Futurama -- plot hole

[B_henry miller]

Futurama is one of my favorite shows. I'm watching the episode where they back in time and end up in Roswell, NM. As it turns out, they are the crashed UFO. This is the episode where Fry kills his own grandfather and ends up sleeping with his own grandmother, effectively becoming his own grandfather. (Yikes. I just realized how Freudian that is, Freudian but by the removal of a generation.)

Anyway, the thought occurred to me. If they can time travel, why doesn't Fry go back in time now and then to see his family in the year 1999? He could at least tell them what happened.

Okay. It's only a cartoon and I'm over thinking it. Insomnia can do weird things to a person.

 

[D_Ambrose Groundnpound]

Henry. I just watched the Futurama marathon myself. Just had back surgery so it is me, the recliner and old faithful (TV). So let me go nerd on you and answer the question. Remember, they went back in time by accident (exploding star/popcorn in microwave). Was a freaky sort of thing. Since it's a cartoon I'd suppose they could go back anytime but remember how adament the Professor was in "changing history". If Fry went back in time and told his parents it could change history. Perhaps his brother would have given him his 7 leaf clover back and never had a son who was the first person on Mars (another episode). Rought with danger!

Good News Everybody- I have officially become a total nerd (please don't tell anyone). I refer you back to my excuse .

 

[novice_btm]

...Good News Everybody- I have officially become a total nerd (please don't tell anyone). I refer you back to my excuse .

It's OK. I'm not sure about nerds, but geeks are so cute (or is it the other way around?). :wink:

 

[SpoiledPrincess]

It's a cartoon, suspend disbelief.

 

[yngjock20]

I do remember that Fry went back in time to get his dog that waited outside the pizza parlour for him. I think that was the same ep. as the 7 leaf clover.

BTW, Futurama got sold to Comedy Central, that's why it's not on Adult Swim anymore.

 

[B_Marius567]

I watched Bender's Big Score The Movie On DVD and it was fun

Futurama - Bender's Big Score

3 more Futurama movies coming out

 

[ManlyBanisters]

I do remember that Fry went back in time to get his dog that waited outside the pizza parlour for him. I think that was the same ep. as the 7 leaf clover.

Different episodes - the dog one was done half in flashback, no time travel - the pizza place Fry used to work in got dug up and turned into a museum, one of the exhibits being his fossilised dog.

(yeah - add me to the geek list, or nerd list - or possibly the gerd list - but I'm sure as HELL not a neek!!)

 

[drumstyck]

it depends on which school of time travel you belong to:

in the "Back to the Future" school, anything you change in the past will have dire effects on the future.

in the "12 Monkeys" school, everything that is going to happen in the future is going to happen, regardless of how you might go back & change it.

in the "Terminator" school, everything that is going to happen in the future is going to happen, but changing something in the past just alters the timeline a bit.

in the "Primer" school, my brain just hurts.

Temporal Anomalies in Popular Time Travel Movies


as far as Futurama, there was a flashback that shows the Nibblonians intentionally knocked Fry into the cryogenic chamber, so maybe they're in more control than we realize...so even if Fry tried to go back in time, the Nibblonians would make sure it wouldnt work out as Fry intended. and yes, i consider myself more of a geek than a nerd.

 

[Guy-jin]

12 Monkeys is a killer flick.

 

[Rugbypup]

Simple, time isnt linear, it's all a timey wimey, wibbley wabbley, multiversal kinda thing.

If it's possable to travel back in time, as we can already go forwards, then any alterations resulting in even a minor paradox would effectivly cause a dimentional shift causing a new time line which would head off down a seperate paralelle line, leaving your own time line untouched.

So going back and kiling Hitler would do fuck all to your own time line and history but would create a new and paralelle version of history in which Hitler was killer by you.

With me so far...

 

[Meniscus]

I watched Bender's Big Score The Movie On DVD and it was fun

Yeah, if henry miller thinks the "I'm my own grandpa" episode was confusing, he'll blow a fuse trying to figure the movie out.

3 more Futurama movies coming out [/quote]

I'm wondering how that is possible considering how Bender's Big Score ended. (I won't say more lest I give away the ending.)

Oh, silly me, with time travel plot lines, anything is possible. I hate time travel plot lines. They're almost as bad a deus ex machina.

12 Monkeys is a killer flick.

Agreed.

Simple, time isnt linear, it's all a timey wimey, wibbley wabbley, multiversal kinda thing.

Thanks, Doctor. Have you learned to steer the TARDIS yet?

 

[edonline]

One thing that always bothered me was in the first episode / pilot, when Fry wakes up after being cryogenically (sp?) frozen, he says something like "Wow, a million years in the future". Unless Fry was showing his ignorance in mathematics, 2999 - 1999 is 1000 or one thousand.

 

[dreamer20]

Anyway, the thought occurred to me. If they can time travel, why doesn't Fry go back in time now and then to see his family in the year 1999? He could at least tell them what happened.

Note they only time traveled by mistake in that episode and were fortunate that Fry's sex with grandma had a positive outcome. As a time traveler Fry learned that he should have obeyed Farnsworth's advice and not interacted with his ancestors. As you know Fry's colossal blunders caused his grandpa to die. A similar scenario involving his parents could doom their other descendant, Professor Farnsworth.
<Spoiler alert> You will eventually see the episode where he learns that Nibbler caused him to fall into the cryogenic chamber as Fry was predestined to save future Earth from the "Overmind". Bearing this is mind Fry chose not to tamper with past events and face his destiny.

 

[lorne]

The writers have often openly said they are aware of the paradox. They make fun of this in BENDERS BIG SCORE. They get to travel paradox free. and Edonline, the 1 000 000 bit is about him being dumb. Really people this isnt star trek no need to look at it with a magnifying glass. If you watch it enough there is tons of holes, its called SIMPSONS continuity because its not real and doesnt really matter.

 

[oralhijinks]

Note they only time traveled by mistake in that episode and were fortunate that Fry's sex with grandma had a positive outcome. As a time traveler Fry learned that he should have obeyed Farnsworth's advice and not interacted with his ancestors. As you know Fry's colossal blunders caused his grandpa to die. A similar scenario involving his parents could doom their other descendant, Professor Farnsworth.
<Spoiler alert> You will eventually see the episode where he learns that Nibbler caused him to fall into the cryogenic chamber as Fry was predestined to save future Earth from the "Overmind". Bearing this is mind Fry chose not to tamper with past events and face his destiny.

With one exception: "Scootie Puffs Jr's suck!"

 

[Rugbypup]

Thanks, Doctor. Have you learned to steer the TARDIS yet?

That would be the reference is was aiming at, well done, have a cookie :smile:

 

[Mem]

It's a cartoon, suspend disbelief.

That Robot is a good actor, I hope he wins an Emmy.:wink:

 

[the_reverend]

keep in mind that not only was the time travel in the Roswell episode a fluke (caused by a rare cosmic event and microwave popcorn), which shows that the Planet Express crew cannot simply travel through time on a whim...but that Fry was DESTINED to be his own grandfather because it's what gave him the unique genetic structure to defeat the Brains on two separate occasions, saving the Earth from oppression and stupidity and the entire universe from annihilation, respectively. this made him the most important person in all of history, proving everything he believed while drunk was true (except that, apparently, the Dave Matthews Band does not rock...which i find hard to believe. ). so time is more of a static construct, along the lines of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (quite literally the example given of not to worry about fathering yourself if you go back in time because you'll already have done it). we see that even Fry's cryogenic freezing is preordained, as he goes back in time to that night once and sees that Nibbler is the one who pushed him into the chamber (of course, we also see in the flashback of an earlier episode that future Fry was also there all along) and when given the choice goes ahead and pushes himself in.

a good thing too, as we witness in an alternate reality that Fry's NOT being frozen results in the complete annihilation of the space/time continuum.

Geek and mate. two words that i love seeing together.

 

[edonline]

Having finally watched the SciFi "Futurama" marathon which I DVRed, I present my list of the top 5 teary-eyed episodes...

<SPOILERS>

"The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings" -- Fry makes a deal with the Robot Devil in order to become a world-class holophonor player. He winds up creating an opera for Leela but the Devil wants his due.

"The Sting" -- During a mission to collect honey from space bees, Fry is stung with deadly results. Leela starts having dreams of the dead Fry and eventually thinks she's going crazy. Throughout her ordeal, Fry has only one request for Leela... "I want you to wake up".

"Leela's Homeworld" -- When Bender gets robotnapped by a gang of mutants drag him, Fry, and Leela go underground to rescue him. As they try to make their way back above ground to New New York, Leela makes an discovery about her parents, meeting them for the first time and realizing how much they gave up for her.

"The Luck of the Fryrish" -- Fry travels to the underground ruins of Old New York to try to find his old lucky seven-leaf clover, only to find that his brother Yancy Fry stole the clover, as well as his name and identity. Fry and Bender set out to dig up Yancy's body, but instead discover that Yancy never forgot his brother.

And the top tear-jerking episode...

"Jurassic Bark" -- Fry discovers his dog Seymour in a museum, fossilized, and takes it to Professor Farnsworth to be brought back to life. When he discovers what a long life his old dog had, Fry decides not to go through with the procedure, wondering about what a good life Seymour must have had, while we the viewers see what Seymour really went through.

 

[Meniscus]

Having finally watched the SciFi "Futurama" marathon which I DVRed, I present my list of the top 5 teary-eyed episodes...

<SPOILERS>

"The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings" -- Fry makes a deal with the Robot Devil in order to become a world-class holophonor player. He winds up creating an opera for Leela but the Devil wants his due.

Yup, it's a good one.

"The Sting" -- During a mission to collect honey from space bees, Fry is stung with deadly results. Leela starts having dreams of the dead Fry and eventually thinks she's going crazy. Throughout her ordeal, Fry has only one request for Leela... "I want you to wake up".

I like the surreal dream sequences as you wonder what's going on, and the ending is really touching.

And the top tear-jerking episode...

"Jurassic Bark" -- Fry discovers his dog Seymour in a museum, fossilized, and takes it to Professor Farnsworth to be brought back to life. When he discovers what a long life his old dog had, Fry decides not to go through with the procedure, wondering about what a good life Seymour must have had, while we the viewers see what Seymour really went through.

I always thought this one was depressing as hell. The ending is sooo sad. I'm not sure why the writers wanted to tell a story that was such a bummer.