Rebirth (24 Jun. 2010)

Dr. Farnsworth makes a robotic version of Leela for a heartbroken Fry after the original Leela falls into a irreversible coma. But what will happen when the original Leela suddenly comes back to life?

Directors:

Frank Marino, Peter Avanzino

Writers:

Matt Groening (creator), Matt Groening (developer),

Stars:

Billy West, Katey Sagal, John DiMaggio

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Billy West	...	Philip J. Fry / Prof. Hubert J. Farnsworth / Zapp Brannigan / Dr. Zoidberg / Awakening Machine / Fry Robot Duplicate (voice)
Katey Sagal	...	Turanga Leela / Leela Robot Duplicate (voice)
John DiMaggio	...	Bender / Randy (voice)
Tress MacNeille	...	Build-a-Bot Leela / Planet Express Computer / Skinless Leela Robot Duplicate (voice)
Maurice LaMarche	...	Kif Kroker (voice)
Lauren Tom	...	Amy Wong (voice)
Phil LaMarr	...	Hermes Conrad (voice)
Frank Welker	...	Nibbler / Cyclophage (voice)

Storyline

Dr. Farnsworth makes a robotic version of Leela for a heartbroken Fry after the original Leela falls into a irreversible coma. But what will happen when the original Leela suddenly comes back to life?

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Plot Keywords:

urinal | catfight | polyester suit | living will | automaton | 

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Genres:

Animation | Comedy | Sci-Fi

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Details

Release Date:

24 June 2010 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Curiosity Company, The, 20th Century Fox Television

Did You Know?

Trivia

The club that Fry, Leela and Bender go to is Studio 1 squared, 2 to the power of one, 3 cubed. It's obviously a parody of Studio 54, because it's name equals 54 (1*1=1, 2*1=2, 3*3=27. 1*2*27=54).

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Goofs

Bender, Giff and Zoidberg cannot be revived with human stem cells.

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Quotes

Prof. Hubert J. Farnsworth: Can you call the time and declare the patient legally dead?
Dr. Zoidberg: Can I? It's my specialty.

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Connections

References Blade Runner (1982)

User Reviews

Twisted and funny story, touching love, good 2.5D visuals and intriguing ending but not so creative, no franchise reboot and anticipated episodic format of the bionic pizza

I only watched a few episodes of the first two seasons but always considered Futurama one of the best cartoons on TV. However I never became one of its followers as I'm not into episodic shows. Some missions of the week were good but others were disappointing. So when I read that season 6 was about to air I thought it would be the perfect occasion to reboot the franchise and provide its long time fans with a fresh and original production.

Rebirth didn't meet my expectations but it should succeed in entertaining the audience. Indeed some situations were quite hilarious. I didn't dig the whole Bender delirium but most of the jokes were funny. However I found some cultural references a bit lazy, at least two films. I couldn't help comparing it to Space Pilot 3000, that I rated 10 out of 10, and they didn't play in the same creative league. Otherwise the characters spirit hasn't aged and I instantly fell in love again with Leela & Fry. I found some scenes touching and even if their relationship is not as super as Lois & Clark I think it has potential and I hope it'll be further developed in the upcoming episodes.

As for the story it wasn't mind blowing but twisted enough so you should definitely be surprised. Visually it's still a miss of traditional 2D animation and 3D cel-shaded CG. However I think they could have upgraded their vision and made it a bit more modern. Some backgrounds were specially tasteless but overall I think the production quality is good. Last but not least it ended with a cliffhanger and even if I don't expect Futurama to switch to a heavy format, with one story for the whole season, it should intrigue you enough to at least watch the next episode, In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela. So it wasn't a two parts pilot but I think Rebirth deserves your attention. But don't expect Futurama to reinvent itself ! It's really like if the show had never been canceled.