FUTURAMA 8/10/'03: "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings'" (1 Viewer)

Rex Bachmann · Aug 10, 2003

Broadcast of the "fare-thee-well" episode is slated for tonight. Does it complete the Fry-Leela cycle?

The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthingshttp://www.gotfuturama.com/Information/EpisodeGuide/Season5/

One observation: Americans do have a way of straying from old sayings, don't they? Even their own! ("Idle minds are the Devil's playground.")

Click to expand...

TonyD · Aug 10, 2003

i thought the ep itself was not so good. alittle boring but the end was very nice.

MarkHastings · Aug 10, 2003

Americans do have a way of straying from old sayings, don't they? Even their own! ("Idle minds are the Devil's playground.")

I don't get it.

but at least it was better than Futurama...:frowning:

Click to expand...

Jason Seaver · Aug 11, 2003

I don't get it.

Well, the title was a pun on the saying "idle hands are the devil's playthings", which Rex is saying was originally "idle minds are the devil's playthings". Can't say I've ever heard it the second way, though.

I kind of enjoyed it; it was amusing to see the Robot Devil get hosed in a deal with the devil. Not quite as funny as I might have liked, but that's what happens when comedies worry more about character development than jokes.

Click to expand...

JonZ · Aug 11, 2003

I thought it was a good episode especiially when Fry tried to play with his own hands :laugh:

MarkHastings · Aug 11, 2003

Well, the title was a pun on the saying "idle hands are the devil's playthings"

I understand that, but what does that have to do with "straying from old sayings"? Isn't that the point of a pun?

Click to expand...

phil-w · Aug 11, 2003

Did anyone notice in the opening credits where it said "Coming soon to another channel" or something to that effect?

Is this just a jab at Fox or is this an indication that another channel, like the Cartoon Network, may pick up the show and new episodes will be produced?

StephenA · Aug 11, 2003

I noticed that at the beginning phil-w. It was on Cartoon Network, but only as repeats. It seems they have taken it off of Cartoon Network. It's now on TBS every day at 2 PM, followed by Family Guy at 2:30 PM. Family Guy's on Cartoon Network and TBS now.

MarkHastings · Aug 11, 2003

It said "See you on some other channel" - I don't think it means that another network will start doing new episodes. Probably more to the fact that the other networks are showing the reruns.

Rex Bachmann · Aug 11, 2003

Jason Seaver wrote (post #4):

Funnier, and more to the point, is when Fry's transplanted hands touch Beelzebot in "places" (out of his control), and Fry says, "Yes, they do get around."

And maybe some of you are not old enough or experienced enough to recognize the joke when Beelzebot is going back to Robot Hell and he pointedly decides to take Nixon's head with 'im. Many a young person from either of two generations before you would howl in approval at such a development.

Also of note:

---Bender: "He rogered her hammerstein." (Again, a reference that escapes today's twenty-somethings and teens???)
---Every time Beelzebot claims something is ironic, Bender has to deny it ("Not ironic; just coïncidental!"), a reference to the "ironic" punishments imposed on him in "Hell is Other Robots" (episode #9), I suppose.
---The "Hedonism-bot" (a golden mechanical walking litter of "effeteness") surrounded by his brown (black?) slaves.

I thought it quite clever, if not totally unforeseeable, how Beelzebot got his hands back. And it sure doesn't surprise me that the episode turned into a musical, since Beelzebot's first appearance ("Hell is Other Robots") did also, where the gang lost a fiddle contest to him, but saved Bender's soul anyway.

Note that Beelzebot (the Robot Devil) and the Satan Santa ("Xmas Story" (#17), "A Tale of Two Santas" (#46)) are two different individuals, unlike what is claimed at some sites on the Web. What if they ever met?

The episode doesn't have the "guffaws" of the series' earlier material, but it was a very good going-out piece, nonetheless.

Click to expand...

MarkHastings · Aug 11, 2003

Those aren't "puns" on the originals; they're the piteous result of a total lack of understanding of what the originals meant.

I think you are looking too deep here. I'm sure Matt G. has an understanding of what the original meant, it's only a cutesy title.

Click to expand...

Rex Bachmann · Aug 11, 2003

MarkHastings wrote (post #11):

Oh, the statement was aimed not so much at this title, as at the sort of bastard sayings that I gave examples of. This one isn't too bad at all, in fact. The Devil is involved and hands are involved. Yes, quite cute. I just noticed the tendency of Americans to "wander" with these old sayings, sometimes to the point of losing all connexion with the original sayings' meanings, is all.

Click to expand...

MarkHastings · Aug 11, 2003

Oh, the statement was aimed not so much at this title

Oh, I thought you were taking shots at the title alone :b

Click to expand...

Jeff Jacobson · Aug 11, 2003

Calculon never got his ears back, did he?

MarkHastings · Aug 12, 2003

Calculon never got his ears back, did he?

WHAT????

Click to expand...

Everlasting Gobstopper · Aug 12, 2003

Calculon never got his ears back, did he?

Well, now that the series is over, it'll have to be dealt with in some expanded universe novel/comic book/action figure/manga.

Click to expand...

Ken Seeber · Aug 12, 2003

I just noticed the tendency of Americans to "wander" with these old sayings, sometimes to the point of losing all connexion with the original sayings' meanings, is all.

We do, however, spell "connection" in a much more sensible manner.

Click to expand...

Home Theater

Entertainment & Streaming Content

Physical Media

Home Theater Equipment and Hardware

Other Diversions

Bargains and Classifieds

Home Theater Forum

Archives

FUTURAMA 8/10/'03: "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings'" (1 Viewer)

Screenwriter

Who do we think I am?

Stunt Coordinator

Screenwriter

Screenwriter

Screenwriter

Supporting Actor

Supporting Actor

Similar threads

Users who are viewing this thread

Sign up for our newsletter

and receive essential news, curated deals, and much more

Forum statistics