Future-Drama
"Future-Drama"
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Episode Information
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"Future-Drama" is the fifteenth episode of the sixteenth season of The Simpsons. It takes place in the year 2013 (although no-one says "2013" in the episode, rather that it is "eight years from Tuesday"). The title is based on Matt Groening's other show, Futurama. In fact, Futurama character Bender the Robot makes a brief cameo in this episode.
Plot
While walking through Springfield, Bart and Lisa childishly squabble over who is "gay for Moleman" - fighting, they roll into Professor Frink's basement. He welcomes them, saying that his new astrology machine told him they would come to his house, and he goes on to show them a film of how life will be in their final days of high school, eight years in the future.
Bart and Lisa are graduating. Lisa is doing this two years early, and is bound for Yale. She goes to the prom with a muscular, emotional Milhouse, having only agreed to this after he saved her from a house fire that he caused. Bart is in love with a blond girl, Jenda; after the prom, Bart proposes to Jenda, but she turns him down and ends their relationship, because she doesn't believe he can provide for her.
Meanwhile, Marge has separated from Homer after he blew the family savings on an underwater house. Homer takes Bart to a night on the town in his hover-car, as Donald Fagen’s IGY(International Geophysical Year) plays in the background, but the only girls they find are Mrs. Krabappel and Ms. Hoover. Bart then decides to get a job at the Kwik-E-Mart. While making a delivery to Mr. Burns, he is held at gunpoint by Snake (who now uses a combination phaser/cellphone), but Bart saves Burns when Snake is distracted by a phone call.
As a reward, Burns offers to send Bart to Yale with his scholarship, which was previously promised to Lisa. Believing it will impress Jenda enough to take him back, Bart accepts. When Lisa finds out at their graduation, she becomes furious with Bart. Meanwhile, in the audience, Homer fights Krusty, whom Marge is now dating.
Jenda does indeed take Bart back, now that he has the scholarship. Meanwhile Lisa, dejected, decides to settle for Milhouse. While walking with Jenda, Bart finds Professor Frink's house, and uses the astrology machine to see what the post-2013 future holds for Lisa and Milhouse: they live a nowhere marriage and Milhouse sells all his bone marrow just to pay the electric bill, which still isn't enough. Bart rushes away to save Lisa from life with Milhouse, and gives her the scholarship.
Jenda dumps Bart again, and he decides he wants a girl who loves him for himself. In the present, Frink tells Bart he will find that special girl... one minute before he dies at the age of 83. Meanwhile, Homer has won back Marge's heart by getting beaten up by Krusty.
In the year 2013
Keep in mind due to the timelessness of the show, exact dates are disputable.
- Maggie sends a video postcard from Alaska, which, due to global warming, has a climate similar to Florida. One polar bear survives long enough to try to attack Maggie.
- Milhouse is muscular and emotionally unstable, similar to The Incredible Hulk after Lisa dumps him, and goes on a rampage fighting off four "Robo-Cops" (see below).
- Skinner is principal of Springfield High School, with Kearney as the very anti-drug assistant principal.
- Superintendent Chalmers is in a Christopher Pike-like persistent vegetative state after taking the drug stim. All he can say is, "Skinner!"
- Nelson impregnated Sherri and Terri, who each gave birth to twins. He then deserts them both, similar to the way his own father deserted him.
- The United States is in the midst of Gulf War V, "Operation: find our president's head".
- Moe has a clone and a spider clone (because a spider entered the cloning machine). All three pursue Marge's love.
- Mr. Burns, now a 112-year-old shut-in, sponsors a Yale scholarship as punishment for stealing Christmas. He keeps diamonds to have them changed into Earth's most precious mineral of the age: coal. His home is also guarded by a large group of unicorn-clam creatures (uni-clams).
- Ralph can use the toilet.
- Yale University is now owned by McDonald's and has banned men from taking science. It offers majors like "femis-try" and "gal-gebra"
- All the cops in Springfield have become RoboCops. Clancy Wiggum has a rotisserie in his belly.
- Smithers (who apparently is gay after all) is straight, as long as he takes special injections every ten minutes.
- Patty now has a fluffy tail because of plastic surgery.
- The U.S. Dollar has been replaced by the "Reagan". There is also a 51st state: Saudi Israelia, and apes are trying to get the right to vote.
- Snake's weapon of choice is his phaser/cell phone.
- Genetically modified foods have led to smart puke, capable of moving on its own.
- Singers at prom night have been replaced with iPods. A-ha remains overplayed.
- Prof. Frink seems to have hung himself; his skeleton hangs from a rafter in his basement.
- The garbage man uses a spaceship. (similar to the one from E.T.) It has to fly all the way up to move to the next house.)
- Blinky the three-eyed fish has hundreds of descendants; a three-eyed whale is even shown.
- Marriage has become a three-year commitment.
- Teens have a new social interaction: "getting some forehead" (head-butting).
- The Springfield Nuclear Power Plant has three cooling towers.
- Jenda has had a sexual relationship with Todd Flanders in the past (while trying to get Bart to with her she proclaimed "Ugh, I never had this problem with Todd Flanders.")
- Scientists have invented magic, which allows people to do nearly anything. At the beginning of the episode, Marge takes a Polaroid photo of Bart and Lisa which transforms into a cake.
- Homer owns the first hovercar ever made, which has various imperfections.
- Sinks are operated by voice-command, although, when Jenda operates one, she has to use a sterner voice than usual.
- The now-elderly Apu, and his eight children, manage the Kwik-E-Mart. The Octuplets now wear personal jet packs so they can torment staff members more easily.
- Quantum Tunnels (wormholes) exist and are used in lieu of vehicle tunnels; when Bart and Homer use one, they inadvertently pick up Bender from Futurama.
- Homer is still taller than Bart, if only by as little as 1 inch.
Awards
- Nominated for a 2005 Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour), with
Family Guy's "North by North Quahog",
Samurai Jack's "Episode XLIX",
South Park's "Best Friends Forever"
and SpongeBob SquarePants' "Fear of a Krabby Patty".
The winning episode was South Park.
