Futurama’s latest episode sends the Planet Express crew back to Earth, and it brings three classic TV shows along for the ride. Season 14 Episode 8, “Ocean’s Three,” is a parody of The Love Boat, Gilligan’s Island, and Waterworld, all rolled into one hour of animation. The episode is now streaming on Hulu, and it comes with a new version of The Love Boat’s theme song, which the show has renamed “The Laff Boat.”
The premise is simple. The crew sets sail on a cruise ship, and things quickly turn into a nightmare. Showrunner David X. Cohen told reporters via email that the episode was designed to honor some of the greatest sea adventures of TV and film, both comedies and dramas. “Although we smashed them together Futurama-style, so our crew’s lighthearted, laugh track-enhanced three-hour tour ends up as a hellish, life-and-death Waterworld-style adventure,” he said. “Rest assured, it all makes 93% perfect sense when you see it.”
The Songs That Tell The Story
“The Laff Boat” is the main event. It remixes The Love Boat’s famous theme song into a parody that skewers 20th century television’s love of the laugh track.
“Phil Again’s Island” is the other musical highlight. It borrows the melody of Gilligan’s Island’s theme song and uses it to explain the plot to viewers. Cohen described it as helping explain the story to the audience, though he admitted that it makes “93% perfect sense” only in context.
Both songs are available to watch below, courtesy of Hulu.
What The Episode Actually Does
The episode combines three very different kinds of storytelling. The Love Boat was a 1970s-1980s cruising dramedy about passengers on a luxury liner. Gilligan’s Island was a 1960s disaster sitcom about a group stranded on a desert island. Waterworld was a 1995 dystopian epic set after a global flood.
Futurama-style blends all three into a single narrative. The crew’s trip starts as a lighthearted, laugh-track-enhanced vacation. It ends as a hellish, life-and-death struggle for survival. Director Crystal Chesney-Thompson and the animators at Rough Draft Studios were praised for their work on the visuals.
How To Watch
New episodes of Futurama Season 14 premiere Mondays on Hulu. The show’s original run is also available on Amazon.
| Day | Event |
|---|---|
| Monday | New episode premieres on Hulu |
| Always | Original run streams on Amazon |
The Songs And Their Purpose
The songs are the real draw here. “The Laff Boat” is a direct attack on the laugh track, and “Phil Again’s Island” turns a familiar melody into a plot summary. Both are available to watch below.
The blend of three very different shows into a three-hour tour is a clever move. The Love Boat’s luxury cruise, Gilligan’s Island’s island prison, and Waterworld’s flooded planet all share a setting, but they are otherwise unrelated. Futurama-style is the kind of show that can pull it off.
It is a fun one to write, as Cohen said, and it looks like a fun one to watch.
See the video the story is built around at Consequence.
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