Love's Labours Lost in Space

Act I: "Most guys are put off by my eye."
Leela is in a restaurant, on a date with a guy named Doug. Things are going well, until she sees his "vile lizard tongue."

Act II: "I need the apartment tonight - go see a saucy puppet show."
Leela tells everyone about the date. Wanting to help, Amy, Fry, Bender, and Zoidberg take Leela to a trendy dance club, The Hip Joint. Fry ends up going home with a girl, but Leela goes home alone. The next day at work, the Professor assigns them a "tax-deductable mission of charity." They are to go and rescue animals from a planet called Vergon 6 which is going to be destroyed.

Act III: "Wow! The Zapp Brannigan!"
The crew takes off on their mission, and upon arriving at Vergon 6 they find the Zapp Brannigan's ship, the Nimbus, already on the scene. Leela decides to go meet Zapp and ask for his help saving the animals. Zapp immediately begins to hit on Leela. When Leela tells him about the mission, he places them under arrest for attempting to break Brannigan's Law. He has Leela brought to his room and manages to seduce her. Leela wakes up in the morning horrified.

Act IV: "I'll call him Nibbler."
Smug with satisfaction over "scoring" with Leela, Zapp releases them all and they resume their mission to save the animals unassisted. They run around collecting animals and loading them onto the ship. Leela comes across a strange creature, who she later names Nibbler. While they are hunting for the last animals, Nibbler eats all the animals they have captured. They try to flee, but the ship is out of gas; Zapp refuses to help unless they abandon Nibbler. Leela refuses, and Nibbler drops a load of Dark Matter in his litter box. Fry and Bender take the fuel to the engines, and they escape before the planet implodes.

Trivia

 * Creatures from Vergon 6 included:
 * Note: Several animals appear in the ship's hold that don't seem to correspond to an animal on the list.


 * When Nibbler drops the dark matter, the ship should not cause the planet to cave in, since the total weight of the ship (and the objects inside the ship) does not change at all. Similar weight variation occurs in later episodes, it is believed there's some sort of wormhole in the Nibblonian digestive system. This is supported by the end of
 * This episode is named #2 on IGN's list of Top 25 Futurama Episodes.

Quotes

 * Zapp Brannigan: We both know you won't make it halfway to Vergon 6 before the craving sets in. Then you'll come crawling back for another taste of sweet, sweet candy... bam!
 * Kif: I suppose, Captain. I'm not as big a fan of velour as you are.
 * Kif: The jackass wants to see you in his quarters.
 * Leela: So we have to bring back two of each kind. Just like Noah's Ark! Bender: Why two? Leela: (whispers something in Benders ear) Bender: Aw! Heheheheeh!
 * Zapp Brannigan: Cham-paggin? Leela: I wasn't aware you were such a connai-sewer. Zapp Brannigan: Well, I've studied abroad - or two. Hahahah!
 * Bender: He's pending for a bending!
 * Zapp Brannigan: Hmmm, that's got a nice feel to it.
 * Zapp Brannigan: I like your style, I find it very... erotic . Leela: What? Zapp Brannigan: Erotic! Erotic! Erotic!

Characters
(In alphabetical order)
 * Debut: 21st Century girl
 * Amy
 * Bender
 * Debut: Bolt Rolands
 * Debut: Doug
 * Dr. Zoidberg
 * Fry
 * Hermes
 * Debut: Kif Kroker
 * Leela
 * Debut: Lobster
 * Debut: M5438
 * Debut: Nibbler
 * Prof. Farnsworth
 * Debut: The Hip Joint Janitor
 * Debut: Zapp Brannigan

Outside References

 * Zapp Brannigan's character was inspired by Captain Kirk from Star Trek. To create the character, the writers imagined what it would be like if William Shatner himself, not James T. Kirk, were the captain of the Enterprise.
 * Kif Kroker is another derivative of Star Trek - based on the idea of Spock hating his captain, yet being dependant on him and doing his every whim.

Episode Credits

 * Writer
 * Brian Kelley
 * Director
 * Brian Sheesley
 * Voice Actors
 * Billy West
 * Katey Sagal
 * John DiMaggio
 * Lauren Tom
 * Maurice LaMarche
 * David X. Cohen
 * DVD commentary
 * Matt Groening
 * David X. Cohen
 * Rich Moore
 * Brian Kelley
 * Brian Sheesley
 * Scott Vanzo
 * John DiMaggio