professor is onscreen being beaten.]

BW: ComiCon. PA: I know Matt always... MM: Nope, he's become a real boy. PA: I know Matt always hates it when cartoon characters cry. MM: (laughing) "Stowaway hatch." PA: And I think it's really an emotional thing, but he says it's- MG: Well what's coming out of their eyes? (speaks as if he were tearing up) It's ju-... it's this blue... liquid. [people laughing] PA: Bubble bath. MG (as if he were crying): It's Drain- BW: Windex. [BW and MG laugh] MG: It's hard to animate characters in this world crying because their eyeballs are so big. You see.


 * [Setting: Bender writing his note.]

BW: This is the "Marquis de Bender." DXC: By the way, listen to all the beautiful music in this by Christopher Tyng. :[Bender pins his note on Zoidberg's chest.] Oh, here's the sock barrel! So there Zoidberg says "ow" after the fact, so that's the, what I was referring to as a "sock barrel." MG: An underplayed "ow." Yes. CK: It's awfully close to that other "ow."


 * [Setting: Bender by/in a Suicide Booth.]

BW: Hey, look what's back! Look what's back, sittin' there. JD: Yah. BW: Hey. DXC: What? BW: I thought they got rid of those booths? DXC: The Suicide Booths? BW: Yah. DXC: No way. BW: No? They've always been around? PA: They were in DVD one. Indirectly. Didn't he go into a phone booth and... DXC: He thought it was a Suicide Booth. In Bender's Big Score. BW: Yep.


 * [Setting: The Nimbus approaches the Anomaly.]

CK: Looks like they've repaired the Nimbus. [MG laughs] JD: Can, can someone remind me what the name Nimbus comes from? Again. DXC: Ah, I believe Nimbus means a halo or a glow and it also is a type of cloud. MR: It was also, I believe, a Mike Nesmith song. A Monkees song. Am I right? Anybody? BW: Nimbus? MR: No? JD: Nimbus. MM: It was also a... JD: Maybe it was! DXC: But the reason we chose it for the ship is it also sounds like, you know, nimrod or... It sounds like a word you would use to... MM: Also Nimbus Nine Productions. PA: Nimbecile. MG: Peter Tork's nickname. Monkey. MM: ...a famed Canadian in rock and roll producer. BW: I think you were right. MM: Maurice, tell us about Kif's thoughts. MM: Kif's thoughts? At this moment? DXC: As, uh... well. PA: He thinks about Mike Nesmith a lot. DXC: Actually, oh. It's the sequence coming up. Hold that-, get ready! Get ready to do that. MM: Okay. I'm waiting. [people laughing] PA: This is true, going into that. They have a meeting tomorrow with Micky Dolenz. It's very exciting. This is true MM: But by the time this comes out that meeting will already have taken place, so maybe you can print the results on the back... PA: No, the next DVD after this. BW: If you see the guy with the wool hat, tell him it's really hot out. MM: (laughs) That was Peter Tort. BW: No, it was Mike Nesmith. MM: Oh, you're right. It was Mike Nesmith. BW: Hottest day of July, he's got that freakin' hat on.


 * [Bender falls through the Suicide Booth floor.]

DXC: A logical question: I'm going to ask it because I know fans are going to ask it. How did the League of Robots know Bender was going to go to that Suicide Booth? That, being their secret entrance to their lair apparently. PA: Maybe all Suicide Booths are secret entrances to the lairs. MM: That was going to be my guess. Yes.


 * [Setting: Fry is next to the Anomaly.]

LS: Nice reflection of the Nimbus. CK: I like that the torpedo loads in the bridge. [people laughing] MM: And comes... yep. CK: Seems like not a great idea. MM: The ergonomics... DXC: For the purpose of the upcoming scenes it had to be that way. CK: It's a fantastic idea. BW (as Zapp): I planned the recoil myself.


 * [Zapp tricks Kif.] [people laughing]

DXC: Here's where I started to wonder what Kif's thinking. MM: Well, he's basically thinking (as Kif): (sighs) [DXC laughs] (normal voice): You know, the, I love the fact that we've returned to the Kif side here in this...


 * [Zapp yells at Francine.] [JJ laughs] :["Be a dear.".] [people laughing]

MM: Oh great. I'm sorry, I got interrupted by, by the action about to come up. For those of you that are watching the commentary first... [people laughing] ...and didn't watch it already, this is a very tragic scene coming up. PA: Maybe you should alternate between what Kif's thinking and what Calculon is thinking. MM (as Calculon): Why I think that would be an excellent idea. I can tell you right now that Calculon is thinking about... Calculon. [people laughing] DXC: I really like the name "the League of Robots" 'cause it's so unadorned. It's so unclever. It's the first thing that would come to your mind. BW: It's great. It's great. CK: I think that there should be League of Robots t-shirts. MM: Yes. MG: Ooh! BW: Do it. Do it. Do it. MG: Done! BW: Everything you think of is... MM: So being a robot is like being in college. MR: League of Robots chess set. CK: Yep. PA: We could make t-shirts and right now I could say there are t-shirts. [people laughing] When the time comes up. BW: Was that Phil LaMarr doing the voice of that duffer robot? DXC: Ah, that's Dave Herman. BW: That was Dave Herman too?! DXC: But there's two robots like that. There's, the other one is Billionaire Bot, we'll see with the monocle later, that one is Phil LaMarr.


 * [Kif is launched toward the Anomaly.]

MM: Now didn't we originally do this where he's being stretched and stretched and it's like "(groans)" and then all of a sudden in the middle of the stretch there's a "(sighs like Kif, goes back to groaning)." DXC: Yah, it might even be in there, but the music is... MM: May have over lapped it. DXC: The dramatic music is, was deemed, and the stretching sound effect, were deemed critical to the moment, so. So we had to kind of weave in and out of the dialogue and the music and sound effects so people would definitely understand the stretching-ness of it. MR: Was that another sock barrel where he burped and burned the guy's head? [people laughing] BW (as Paris Hilton): That's hot. That's really hot. LS: Like when the Professor's... head was burnt. MM: He burped, but he burped on the organic eye, so how come the eye still works? That, that was my big question. That kept me up all night. BW: Don't make trouble.


 * [Kif and Fry meet next to the Anomaly.]

MM: (laughs) I like this because Kif and Fry don't often have scene together when they show their true friendship. BW: I like that they know each other. MM: They do, yah. BW: You know, enough to say "hi" in the middle of space. MM: In the middle of space, yah. [BW and MM laugh] If you're gonna bump into somebody, have it be somebody you know already.
 * [Kif is getting pulled back into the Nimbus.]

MM: And... he's boned. [MG laughs]


 * [Kif's juices land on the sandwich.] [people go "ew"]

BW (as Zapp): Twidle di dit di... MM: So we assume that Kif is tasty. What sort of flavour do you think comes with his green-ness? DXC: Well... MM: Is that a vegetable kind of thing or...? DXC: Yah, you have like a green liquid or something the flavour is green.


 * [Amy is on screen in a dress.]

BW: Look at those legs! Look at those legs! MM: I love that, I love that Hermes is wearing a kilt like as though there's something... something vaguely Scottish. BW: Why are you lookin' there, I was looking right where the focal point is. MM: Well you said "look at those legs." I... BW: Not his, hers! I was looking at hers. MM: I thought you were looking at something else besides the legs. JD: Look at the... yah! BW: Look, she, look. All women are beautiful, so shut up. JD: Stop drawing Amy Wong so hot. LS: It's a cartoon guys. JD: Stop doing it. BW (as Zapp): Alright, sweetikens. MM: Wait, is the kilt a gay test or something? Did I just like, fail it. [people laughing] JJ and BW: No. MM: Did I just fail the gay test? BW: No. MR: Not yet. MM (as Jon Lovitz): I'm not gay. I'm also not on this show. Hello. Jon Lovitz and I've never been on Futurama. BW (as Jon Lovitz): And so what if I am.


 * [Amy in her dress is onscreen.]

JD: Huh? Look at this! That's the hottest funeral dress ever! EVER! BW: That is so... shot.


 * [Kif's last picture is onscreen.]

MM: That picture is so wrong. JD: EVER! EVER! I'm sorry! That's so wrong. BW (as Paris Hilton in a jar): That's hot. That's really hot. That dress it hot. JD: Ugh, it's a cartoon! WHAT? Oh, yah. :[Leo Wong sprays Kif's parents with a breath mint.] Kill 'em all.


 * [Bender places a L.O.R. banner on Kif's jar.] [BW laughs] [JJ laughs]

DXC: This is one of my favourite scenes coming up with a ketchup bottle. BW: Did you see this before? Just kidding. [MM laughs] JD: You know, you hit it on the "57." That's where you hit it. DXC: That's exactly right. The first time someone told me that I said like, "Aw, you hit it upward also. You hit it with an upward motion," right? You tilt the bottle down, hit... MM: Yep, right on the label. MG: No, you tap it. You tap the, right about the "57." MM: As long as you hit it parallel to the "57" it works. JD: If it's stuck in there, you tap the "57." DXC: No, the first... MR: I've been hitting it on the "56." [people laughing] DXC: The first time someone told me that I said "Ah, that's, that's ridiculous." Then I tried it and ketchup went, a flood of ketchup poured out all over my plate. MM: Awh... "I got most of it." JD: Yep. Yep. MG: But see, that's wrong. JD: No, well, you tap it. You don't slam it. You were like, (in a slow minded kind of voice) "And 'den I, 'den I hit it, like 'dat! Douuuuuy."

[people laughing]

MG: You gotta use a little English. BW: Nice language. MG: Don't suck. That's what I always say. MM: Didn't, ah, Tress cooked this up herself, this little song. Didn't she? DXC: Ah, Eric Kaplan wrote that although Tress made up the melody on the spot. MM: Oh, did he? Okay. Okay, there it is.


 * [Amy is onscreen again.]

BW: Look at those ankles! MM: That's what I meant. MG: Also, I gotta say. It was really funny 'cause Eric Kaplan dictated the nonsense words and then you, David, you wrote them, you were typing them up. DXC: Yah. MG: You were sitting at the computer. It was very funny to me. MM: And then Tress improvised the melody. DXC: Correct.


 * [Zapp hits on Leela.]

BW: Slob. MM: We've been waiting a long time for that. BW: Amy's turnin' me on. What do I do, like what do I do? I call up Lauren Tom tonight and just say, "Hey, your work is really good." [people laughing] JD: That's ridiculous. DXC: I really, uhh... I think Lauren Tom's acting in these scenes where she's sad is phenomenal 'cause she's delivering these jokes, but also she's crying. I love the line reading. BW: Yah. It is.


 * [URL appears onscreen in the prison scene.]

JD: URL! BW: But you made her look... (as Paris Hilton in a jar): ...hot.


 * [URL speaks.] [people laugh]

BW: That's so great. That voice is great, John. JD (as URL): Yah, respect. "Look-a like-a freak." PA: I spent a lot of time on a very nerdy joke with those, the lasers on the cell. They're supposed to be the Tholian web lasers. [people go "Ooo"] DXC: (gasps) Star Trek reference. MG (in a awe-struck voice): I don't know what that means. PA: Play it back.


 * [Leela puts on her "virtual eyes" glasses.]

JD: I like that joke. MM (at MG): That's right. You've never seen Star Trek.


 * [Scene at Horse Repair store.]

BW: Horse repair! (laughs) MM: I love it. JD (as Horse D'ourves Salesman from “Luck of the Fryrish“): No Horse Coke. Horse Pepsi okay? (normal voice): Remember that? (as Horse D'ourves Salesman): Yah. Horse Burgers, Horse Dogs. (normal voice): That guy showed up earlier. MM: He's like Iron Man. Is horse a funny word? Is that why we use it so much in this show? LS: I always laugh at how mad Bender gets when he has the wrong horse's name. [people laughing] JD (as Bender): Come on, Lasty!


 * [Setting: LOR HQ.]

DXC: Now, this is a question for Pete. Are there several portraits on the walls in this movie that I love. One is that horse we just saw, but the one I really love is this one you see in the background on the left there. You'll see better... PA: There's two here. There's Robot and Robbie is on the other side, but we have really nice Photoshopped paintings of him and I'm not sure if Robbie ever even shows up. He's on the design, but ah... DXC: And of course these are artistic renditions of... they're inspired by Robot. MM: Wait a minute. Is that... that's Robot from Lost in Space. PA: Yah, they're... probably the founders. DXC: But that's such a detailed painting, it's like... No one would put that effort into the background of a cartoon. PA: Nobody but me. MM: What the hell is he thinking about doing to himself. DXC: That's the character played by Phil. Billionaire Bot, from the, uh... PA: “Raging Bender.” DXC: …“Raging Bender” episode. Exactly. PA: Yah, he was a wrestler? JD: Yah.


 * [Bender politely asks for the human eye monocle.] [people laughing] :[Bender smashes the eye under the shovel and it pops.] [people are disgusted]

DXC: Subtle joke there on the book cover. Has anyone here ever read Roberts... MM: I've attempted it and yah...  DXC: It is so boring and stupid. MM: It is unbelievable. DXC: The idea that... MM: Until you try to run a meeting- MG: Point of order. Point of order. I disagree. [people laughing] MR: I second it. PA: Is it that thick? CK: No. MM: No, it's really not. It's probably... CK: I think it's kinda little. MM: Paper back-y, actually. JD: Is that like a black velvet painting back there? PA: It looked like it in that scene. MG: I love Boxy. JD: Boxy robot is awesome. MM: Boxy, who never does anything quite right. BW: Spillin' stuff. It's beautiful. DXC: Boxy's allegiance shifting to Bender there.


 * [Setting: Fulcrum Prism.]

PA: Here was a... another... in the script you wrote that this is a prism. JD: I love this. Another Smell-O-Scope. I was so excited when I saw that. PA: You called this thing, the ah... what is it called? Fulcrum Prism. MM: Fulcrum Prism. DXC: Two puns in one title. PA: One pun and then, you know, we have to decide whether are we drawing a prism or... [MG laughs] DXC: You better! BW: Attica! Attica! Attica! JD: Yah, check out the guy back there with the robot arm. Pretty cool. Bionic man. BW: And he doesn't really do much, he's just looking. I love that. LS: I think that there were more prisoners in some of the earlier drafts, like more action... MM: Why was there no blood on the screw driver? PA: There all up in this scene. MM: Was there a reason for no blood on the screw driver? JD: It's the magic of cartoons. MM: Have we used up our bodily excretions quota? JD (as Professor): Pazuzu! MM: Oh, Pazuzu's back! DXC: Pazuzu. JD: I love Pazuzu. DXC: Lee, what episode was Pazuzu in? LS: Oh, no. I forgot. PA: It was the... it was the one where they all got young. LS: Oh! DXC: That's it! A... “Teenaged Mutant Leela's Hurtles.” That's it. MM: Oh wait, I forgot I'm also Guard #2 here. [people laughing] Let me add that to my list of credits. BW: Mo, it's a tour de force today. Thanks. You were great. I wanted to thank you. MM: Thank you from the man who plays everybody! BW: No. When I saw the episode I said "That's Mo, that's Mo, that's Mo" and it's great. Now you'll get off my back. MM: Why you lousy mother father. JD: Some of it itches.


 * [Professor speaks to Nixon's head.]

BW (as Nixon's head): No I don't, you hatchet head. MG: I like those neck shackles. CK: Yep. I like that in the future you're attached by necks. [MG laughs]


 * [Fry floating through space.]

BW: This is where you said to do the "death rattle." DXC: Oh yah, here it comes. Let's hear it. JD: Cue the smoke. (laughs at the size of Yivo) BW: (does the "death rattle")


 * [Setting: Yivo first attacks Earth.]

MM: I have to go to the bathroom. Can we take a break? [people laughing] BW: Did he get that laser eye surgery? JD: That's awesome. BW: Look at that. JD: Wow. That's so gross. MM: I mean ,can you imagine how terrified you would be if this really happened in real life? BW: Scaredy cat super hero. That's good. MM (as Jerry Seinfeld): And that's what the show is about. It's a... (normal voice): oh, wait a second, I was also that guy. DXC: This is basically where the monster movie aspect begins MM: Yah. MR: I'm gonna start pointing out my jokes. MM (as Jerry Seinfeld): It's a show about how scared you'd be if this happened. [BW laughs] Who are these people? PA: We talked about the music earlier, but this music in this episode is Ting's Monster Movie Score. BW: This is beautiful. He won't pay for colour. [BW laughs] MM: of course, 'cause it's gotta be in black and white. Oh, wait a second, I got to play Harold Zoid in this too. DXC: You did. We never found a convenient time to get Hank Azaria, sorry Hank, who played Uncle Zoid the first time so Maurice ably stepped into his shoes as Uncle Zoid. PA: He should have a rotary instead. The rotary dial. MM: That's right. BW: Yah, yah Hank... MM: Yah, 'cause I temp'ed it. I remember temping it, but... BW: Yah, Hank. We'll call you. [DXC laughs] DXC: Here comes a shot that will just blow your socks off. MM: Oh, wow. DXC: Are you socks still no? MM: Oh, wow. BW: That, I love. MM: Lucky for you, they are 'cause I missed my pedicure. CK: This took like two hours to do! [people laughing] It took [i]so[/i] long. MM: How many crayons? How many boxes of crayons did this take? MG: That's great. DXC: This is one of the great shots, 3-D or otherwise, in Futurama history. MR: I think the Simpsons writers are in jeopardy right now after that.


 * [Setting: Zapp fighting Yivo while sitting in the diner.]

DXC: By the way, I love the layout of the next shot, this one that Zapp's in there... MM: I mean, that looks tenticular up there in the sky like that. That is, ah... DXC: So, there's that incredible 3-D shot, but actually the layout is just perfect on that diner shot also to show that the, you know the scale of it in the sky and...  MM: Yah! But the movement of those tentacles from that shot really, it looks as though that's a creature, I mean it looks live action. It made me want Sushi... Spok. BW (as Shatner): We're losing a plot point here. PA: I think we decided they already watched, didn't they? I should commend Eric Whited, the guy who built that whole scene and also Chris Graham storyboarded that. You know, we know you just had the big fight in DVD one and so we wanted to do something different and the idea of doing that in one, man I would never... I would never have tried that. DXC: This is another staggering 3-D shot, by the way, they're just back-to-back here. BW: Oh my God, yah. MR: David, what did you say, the amount of hours just to mix the sound? DXC: Um... I personally was in the, was involved for about 80 hours. Same as DVD one though. It's just like, these have so much chaos and it's in surround sound and if that's, you know, there's much more time put into it by Peter Cole, the mixer and Travis Powers, the sound effects editor. MG: And you haven't even started on the audio commentary. [people laughing] BW: Yah! CK: Good luck with that. LS: It's three weeks, three weeks of mixing...


 * [Sal is onscreen.]

BW: This character became so popular as far as I can see when I read all kinds of stuff. JD: Sal! Everybody loves Sal. BW: Yah. JD: He adds "s" to everything. MM: And makes everything a plural. BW: But people are writing like that... you know? Like "I don'ts knows." JD (as Sal): Writings likes thats. DXC: By the way, one thing about that 3-D shot, going back to the tentacle, 3-D space battle shot and the subject of mixing the audio. The mixing is when we put in the music and the sound effects and try to get it all to work with the dialogue and still be funny, but dramatic. It's very difficult, it's much, it's so... it's one of those things where Peter himself said "People don't understand what he does for a living as the mixer. It's something that sounds easy because if you do it right you don't think about it, the music is setting the mood and the sound effects just seem to be what they are." BW: Mhmm. DXC: "But if you do it wrong, then you notice. So it's a strange, very strange thing where if you do it right, people don't appreciate what you're doing. [people laughing] But ah... MG: We should do a bad mix for one... one version.  MM: Just so everyone will appreciate it.  DXC: But that space battle was easier to mix than almost any other shout because of the fact that Zapp Brannigan is talking the whole time. We had to just turn everything else down and not over do it so it actually made it easier, strangely enough because he was talking the whole time.  MG: I have an announcement to make. I'm grossed out. [people laughing]  JD: Yah, I was just thinking of how much my father's gonna be really disgusted at that part. He's gonn-... he will-... ugh!  MR: We're not talking about the movie, by the way. [people laughing] It's what's goin' on in here. JD: It's what's goin' on in the room.


 * [Randy appears.]

JD: Yayyy, it's Randy again! PA: Do you feel that the tentacle with Fry coming out of it reached the level of disgusting that you hoped for, David? DXC: I think it exceeded the level I was hoping for. If I could I'd go back and take it back a notch. It's so horrible. JD (as Randy): Finally! DXC: Actually I wouldn't. I love it just the way it is, but it's more disgusting than I envisioned it. BW: This was a hard performance with Fry because I had to make him sound coherent like he knew what he was talking about. DXC: We put in some whip sound effects to make it a little more painful here.

.]Morgan Proctor comes out of the Tube System..]

DXC: That's Morgan Proctor. Originally played my Nora Dunn, although Tress took over the role for that three word line. MM: And was that Fishy Joe, the last one? DXC: Fishy Joe! JD: Fishy Joe Gilman. DXC: Who plays Fishy Joe, Maurice? MM (as Fishy Joe): Why that would be my's truly. JD: Yah, Horrible Gelatinous Blob was shown earlier, he didn't say anything though. MM: I did not. Well I had already credited him. JD: Oh, did you?


 * [Scene where tentacles are chasing the crew into the Planet Express building..]

MM: You know, this whole sequence here, I really connect with this emotionally because this is every nightmare that every little kid has. There's something, something's chasing you and... and... BW: And it's pink! MM: And it's pink. [people laughing] Okay, that's just my childhood then, I guess, I dunno. [people laughing] MR: In your adult life. MM: But, I mean, it's a viscera.


 * [Professor is onscreen.]

BW: Those glasses gave me nightmares. DXC: 'Lotta Theremin in the music in this episode. BW: 'Lotta big words. MM: And you see there...


 * [Leela aims at Fry's head with her gun.]

BW: This is great! Awh, this is so cool. Women rule. MM (distinguished, English accent): Unfortunately. Dear boy.


 * [Leela pulls out a second gun in her other hand..]

BW: That's a good shot. Ohh, this is so good. I'm just gonna sit here and enjoy it. The hell with trying to be funny. It ain't working. MR: This is a line that kinda sums up everything I know about Eric Kaplan. "Different from the Hollywood love story." This is his version of a love story. DXC: In Eric Kaplan's mind this is just a little bit different from a regular love story, yah. CK: Slight twist. MR: Did you ask him, like, "We want this show to be a love story and this is what you got?" DXC: It's very Eric Kaplan-y again. He's not here to defend himself, but when Eric Kaplan does a script there's usually a romantic element and it's got some kind of observation about real life no matter how disgusting or ridiculous it is.


 * [Farnsworth mentions Diamondillium.]

DXC: We had to work hard on the names Diamondium and Diamondillium because we had other versions of them and then we got notes from the legal department at Fox that they existed ... MM: Those products existed.

DXC: They had all these fake, you know, varnishes and things that are called whatever. MM: See don't kill all the lawyers 'cause sometimes you need them if you wanna make a cartoon. BW: I just think they make up as many words as they can and copyright 'em hoping to snag something every now and then. DXC: By the way, speaking of crazy words we just saw on an Internet news search that Fox has trademarked the word "Slurm"... MM: That's right! DXC: ...for use as any kind of a beverage. I have no idea if they plan to ever do that, probably not, but they've defended their trademark on the word "Slurm." MM: As long as they make a sugar-free Slurm I won't have a problem with that. [people laughing] DXC: And we're seeing the Slurm billboard in the background just doubly reminding me of that.
 * [We see the tentacle reaching from Fry's upper neck to lower spine..]

DXC: I love this shot. Look at that. MM: Owh... JD: Ooh...  MR: I had that in the Navy. [people laughing] DXC: That is the Mike Rose special. MR: That's right. DXC: That, that joke. It's amazing how often you can use that exact joke. MR: And I wasn't ever even in the Navy. DXC: Imagine how often you could use it if you had been in the Navy. It comes in handy in real life. Start thinking about places you can say "I had that when I was in the Navy" and you'll realize... MR: You can also use it if someone has a long, funny sounding last name. You could say it right after that. Like, "What is your name?" "My name is Michael Metrokevich." "Oh, I had that in the Navy." [people laughing] Little party favourite for all the people watching. BW: I always loved Morbo. He's like that 50's... what people thought aliens would look like. DXC: I like that you say "Now we know better." Back in the 50's they were all wrong. BW: That's right.


 * [Amy and Leela begin aimlessly firing their weapons..]

DXC: I love it when people shoot guns for too long in cartoons. MR: A little Tarantino here. [MG laughing] DXC: Kind of the second time we've done that also if you count the Pazuzu scene earlier.
 * [Land squid is onscreen.]

DXC: Billy! That was Billy West starring as the Land Squid there. BW: Really? That was that... silly... MR: Well Billy works so hard. Billy, how hard do you work Billy? BW (as MLK): When I works, I works hard.


 * [Tentacle comes out of toilet.]

JD: That, that, that disturbs... that disturbs me the most. BW: (makes Land Squid noises) DXC: The toilet shot? JD: Yes. MM: Because that can, that's our primal fear. JD: Everybody's worst fear. DXC: Yah, advice to parents who are potty training your toddler: don't show them this. [people laughing] MM: This may not be the video to baby-sit them with. [people laughing] BW (as a small child): (makes fart noise) 'Scuse me. Sorry.


 * [The Funkalistics are onscreen.] [people laughing]


 * [Leela drinks a Red Minotaur.]

BW: Red Minotaur. I can't wait. JD: I just love the "talkin' 'bout the" 'cause that's in so many songs. (singing): Talkin' 'bout the thaang. BW: Well, they gotta remind you they're talking about it while they're talking about. JD (singing): Talkin' 'bout the thaang. Talkin' 'bout the well well. It's my f... (laughs). Thank you Billy Clancy. MR: My favourite is when they give out their sign. "My name is John DiMaggio and I'm a scorpion. JD: Yess... yes!  DXC: Here's a logical question: the Professor has obviously already been infected with the tentacle.  MM: Yes. But we don't see it at all.  DXC: I don't see it. It must be down his shirt right now.  MM: And where, into the floor? I mean...  BW: Yah, it's a lavaliere. [people laughing]  PA: To that I say, "shh." [people laughing]


 * [The Professor laughs after revealing his tentacle secret.] [people laughing]

MM: I love how happy this thing makes everybody. But, of course, they're being bred with, who isn't happy at that moment? BW: They said, "just be super happy and I've never seen the guy be like, unbelievably happy, so he just lost it. (laughs like the Professor)


 * [Wernstrum chases Leela and Amy.]

JD: I like this shot. MG: Yes. MM: Yah, this is nice. DXC: Oh yah, this... so you hear this rocking music that Chris Tyng composed. He did an earlier version that was less rocking and we said "we'd like it to be more rocking" and you'll hear that other, alternative... the alternate music you'll hear over one of the DVD menus as a very bazaar, strange, extra treat. You'll hear that cue over one of our menus and the alternate one over another one. LS: Everyone notice Leela's elbow talons there. BW: Yes! She usually, ah... MM: And the Hyper-Chicken advertisement on the bus. JD (Mexican accent): Accidentes? (normal voice): What were those numbers by the way, those...? DXC: Oh, that was the Greek letter Lambda. JD: That's what I thought it was. DXC: 'Cause we don't... we can't show a real phone number and I hate "555," I passionately... JD: 800-Lambda-Lambda-Lambda-Lambda-Lambda-Lambda-Lambda.

MM: You know they actually now are using 555 for some telephone numbers. It's not any longer, so they're not non telephone numbers. DXC: Really?


 * [Colleen is brought to Fry.]

MM: ...never happens in real life, so... JD: Dial-A-Joke. [people laughing] Wooord. DXC: Really good performance by... MM: And I would be that $6421 is a result of multiplying a bunch of 79 centses. DXC: I think we did do that, but I forgot. PA: We did. DXC: I would have to check. We did? PA: We did. DXC: We did, okay. So it divides evenly then. BW: Oh, man. MM: I would be disappointed on this show if it didn't, David. BW (as a teen fan): Umm, on the commentary you guys said that you multiplied... there was one more that you missed which was at the top of the frame. [DXC laughs] LS: Guess you could divide the total of the bill by 79 cents, figure out the total calls. MM: Let's figure out how many calls there were, yes. BW (as a teen fan): That's what I would have done. CK: Do... do we fact check that Pete? LS: Uhh, I just wanna know who paid that for a futon. MR: I could probably say that I have the record for the number of Dial-a-Jokes of person on Dial-A-Joke. Thank you very much. MM: (clapping) Ohh... Mike Rowe, ladies and gentlemen. DXC: Did you submit the jokes or did you actually read them in your voice? MR: I read them in my voice as the comedian I once was... in the early 80's. DXC: Can you tell us one of them? MR: Uhh... I bought a great book: The History of Crazy Glue. I can't put it down. [people laughing] DXC: So, I hope everybody out there appreciates that 'cause you would have had to spend 79 cents normally. MM: Oh, I got that joke! I want my 79 cents back. BW: Mike, Mike, you're an old soul. Man that's great. MG: I like that. That's a good one. CK: I think we all owe Mike 79 cents. JD: I think we do. MR: If you only knew the half of it. MM: That'd be 4-... 34 and a half cents. DXC: Now, of course, this being the horror movie segment of our production, we had to gradually reduce the number of people who are still, you know, left outside of the horror. MM: And this is the night thing I was talking about. DXC: Right. And Leela gets more and more isolated. Right now there's the three of them and it was the whole crew and now it's down to three and we wanted to gradually get down to the point where Leela was the last person, thinking person on it.


 * [Zapp, Amy and Leela say please to Bender.]

CK: I like this.


 * ["My leg feels funny!".] [KK laughs]

DXC: So we, a bunch of our robots I guess came from that Raging Bender episode. Destructor is also from that. PA: There was a joke there about, ah... "If you're lookin' for a leg rub, you're barkin' up the wrong Bender." DXC: Oh yah. MR: That was cut.


 * [Setting: In Destructor's leg.]

BW: This is cozy. DXC: This one of the few points, if maybe the only point, where our two stories come together. The monster horror story and the Bender story, until the big ending, of course. Kind of the cross over point of the story. MM: But wouldn't the alcohol boil off and therefore would Bender not find it less satisfying? [people laughing] Just call me Nit-Picking Mo. PA (as Paul Lynn): It's the future! MR: That's space alcohol. BW: Seryan Brandy or something. DXC: That's like, the easiest way to make a Futurama joke, but also the worst is you take anything and put the word "space" in front of it. [people laughing] "I gotta go to the space museum. [people laughing] MR: I gotta go to the space bathroom first.  DXC: Your joke was better 'cause it had "bathroom" in it. It's half of a joke better. Hedonism Bot, Maurice LaMarche!  MM: Yes.  DXC: One of my favourite side characters.  BW: Was that robot tweaking his own chest or something?  MM: He was! He was talking about how much he loved his nipples rubbed by sand paper.  BW: Imagine the nerve of that thing?  MM: Or, did... what did he call it... not sand paper.  DXC: Industrial sandpaper.  MM (as Hedonism Bot): Industrial sandpaper! [people laughing]  MR: Now wasn't Hedonism Bot blue at one time? Did he...?  LS: He's... I think he's only solid gold.  MM: That was when he was trying erotic auto-asphyxiation.  DXC: The idea is that he's made of solid gold and he weighs just a huge amount and that's why he crushed Boxy there.
 * [Setting: Abandoned soup cabin.]

DXC: So Matt, did we go too far with this love triangle here? MG: No! Yes! [people laughing] DXC: 'Cause it was, you know, big discussion in very early days of the series "should we have Zapp and Leela get together?" so to speak, but now we've made it much worse by complicating all of their... entangling all of their romantic lives. MG: Everyone has slept with everyone. Right? Kind of. DXC: Just about. CK: Except for Zoidberg. MR: Much like the writers. [PA laughs]


 * [Zapp is talking to Amy.]

MM: I love that we finally establish exactly where Kif came in the pecking order on the Nimbus. [people laughing] Fourth Lieutenant. I've been playing him as though he were, like, Second Officer... he's only the Fourth Lieutenant. Just happy to be on the Bridge alive. DXC: This is really great acting, Billy. BW: Oh, thanks. (laughs) DXC: Listen to the delivery at the end here.


 * ["Closer.".] [people laugh]

MM: I'd a slept with him. BW (as Zapp): I'll get you an agent in Hollywood, I promise. DXC: It's pretty much the same M.O. he used on Leela way back in season one of just being so pathetic and crying, yah. And it works for him.


 * ["I was hoping you'd see it on YouTube.".] [people laughing]

DXC: What's that on... what's that mounted on the wall behind them? A single... (laughs) MM: A single antler.


 * [The tentacles finally grab Zapp and Amy.]

DXC: We really just wanted that to go on and on with the audience knowing exactly where it was gonna... BW: David, do you happen to know what that plunging noise is? DXC: Ahh... no! I don't. Travis makes a lot of... Do you know, uhh, Lee, where, how, what they wet noise is that Travis provided? LS: You know, I'm not, but he always says it's real live things and all his sound effects are generated from real live things. BW: Oh. Eww...


 * [Professor and Hermes are playing a Pac-Man/Checkers game.]

LS: Speaking of real live things, umm... the video game there, the Pac-Man, that's the actual Pac-Man body noise from the good folks at Namco. BW: Which is the first scratching that you ever heard before rap was around.


 * [The Professor defecates.]

CK: Oeww... JD: Ohh... and that's, that's really... that part really grossed me out. DXC: And actually, the effort that went into that Pac-Man noise is much greater than you would expect. LS: Yah, I mean we, they wanted us... MR: That's why we paid $100 000. [DXC laughs] LS: They wanted us to be sure to use the actual Pac-Man sound effects, so they sent me a sound file that had the video game with the sirens going off and the Pac-Man guy, and I, you know, told them jokingly that we'll just have to recreate it 'cause it wouldn't work... unless you guys have the original, you know, 1980 sound file of [i]just[/i] Pac-Man eating, uhh, which they e-mailed me a week later. BW: Oh my goodness, that's great. JD: My father's gonna be so grossed out by this. (as his father): Oh! My son, what is this? What is this with the tenticle over here? I don't want the tenticle! He's scarin' me! MM: Your father? How 'bout my son? [people laughing] I gotta explain this to my son. JD: Oh, yah. That's right. :[Zoidberg uses the comedy Pope Staff.] I love that. MM: Yep. JD (in deep voice): Oh, yah. DXC: You know, you write all the script and then that hundred year old slide whistle sound is the biggest laugh. [DXC and BW laugh] MM: Well, along with... accompany by the visual of anything drooping. DXC: I like how they have adorned Fry. BW: That wastebasket on his head.


 * [Fry reveals the monster's name.]

MM: Now explain the name. DXC: Uh, I wish Eric was here. I... in my... I can tell you my interpretation... I think Eric had some specific thing in mind, but I don't know exactly what it was. But I remember when I saw it my reaction of it was "Oh, it's kinda half-Jehovah and half-Tivo." [people laughing] So, that's how it is in my mind. I don't think... I think he had some deeper meaning for it. MM: I dunno, that's pretty deep, David. [DXC laughs] PA: What's the math on Colleen's shirt there? DXC: Ah, yes. That is the, the upside down "A" is the mathematical symbol meaning "for all." So it says "For all x I love x." So it means "I love everything" in math language. :[Yivo speaks.] There's David Cross! [people cheering] JD: Very funny.


 * [Yivo is shown speaking on the Jumbotron.] [people laughing]

PA: That's a great sequence, it's really cool how his voice... MM: They came out with that pretty darn fast. MR: Those were the only children, I think... snuck through here. We were trying to avoid showing kids getting... JD: I love that bartender DXC: Oh yah, we did want to suggest that kids were involved in this billion person relationship, so... CK: Especially when you find out... yah. MM: Especially when... yah, what's about to be revealed. DXC: So that why you'll notice... yah, none of the kids really are... CK: Maybe they just look really young. And they're not kids. MM: They could be little people. That's what they are. Yah, that's it!