Neutopia
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Season 6 episode Broadcast season 8 episode | |||||
Neutopia | |||||
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No. | 108 | ||||
Production number | 6ACV20 | ||||
Written by | N/A | ||||
Directed by | N/A | ||||
Title caption | N/A | ||||
First air date | 23 June, 2011[1] | ||||
Broadcast number | S08E01 | ||||
Title reference | A play on the words "neutered" and "utopia".[2] | ||||
Additional | |||||
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Season 6 | |||||
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"Neutopia" is the one hundred and eighth episode of Futurama, the twentieth of the sixth production season and the first of the eighth broadcast season. It is scheduled to air 23 June, 2011,[1] with "Benderama" immediately following its airing.[1] Seeing as "The Futurama Holiday Spectacular" was broadcast between the two seasons as a holiday special, "Neutopia" could be considered the season premiere.
Story
We encounter an alien that does not understand the concept of 'gender' and so when it meets the crew it goes about conducting experiments such as altering their own genders.[1]
Production
On 28 February, 2011, Comedy Central released[3] two promotional pictures for "Neutopia" in celebration of the show's 10 million likes on Facebook.
Countdown to Futurama began releasing promotional material for the episode in May 2011. It has so far released six items: a clip featuring the Planet Express crew members with swapped genders on 4 May, concept art of a female Dr. Zoidberg on 5 May, a promotional picture featuring Amy, Fry, and Leela sleeping together on 6 May, concept art of the Planet Express ship dressed as an airplane on 7 May, part of the storyboard showing the crew make a photo shoot on 8 May, and concept art of a female Scruffy on 14 May. On 16 June, a video clip from the episode was released on io9, featuring humans (including the PE crew) on a planet, discussing the concept of gender with a rock alien.[4]
Image gallery
A screenshot from Comedy Central's commercials.
A screenshot from Comedy Central's commercials.
A screenshot from Comedy Central's commercials.
Reception
In a preview of "Neutopia" and "Benderama", Katie Schenkel from CliqueClack TV commented that these episodes "[weren't] [her] favourite".[5] On "Neutopia", Schenkel felt the episode was too reminiscing of "Amazon Women in the Mood", only worse.[5] Schenkel argues that the usage of stereotypical male jokes towards women (such as women likes shopping) is primarily what "Neutopia" is about, rather than them changing sex, which Schenkel notes also ruins the pace of the episode, as the sex changing plot is resolved just as it happens.[5] But where "Amazon Women in the Mood" excelled, "Neutopia" falls flat, considering many of the jokes seemed like the ones that didn't make it to the season 3 episode.[5] Further, Schenkel feels the episode is unlike Futurama in that its reflection on gender and sex – which the episode is primarily about – doesn't feel smart or witty, but rather lazy and unfunny.[5]
Additional Info
Trivia
- It is among the few one-word titled media.
Allusions
- The rock alien resembles a gray-coloured Michelin Man.
- The design of female Scruffy's clothes resemble that of Cora in Fantastic Voyage. The same reference is made in "A Clockwork Origin", in which Amy's clothes are ripped in a similar fashion by the trilobots.
Continuity
- The Professor's girlfriend from "Three Hundred Big Boys" appears. This is her only cameo appearance except for the audience scene in Into the Wild Green Yonder.
- Dr. Cahill, who handled Hermes' head in Bender's Big Score, makes an appearance.
- When Bender switches gender and becomes a fembot, it is in his female persona Coilette from "Bend Her".
Quotes
Rock alien: Your gender differ in many ways. But as with all things that are different - chocolate and vanilla, Mac and PC - one is always better.
Bender: Chocolate, Mac, men. The end.
Characters
References
- ^ a b c d reed (03 May 2011). "How many Benders is too many?". CGEF. Retrieved on 04 May 2011.
- ^ "'Our big season premiere on 23 June is a double-decker. We start off with “Neutopia,” (which is a combination of the words “neutered” and “utopia”), our crew crash-lands on an unknown world, where they meet a strange creature that is unfamiliar with the concept of gender. It leads to the alien modifying the genders of our crew members, giving us amazing re-gendered versions of them!" — Cohen, David X.
Cohen, David X. (16 June 2024). Cohen Spills the Beans on Futurama's New Season. Retrieved on 16 June 2011. - ^ "Futurama Tops 10 Million Facebook Likes!". Comedy Central Insider. 08 February 2011. Retrieved on 03 May 2011.
- ^ io9: Exclusive Clip from Futurama's Season Opener!
- ^ a b c d e Schenkel, Katie (20 June 2011). "Futurama comes back … with a stumble". CliqueClack TV. Retrieved on 20 June 2011.