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3ACV15: I Dated A Robot
First UK airing: Sky One, 7:00pm, 20-5-01
"You can't shut us down! The
internet is about the free exchange and sale of other peoples'
ideas!"
Say, a satire on the issues of digital copyright that
completely toed the corporate line? Who would have thought it
from a division of News Corporation?
My take on the whole Napster (not Nappster) thing
-- yes, ripping off tracks from a brand-new album so that people
can get them without paying is a bad thing. But ripping off tracks
from an album that's been deleted and therefore isn't making
any more money for anyone? Can't see how that can possibly be
considered to be harming anyone's commercial interests. I've
got about a gig of MP3s on my computer, most of which are from
CDs I already own, and the rest are largely obscure Eighties
tracks (hey, my musical tastes are entirely my own concern) that
are impossible to buy any more. (Amusingly, the artists making
the most noise about Napster are ones that I would never want
to listen to in a thousand years.) So I've already paid my money
in the first case, and couldn't even if I wanted to in the second.
Total loss to the music industry? Zero pounds, zero pence.
But I guess corporations and lawyers don't see things
that way.
'Nuff politics. 'I Dated A Robot' wasn't exactly the
hottest way to end a season, but thanks to Fox's WGA strike-prompted
holding over of nine (!) episodes from the 3ACV production block
to season four it's what we were stuck with. 'Anthology Of Interest
II' would surely have been the logical choice, but it's become
clear now that logic flew off like a butterfly in a hurricane
at Fox where Futurama's concerned.
The show was okay overall, but it was still another guest
star episode (though at least this time, unlike 'Time Keeps On
Slippin'', the guest star was actually the real deal). Does Fox
demand them for sweeps, or what? (Actually, they probably
do. G'uh!)
Fry seemed a bit out of character this week as well,
especially considering that in the previous episode he was completely
ga-ga over Leela. The Lucy Liu-bot could be his rebound date,
I suppose, but it did seem like a major switch of romantic obsession
for him. And how come Fry had such a thing for Lucy Liu anyway?
She was only just starting to become known in 1999, when he got
frozen -- and he couldn't have seen her in Ally McBeal, because
in Fry's universe the show didn't exist! (Incidentally, the existence
of Single Female Lawyer on Fox in Fry's universe means that we're
living in the parallel universe where everyone is a cowboy by
3002 -- betcha the writers didn't consider that! Okay, yes, they
probably have better things to do with their time...)
There were some good jokes, though. Fry's line about
breaking in his new hands tonight ( I guess he could quite legitimately
be called a wanker!) was going to be my header quote until I
went for the political option, and things like Dinkin' Donuts,
the Space Pope, Pavarotti's head singing "Nooooooo!"
when Bender chucked it away and the whole thoroughly demented
bit with Madeline Allbright were funny enough to get past my
cynicism about guest star episodes. I think The Scary Door has
now run its course, though -- great the first time because it
was unexpected, okay the second time because of the volume of
gags, but I think a third trip to the well would find it dry.
Prove me wrong, writers!
Rating: 
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