Future-Drama

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"Future-Drama" is the fifteenth episode of the sixteenth season of The Simpsons. It takes place in the year 2013. The title is based on Matt Groening's other show, Futurama. In fact, one of Futurama's characters, Bender the Robot, makes a brief cameo in this episode.

Contents

1 Synopsis
2 In the year 2013
3 Goofs
4 Trivia
5 Quotes
6 See also

Synopsis

[Spoiler warningSpoiler warning]: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Bart and Lisa get in a feud over who each other would like. But when trouble breaks out, enter Professor Frink, who uses an astrology machine to ease the constant bickering. He shows them what life will be like in their final days of high school, eight years from Tuesday...

Marge and Homer have separated. Bart and Lisa are graduating (Lisa is graduating two years early). Bart is in love with a blonde girl, Jenda, while Lisa falls in love with a muscular, steroid-addicted Milhouse (she fell in love after Milhouse saved her from a house fire. As it turns out, the house fire was actually caused by Milhouse, bringing Lisa much shock but failing to end her relationship with Milhouse). After prom, Bart tells Jenda he wants to marry her, but she turns him down.

Homer (who blew the family savings on an underwater house) takes Bart to a night on the town, in his hover-car (the technology is new and flawed)(background music by Donald Fagen, IGY), though the only girls he finds are Mrs. Krabappel and Ms. Hoover. Bart then decides to get a job at the Kwik-E-Mart, though he is tormented by the octuplets (in personal jet packs). While making a delivery to Mr. Burns, he is held at phaser/cell phone-point by Snake. He saves Burns when Snake gets a call from his roommate. As a reward for saving him, Burns offers to send Bart to Yale with the Monty Burns Scholarship (it was promised to Lisa, but Bart takes it as Jenda could fall in love with him again). When Lisa finds out, she gets angry at Bart (in both time periods).

Bart gets back together with Jenda, while Lisa has to accept Milhouse now. While walking with Jenda, Bart finds Prof. Frink's house. He then uses the astrology machine to see what the future holds for Lisa and Milhouse: they live a no-where marriage and Milhouse sells all his bone marrow just to pay the electric bill, which still isn't enough. Even though Jenda wants to have sex with Bart, he does what he has to do and saves Lisa from ruining her life. With his relationship with Jenda over, Bart decides to find a girl who loves him for himself...

Back in the present, Frink tells Bart he will find that special girl... one minute before he dies at the age of 83. As for Homer and Marge, they get back together after Homer gets beaten up by Krusty, whom Marge was dating.

In the year 2013

Keep in mind due to the timelessness of the show, exact dates are disputable.

Homer and Marge are split up because Homer blew all their money on an underwater home. Marge falls in love with Krusty — although briefly.
Milhouse is muscular and emotionally unstable, similar to The Incredible Hulk (after Lisa dumps him he goes on a rampage and fights off four "Robo"-cops (see below)).
Kearney is the assistant principal of Springfield High School and is very anti-drug.
Superintendent Chalmers is in a Christopher Pike-like persistent vegetative state after taking the drug stim. All he can say is, "Skinner!"
Nelson impregnated Sherri and Terri, who each gave birth to twins. He then deserted them both, similar to his own father.
The United States is in the midst of Gulf War V, Operation Find Our President's Head.
Due to global warming, Alaska has apparently become incredibly hot, similar to Florida.
Moe has a clone (who claims to be the real Moe) as well as a spider clone (a spider entered the cloning machine).
Mr. Burns, now a 112-year-old shut-in, sponsors a Yale scholarship as punishment for stealing Christmas. He keeps diamonds to have them changed into Earth's most precious mineral of the age — coal. His home is also guarded by a large group of unicorn-clam creatures (uni-clams).
Ralph can use the toilet.
Yale University is now owned by McDonald's and has banned men from taking science — it offers majors like "femis-try" and "gal-gebra"
All the cops in Springfield have become RoboCops. Clancy Wiggum has a rotisserie in his belly.
Smithers (who apparently is gay after all) is straight as long as he takes special injections every ten minutes.
MoeClone and MoeSpiderClone pursue Marge's love, as well as the original Moe.
Selma now has a fluffy tail because of plastic surgery.
At one point Bart gets bored and wants to see what else the future holds, the astrology machine acts and sounds like TiVo, one future event listed has Cletus as Vice President of the United States. Other options include Kang and Kodos invading Earth, Flanders's violent revenge on Homer, Moe finally gets e-mail, Maggie getting arrested for DUI, and Lenny having a super pet.
In the U.S., the Dollar has been replaced by the Reagan. There is also a 51st state — Saudi Israelia
Apes are trying to get the right to vote.
Snake's weapon of choice is his phaser/cell phone.
Genetically modified foods have led to smart puke.
Singers at prom night have been replaced with iPods.
Skinner is principal of Springfield High School.
The rotting remains of Prof. Frink are visible hanging from a rafter in his basement.
The garbage man uses a spaceship. (similar to the one from E.T. it has to fly all the way up to move to the next house.)
Blinky the three-eyed fish has hundreds of descendants; a three-eyed whale is even shown.
Marriage has just become a three-year commitment.
Teens have a new social interaction: "getting some forehead" (head-butting).
The Springfield Nuclear Power Plant has three cooling towers.
Jenda has had a sexual relationship with Todd Flanders in the past (while trying to get Bart to have sex with her she proclaimed "Ugh, this was so much easier with Todd Flanders.")
Scientists have invented magic, which allows people to do nearly anything. At the beginning of the episode, Marge takes a Polaroid photo of Bart and Lisa which transforms into a cake.
Homer owns the first hovercar ever made, which has various problems.
Sinks are used by voice command.
Apu's kids manage the Kwik-E-Mart.
Quantum Tunnels (wormholes) exist and are used in lieu of vechicle tunnels, however when Bart and Homer use one they inadvertently pick up Bender from Futurama.

Goofs

When Marge calls to Bart and Lisa for their photo she is holding a very small camera but after they come down the stairs the camera is much larger and is now the size of a Polaroid one
Several of the characters--e.g. Apu, Willie--look a bit too old for only eight years to have passed. In addition, in the long shot of the school at the beginning of the prom, Willie's whiskers are red, but grey in close-up. The coloring error is repeated in a second long shot at the graduation ceremony.
Nelson says, now that Sherri and Terri have given birth and he's a father four times over, he now understands why his father ran out on the family when he didn't before...but he found out the truth in "Sleeping with the Enemy". Also, if three hours in the decompression chamber is necessary before leaving the underwater house, how could Nelson escape on a sea turtle in mere moments?
In the FOXCAST of this episode, the title is confused for the episode "Home Away From Homer," which aired two weeks after this episode.
When Frink shows Lisa a picture of her shocked face after discovering that Milhouse caused the house fire, Lisa is shown with regular braces. However, in Season 4's Last Exit to Springfield, Lisa has already been given braces, which are shown to be invisible.

Trivia

Near the beginning of the episode, Frink welcomes Bart and Lisa to his lab with three welcoming signs...as if to say he predicted them being there. But then he curiously hides an extra sign welcoming Maggie...who obviously didn't arrive. With this, this episode very clearly lets the audience know not to take this future depiction, nor any too much to heart as they are all just glimpses into the future. Events here may or may not happen exactly, supported by the many inconsistencies between the three future episodes as well as the fact this particular episode takes place three years after Lisa's Wedding...where she is clearly older than High School age.
This is the first time in the entire run of The Simpsons that Frink was referred to as "Dr. Frink".
The menu of Frink's future-viewing machine is a parody of the menu for the TiVo system.
The title is a reference to Futurama, which is a show that is also made by Matt Groening. Also, Bender, one of the show's stars, is seen in this episode.
Nominated for a 2005 Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour) with Family Guy's "North by North Quahog", Samurai Jack's "Episode XLIX", South Park's "Best Friends Forever" and SpongeBob SquarePants' "Fear of a Krabby Patty". It lost to South Park. [link]

Quotes

Lisa: You're gay for Moleman!
Bart: No you're gay for Moleman!
Moleman: (sadly) No one's gay for Moleman.
Kearney: Okay, I want a nice clean prom. That means no booze, kick, puff, doze, max, stim, or turb. Remember, stim kills!
Skinner: It's what turned Superintendent Chalmers into a vegetable.
Chalmers: (going around in a circle in an electronic wheelchair) Skinner! Skinner! Skinner! Skinner! Skinner! Skinner!
Moe: (MoeClone drops a beer mug) You moron! Oh, why did I think I ever needed a clone?
MoeClone: Hey, I'm not the clone! You're the clone!
Moe: Oh, please, not this again.
(Moe and MoeClone are watching Homer and Krusty strangle each other)
Moe(?): Once they destroy each other...
MoeClone(?): ...then we make our move.
(a spider with Moe's head lowers himself down)
MoeSpiderClone: Yes, we make our move.
(camera zooms in on SpiderClone and both Moes look at him)
MoeSpiderClone: What? A spider got into the cloning machine.
(In the future, Teenage Lisa strangling Teenage Bart after finding out he took the Yale scholarship)
Teenage Lisa: You've wrecked my life!
(In the present, Lisa is also strangling Bart)
Lisa: You're gonna wreck my life!
(Homer puts on a wig and leads Bart to the airlock in his underwater home)
Homer: Come on, boy! We're hitting the town!
(They sit in the decompression chamber. Homer reaches for a knob)
Homer: After decompressing, of course.
(Homer turns the knob which begins a countdown of three hours as well as the hissing noise of decompression. By the end of this dialogue, only eleven seconds tick by)
Bart: (beat) So...what do ya do to kill time in here?
Homer: There's a DVD player, but it doesn't work.
(Milhouse gets stuck between two trees)
Milhouse: Lenny, Carl, can you pull me out?
Lenny: Sorry, we're ghosts now.
Carl: Our spirits live in those two trees.
Lenny: Or maybe we're alive and feel like jerking you around!
Carl: Or maybe we're one of each!
(Lenny and Carl chuckle as they leave, complete with eerie alien-style music)
Bart: This blows! I wanna see Vice President Cletus!
(changes machine screen to VP Cletus)
Vice President Cletus: (on phone) You want me to attend the funeral of the Sultan of Brunei? Well, I would consider it my honor. (yelling) Hey, Brandine! Pack my evenin' britches! We goin' to Brunei!
Lisa: How did you know we were coming?
Prof. Frink: Because I have mastered the one true science...(dramatic pose) astrology!
Lisa: Don't you mean "astronomy"?
Prof. Frink: No, my dear, I said (goes back to dramatic pose) astrology!
(Homer and Bart pass through a mountain using a portal/tunnel, coming out of the other side with Bender in the car)
Bender: Alright! You guys are my new best friends!
Homer: You wish, loser!
Snake: Don't move, Teenage Bart! I've got you covered with my phaser-slash-cell phone. (the phone begins playing The Entertainer) (talking into phone) Dude, this is totally not the time to call me...I don't know, some kind of pasta...look, just get me what you're having...ew, not that! (Bart knocks Snake out) (semi-delirious) What soups do they have? (passes out)
(at the high school prom, it's time for slow dance. Martin and his date, "Childlike-Humanoid-Urban-Muchacho" are dancing)
Martin: So, any plans after graduation?
C.H.U.M.: Travel.
Martin: Do you need a traveling companion per chance?
C.H.U.M.: Travel cancelled!
Ralph (to a girl at prom): I can use the potty now.
Lisa: (Bart is watching a hologram of the prom, Martin is dancing with his robot "date") Is that robot break dancing?
Bart: No he just activated his self-destruct mechanism.(the robot explodes)
Homer: Hey Moe. Hey MoeClone.
Moe: Hey ya, Homer.
MoeClone: Hey, Homer.
Moe: Hey hey hey hey. I don't pay you to socialize.
MoeClone: Oh right. You're the "people person"!
Moe: Watch with the attitude, mister! You came from my back fat.
Otto: (runs nude from the limo he was driving) I can fly! I can fly! (runs toward a cliff while flapping his arms, but stops before he reaches the edge) Just kidding. I know I can't fly. I can glide though! (runs off the edge and falls to his death)
(Bart is cleaning the Kwik-E-Mart floor.)
Anoop: (Spits on floor.) You missed a spot! Do it again!
Bart: Yes, Mr Gheet.
Anoop: I'm Anoop, you racist cracker!
(Kicks Bart.)

Future-Drama

Synopsis

In the year 2013

Goofs

Trivia

Quotes

See also