Thursday, July 12, 2012

Futurama - Zapp Dingbat


After her parents 40th wedding anniversary ends in divorce, Leela (Katey Sagal) takes her mother (Tress MacNeille) out into space to cheer her up and show her the wider universe she's always dreamed of seeing. The night at a local space cantina ends with her mother making out with Zapp Brannigan (Billy West) which only leads to Leela's world spinning further out of control.

As Fry (West) and Bender (John Di Maggio) attempt to cheer up Leela's father (David Herman) by helping him fulfill his lifelong dream of surfing the sewers, Leela keeps an eye on the new lovebrids to prove Zapp is only doing this to make Leela jealous, but she's as surprised as everyone to be proved wrong.


Despite knowing that Zapp is completely untrustworthy Leela is unable to convince her mother to stay away from him. In fact Zapp decides to hire her to be his personal translator. Then, to everyone's shock, the space captain proposes a mariage that is only stopped by Zapp showing his true colors at the last minute by trying to trick an alien race into a war with the help of his future bride.

Although the premise is hardly one of the show's most original, a heavy dose of Zapp, and a couple of great lines by Kif (Maurice LaMarche), create some truly funny moments. How the sewer surfing is eventually worked into the main story is ridiculous, but it allows  the show to end in a way Leela won't have to end up calling Zapp "daddy."

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