Commentary:Love's Labours Lost in Space

Topics of Discussion

 * It took five weeks to animate the Opening Sequence
 * One frame takes about an hour to render completely.
 * David asks Brian Keeley about how it felt to join the writing crew the same day David temporarily quit.
 * Brian's initial impression was that the show was going down the tubes.
 * M5438's character model and voice over artist.
 * Billy's voice had recently caused some confusion in the recording studio. This was realized after they had rewired the whole studio.
 * Holograms are always done in 3D
 * David came up with the name for Dark Matter fuel, based on the form of matter described in physics and cosmology.
 * The voices have changed
 * The characters of Zapp Brannigan and Kif Kroker
 * About the size and detail of the Nimbus
 * Peter Avanzino came to the Halloween party as Zapp.
 * Zapp's voice is based on a disk jockey that loves his own voice and so he says things slowly.
 * How complex Zapp's room is
 * Zapp's gut was meant to grow in each scene.
 * In his room there is always a statue or painting of Zapp in every shot of it.
 * David talks about Zapp's near-nude scene.
 * The fact that Vergon 6 was the first planet they went to where they could create their own colour palate.
 * The character of Nibbler
 * They hint that Nibbler has a bigger part later in the series.
 * John talks about Franks Welker's Hollywood past and abilities.
 * The phones seem to always change in variety as do characters phone numbers.
 * They discuss the fact that Phil Hartman was to play Zapp Brannigan.
 * David explains that Billy is doing his own idea of what Zapp Brannigan would sound like.
 * David is wondering how it takes the ship a second or two to reach the Moon but much longer to reach Vergon 6.

Connections to Other Commentaries

 * David's voice cracks at the end of the episode. This also happens in Mother's Day.

Highlights / Quotes

 * John DiMaggio: That is un-credible.
 * Brian Keeley: I had always dreamed of writing the Simpsons so when you guys asked me to do this I was really thrilled. And that ruined it all, but... David X. Cohen: It has come full circle now that you do write for the Simpsons. Brian Keeley: I do, yeah, as of a few months ago. So by the time you listen to this I will have been fired. David X. Cohen: Well we paved the way for that firing.
 * Scott Vanzo: [Zapp] came back from Korea a couple of times with his crotch fully exposed. Rich Moore: So did I! [John DiMaggio can be heard laughing, long after everybody else has quieted down.]
 * Matt Groeing: I just thought it would be nice to have an alien assistant who was totally frustrated and passive aggressive. It seemed like Mr. Spock should always be moaning in exasperation at Captain Kirk and so that's where this came from.

Commentators

 * Matt Groening
 * Creator
 * David X. Cohen
 * Executive Producer
 * Rich Moore
 * Supervising Director
 * Brian Kelley
 * Writer
 * Brian Sheesley
 * Director
 * Scott Vanzo
 * Director of Computer Graphics
 * John DiMaggio
 * Actor (Bender, miscellaneous)