A Leela of Her Own
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| Futurama episode | |
| "A Leela of Her Own" | |
 Leela plays Blernsball. |
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| Episode no. | 48 |
| Prod. code | 3ACV16 |
| Airdate | April 7, 2002 |
| Writer(s) | Patric M. Verrone |
| Director | Swinton Scott |
| Opening subtitle | SCRATCH HERE TO REVEAL PRIZE |
| Opening cartoon | Unknown |
| Guest star(s) | Hank Aaron Bob Uecker |
| Season 3 January 2001 – December 2002 |
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| List of all Futurama episodes... | |
"A Leela Of Her Own" is the sixteenth episode in the third season of the animated series Futurama. It originally aired in North America on April 7, 2002.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
A new pizza restaurant run by Cygnoids has moved in across the street from the Planet Express building. Leela convinces the others that they should go to greet their new neighbors. They find that the Cygnoids have much to learn about Earth customs. Fry tries to help them get adjusted, first by giving them advice on how to make pizza (such as not using live bees as an ingredient) and then by suggesting that they learn how to play blernsball (the 30th century version of baseball). The Planet Express staff and the Cygnoids form teams and go to a blernsball diamond in a nearby park. While playing blernsball with the Cygnoids, Leela's lack of depth perception causes her to injure opposing players by beaning them in the head. Gaining notice from the owner of the New New York Mets, who thinks that having a one-eyed woman repeatedly bean opposing players would be a good novelty act, she becomes the first female player to play professional blernsball. Leela sees herself as a pioneer for women in sports; however, other female players see her as an embarrassment and a joke because she is only able to hit batters and unable to get any outs. Leela is on the fast track to becoming the worst blernsball player ever and seeks help from Hank Aaron XXIV, a distant relative of Hank Aaron, who is currently the worst blernsball player of all time.
Leela, not wanting to be the worst blernsball player of all time, is delighted when she throws a strike to Hank Aaron after taking his advice. At the next blernsball game, the Cygnoids are selling their pizza in the stadium and their franchise is bought by Fishy Joe. Near the end of the game, Leela pleads to have the chance to prove she is not the worst blernsball player ever, explaining that she has been training with Hank Aaron. The skipper gives in and Leela is found facing the second woman to play in major league blernsball, Jackie Anderson. Jackie was also the woman who first told Leela that she was making female athletes look bad. Leela throws two strikes, but on the third pitch Jackie hits a grand slam blern and wins the match.
Leela walks away, unhappy until Jackie tells her that Leela really was a role model after all, since she encouraged women to try harder than ever in order to prove that they weren't all like Leela. Meanwhile, at the blernsball museum, Hank Aaron XXIV sadly leaves his post as the worst blernsball player ever (now occupied by Leela), with the head of the original Hank Aaron consoling him by reminding him that he is still the worst football player ever.
[edit] Cultural references
- The title is a reference to the 1992 film A League of Their Own.
- The episode's plot resembles that of the movie Major League, as it follows the career of a pitcher with poor ball control and features Bob Uecker as a commentator.
- Leela's uniform number, 7/8, is a reference to Eddie Gaedel, a midget who walked on four pitches in his only major league plate appearance, a 1951 publicity stunt for the St. Louis Browns. Gaedel's uniform number was 1/8.
- Jackie Anderson, the first good female blernsball player, is loosely based on Jackie Robinson, the first (male) African-American professional baseball player. Jackie Robinson's number was 42 while Anderson's number was 24, the reversal of 42.
- One of the players who broke the various color barriers was half black and half white, a reference to the Star Trek episode "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield".
- The hyperbolic size of Mark McGwire's biceps is a reference to his suspected illegal steroid usage.
- Leela throwing Jackie her towel, is a parody of a "Mean" Joe Greene Coca-Cola commercial.
- The Cavern On The Green is a reference to Tavern on the Green.
- The slogan of the New New York Mets, "Blernsball the Way it Oughtn't Be," draws from the New York Mets' slogan from the 1980s, "Baseball the Way it Ought to Be!"
- The cover of Sports Illustrated featured says, "Leela's Beans: The Mets' Magical Fruit." This refers to a children's song about beans, "The Musical Fruit," which describes their flatulent properties.
- The Cygnoid's explanation for the tastiness of their pizza crust ("Ancient Cygnoid secret!") is a reference to Calgon's "Ancient Chinese Secret."
- Jackie Anderson's grand slam blern, where the ball breaks off the tether and causes the Slurm blimp to crash into the light tower, is a reference to Roy Hobbs' home run at the end of The Natural (1984).
- A parody of the Rainbow Man can be seen at the opening shot of Leela's first game where he is holding up a sign that says "Glorx 3:16", a reference to John 3:16.
- During the public signing scene, Leela asks the female Teenager of whom to make the name out to, the Teenager asks to make it out to eBay. Leela responds by informing her "that is a popular name today!".
[edit] Continuity
- The rules of Blernsball are far simpler than they were when first seen in "Fear of a Bot Planet".
- Hank Aaron XXIV's Atlanta shirt has the characteristic Braves tomahawk replaced by similarly faux-Native American trident. This is a reference to the episode "The Deep South" featuring The Lost City of Atlanta.
- One of the people seen leaving the stadium 'LA Style' was Fry's date from "Love's Labours Lost in Space".
- The current owner of the Mets in this episode previously appeared as the owner of the Ultimate Robot Fighting League as seen in "Raging Bender", as mentioned by Bender.
- Joe Gillman of the Fishy Joe's chain of restaurants makes a second appearance in this episode, offering to buy the Cygnoid couple's restaurant chain. He first appeared in The Problem with Popplers of the second season.
[edit] Production notes
- The shots of Boston's Fenway Park include the famous Citgo sign in the background, which is a major local landmark and also commonly seen on televised Boston Red Sox games.
- A sign at Fenway Park says home of the Green Monster. They show a literal green monster, though the real green monster (a high wall famous for stopping home runs) was also shown. The monster shown, furthermore, appears to be a parody of or homage to the cartoon characters of "Big Daddy" Ed Roth.
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