2ACV03: A Head In The Polls First UK airing: Sky One, 8:00pm, 28-3-00 "When a robotic Nixon is on the loose, we have a duty to take action!" Finally, my degree in American Politics came in useful for something! If not for three years of university education at the taxpayers' expense (I graduated at the end of the final year before student loans were introduced in the UK -- bwah hah hah!), I wouldn't have got some of the jokes in this episode. (It also allowed me to nitpick -- Nixon was never actually at the Watergate himself -- but never mind.) Mind you, even with a degree in the subject, I still don't fully understand American politics. Besides, it's always some tall right-wing white male with good hair who wins. This was a very funny episode all round, even if the odd political gag slipped past the radar. The Professor's shameful past. Leela's bowling ball. The brain slugs. Amy and the hemp dude (is she really that naive? Must be that sheltered Martian upbringing). Bender living it large, or at least as large as you can when you're just a head. The grappling hook (very cute). President Jesse "The Head" Ventura. "Oh, expletive deleted!" And the absolutely hilarious Twilight Zone pisstake. I just wish that my recording of the show had been good enough to make out all the names in the Head Museum. Sodding Sky and their encryption system that interferes with my VCR's reception... Interesting to see that we're still in the year 3000 (presumably November). So all of Fry's adventures to date have taken place in just 11 months? And next week, it's Christmas! (Three months late, admittedly, but at least we don't get pre-emptions and mid-season reruns in the UK.) Does this mean that 2ACV05 will feature bores droning on about how it's not "really" a new millennium until 3001? The production company is starting to make a lot more use of CGI -- in addition to the Gundam/Evangelion-style Nixonborg at the end, Bender's wild ride in the VW was computer animated. There's now even a full CGI version of the Planet Express offices, inside and out, as well as the ship. An end to continuity errors? Don't bet on it! Another thing -- why does everyone pick on Leela? First Amy disparages her thighs, now Gerald Ford calls her "meaty". I think her Watergate break-in catsuit ought to put paid to that kind of thing. So what if she can lift Fry with one hand? She can break into where I'm sleeping and try to unscrew my head any time. And I bet she looks better in a catsuit than G Gordon Liddy. Rating: