2x20 Anthology of Interest I - Futurama Episode Guide

Futurama

- Episode 02x20

Episode: 02x20
Title: Anthology of Interest I
Type: Regular Episode
Production Code: 2ACV16
First Aired: May. 21, 2000

Season 2 » Episode #20 - Anthology of Interest I

Futurama - 02x20 Anthology of Interest I

Summary: When Professor Farnsworth invents a "what if" machine, each member of the gang poses a question to this new machine to receive video-simulated answer. What if Bender was 500 feet tall, Leela was more impulsive and Fry never woke up in Y3K? In three separate stories, Bender, Leela and Fry each find out what would happen if their lives were different, and Vice President Al Gore, physicist Stephen Hawking and actress Nichelle Nichols join forces to help Fry.

Watch Episode Videos

Fing Longer (00:40)

Impulsive Leela (00:53)

Leela's Killing Spree (01:22)

Big Bender (00:41)

Who appeared in this episode?

Guest Stars:

Mr. Panucci	voiced by John Di Maggio
Deep Blue	voiced by Tress MacNeille
Narrator	voiced by Maurice LaMarche
Al Gore	voiced by Al Gore
Stephen Hawking	voiced by Stephen Hawking
Nichelle Nichols	voiced by Nichelle Nichols
E. Gary Gygax	voiced by E. Gary Gygax
Scruffy	voiced by David Herman
Cubert Farnsworth	voiced by Kath Soucie

	Season 2 / Episode 20: - Anthology of Interest I Leela: Who are you? Scruffy: Scruffy, the janitor. Leela: I've never seen you before. Scruffy: I've never seen you before neither.
	Season 2 / Episode 20: - Anthology of Interest I Bender: Hey, what's this? Hermes' dreadlocks, and his arm? Leela, I'm shocked! Food goes in the disposal, hair and flesh go in the trash.

[More Quotes]

MISTAKES/GOOFS

FAKE: Giant Bender is 500ft tall and the Empire state building 1200ft tall. So when he falls on to it there is no way it can pierce him in the middle of his back.
CONT: In the second story, "What if Fry never came to the future", the Fry Hole contains Bender, Zoidberg, Farnsworth, and Leela; however, if Fry didn't go to the future, Bender and Leela would have never met Farnsworth and Zoidberg (at least not soon enough to be in the Hole). The only person that should have been in that Hole is Leela or that guy who says "Welcome to the world of tomorrow!" in that weird voice since they worked at the Cryogenics lab at the time Fry was unfrozen.
CONT: When Giant Zoidberg cuts off Giant Bender's feet, Bender is standing in grass. When he stumbles back in the next shot, he's in a barren field of dirt and rubble.

TRIVIA

Bender's "what if" bears a striking resemblance to The Iron Giant (1999) Leela's to an Agatha Christie novel (albeit with an incompetent detective in Zoidberg), and Fry's to a logical paradox often expressed in "Star Trek" (1966) lore.
The guns that the military are shooting at 500' Bender have three-pronged electrical plugs on the end of them.
The Finglonger makes another appearance later in the series, described easily as a "what if" if the Professor made it instead of its actual creator.
SPOILER: Bender and Zoidberg both die in each story. In Bender's story, Bender is impaled on a building and Zoidberg is boiled alive. In Leela's story, both are murdered by Leela. In Fry's story, both are never born when the universe is destroyed.
The Professer calls the final story in this episode absurd, citing "Stephen Hawking in a pizzeria" as especially bad. Interestingly, in an episode of The Simpsons ("Don't Fear the Roofer"), Stephen Hawking buys a Little Ceasar's pizzeria.