Inspired by Arthur C. Clarke’s eery ability to predict the future, I went lurking around YouTube to see if I could find similar pronouncements from one of the other greats of science fiction, Isaac Asimov. I failed in that task, but discovered something that ties Asimov directly into Futurama.
There’s a couple of very cool things here:
• Isaac Asimov, dictating the original three laws of robotics. That can’t be anything but cool.
• This isn’t intended to poke fun at anybody’s accent, human or alien. Heck, it’s Isaac Asimov! I’m tempted to declare that “rowbut” is the official standard pronunciation — I mean, who’s better qualified to state how it should be pronounced?
• It makes me wonder: Is Zoidberg a deliberate Asimov homage — Futurama’s quite well known for dropping science in-jokes into scripts wherever possible — or just coincidental?
EckyThump
Wednesday, September 7, 2011 at 3:11 PM“What Do Isaac Asimov And Dr Zoidberg Have In Common?”
Retractable dorsal fin…! #]
olearymo
Wednesday, September 7, 2011 at 4:06 PMwoooooooooooop wooop woop woop woop woop!
Steve
Wednesday, September 7, 2011 at 9:35 PMBoth wanted to be song-and-dance-men but were pushed by their parents to study science.
Dave
Wednesday, September 7, 2011 at 5:31 PMThe “ro-but” pronunciatition definitely sounds Asimovian. But in interviews, Billy West has always maintained that Zoidberg’s voice was a combination of George Jessel and Lou Jacobi.
derp
Wednesday, September 7, 2011 at 5:34 PMThis comment has been deemed inappropriate and has been deleted
Danny Allen
Wednesday, September 7, 2011 at 5:39 PMwoah. a real life fan of watching competitive grass growing. how awesome for you.
Eckythump
Wednesday, September 7, 2011 at 5:48 PMI really wish people would just read articles and comments for what they are and leave the english lesson for somewhere else!
olearymo
Thursday, September 8, 2011 at 8:48 AMSo they shouldn’t bother spelling properly?
I agree it’s counter-productive to make the ‘spellcheck broken’ comment (is agressive and just gets the author’s back up), it’s much better to just point out the correction neutrally.
But really, having correct spelling in an article someone was paid to write is not an ‘english lesson’.
EckyThump
Thursday, September 8, 2011 at 9:02 AMMy thinking is that the articles and comments here, (particularly the comments in my case) are what is important, people make mistakes, this is not an English class, and being anal enough that you feel it necessary to correct their grammar is just plain rude! Sure they made a mistake, or had a brain fart, it’s not really relevant, is it?
Alex
Wednesday, September 7, 2011 at 7:15 PMPoor Bender. Too have Fin Fungus at such a young age. So sad.
Luke
Wednesday, September 7, 2011 at 7:59 PM“Futurama’s quite well known for dropping science in-jokes into scripts wherever possible”
Your not kidding, The writers invented their own alien script and their own form of calculus just for the show. The language is seen everywhere and the calculus was just for the time keeps on slipping episode.
ozoneocean
Thursday, September 8, 2011 at 6:29 AMWell…Azimov was a Jewish New Yorker, unfortunately Jewish New Yorkers are a bit of a stereotype so this isn’t as big a coincidence as you’d think.