Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles

Season 5, Episode 7, Aired
EDIT

Episode Summary

When Fry and the Planet Express gang realize that at 161 years old, the Professor has become too crotchety to handle, they decide he needs to be "youth-a-sized". Traveling to an asteroid, they register the Professor at a posh resort where their full-body bath in searing hot tar is guaranteed to turn back the clock. Through a series of unfortunate accidents, the bath covers not only the Professor but also everyone else and all are affected by the treatment. Back at Planet Express, a now 53-year-old Professor tries to keep a now 13-year-old Fry and other kids under control while looking for a way to reverse the effects of the tar treatment. Meanwhile, "the kids" all react to their newfound youth, including Leela, who decides she could have a taste of the childhood she never had as an orphan.moreless
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Cast & Crew

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  • David Herman

    Mayor Poopenmayer, Professor Ogden Wernstrum, Scruffy, Toronga Morris, Larry, Dwayne, Various

  •

    Katey Sagal

    Turanga Leela, Various

  •

    Billy West

    Philip J. Fry, Professor Hubert Farnsworth, Dr. John Zoidberg, Zapp Brannigan, Leo Wong, Various

Fan Episode Reviews (8)

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  • "Now Let's have some Takila to celebrate!"

    10
    "Perfect"
    By Samuel2484, Sep 25, 2009 Report Abuse
    It's episodes like this that make Futurama the fantastic show that it is! This is one my favorites! The Professer getting his hair back, Fry's voice breaking, Leela living with her parents, Bender with braces, Hermes being a naughty boy and Fat Amy. This episode contains so much humour I can't stand it! I particularly liked the scene where Fry and Leela go on a date and race Moose and Mandy the sewer mutant couple. I thought that the fictional science logic was well thought out and the Animation was as great as ever! I was also happy that they put Leela's parents into the episode because they are the best!moreless

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    1 0

  • Extremely funny and well written.

    10
    "Perfect"
    By ctm723, Jun 30, 2009 Report Abuse
    This episode cracked me up and I laughed throughout the whole episode and some hilarious parts are when Farnsworth was driving and Leela said profesor this ship can go 99 percent light speed why are we going 35 milles per hour and then Farnsworth said because we're in a hurry that's why and when a guy yelled at Farnsworth and he waited a while until the guy was'nt in sight and said shut up. Also it was very funny when Bender called Farnsworth captain caterax and when Leela's dad offered her tequila and she said she was uunder age and he said here's a silly straw and when Leela told Fry to bring beer and her dad said no beer til after you finish your tequila. Overall I will always remember this episode as a hilarious one.moreless

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  • great episode

    10
    "Perfect"
    By Blind_Legend, Jul 02, 2008 Report Abuse
    Oh, where to start. The Professor driving the Planet Express ship? Classic! The Professor retaining grump? Hilarious! Everyone getting younger? Okay, sure it's been done before on a hundred cartoons, but reverse aging and the variety of Dr. Zoidberg's stages of growth keep it from becoming stale. I will say that I was a little disappointed with the inaccuracy of Bender's reverse aging. It has been well established that he came of the assembly line fully grown, so seeing smaller versions of him didn't do it for me. His eventual deevolution into a diskette was amusing, however. Overall, it's a cute episode with some memorable lines.moreless

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  • Another one of my favorite episodes that has so many jokes that it can even make the driest senses of humor laugh-out-loud!!!!!

    9.9
    "Superb"
    By Iverson82094, Feb 19, 2008 Report Abuse
    When Fry and the Planet Express gang realize that at 161 years old, the Professor has become too crotchety to handle, they decide he needs to be "youth-a-sized". Traveling to an asteroid, they register the Professor at a posh resort where their full-body bath in searing hot tar is guaranteed to turn back the clock. Through a series of unfortunate accidents, the bath covers not only the Professor but also everyone else and all are affected by the treatment. Back at Planet Express, a now 53-year-old Professor tries to keep a now 13-year-old Fry and other kids under control while looking for a way to reverse the effects of the tar treatment. Meanwhile, "the kids" all react to their newfound youth, including Leela, who decides she could have a taste of the childhood she never had as an orphan.moreless

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    1 0

  • An accident causes the Planet Express to become younger.

    9.3
    "Superb"
    By mataletea, Feb 02, 2007 Report Abuse
    In attempt to rejuvenate the Professor and make him not so he is not so old, an accident occurs that causes the entire crew to become younger. Everybody wants to return to their previous ages except Leela who wants to go live with her parents and to experience a family life which she had always wanted. So the Professor tries to rectify the problem but only makes things worse causing the crew to become younger and younger by the second.

    There are many very funny scenes in this episode. Watching Zoidberg pass through all his pre mature states, the rebellious Bender and a teenage Fry trying to date a teenage Leela.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

    ADD TRIVIA
    • How would the Fountain of Aging take the Kronatons of their DNA? Shouldn't it just age them, then when they got out they would continue growing younger? Edit
    • The planet with "its asteroid belt pulled so high up", actually has rings, like Saturn and Uranus in our solar system (along with a few others with very small rings...) so this is incorrect. Edit
    • There is no proportion whatsoever among the character's getting younger, especially with Bender. Bender's head starts out oldest, at over 1050 years old, and yet it simply appears as young as the rest of his body, which should have gotten younger much faster than any of the other characters. Next was Farnsworth, and though his losing many more years at first makes sense, due to being covered in the oil for longer, it doesn't make sense that he should end up about 8 years old when the others are in the "womb" when after the first age loss they appear to have about 40 years between them. Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • We learn that Zoidberg has/had a brother named Norman Edit
    • Many scenes were deleted from this episode to make up for time. You can find them all on the Futurama Season 4 DVD. Edit
    • Young Bender has antenna ears, an early design concept Groening had for Bender. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Amy: You look old enough to be my dad. Farnsworth: Oh Florgshbird. Edit
    • Farnsworth: Dude, this solar system is like way old man. Edit
    • Farnsworth: We'll all suffer the agony of unbirth. Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • The Dr. Farnsworth is portrayed as a Jesus-figure, who kept his faith, and is rescued at the last minute from death by God. The Pazuzu gargoyle is also portrayed as God. Edit
    • Children's Story: Bunny Bender's line, "When I grow up, I wanna be a steam shovel!" is the last line in the childrens' story Bunny. In it, a girl says to her brother that when she grows up she wants to be a bunny before becoming a lady; at the end of the story the boy says, "When I grow up, I wanna be a steam shovel." Edit
    • Star Trek: The Next Generation The plot has some similarities to a "Star Trek: TNG" episode entitled "Rascals." In that episode, four characters (Keiko, Guinan, Ensign Ro and Captain Picard) are involved in a transporter malfunction that turns them into pre-adolescents. Edit

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