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4ACV03: Love And Rocket
First UK airing: Sky One, 7:00pm, 7-4-02
"Call me old-fashioned, but I
like a dump to be as memorable as it is devastating."
Another Valentine's episode? Damn, and I forgot to
get a girlfriend again. Oh well.
It wasn't as good as 'Put Your Head On My Shoulders',
but since that's one of my all-time favourite episodes it would
have been quite a feat to do that anyway. And how often do you
get to hear Sigourney Weaver cut loose with an insane cackle?
Plus it had Amy in her underwear for no good reason and
the most bizarre 'hot soaking two-girl action' joke ever seen
on television, which was so mad I suspect a lot of people wouldn't
even have got it. (I laughed my hairy white ass off.) Excellent
Friends joke, as well. Have I mentioned enough yet that I've
visited the set of Friends?
Oh, and this episode kept me busy with the PESS part
of the site, since the ship was involved so much. It was funny
to see how the ship's lack of a name has turned into a running
gag now, so at least one good thing came out of 'The Cryonic
Woman'.
It was a welcome return for the Fry/Leela sorta-but-not-really-romance,
and there was even some continuity involved, with Fry now being
completely open about his feelings after 3ACV14 and Leela very
slightly reciprocating -- as well as Bender still having a thing
going with Lucy Liu. And I don't have the US airdates to hand,
but was it actually 247 days between 'The Problem With Popplers'
and this episode airing? Now if it were, that would be an extremely
cool in-joke, even better than the clock at the end of 'Xmas
Story'!
Sigourney Weaver was easily the best guest star the
show has ever had, totally getting into what has to be the oddest
role of her career -- but then, she is a bloody good actress,
after all! It certainly shows up the kind of 'roll up for ten
minutes and read the cue cards' work that tends to be found on
The Simpsons these days. And you have a TV show -- a cartoon!
-- that can get genuine A-list movie stars not only to turn up,
but actually play a major part. Remind me again why Futurama
got cancelled? Oh yes, because Fox wants to make room for quality
programming like Glutton Bowl.
But, anyway, we finally got to see a 4ACV episode!
If the show keeps to this level, it all looks good for the fourth
season. Of course, there are still eight 3ACV shows yet to appear,
and it looks as though 'A Tale Of Two Santas' might not make
it onto Sky at all thanks to the 7pm timeslot. I mean,
obviously Sky has to give the post-watershed slots to its endless
'Drunken Yobs Uncovered' ratings-toppers. (Heavy sarcasm.) The
fact that even though season four started last year in
the States, but Sky is now only six weeks behind, worries me
as well. Even with a pitiful 12-week season, there's still the
danger of catching up -- and thus seeing Futurama knocked off
the air for six weeks to make room for repeats of Malcolm In
The Middle.
At least it doesn't get pre-empted for that soft,
advert-stretched bastardisation of rugby called American football,
though!
Rating: 
PS: And Love Hearts are bloody
horrible, aren't they? Thank God Futurama had the courage to
point this out!
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