Futurama/That's Lobstertainment!

That's Lobstertainment!
Season 3, Episode 8
Airdate	February 25, 2001
Production Number	3ACV08
Written by	Patric Verrone
Directed by	Bret Haaland
← 3x07 The Day the Earth Stood Stupid	3x09 → The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz
Futurama — Season Three

That's Lobstertainment! is the eighth episode of the third season of Futurama, and the thirty-seventh episode overall. This is a rare Zoidberg-centric episode. When Zoidberg attempts comedy and fails, he seeks help from his long lost uncle, the famous silent hologram actor Harold Zoid. But when Harold Zoid promises more than he can offer to Calculon, Zoidberg's first movie may be his last.

Guest Stars: Hank Azaria (Harold Zoid), Dave Herman (Florp), Phil LaMarr (Billy Crystal)

Plot Overview

At the top of the show, Dr. Zoidberg is appearing at a comedy open mic with his own style of ripping off Yakov Smirnov. He's booed off the stage, and decides that he needs help with his comedy routine. He decides to seek help from his lost uncle, Harold Zoid, a former comedy star when holograms were silent and in black and white. Unfortunately, Harold Zoid is washed up, living in an old folk's home and hopes to use his nephew to pull himself out of the hole he's in. The crew flys to Hollywood so that Zoidberg can meet with his uncle. They take a star tour bus and split off from there. Bender harasses Calculon while Zoidberg goes to meet his uncle. At the meeting, Harold Zoid tells Zoidberg that he's not meant for comedy, but rather is meant to be a producer who will bring him back into the limelight. They decide to make a serious drama with Harold directing and writing, while Zoidberg produces with the million dollars he promises his uncle.

Because Zoidberg can't afford to finance the movie, they decide to shop it to Calculon, promising him a guaranteed Oscar if he acts in the movie. They finish the movie and premiere it soon after because they spent all the money on pies. Unfortunately, everyone walked out of the movie theatre. And all hopes that they'll win an Oscar for the movie are dashed.

Calculon proceeds to threaten Harold Zoid and Zoidberg with death if they don't make good with an Oscar. After the threats, we find out that Fry and Leela weren't at the premere because they were stuck in a tar pit. At the Academy Awards, Bender and Zoidberg sabotage the awards ceremony by having Zoidberg read Calculon's name as a nominee instead of the real last name. When he opens the envelope, Zoidberg decides to give the award to his uncle instead. Meanwhile, Fry and Leela manage to get out of the tar pit through an old subway system and into the post Oscar's party with the bones of Sylvester Stallone. At the party, Calculon lets Harold Zoid keep the award afterall.

Notes

Alien Language Sightings

• No alien words appear in the episode.

Characters

• Zoidberg: Dr. Zoidberg takes his first serious leap at becoming a stand-up comedian and fails miserably.

Trivia

The Show

• Opening Caption: Deciphered From Crop Circles
• Opening Animation: Before the "Created By" credit in the opening, a Bosco cartoon is shown on the screen.
• Academy Awards Crowd: In the fast pan of the seated crowd at the Academy Awards, we can see Edith Head, Jar Jar Binks, Pauly Shore, Michelle and Morbo.

Behind the Scenes

• Hank Azaria: Because Futurama and the Simpsons are recorded in the same building, David X. Cohen bumped into Hank Azaria, who is a big fan of Zoidberg's voice. He requested that if Zoidberg ever has a relative, he'd like to do the voice.
• Uncle Zoid's Original Voice: Uncle Zoid's voice was done temporarily by David Herman.
• Original Title: Several titles were considered for the episode including "Zoidberg Goes to Hollywood" and "Zoidy Goes to Hollywood".
• Where'd Fry and Leela Go?: When first writing the script, Patric Verrone actually forgot about Fry and Leela in the script. That's why they randomly show up in a tar pit.

Allusions and References

• That's Entertainment: The title of the episode is a reference to the 1974 musical spectical, "That's Entertainment!," a film in which stars share their favorite parts from MGM's 50 year history of musicals.
• A Close Shave: The title of the Harold Zoid short is actually taken from a Wallace and Gromit short of a similar name ("A Close Shave" as opposed to "A Close Shaving").
• Pix Nix Sex Flix: The famous 1930s Variety headline is parodied in Calculon's copy of Variety underneath the Oscar nominations where it says "Fox Exex Bax Sex Pix, Flix Lax Crux Bux, Stox Sinx, Ax Prex."
• Marisa Tomei's Oscar: Marisa Tomei won Best Actress in a Supporting Role at the Academy Awards in 1992 for My Cousin Vinny. It is widely believed that she received the award because Jack Palance, presenter of the award, read the wrong name. However, [Snopes] proves the urban legend to be false.

Memorable Moments

• The Harold Zoid short wherein Zoid cuts off his patron's head.
• Pie throwing on the set of the movie.
• Jack Nicholsen in the body of a gorilla hanging from the chandelier.

Quotes

• Bender: That plot makes perfect sense, wink wink.
  Zoidberg: Bender, you said wink wink out loud.
  Bender: No I didn't, raise middle finger.

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