1/13/2007

A Leela of Her Own

This week's Baseball on TV post is from Futurama, the animated series from the creator of The Simpsons.

The show is summed up like this from tv.com:
Futurama , set in the next millennium, follows the exploits of Fry, a pizza delivery boy who was cryogenically frozen by accident for 1,000 years; Leela, a female cyclops; Bender, an immoral robot, and others as they work for an intergalactic delivery service owned by Fry's great, great, great...nephew, Professor Hubert Farnsworth.

The episode featured today is about the Leela and her being signed as a blernsball (Baseball's jazzed up name in the year 3002) pitcher for the New New York Mets. More as a novelty act that would bring in the crowds than anything else.

Before going farther with this post, here is a clip from youtube to introduce you to blernsball and Futurama:



The episode opens with the crew from Planet Express meeting a group of aliens who have opened a pizza parlor across the street. The aliens aren't very good at adapting their cooking to the eating habits of the people of Earth. (They use toppings like silt, asbestos, flaming magnesium, and guano).

After a brief explanation that includes using oregano instead of live bees for ingredients, Fry turns on the TV. Bob Uecker (or more appropriately, Bob Uecker's head) is calling the final out of a New New York Mets game. Fry feels that to help the aliens truly feel like they belong on Earth, they should all play a game of Blernsball.

Leela is pitching, but she winds up hitting all the batters. In cartoons, is there anything funnier than someone getting hit in the head. (Well, yeah. A door slammed in someone's face. But, that is a discussion for another day)

The owner of the New New York Mets sees the performance and decides to sign Leela as a novelty act.

Leela gets her uniform (number 7/8, becase all the whole numbers have been retired) and gets into the game against the Sweedish Meatballs during a blowout.

Leela immediately beans the first few hitters she faces and gets a positive reaction from the crowd. (Leela's Bean Counters hang pictures of a beans on a railing for every beanball).

An autograph session at the Pizza Parlor starts out well. A young girl tells Leela that she wants to injure men by throwing things at them too. Then, the girl asks Leela to make out her autograph to e*Bay. But, Jackie Anderson shows up. Jackie is a good female blernsball player and Leela is making it tougher for her to break into the majors. Leela sets a goal of becoming the best blernsball player of all-time. When she finds out that is maybe shooting a bit too high, she resets the goal to not becoming the worst blernsball player of all-time.

The crew heads to the Blernsball Hall of Fame (Blernsball Fever -- Contract It!) and meets the worst blernsball player of all-time, Hank Aaron (Actually, Hank Aaron XXIV a clone). This episode is worth it just to hear Hank Aaron, who does the voice for Hank Aaron XXIV and the head of Hank Aaron to say the following lines: You stink, lady! and Ah, Wade Boggs...Goes down smooth.

Hank Aaron XXIV helps Leela with some tips and she hopes to get into the final game of the season at Fenway Park against the Boston Poindexters.

Uecker: The Mets close out a season that will rank among one of mankind's most awful crimes.

The Mets are actually winning 8-5 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and Leela begs to be put into the game. The Poindexters load the bases and Leela gets into the game by saying that she has been training with Hank Aaron.

Manager: You've been training with the Hank Aaron?
Leela: I've been training with a Hank Aaron.

The Poindexters send up Jackie Anderson to pinchhit. Leela actually throws two strikes, but Jackie Anderson hits a game winning homer. Leela becomes the worst blernsball player ever.

Now for the Blernsball parts of the episode (again, from youtube)

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