Futurama/Futurestock

Futurestock
Season 4, Episode 9
Airdate	March 31, 2002
Production Number	3ACV21
Written by	Aaron Ehasz
Directed by	Brian Sheesley
← 4x08 Godfellas	4x10 → A Leela of Her Own
Futurama — Season Four

Futurestock is the ninth episode of the fourth season of Futurama, and the fifty-second episode overall. When Planet Express is taken over by a slick 80s guy, Fry compromises his soul when given a position of power. But will he be able to do the right thing when his new boss attempts to sell off the company to Mom Corp?

Guest Stars: Phil LaMarr (Hermes, Helper), Tom Kenny (Film Announcer), Lauren Tom (Amy), Dave Herman (Scruffy, Joe, Steve Castle), Frank Welker ( )

Plot Overview

At the annual Planet Express stockholder's meeting, Professor Farnsworth shows a film of the past year in review for the company. Things are looking up, but Hermes reveals that the company is nearly bankrupt and the film was a huge loss. Zoidberg and Fry sneak out during the movie to find some free food. The two find a support group for cryogenically unfrozen people where Fry meets Steve Castle, a former 1980s stockbroker who was frozen until a cure for his terminal boneitis was found. Fry amd Steve instantly bond, because they're both from the same time. Back at the meeting, Hattie initiates a vote to oust Professor Farnsworth as chairman of the company. Most of the shareholders nominate the Professor back in, but Fry nominates Steve who wins by Hattie's single vote thanks to Scruffy nearly having controlling majority of the stock.

As his first act as chairman of Planet Express, Steve makes Fry his vice-chairman and begins to change Planet Express's image. He decides that in order to move up in the package delivery world, Planet Express must topple Mom Corp., their number one competitor. They first create a new, incomprehensible commercial where a package delivery woman hurls a box at a 1984-esque screen with Mom on it. The commercial is met with confusion and Zoidberg trades his stock to Steve for a sandwich. The crew confronts Fry and claims that Steve is just a flashy conman. When he denies it, Steve comes on the television screen to announce that he's selling the company to Mom, who will gut it and fire everyone.

After being shamed by the crew for selling them out, Fry decides to block the merger somehow and regain his friends. At the merger announcement in the orbitting stock exchange, the crew attempts to vote down the merger but because of Zoidberg's stock their efforts are fruitless and the merger goes through as normal. However, the price of their stock skyrockets. Fry makes a last ditch effort to save the company from being bought out but is interrupted when Steve's boneitis goes into overdrive, killing him. Fry turns the company back over to the Professor, causing the stock price to plummet again (much to the chagrin of the stockholders) and votes down the merger since it doesn't matter what he does at that point.

Notes

Alien Language Sightings

• No alien letters make an appearance in this episode.

Referbacks

• 1x03 - I, Roommate: Hattie calling the company "Planet Kajigger" is a callback to where she called everything in the apartment Fry and Bender were going to rent "kajiggers."

Trivia

The Show

• Opening Caption: Love It Or Shove It
• Hebrew Banner: The Hebrew banner at the Bot Mitzvah translates to "Hayom Atah Robot" or "Today you are a Robot."
• Steve Castle: The 80s Guy's name is never said in the episode but in the script he's called Steve Castle.
• Stock Ticker: The stock ticker at the stock exchange has the following symbols on it: WIN, KIRK, GORN, Q, RUN DMC, FOX, MG, BYOB, OSX.

Behind the Scenes

• Mom's Ship: Mom's ship has three times as many windows on it as the Nimbus (Zapp Brannigan's ship), which means that it has between 3300 and 3500 windows. This is the only episode in which it appears.

Allusions and References

• Wallstreet: Steve Castle is heavily based on the character Gordon Gekko from the 1987 movie Wallstreet. This includes his 80s style of dress (the yellow "power tie", the shoulder pads) and attitude about business.
• Apple: The confusing advertisement is a reference to the 1984 Apple advertisement (directed by Ridley Scott) in which the exact same thing happens as in the episode. Nobody knew what Apple was selling after the commercial aired, it turned out to be the Macintosh. The advertisement itself is a reference to 1984, George Orwell's dystopic future where Big Brother has an eye on everyone.
• 2000 American Presidential Election: Igner mistakenly votes for Pat Buchanan in the merger vote. This is a reference to the legions of confused elderly people who accidently voted for Buchanan in the U.S. Presidental Election.

Memorable Moments

• Fry mooning Mom from the Planet Express ship.
• The Apple-take-off commercial that has nothing to do with package delivery.
• The vote for merging Planet Express with Mom Corp.

Quotes

• Steve: Let's cut to the chase. There are two kinds of people: sheep and sharks. Anyone who's a sheep is fired. Who's a sheep?
  Dr. Zoidberg: Uh excuse me? Which is the one people like to hug?
  Steve: Gutsy question, you're a shark. Sharks are winners and they don't look back 'cause they don't have necks. Necks are for sheep.

• Steve: Now the first order of business is to blame everything on the guy before me. Professor?
  Prof. Farnsworth: I'll ruin you like I ruined this company!

• Mom: What is this moose drip? The new delivery kings? I'm sick of hearing about those turtle squirts!
  Igner: But they're kings, mommy!
  Mom: Jam a bastard in it you crap!

Reviews

• Overall Grade: N/A with 0 reviews
• Review Breakdown: A+: 0 A: 0 A-: 0 B+: 0 B: 0 B-: 0 C+: 0 C: 0 C-: 0 D: 0 F: 0

• Be the first to review this episode!