"That's Lobstertainment!" is the eighth episode in season three of ''

Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years ...

''. It originally aired on the

Fox network The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations ...

in the United States on February 25, 2001.

Plot

After a disastrous attempt at stand-up comedy, Dr. Zoidberg informs the crew that his uncle, Harold Zoid, was a star in the silent hologram era. Zoidberg writes to his uncle, asking for help with his comedy act. The washed-up Harold Zoid sees this as an opportunity to restart his career. The crew sets off for

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

. While taking a bus tour of movie stars' homes, Bender leaves the tour, and scams his way into employment as Calculon's water heater. Shortly afterward, Zoidberg meets his uncle in a restaurant. Harold Zoid tells him to give up comedy, because he would be perfect for drama, and he needs Zoidberg to finance a drama to the tune of a million dollars. As Zoidberg is practically broke, Bender tells Calculon that he can star in the movie if he provides the production money. Calculon initially refuses on account of disliking the font, but after learning Harold Zoid wrote the script, and getting a guarantee from Bender that he will win an Oscar, he accepts. The film, ''The Magnificent Three'', is a story about a son (the Vice-President of Earth) not wanting to follow in his father's (the President of Earth) footsteps. Due to Harold Zoid's inexperience with drama and outdated directorial style, the movie is terrible, and at the premiere, the entire audience walks out. Furious, Calculon threatens to kill Bender, Zoidberg, and Harold Zoid if they do not get him an Oscar. They all agree to rig the awards. Meanwhile, Leela and Fry crash their ship in the

La Brea Tar Pits La Brea Tar Pits is an active paleontological research site in urban Los Angeles. Hancock Park was formed around a group of tar pits where natural asphalt (also called asphaltum, bitumen, or pitch; ''brea'' in Spanish) has seeped up from the gr ...

on the way to the premiere. When the awards reach the Best Actor award, Dr. Zoidberg tosses presenter

Billy Crystal William Edward Crystal (born March 14, 1948)On page 17 of his book ''700 Sundays'', Crystal displays his birth announcement, which gives his first two names as "William Edward", not "William Jacob" is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. ...

off the stage and takes his place. In place of the fifth nominee, he substitutes Calculon. But when he sees his uncle's depression at being a has-been, Zoidberg announces him as the winner. In his acceptance speech, Harold Zoid says his nephew's gesture has made him realize that the award itself is secondary to the knowledge that someone, even if only one person, still respects him as a filmmaker. Calculon, somewhat chastened by this speech, decides not to kill him or the others. Fry and Leela finally escape from the tar pits and are allowed to enter the after party when the skeleton they are dragging is recognized as that of

Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Enzio Stallone (; born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, ) is an American actor and filmmaker. After his beginnings as a struggling actor for a number of years upon arriving to New York City in 1969 and later Hollywood in 1974, h ...

Broadcast and reception

In the DVD commentary, the producers mention that this is considered by fans to be the worst episode of the series. In its original airing the episode was ranked 79th for the week with a 4.8 rating/8 share.

References

External links

* That's Lobstertainment! at The Infosphere. * {{Futurama episodes, 3 Futurama (season 3) episodes 2001 American television episodes