A Fishful of Dollars

Production Number: 1ACV06 Title Caption: LOADING... First Aired: 4/27/99

Act I: "Give it a rest, you two!"
Fry is trying to sleep, but is kept up by a rhythmic squeaking from the next apartment. A pan through the wall reveals a pair of spring-bodied robots playing cards.

Act II: "Being Poor Sucks"
Fry has a dream about Lightspeed Briefs. When he tells his co-workers, they tell him it was just an advertisement. In spite of everyone's claims not to be affected by the dreams, they all run to the mall. Fry discovers he can't afford a pair of Lightspeed Briefs, and Bender steals a lot of stuff. When they're trying to bail Bender out, he discovers his old bank account is still open. Thanks to compound interest, his $.93 has grown to 4.3 billion dollars.

Act III: "50 million dollars worth of Anchovies"
Fry's new-found wealth immediately goes to his head. He spends a fortune taking his friends out and doing whatever expensive, ridiculous things they can think of. When he tried to buy his friends dinner, he learns that his favorite pizza topping, Anchovies, have been extinct for 800 years.

Later, they go to an auction and Fry gets into a bidding contest with Mom over the last known can of anchovies in the world, which he ultimately buys for 50 million dollars. Fry begins to turn inward, immersed in his private recreation of the 20th century.

Act IV: "That stench... that heavenly stench!"
Mom reveals that anchovie's represent a potential source of a super lubricant that would put Mom's Friendly Robot Company out of the oil business, costing her billions. She plots with her sons to get Fry's anchovies back, by tricking Fry into revealing his pin number - "the price of a cheese pizza and a soda" at Panucci's Pizza where Fry used to work. They drug Fry and place him in a staged scene in Panucci's, where Pamela Anderson's Head enters and places an order. Fry stupidly falls for the obvious trick and reveals his pin number. Mom steals Fry's money, and tries to extort the can of anchovies out of him. Fry refuses, insisting that it is more important to share the anchovies he loves with his friends than to be rich. Realising Fry doesn't know the anchovies secret and her oil monopoly is safe, Mom leaves. With the exception of Dr. Zoidberg, his friends hate the anchovies.

Trivia

 * The teacher in Fry's dream can later be seen on the escalator after Bender sprays the saleswoman

Quotes

 * Mom: Toodle-oo! Dumbass!
 * Fry: I've discovered something even more important [than money]: My friends. And they aren't worth even a penny to me!
 * Fry: Uhm, I've misssed a few lectures. What subject is this? Teacher: Ancient Egyptian Algebra! Fry: Hwu! What a nightmare! Teacher: Mr. Fry, are those your underpants!?

Characters
(In alphabetical order)
 * Amy
 * Bender
 * Dr. Zoidberg
 * Fry
 * Hermes
 * Leela
 * Debut: Mom
 * Prof. Farnsworth
 * Debut: Scruffy
 * Debut: Walt, Larry and Ignar, Mom's sons.

Episode Credits

 * Writers
 * Patric M. Verrone
 * Voice Actors
 * Billy West
 * Katey Sagal
 * John DiMaggio
 * Tress MacNeille
 * Maurice LaMarche
 * Phil LaMarr
 * Lauren Tom
 * Dave Herman
 * Special Guest
 * Pamela Anderson