Futurama episode
"Kif Gets Knocked Up A Notch"
Episode no.	55
Prod. code	4ACV01
Airdate	January 12, 2003
Writer(s)	Bill Odenkirk
Director	Wes Archer
Opening subtitle	BIGFOOT'S CHOICE
Opening cartoon	It's a Greek Life, by Van Beuren Studios (1936)
Guest star(s)	None
Season 4 January 2002 – August 2003
Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch Leela's Homeworld Love and Rocket Less Than Hero A Taste of Freedom Bender Should Not Be Allowed on TV Jurassic Bark Crimes of the Hot Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles The Why of Fry Where No Fan Has Gone Before The Sting Bend Her Obsoletely Fabulous The Farnsworth Parabox Three Hundred Big Boys Spanish Fry The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings
List of all Futurama episodes...

"Kif Gets Knocked Up A Notch" is the first episode in season four of Futurama. It first aired on January 12, 2003. This article is about the television series. ... Image File history File links Amphibiosan3. ... is the 12th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Bill Odenkirk is an American comedy writer. ... Wesley Wes Archer (born November 26, 1961) is a television animation director. ... The complete Futurama DVD collection The following is an episode list for the FOX animated television series Futurama. ... Leelas Homeworld is the second episode of Futuramas fourth season. ... ‹ The template below (Unreferenced episode) is being considered for deletion. ... Less Than Hero is the fourth episode in the fourth season of Futurama. ... A Taste of Freedom is the fifth episode of the fourth production season of Futurama. ... ‹ The template below (Unreferenced episode) has been proposed for deletion. ... Jurassic Bark is the seventh episode of season four of Futurama, airing November 17, 2002. ... “Crimes of the Hot” is the eighth episode of the fourth production season of the television show Futurama. ... The subject of this article may not satisfy the notability guideline for Television episodes. ... The Why of Fry is the tenth episode in the fourth season of the animated television series Futurama. ... Where No Fan Has Gone Before is the eleventh episode of the fourth season of the animated series Futurama. ... The Sting is episode twelve in season four of Futurama. ... Bend Her is the thirteenth episode of the fourth production season of Futurama. ... Obsoletely Fabulous is the fourteenth episode of the fourth production season of Futurama. ... “The Farnsworth Parabox” is the fifteenth episode of the fourth production season of Futurama. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Spanish Fry is the seventeenth episode of Season four of Futurama. ... The Devil’s Hands are Idle Playthings is the 18th and final episode in season four of the TV series Futurama. ... The complete Futurama DVD collection The following is an episode list for the FOX animated television series Futurama. ... This article is about the television series. ... is the 12th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Plot

Amy is unhappy with her long-distance relationship with Kif and wants to see him in person again. When the crew is sent to deliver a giant pill to a planet near where Kif is stationed Amy stows away onboard the Planet Express Ship. While the crew is asleep, Amy changes course to meet with Kif. When Zapp Brannigan sees the ship, the Planet Express crew joins him on the Nimbus. On the Nimbus, Kif shows Amy the HoloShed to show her what life would be like with him. However, the shed malfunctions and the holograms that invade- Attila the Hun, Professor Moriarty, Jack the Rippper, and an evil version of Abraham Lincoln- become real. When the holograms reach the bridge, Zapp Brannigan threatens them with a laser cannon, despite a rather accurate warning from Attila- "No shoot fire stick in space canoe. Cause explosive decompression!" Zapp blasts a hole in the ship, which sucks out history's greatest villan. Everyone else on the bridge is also sucked towards the hole, but they manage to survive by hanging on to each others' hands (until the moon from the Holoshed plugs the hole). In sickbay later, the doctor looks at everyone and deduces that everyone survived despite minor injuries, and also reveals the unlikely news that Kif is pregnant. Amy Wong (born August 4, 2980) is a fictional character, one of the main characters from the FOX television animated series Futurama. ... Lieutenant Kif L. Kroker is a fictional character in the animated television show Futurama. ... The Planet Express Ship is a fictional spaceship in the animated series Futurama. ... Major General Webelo Zapp Brannigan is a fictional character in the television series Futurama. ... The Nimbus: DP-1729 is a spaceship in the fictional series Futurama. ... A holodeck on the Enterprise-D; the arch and exit are prominent. ... Attila (AD 406 - 453), also known as Attila the Hun was Khan of the Hun people from 434 until his death and leader of the Hunnic Empire. ... Professor Moriarty, illustration by Sidney Paget which accompanied the original publication of The Final Problem. Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character who is the best known antagonist (and archenemy) of the detective Sherlock Holmes. ... For other uses, see Abraham Lincoln (disambiguation). ... Explosive decompression (ED) is a sudden drop in pressure that occurs in 0. ... A sick bay is a nautical term for the location in a ship that is used for medical purposes[1]. Categories: Stub ...

It is initially believed that Amy is the mother since Kif's race reproduces through touch, due to the fact that their skin is a semi-permeable membrane. Kif's race is thus able to conceive whenever they are in love through direct physical contact with another being. Fry points out that everyone on the ship touched Kif and it is unclear who the mother is. Professor Farnsworth uses an invention of his, the Maternifuge, to determine who is the real mother and discovers it is Leela. Amy is instead the "smizmar" (person whose love inspired the conception) of Kif's children, which nevertheless makes her the "real" mother by Kif's species' standards. Philip J. Fry is the protagonist of the animated television series Futurama and is voiced by Billy West. ... Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth (born April 9, 2838) is the extremely elderly proprietor of the Planet Express delivery service in the fictional animated television series Futurama. ... Turanga Leela (referred to as simply Leela) is the primary female character in the animated television series Futurama. ...

Later on, at Fry and Bender's apartment for the pre-birth celebrations, Amy decides she can't go through with this and runs away, leaving Kif just as his babies are about to be born. “Bender” redirects here. ...

The crew escorts Kif to Amphibios 9, his homeworld and even through the jungle. Bender gets swallowed by a poisonous Froad (cross between a frog and a toad) but frees himself by smoking. Just as Kif is about to give birth, Amy appears saying she wants to be with him despite not being ready for motherhood. After Kif gives birth, the babies, in a tadpole-like state, hop towards the swampy planet's water, nearly attacked by deadly predators that Amy and Leela fend off. The kids are left to swim about until they are able to live out of water, which Kif reveals won't actually happen for twenty years; Amy is thus satisfied that she will be ready to help raise them when the time comes. Amphibios 9 and a moon Amphibios 9 is a fictional planet depicted in Futurama, the American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening. ... In the Star Wars fictional universe, the Core Worlds are the known worlds, or planetary systems, that are near the core of the Star Wars galaxy. ...

Continuity

The term "smizmar" was previously used in the episode Raging Bender when the announcer for the Ultimate Robot Fighting match refers to the audience as "Ladies, gentlemen, and smizmars". The same episode also contains a movie poster advertising When a Man Loves a Smizmar. This episode is the first time the term is explained^[1]. Raging Bender is episode 8 in season 2 of Futurama. ...

Production

At the beginning of the episode when Professor Farnsworth retreats to the angry dome there was a long debate amongst the writers about whether the viewers should be able to hear him or not. They eventually decided not to include the audio in that scene and that the angry dome would be more similar to the Cone of Silence from Get Smart.^[1] The writers apparently had an even larger debate about who the second parent of Kif's children should be.^[1] The head writer for the episode notes that they felt making Amy the true parent would make her character unlikeable after she didn't accept the children.^[2] Get Smart was an American comedy television series that satirized the secret agent genre. ...

In the scene in Kif's room, Bender is seen in Kif's closet with his head and body separated. No explanation for this is ever given. Lincoln is inexplicably seen in the scene as well. However, on the DVD commentary, it is revealed that it was originally going to be explained that the room was much too small to have everybody fit inside, and that Bender was in the closet out of necessity. The original script also contained a much longer series of events once the characters arrived at Kif's Planet. The material that was eventually cut focused on the journey and a series of tasks Kif needed to complete before giving birth. Reportedly the material was enough for an entire second episode.^[2]

Broadcast and reception

This episode was rated TV-14, the fifth such Futurama episode^{[citation needed]}.

Cultural references

• The animation of the Planet Express Ship entering the Nimbus’ cargo hold is a reference to the film Moonraker^[1].
• The HoloShed (and its frequent malfunctions turning holograms "real") are parodies of the holodeck from Star Trek: The Next Generation^[3]. Among the holoshed characters who run rampant are Professor Moriarty, Attila the Hun, Jack the Ripper and an evil version of Abraham Lincoln. A holodeck incarnation of Professor Moriarty "came alive" in two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation while Jack the Ripper and Lincoln appeared in Star Trek: The Original Series; "Evil Lincoln" is a specific reference to the episode "The Savage Curtain", where aliens pit some of Earth's most storied heroes (including Lincoln) against its most hated villains. The holoshed itself is programmed in BASIC, a joke which was partially included because the writers were so amused by the idea that in the Star Trek universe any simulation one wants to experience has already been painstakingly programmed^[1].
• The sick bay scene is a parody of that from Star Trek: The Original Series, complete with sound effects. The sign references a creature from the series called a Horta^[1] that gives severe acid burns. The sick bay's doctor is an obvious parody of Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy^[1], and is named "Veins" in a deleted scene.
• The maternifuge is based loosely on the amusement park ride "The Rotor"^[1]
• The title of the episode combines a reference to TV chef Emeril's catchphrase "...Kick it up a notch" (or, more accurately, Elzar's version of this catchphrase from the previous episode, "...Knock it up a notch") with the slang term for being pregnant, "knocked up".
• Kif's ability to climb walls is similar to that of several types of gecko.
• The holoshed's final simulation is of a castle atop a cloud with the night sky in the background; this is a reference to the progressive rock band Starcastle and their debut album's cover.
• The concept of smismar is similar to that of Imzadi, a Betazoid word used in the series Star Trek: The Next Generation and two novels bearing the names Imzadi and Imzadi II.
• The mission on which Amy stows away is "delivering pain medicine to the hive mind of Nigel 7." This may be a reference to Rigel VII, a fictional planet used by both Star Trek: The Original Series (in the pilot episode "The Cage" and again in "The Menagerie") and The Simpsons (as the home planet of Kang and Kodos.)
• Amy's calendar lists "Hang with Walter Koening" on Sun 28 before she switches to "motherhood mode". The name is spelled incorrectly on the calendar. Walter Koenig is the actor who played Chekov in Star Trek: The Original Series.
• When the Nimbus undergoes explosive decompression after Zapp shoots a hole in the hull, the door on Bender's torso flies open, and the famous mask of King Tut's mummy falls out and is sucked into space.

Moonraker is a 1979 spy film. ... A holodeck on the Enterprise-D; the arch and exit are prominent. ... The title as it appeared in most episodes opening credits. ... Professor Moriarty, illustration by Sidney Paget which accompanied the original publication of The Final Problem. Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character who is the best known antagonist (and archenemy) of the detective Sherlock Holmes. ... Attila (AD 406 - 453), also known as Attila the Hun was Khan of the Hun people from 434 until his death and leader of the Hunnic Empire. ... Jack the Ripper is the pseudonym given to an unidentified serial killer active in the largely impoverished Whitechapel area of London, England in the second half of 1888. ... For other uses, see Abraham Lincoln (disambiguation). ... The starship Enterprise as it appeared on Star Trek Star Trek is a culturally significant science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry in the 1960s. ... The Savage Curtain is a third season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, first broadcast on March 7, 1969 and repeated July 1, 1969. ... This article is about the programming language. ... Kirk faces off the Horta in The Devil in the Dark. In the fictional universe of Star Trek, the Horta are a silicon-based species, introduced in the original series episode The Devil in the Dark. An intelligent species indigenous to the planet Janus IV, the Horta can comfortably live... Dr. Leonard H. McCoy Leonard Horatio McCoy, M.D., nicknamed Bones, is a fictional character in the fictional Star Trek universe, played by the late DeForest Kelley (January 20, 1920 - June 11, 1999). ... Interior of the Rotor at Luna Park Sydney. ... Emeril Lagasse (born October 15, 1959 in Fall River, Massachusetts) is a chef, celebrity chef, restaurateur, television personality, and writer. ... Futuramas recurring characters: // Kif Kroker Kif Kroker (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) - Alien assistant to Captain Zapp Brannigan and first officer of the Democratic Order of Planets (DOOP) starship Nimbus. ... For other uses, see Gecko (disambiguation). ... For the Swedish political music movement, see progg. ... For 1980 vector arcade game, see Star Castle. ... A word from the science-fiction television series Star Trek The Next Generation. ... In the fictional Star Trek universe, Betazoids are a sentient humanoid species from the planet Betazed, a member of the United Federation of Planets. ... Rigel VII, is a fictional planet featured in the Star Trek universe created by Gene Roddenberry. ... The Cage is the original pilot episode of the original Star Trek science fiction series and resulting franchise. ... The Menagerie is the only two-part episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. ... Kang and Kodos are fictional characters from the animated television series The Simpsons, voiced by Harry Shearer and Dan Castellaneta respectively. ... Walter Marvin Koenig (born September 14, 1936) is an American actor, writer, teacher and director, known for his roles as Chekov in Star Trek, and as Bester on the series Babylon 5. ... Pavel Andreievich Chekov, Cyrillic: Павел Андрейевич Чеков), played by Walter Koenig, is a Russian Starfleet officer in the fictional Star Trek universe. ... Tutankhamun (alternate transcription Tutankhamen), named Tutankhaten early in his life, was Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt (1334 BC/1333 BC - 1323 BC), during the period known as the New Kingdom. ...

References

External Links

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