Episode no. Season 4
Episode 9 Written by Jeff Westbrook Original air date March 30, 2003 | Directed by Bret Haaland Production code 4ACV09 | |
"Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles" is the ninth episode in the fourth production season of the American animated television series Futurama. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 30, 2003. The episode was directed by Bret Haaland and written by Jeff Westbrook. In the episode, the Planet Express crew take Professor Farnsworth to a clinic to make him younger though the use of tar. A freak accident occurs and the entire crew are covered in the tar, thus reverting them to their younger selves. They seek to reverse the effect and return to their proper ages.
Contents
Plot
Professor Farnsworth is chasing his escaped gargoyle, Pazuzu. After a short time, he forgets the search and goes to Florida to have a discounted dinner. Annoyed with the Professor's crankiness, the Planet Express employees take the 161-year-old to an age-reducing spa, where he is given a massage, then bathed in blistering hot tar. An accident causes the entire crew to fall into the tar pit, reverting them to a younger age. Leela decides to live with her parents so that she can have a new chance at the normal teenage life she never had. A teenage Fry and Leela begin dating while Amy is the subject of jokes back on Mars due to her childhood obesity. The Professor searches for a way to undo the de-aging effects. It seems that time-altering chronitons have become stuck to their DNA.
Unfortunately, his plan backfires, and the crew (except Leela, who wants to remain a teenager and does not participate) begin to grow progressively younger. In order to stop this process, they search out the mythical Fountain of Aging. When the crew get caught in the current, Leela jumps in to save them, which ends her chance at being a teenager again. The Professor remains stuck in the fountain but is saved by his lost gargoyle, Pazuzu.
Reception
This episode, along with "Where No Fan Has Gone Before" has been called one of the great moments of the fourth season. Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode an A-.