"Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles" is the ninth episode in the fourth production season of the American animated television series '' Futurama''. It first 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 March 30, 2003. The episode was directed by

Bret Haaland Bret John Haaland (born August 10, 1964) is an American animator, storyboard artist, director, and producer. Awards and nominations Won Emmy Award Outstanding Children's Animated Program All Hail King Julien (2014) Won Emmy Award Outstanding ...

and written by

Jeff Westbrook Jeff Westbrook is a TV writer best known for his work on ''The Simpsons'' and ''Futurama'', for which he is a three-time winner of the WGA Award. Education and pre-TV Prior to becoming a TV writer, Westbrook was a successful algorithms researc ...

. In the episode, the Planet Express crew take

Professor Farnsworth Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth, commonly referred to in-show as either Professor Farnsworth or simply Professor, is a fictional character in the American animated television series ''Futurama''. The mad scientist proprietor of the Planet Express ...

to a clinic to make him younger though the use of

tar Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. "a dark brown or black bi ...

. A freak accident occurs and the entire crew are covered in the tar, thus reverting them to their younger selves. They seek to reverse the effect and return to their proper ages.

Plot

is chasing his escaped

gargoyle In architecture, and specifically Gothic architecture, a gargoyle () is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing it from running down masonry walls ...

Pazuzu In ancient Mesopotamian religion, Pazuzu ( akk, , translit=pà.zu.zu; also called Fazuzu or Pazuza) was a personification of the southwestern wind, and held kingship over the lilu wind demons. As an apotropaic entity, he was considered as bo ...

, but soon forgets the search and goes to Florida to have a discounted early dinner. Annoyed with the Professor's crankiness, the Planet Express employees take the 161-year-old to an age-reducing spa, where he is given a massage, then bathed in blistering hot

. An accident causes the entire crew to fall into the tar pit, reverting the Professor to his mid-fifties and everyone else to teenagers. Leela departs to live with her parents in the sewers so that she can have a new chance at the normal teenage life she never had. A teenage Fry and Leela begin dating while Amy is the subject of jokes back on Mars due to her childhood obesity. The Professor searches for a way to undo the de-aging effects by removing time-altering chronitons that have become stuck to their DNA. However, his plan backfires and causes everyone (except for Leela, who refused the treatment) to start growing even younger. Leela sneaks out of her house after being grounded to help the others find the mythical Fountain of Aging. The fountain's current proves too strong for the young crew, so Leela jumps in to save them, giving up her chance at being a teenager again. She pulls everyone except the Professor to safety, but Pazuzu returns to save him. Everyone has returned to their original ages, and the Professor is delighted to find that he is actually a few years older than before and sets Pazuzu free to thank him. The episode ends with a jump to a later time in which Pazuzu finishes telling the story to his child as they perch on the roof of the

Notre-Dame Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to the ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

Cultural references

* The space station the Professor inadvertently destroys is a parody of '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine''s namesake station. The producers explained on the DVD commentary this did not mean they disliked ''Deep Space Nine''; they thought it was one of the best '' Star Trek'' series.

Reception

This episode, along with "

Where No Fan Has Gone Before "Where No Fan Has Gone Before" is the eleventh episode in the fourth season of the American animated television series '' Futurama''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 21, 2002. Set in a retro-futuristic 31st ...

" has been called one of the great moments of the fourth season. Zack Handlen of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' gave the episode an A−.

References

External links

* Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles at

The Infosphere ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

. * {{Futurama episodes, 4 Futurama (season 4) episodes Child versions of cartoon characters 2003 American television episodes Older versions of cartoon characters