Space Pilot 3000

]

Originally, the first person entering the pneumatic tube transport system declared "J.F.K., Jr. Airport" as his destination. After John F. Kennedy, Jr.'s death in the crash of his private airplane, the line has since been redubbed on all subsequent broadcasts and the DVD release to "Radio City Mutant Hall". The original version was heard only during the pilot broadcast and the first rerun a few months later.]

Although both "Futurama" and "The Simpsons" were created by Matt Groening, overt references to the latter are mostly avoided in "Futurama". One of the few exceptions to this rule is the appearance of Blinky—a three-eyed orange fish seen on "The Simpsons"—as Fry is going through the tube.

Another running gag of the series is Bender's fondness for "Olde Fortran malt liquor", named after Olde English 800 malt liquor and the programming language Fortran. The drink was first introduced in this episode and became so closely associated with the character that he was featured with a bottle in both the Rocket USA wind-up toy and the action figure released by Moore Action Collectibles.cite web|url=http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/toyfair_tinworks_000229.html|title=Pushing Tin: Space Toys With Golden-Age Style| author=Janulewicz, Tom| date=2000-02-29| publisher=Space.com| accessdate=2008-07-06] cite web|url=http://www.scifi.com/sfw/cool/sfw7099.html| title=Futurama Action Figures| author=Huxter, Sean| date=2001-06-11| publisher=Sci Fi Weekly| accessdate=2008-07-06]

Broadcast and reception

In a review by Patrick Lee in "Science Fiction Weekly" based on a viewing of this episode alone, "Futurama" was deemed not as funny as "The Simpsons", particularly as "the satire is leavened with treacly sentimental bits about free will and loneliness". The episode was rated as an "A- pick" and found to "warrant further viewing" despite these concerns.cite web |url=http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue101/screen.html |title="Futurama: The future's not what it used to be " |publisher=Sci Fi Weekly| author=Lee, Patrick |date=March 22, 1999|accessdate=2007-06-25 ] Rob Owen of the "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette" noted that although the episode contained the same skewed humor as "The Simpsons", it was not as smart and funny and he attributed this to the large amount of exposition and character introduction required of a television series pilot, noting that the show was "off to a good start".cite web |url=http://www.post-gazette.com/tv/19990326rob4.asp|title=Simpsons meet the Jetsons; 'The Devil's Arithmetic'| publisher="Pittsburgh Post-Gazette"| author=Owen, Rob| date=1999-03-26| accessdate=2007-08-08] Andrew Billen of "New Statesman" found the premise of the episode to be unoriginal, but remained somewhat enthusiastic about the future of the series. While he praised the humorous details of the episode, such as the background scenes while Fry was frozen, he also criticized the show's dependence on in-jokes such as Groening's head being present in the head museum.cite web| url=http://www.newstatesman.com/199909270044| title=Laughing matters| author=Billen, Andrew| date=1999-09-27| accessdate=2008-06-13| publisher= "New Statesman"]

In its initial airing, the episode had "unprecedented strong numbers" with a Nielsen rating of 11.2/17 in homes and 9.6/23 in adults 18–49.cite web |url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117492811.html?categoryid=14&cs=1 |title=Fox sees 'Futurama' and it works |author=Bierbaum, Tom | publisher="Variety"| date=1999-03-30 |accessdate=2008-06-15 ] The "Futurama" premiere was watched by more people than either its lead-in show ("The Simpsons") or the show following it ("The X-Files") and it was the number one show among men aged 18–49 and teenagers for the week.cite web | url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/40180027.html?dids=40180027:40180027&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=MAR+31%2C+1999&author=Lisa+de+Moraes&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=%60Futurama'+Draws+Them+In&pqatl=google |title=`Futurama' Draws Them In |author=de Moraes, Lisa| publisher= "The Washington Post" |date=1999-03-31 |accessdate=2008-06-15 ] cite web| url=http://news.awn.com/index.php?ltype=search&range=all&search=Futurama&newsitem_no=703| title="Futurama" has popular premiere| publisher=Animation World Network|date=1999-04-04| accessdate=2008-06-15] The episode was ranked in 2006 by IGN as number 14 in their list of the top 25 "Futurama" episodes.cite web |url=http://tv.ign.com/articles/716/716663p3.html |title="Top 25 Futurama Episodes" |accessdate=2006-11-04 ]

References

External links

* [http://www.tv.com/futurama/space-pilot-3000/episode/1534/summary.html Space Pilot 3000] at TV.com
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0584449/ Space Pilot 3000] at the Internet Movie Database