Rebirth (Futurama)
Encyclopedia
"Rebirth" is the premiere of Futurama
s sixth season
, and the revival of the series. It originally aired in North America on June 24, 2010, on Comedy Central
. The episode was written by David X. Cohen
and Matt Groening
, and directed by Frank Marino.
"Rebirth" directly follows the ending of the final Futurama film Into the Wild Green Yonder
, in which the entire crew enter a wormhole
. The episode begins with the Planet Express ship
crash landing on Earth
, killing many of the main characters. Professor Farnsworth
, who survived the crash, revives the others using a "birth machine". However, a complication with Leela's rebirth results in her remaining in an irreversible coma
. Out of loneliness and despair, Fry creates a robotic version of Leela, containing her memories, and they attempt to resume their relationship. The episode received positive reviews from critics.
walking into Professor Farnsworth's
laboratory, asking why he is covered in severe burns. The Professor explains that when the crew entered a wormhole at the end of Into the Wild Green Yonder
, they emerged near Earth
. Zapp Brannigan
, aboard the Nimbus flagship, also emerges from the wormhole and damages the Planet Express Ship
, causing both ships to crash. Professor Farnsworth survived the crash and so attempts to revive everyone killed in the crash using a "birth machine" filled with stem cells. Leela, however, enters an irreversible coma. Bender is reborn lacking adequate power supply to function. The Professor fits him with a doomsday device
to power him, but it generates excess power. Bender is forced to party endlessly to burn off the excess energy, otherwise he will explode.
A despaired Fry builds a robotic version of Leela, featuring her personality and memories. However, Robot Leela is horrified to learn of the human Leela's predicament. As per her final wishes, human Leela is taken to a planet to be eaten by a cyclops-devouring monster known as the "Cyclophage". At the service, Bender's obnoxious partying wakes Leela, who is horrified by the existence of Robot Leela. The Cyclophage approaches, and the crew escapes in the ship. The Cyclophage accidentally attaches itself to the underside of the ship as it takes off.
Back on Earth, human Leela and Fry reconcile, but a jealous Robot Leela attacks the other Leela. Fry is given a gun and told to shoot one but accidentally shoots himself, only to expose that he is also a robot. The Professor reveals that Fry was killed in the crash while shielding Leela, who survived. Fry's remains were placed in the birth machine, but to no avail. Leela, distraught over Fry's death, made a robotic version of him. However, a malfunction fatally electrocutes Leela, and severely burns the robot Fry.
A reborn Fry suddenly emerges from the birth machine. Robot Fry and Robot Leela declare their love for each other, and leave together. Bender decides he is fed up with constant partying and begins to vibrate from the build up of excess energy. The Cyclophage suddenly emerges, and attempts to eat Leela. Bender's severe vibrations cause one of his eyes to fall out, and the Cyclophage swallows Bender, believing him to be a cyclops. The device explodes, killing the creature. Bender emerges intact and the Professor declares that Bender expended his excess energy and is now stable. The crew leave in order to celebrate, and the episode ends with Zapp Brannigan rapidly emerging from the birth machine.
announced that Comedy Central
had picked up the show for 26 new half-hour episodes to begin airing in mid-2010. A smaller writing crew returned. It was originally announced that main voice actors Billy West
, John DiMaggio
, and Katey Sagal
would return as well, but on July 17, 2009, it was announced that a casting notice was posted to replace the entire cast when 20th Century Fox Television
would not meet their salary demands. Many fans were disheartened to see that the cast was not at the Futurama booth at San Diego Comic-Con International. According to Phil LaMarr (who voiced Hermes on the show), the cast's invitation was retracted by Fox because of a dispute over the salaries.
Near the end of a message from Maurice LaMarche
that was sent to members of the "Save the Voices of Futurama" group on Facebook, LaMarche announced that the original cast would indeed be returning for the new episodes. The Toronto Star
confirmed, announcing on their website that the original cast of Futurama have signed contracts with Fox to return for 26 more episodes. Similarly, an email sent to fans from Cohen and Groening reported that West, Sagal, DiMaggio, LaMarche, MacNeille, Tom, LaMarr, and Herman would all be returning for the revival, set to air in June 2010.
Cohen told Newsday
in August 2009 that the reported 26-episode order means, "It will be up to 26. I can't guarantee it will be 26. But I think there's a pretty good chance it'll be exactly 26. Fox has been a little bit cagey about it, even internally. But nobody is too concerned. We're plunging ahead". Two episodes were in the process of being voice-recorded at that time, with an additional "six scripts ... in the works, ranging in scale from 'it's a crazy idea that someone's grandmother thought of' to 'it's all on paper'. ..."The first episode is tentatively titled 'Rebirth' — and in a surprisingly literal fashion, as things turn out".
Cohen's original concept for the return episode involved continuing directly from the end of Into the Wild Green Yonder. Fry and Leela would find themselves on a lush, beautiful world in a distant part of the galaxy. Before they begin to kiss, they would discover that they were in a zoo, placed there by aliens interested in breeding more humans. However, Matt Groening suggested that they instead write a story quickly bringing the characters back to Planet Express in order to more fully depict that the series had returned. Cohen agreed, feeling that a quick return to the settings of the series would help viewers unfamiliar with the previous films adjust with little difficulty.
The episode also marks Frank Marino's directorial debut for Futurama. Previous to that, Marino had done some timing work on the Futurama films, Drawn Together
, and children's cartoons. Bender's plot where he always needed to be partying was challenging for the production team, who attempted to make his actions diverse in different scenes to keep it interesting while simultaneously trying to avoid being too distracting. Zapp Brannigan's return was also a last minute addition, as each draft neglected to explain how he regains his full body. Groening suggested the last minute tag-on.
In the original airing, the episode begins with Bender's voice announcing that people will forget the series was ever cancelled "by idiots
" and later revived "by bigger idiots
." In subsequent airings and on the Futurama: Volume 5 box set, Bender instead announces a test of "the Emergency Hypnotoad System".
.
Bender sings "Karma Chameleon
" when the Professor Farnsworth says that Leela is in an irreversible coma. When Leela and Fry kiss when it is revealed Fry was a robot, their kiss is reminiscent of Nite Owl II and Silk Spectre II's in Watchmen
.
During the episode there are references to Huey Lewis
and Star Trek
as well as Frankenstein
, Saturday Night Fever
, and Studio 54
. The club the crew visits is called Studio 122133. This is a reference to Studio 54
when each number in the club name is multiplied (12 = 1, 21 = 2, 33 = 27; 1 * 2 * 27 = 54). Bender's predicament is based on the 1994 film Speed. Robot Leela's realization of her true identity as a robot was thematic of the trope in science fiction, such as in The Six Million Dollar Man
and Blade Runner
. When the robotic versions of Fry and Leela tear off their skin their voices and appearances change in parody of the terminators
from the Terminator franchise
.
, in its original American broadcast, "Rebirth" was viewed by an estimated 2.92 million households and received a 1.6 rating/5% share in the 18–49 demographic, tying with the highest rated shows of the night in the demographic, Burn Notice
and Royal Pains
.
Robert Canning of IGN
gave the episode a 7.5 calling it "Good" and also stated "While the big laughs may be few, "Rebirth" still delivers an interesting story." He also said he noticed some jokes from previous episodes of Futurama
and some jokes from Matt Groening
's other show The Simpsons
.
Zack Hendlen of The A.V. Club
gave the episode an A-, saying, "I'll save you the worry: it's good. It's not incredible, but it works, and it's proof that running time really was the biggest drawback with the movies. Danny Gallagher of TV Squad said in his review "The story itself also felt a little too forced with it's tied up ending, but it still had a great sense of surprise and shock that worked like a perfect 'Twilight Zone' parody".
Futurama
Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
s sixth season
Futurama (season 6)
Futurama sixth production season originally aired on Comedy Central from June 24, 2010 to September 8, 2011 and consisted of 26 episodes. The season marks the change of networks from Fox to Comedy Central.David X...
, and the revival of the series. It originally aired in North America on June 24, 2010, on Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
. The episode was written by David X. Cohen
David X. Cohen
David Samuel Cohen , primarily known as David X. Cohen, is an American television writer. He has written for The Simpsons and he is the head writer and executive producer of Futurama.-Early life:...
and Matt Groening
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
, and directed by Frank Marino.
"Rebirth" directly follows the ending of the final Futurama film Into the Wild Green Yonder
Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder
Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder is the last of a series of four straight-to-DVD Futurama movies. The movie was written by Ken Keeler, based on a story by Keeler and David X. Cohen, and directed by Peter Avanzino. Guest stars include Phil Hendrie, Penn Jillette , Snoop Dogg and Seth...
, in which the entire crew enter a wormhole
Wormhole
In physics, a wormhole is a hypothetical topological feature of spacetime that would be, fundamentally, a "shortcut" through spacetime. For a simple visual explanation of a wormhole, consider spacetime visualized as a two-dimensional surface. If this surface is folded along a third dimension, it...
. The episode begins with the Planet Express ship
Planet Express Ship
The Planet Express Ship is a fictional spaceship in the animated series Futurama, which bears the official designation "U.S.S. Planet Express Ship." The ship was designed and built by Professor Hubert Farnsworth and is the sole delivery ship of Planet Express, a delivery service owned by the...
crash landing on Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, killing many of the main characters. Professor Farnsworth
Hubert J. Farnsworth
Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth, or simply The Professor, is a fictional character in the American animated television series Futurama. He is voiced by Billy West using a combination of impressions of Burgess Meredith and Frank Morgan. Farnsworth is the proprietor of the Planet Express delivery...
, who survived the crash, revives the others using a "birth machine". However, a complication with Leela's rebirth results in her remaining in an irreversible coma
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
. Out of loneliness and despair, Fry creates a robotic version of Leela, containing her memories, and they attempt to resume their relationship. The episode received positive reviews from critics.
Plot
The episode opens with FryPhilip J. Fry
Philip J. Fry, known simply as Fry, is a fictional character, the main protagonist of the animated science fiction sitcom Futurama. He is voiced by Billy West using a version of his own voice as he sounded when he was 25.-Character overview:...
walking into Professor Farnsworth's
Hubert J. Farnsworth
Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth, or simply The Professor, is a fictional character in the American animated television series Futurama. He is voiced by Billy West using a combination of impressions of Burgess Meredith and Frank Morgan. Farnsworth is the proprietor of the Planet Express delivery...
laboratory, asking why he is covered in severe burns. The Professor explains that when the crew entered a wormhole at the end of Into the Wild Green Yonder
Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder
Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder is the last of a series of four straight-to-DVD Futurama movies. The movie was written by Ken Keeler, based on a story by Keeler and David X. Cohen, and directed by Peter Avanzino. Guest stars include Phil Hendrie, Penn Jillette , Snoop Dogg and Seth...
, they emerged near Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. Zapp Brannigan
Zapp Brannigan
Captain Zapp Brannigan is a fictional character in the animated sitcom Futurama. He is voiced by Billy West, but was originally intended to be voiced by Phil Hartman, with West taking over the role after Hartman's death. Brannigan is a 25-Star General in the Democratic Order of Planets, and captain...
, aboard the Nimbus flagship, also emerges from the wormhole and damages the Planet Express Ship
Planet Express Ship
The Planet Express Ship is a fictional spaceship in the animated series Futurama, which bears the official designation "U.S.S. Planet Express Ship." The ship was designed and built by Professor Hubert Farnsworth and is the sole delivery ship of Planet Express, a delivery service owned by the...
, causing both ships to crash. Professor Farnsworth survived the crash and so attempts to revive everyone killed in the crash using a "birth machine" filled with stem cells. Leela, however, enters an irreversible coma. Bender is reborn lacking adequate power supply to function. The Professor fits him with a doomsday device
Doomsday device
A doomsday device is a hypothetical construction — usually a weapon, or collection of weapons — which could destroy all life on a planet, particularly the Earth, or destroy the planet itself, bringing "doomsday", a term used for the end of planet Earth...
to power him, but it generates excess power. Bender is forced to party endlessly to burn off the excess energy, otherwise he will explode.
A despaired Fry builds a robotic version of Leela, featuring her personality and memories. However, Robot Leela is horrified to learn of the human Leela's predicament. As per her final wishes, human Leela is taken to a planet to be eaten by a cyclops-devouring monster known as the "Cyclophage". At the service, Bender's obnoxious partying wakes Leela, who is horrified by the existence of Robot Leela. The Cyclophage approaches, and the crew escapes in the ship. The Cyclophage accidentally attaches itself to the underside of the ship as it takes off.
Back on Earth, human Leela and Fry reconcile, but a jealous Robot Leela attacks the other Leela. Fry is given a gun and told to shoot one but accidentally shoots himself, only to expose that he is also a robot. The Professor reveals that Fry was killed in the crash while shielding Leela, who survived. Fry's remains were placed in the birth machine, but to no avail. Leela, distraught over Fry's death, made a robotic version of him. However, a malfunction fatally electrocutes Leela, and severely burns the robot Fry.
A reborn Fry suddenly emerges from the birth machine. Robot Fry and Robot Leela declare their love for each other, and leave together. Bender decides he is fed up with constant partying and begins to vibrate from the build up of excess energy. The Cyclophage suddenly emerges, and attempts to eat Leela. Bender's severe vibrations cause one of his eyes to fall out, and the Cyclophage swallows Bender, believing him to be a cyclops. The device explodes, killing the creature. Bender emerges intact and the Professor declares that Bender expended his excess energy and is now stable. The crew leave in order to celebrate, and the episode ends with Zapp Brannigan rapidly emerging from the birth machine.
Production
On June 9, 2009, 20th Century Fox20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
announced that Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
had picked up the show for 26 new half-hour episodes to begin airing in mid-2010. A smaller writing crew returned. It was originally announced that main voice actors Billy West
Billy West
William Richard "Billy" West is an American voice actor. Born in Detroit but raised in the Roslindale neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, Billy launched his career in the early 1980s performing daily comedic routines on Boston's WBCN. He left the radio station to work on the short-lived revival...
, John DiMaggio
John DiMaggio
John William DiMaggio is an American voice actor. A native of North Plainfield, New Jersey, he is known for his gruff, deep voice and New Jersey accent, which he uses to voice mainly villains and anti-heroes.-Filmography:...
, and Katey Sagal
Katey Sagal
Catherine Louise "Katey" Sagal is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She first achieved widespread fame as Peggy Bundy on the long-running Fox comedy series Married.....
would return as well, but on July 17, 2009, it was announced that a casting notice was posted to replace the entire cast when 20th Century Fox Television
20th Century Fox Television
20th Century Fox Television is the television production division of 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, and a production arm of the Fox Broadcasting Company...
would not meet their salary demands. Many fans were disheartened to see that the cast was not at the Futurama booth at San Diego Comic-Con International. According to Phil LaMarr (who voiced Hermes on the show), the cast's invitation was retracted by Fox because of a dispute over the salaries.
Near the end of a message from Maurice LaMarche
Maurice LaMarche
Maurice LaMarche is an Emmy Award winning Canadian-American voice actor and former stand up comedian. He is best known for his voicework in Futurama as Kif Kroker, as Egon Spengler in The Real Ghostbusters, Verminous Skumm and Duke Nukem in Captain Planet and the Planeteers, Big Bob Pataki in Hey...
that was sent to members of the "Save the Voices of Futurama" group on Facebook, LaMarche announced that the original cast would indeed be returning for the new episodes. The Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
confirmed, announcing on their website that the original cast of Futurama have signed contracts with Fox to return for 26 more episodes. Similarly, an email sent to fans from Cohen and Groening reported that West, Sagal, DiMaggio, LaMarche, MacNeille, Tom, LaMarr, and Herman would all be returning for the revival, set to air in June 2010.
Cohen told Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
in August 2009 that the reported 26-episode order means, "It will be up to 26. I can't guarantee it will be 26. But I think there's a pretty good chance it'll be exactly 26. Fox has been a little bit cagey about it, even internally. But nobody is too concerned. We're plunging ahead". Two episodes were in the process of being voice-recorded at that time, with an additional "six scripts ... in the works, ranging in scale from 'it's a crazy idea that someone's grandmother thought of' to 'it's all on paper'. ..."The first episode is tentatively titled 'Rebirth' — and in a surprisingly literal fashion, as things turn out".
Cohen's original concept for the return episode involved continuing directly from the end of Into the Wild Green Yonder. Fry and Leela would find themselves on a lush, beautiful world in a distant part of the galaxy. Before they begin to kiss, they would discover that they were in a zoo, placed there by aliens interested in breeding more humans. However, Matt Groening suggested that they instead write a story quickly bringing the characters back to Planet Express in order to more fully depict that the series had returned. Cohen agreed, feeling that a quick return to the settings of the series would help viewers unfamiliar with the previous films adjust with little difficulty.
The episode also marks Frank Marino's directorial debut for Futurama. Previous to that, Marino had done some timing work on the Futurama films, Drawn Together
Drawn Together
Drawn Together is an American animated television series, which ran on Comedy Central from October 27, 2004 to November 14, 2007. The series was created by Dave Jeser and Matt Silverstein, and uses a sitcom format with a TV reality show setting...
, and children's cartoons. Bender's plot where he always needed to be partying was challenging for the production team, who attempted to make his actions diverse in different scenes to keep it interesting while simultaneously trying to avoid being too distracting. Zapp Brannigan's return was also a last minute addition, as each draft neglected to explain how he regains his full body. Groening suggested the last minute tag-on.
In the original airing, the episode begins with Bender's voice announcing that people will forget the series was ever cancelled "by idiots
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
" and later revived "by bigger idiots
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
." In subsequent airings and on the Futurama: Volume 5 box set, Bender instead announces a test of "the Emergency Hypnotoad System".
Cultural references
In the opening as they go through the wormhole, described as the "Panama Wormhole", Earth's central channel for shipping. Zoidberg comments that it is a funny name, and the Professor describes it as a "comedy central channel", a reference to the channel the show moves toComedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
.
Bender sings "Karma Chameleon
Karma Chameleon
"Karma Chameleon" is a song by British New Wave band Culture Club, featured on the group's 1983 album Colour by Numbers. The song spent three weeks at #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1984, becoming the group's biggest hit and only US #1 among their many top ten hits...
" when the Professor Farnsworth says that Leela is in an irreversible coma. When Leela and Fry kiss when it is revealed Fry was a robot, their kiss is reminiscent of Nite Owl II and Silk Spectre II's in Watchmen
Watchmen
Watchmen is a twelve-issue comic book limited series created by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colourist John Higgins. The series was published by DC Comics during 1986 and 1987, and has been subsequently reprinted in collected form...
.
During the episode there are references to Huey Lewis
Huey Lewis
Huey Lewis is an American musician, songwriter and occasional actor.Lewis sings lead and plays harmonica for his band Huey Lewis and the News, in addition to writing or co-writing many of the band's songs...
and Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
as well as Frankenstein
Frankenstein
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel about a failed experiment that produced a monster, written by Mary Shelley, with inserts of poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty-one. The first...
, Saturday Night Fever
Saturday Night Fever
Saturday Night Fever is a 1977 drama film directed by John Badham and starring: John Travolta as Tony Manero, an immature young man whose weekends are spent visiting a local Brooklyn discothèque; Karen Lynn Gorney as his dance partner and eventual friend; and Donna Pescow as Tony's former dance...
, and Studio 54
Studio 54
Studio 54 was a highly popular discotheque from 1977 until 1991, located at 254 West 54th Street in Manhattan, New York, USA. It was originally the Gallo Opera House, opening in 1927, after which it changed names several times, eventually becoming a CBS radio and television studio. In 1977 it...
. The club the crew visits is called Studio 122133. This is a reference to Studio 54
Studio 54
Studio 54 was a highly popular discotheque from 1977 until 1991, located at 254 West 54th Street in Manhattan, New York, USA. It was originally the Gallo Opera House, opening in 1927, after which it changed names several times, eventually becoming a CBS radio and television studio. In 1977 it...
when each number in the club name is multiplied (12 = 1, 21 = 2, 33 = 27; 1 * 2 * 27 = 54). Bender's predicament is based on the 1994 film Speed. Robot Leela's realization of her true identity as a robot was thematic of the trope in science fiction, such as in The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man is an American television series about a former astronaut with bionic implants working for the OSI...
and Blade Runner
Blade Runner
Blade Runner is a 1982 American science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. The screenplay, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is loosely based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K...
. When the robotic versions of Fry and Leela tear off their skin their voices and appearances change in parody of the terminators
Terminator (character concept)
In the Terminator film series, a terminator is an autonomous robot, typically humanoid, originally conceived as a virtually indestructible soldier and assassin, as well as an infiltrator....
from the Terminator franchise
Terminator (franchise)
The Terminator series is a science fiction franchise encompassing a series of films and other media concerning battles between Skynet's artificially intelligent machine network, and John Connor's Resistance forces and the rest of the human race....
.
Reception
According to the Nielsen Media ResearchNielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre films and newspapers...
, in its original American broadcast, "Rebirth" was viewed by an estimated 2.92 million households and received a 1.6 rating/5% share in the 18–49 demographic, tying with the highest rated shows of the night in the demographic, Burn Notice
Burn notice
A burn notice is an official statement issued by one intelligence agency to other agencies. It states that an individual or a group is unreliable for one or more reasons...
and Royal Pains
Royal Pains
Royal Pains is a USA Network television series that premiered on June 4, 2009, starring Mark Feuerstein, Paulo Costanzo, Jill Flint and Reshma Shetty. The series is based in part on actual concierge medicine practices of independent doctors and companies...
.
Robert Canning of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave the episode a 7.5 calling it "Good" and also stated "While the big laughs may be few, "Rebirth" still delivers an interesting story." He also said he noticed some jokes from previous episodes of Futurama
Futurama
Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
and some jokes from Matt Groening
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
's other show The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
.
Zack Hendlen of The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
gave the episode an A-, saying, "I'll save you the worry: it's good. It's not incredible, but it works, and it's proof that running time really was the biggest drawback with the movies. Danny Gallagher of TV Squad said in his review "The story itself also felt a little too forced with it's tied up ending, but it still had a great sense of surprise and shock that worked like a perfect 'Twilight Zone' parody".