Future-Drama

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The Simpsons episode
"Future-Drama"

Episode no.	350
Prod. code	GABF12
Orig. Airdate	April 17, 2005
Written by	Matt Selman
Directed by	Mike B. Anderson
Chalkboard	None
Couch gag	A group of toys on the floor morph into Transformers-like Simpson family members
Guest star	Amy Poehler as Jenda and John DiMaggio as Bender the Robot
SNPP capsule
Season 16 November 7, 2004 – May 15, 2005
Treehouse of Horror XV All's Fair in Oven War Sleeping with the Enemy She Used to Be My Girl Fat Man and Little Boy Midnight Rx Mommie Beerest Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass Pranksta Rap There's Something About Marrying On a Clear Day I Can't See My Sister Goo Goo Gai Pan Mobile Homer The Seven-Beer Snitch Future-Drama Don't Fear the Roofer The Heartbroke Kid A Star Is Torn Thank God It's Doomsday Home Away from Homer The Father, the Son, and the Holy Guest Star
List of all Simpsons episodes...

"Future-Drama" is the fifteenth episode of the sixteenth season of The Simpsons. It takes place eight years into the future of The Simpsons' timeline. The title is based on Matt Groening's other show, Futurama. In fact, Futurama character Bender makes a brief and pointless cameo in this episode (all the more so when this episode was largely hyped on Bender's guest star appearance, which is as short as to be near-subliminal).

1 Synopsis
2 In the year 2013
3 Trivia
4 Cultural references
5 Awards

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

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, steroid-addicted Milhouse, having only agreed to this after he saved her from a house fire that he caused. Bart is in love with a blonde 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, 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, but she understands why he's doing it. 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 have a nowhere marriage and Milhouse sells all his bone marrow just to pay the electric bill, which still isn't enough. Even though Jenda wants to have sex with Bart, he 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, and he will get buried in a paupers grave. Bart asks what will happen to their parents. Frink shows her that Homer has won back Marge's heart by getting beaten up by Krusty.

[edit] 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 collapse at Maggie's feet.
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 (which he apparently never returned). 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"
Smithers (who apparently is gay after all) is straight, as long as he takes special injections every ten minutes.
Selma now has a fluffy tail because of plastic surgery.
The U.S. Dollar has been replaced (or had Washington's portrait replaced by Reagan's) by the "Reagan".
There is a 51st state: Saudi Israelia.
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 hanged 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, perhaps a reference to the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode All Good Things... where the USS Enterprise D is shown to have a third warp nacelle in the future.
Jenda has had a sexual relationship with Todd Flanders in the past (while trying to get Bart to have sex with her she proclaimed "Ugh, I never had this problem with Todd Flanders.") However Todd was suggested to be gay in "Bart To The Future".
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.
Chief Wiggum, Lou, and Eddie are now cyborgs similar to the one on Robo Cop.
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.

[edit] Trivia

This is the 350th episode to air, despite the fact that "Don't Fear the Roofer" was advertised as the 350th.
At one point Bart gets bored and wants to see what else the future holds, the astrology machine acts and sounds like TiVo, one future event listed has Cletus as Vice President of the United States. Other options include Kang and Kodos invading Earth, Flanders's violent revenge on Homer, Moe finally getting e-mail, Maggie getting arrested for DUI, and Lenny having a super pet (portrayed almost identical to Krypto, Superman's dog).
Near the beginning of the episode, Frink shows Bart and Lisa welcoming signs with their names on them, to prove he predicted their arrival at his lab. However, he hides an extra sign welcoming Maggie, who didn't arrive, perhaps hinting that this vision into the future may not be accurate.
This is the first time in the entire run of The Simpsons that Frink is called "Dr. Frink".
In many Simpsons episodes, notably "Homer Badman", Homer has wished to have an underwater home.
When the fish take Homer's patio furniture, he calls after them "Stupid Flounders", a parody of his catchphrase "Stupid Flanders"
When Krusty and Marge are at the ceremony Luanne and Pyro are together again, despite the fact that they broke up in Milhouse of Sand and Fog.

[edit] Cultural references

Bender's appearance is a reference to Futurama, another show by Matt Groening. The episode title also refers to that show's name.
The music playing while Homer and Bart are cruising in Homer's hovercar is by Donald Fagen of Steely Dan.
Songs heard in this episode include "Take On Me" by a-ha, "True" by Spandau Ballet, "Bizarre Love Triangle" by New Order, "I.G.Y." by Donald Fagen and "Sea of Love" by Phil Phillips
Frink compares astrology to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays which are a Major League Baseball team.
The garbage Mans spaceship is a parody of the ship in E.T.
When Milhouse rampages after being dumped, he smashes a Costington's display window. Behind it, there is an advertisement saying: "Surprise her with a dogcat". This can be either reference to a Snowball-Santa's Little Helper hybrid from one of the Treehouse of Horror episodes, or a cartoon called CatDog.