The Deep South (Futurama)

This article is about the Futurama episode. For the U.S. geographic region, see Deep South.

"The Deep South"
Futurama episode
Fry and Umbriel
Episode no.	Season two Episode 12
Directed by	Bret Haaland
Written by	J. Stewart Burns
Production code	2ACV12
Original air date	April 16, 2000
Opening caption	"A Stern Warning of Things To Come"
Opening cartoon	"Scrap Happy Daffy"
Guest stars
Donovan Leitch as himself Parker Posey as Umbriel
Season two episodes
November 1999 – December 2000 I Second That Emotion Brannigan, Begin Again A Head in the Polls Xmas Story Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love? The Lesser of Two Evils Put Your Head on My Shoulder Raging Bender A Bicyclops Built for Two A Clone of My Own How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back The Deep South Bender Gets Made Mother's Day The Problem with Popplers Anthology of Interest I War Is the H-Word The Honking The Cryonic Woman
List of all Futurama episodes

"The Deep South" is episode 12 in season 2 of Futurama. It originally aired in North America on April 16, 2000.

Plot

A bureaucratic mix-up results in Hermes receiving a "mandatory fishing license" instead of a pet license for Nibbler. The crew takes the Planet Express Ship to the center of the Atlantic Ocean, and starts fishing. After failing to catch anything, a bored Bender fashions a large fish hook and attaches it to the ship's unbreakable diamond filament tether. Sunset comes, and the crew is ready to head back to New New York. Bender begins to haul in his line, but he has caught a colossal-mouth bass. The bass dives, dragging the ship to the bottom of the ocean before the hook slips loose. The Planet Express Ship survives its trek to the bottom, but its engines will not work underwater.

Professor Farnsworth conveniently has an anti-pressure suppository which Fry uses to go help forage for food with Bender and Dr. Zoidberg. Separated from them, Fry glimpses a mermaid; but when he returns to the ship, no one believes him. That night, the mermaid Umbriel lures Fry out of the ship, and they leave to explore the wonders of the ocean bottom.

The next morning, the crew finishes modifying the ship to return to the surface, but finds Fry missing. They set off following Zoidberg's underwater sense of smell to track him, and find the legendary lost city of Atlanta. There they find a civilization of merpeople who speak Southern American English. A documentary (narrated by Donovan) explains that Atlanta moved offshore in an effort to boost tourism but eventually sank to the bottom of the ocean under the weight of its own overdevelopment. Everyone that stayed with the city evolved into merpeople, with the assistance of leaking caffeine from Atlanta's Coca-Cola plant which accelerated the process of mutation.

Ready to leave, the crew heads back to the ship. Fry announces he is going to stay in Atlanta to be with Umbriel, shocking the crew. Fry settles in to enjoy his life with Umbriel, but upon realizing that the two of them could never have sexual intercourse due to her fish anatomy, he abandons her and runs to try to catch his friends. The ship leaves without him, but Bender's hook is still attached to the tether. Fry grabs hold and is dragged behind the ship. The colossal-mouth bass returns, and is hooked when it swallows Fry whole. The bass stays caught, and Fry returns to the surface with the rest of the crew.

Broadcast and reception

In its initial airing, the episode received a Nielsen rating of 3.6/7, placing it 86th among primetime shows for the week of April 10–16, 2000.

Censorship

On the FOX and Comedy Central airings of this episode (as well as the DVD version), the Professor says, "Sweet Zombie Jesus!" as he watches the giant fish leap out of the ocean. On Cartoon Network's Adult Swim line-up and TBS's Too Funny To Sleep line-up, the "Jesus" in "Sweet Zombie Jesus" was muted out.^{[citation needed]}

External links

• The Deep South at The Infosphere.