3ACV15: I Dated A Robot First UK airing: Sky One, 7:00pm, 20-5-01 "You can't shut us down! The internet is about the free exchange and sale of other peoples' ideas!" Say, a satire on the issues of digital copyright that completely toed the corporate line? Who would have thought it from a division of News Corporation? My take on the whole Napster (not Nappster) thing -- yes, ripping off tracks from a brand-new album so that people can get them without paying is a bad thing. But ripping off tracks from an album that's been deleted and therefore isn't making any more money for anyone? Can't see how that can possibly be considered to be harming anyone's commercial interests. I've got about a gig of MP3s on my computer, most of which are from CDs I already own, and the rest are largely obscure Eighties tracks (hey, my musical tastes are entirely my own concern) that are impossible to buy any more. (Amusingly, the artists making the most noise about Napster are ones that I would never want to listen to in a thousand years.) So I've already paid my money in the first case, and couldn't even if I wanted to in the second. Total loss to the music industry? Zero pounds, zero pence. But I guess corporations and lawyers don't see things that way. 'Nuff politics. 'I Dated A Robot' wasn't exactly the hottest way to end a season, but thanks to Fox's WGA strike-prompted holding over of nine (!) episodes from the 3ACV production block to season four it's what we were stuck with. 'Anthology Of Interest II' would surely have been the logical choice, but it's become clear now that logic flew off like a butterfly in a hurricane at Fox where Futurama's concerned. The show was okay overall, but it was still another guest star episode (though at least this time, unlike 'Time Keeps On Slippin'', the guest star was actually the real deal). Does Fox demand them for sweeps, or what? (Actually, they probably do. G'uh!) Fry seemed a bit out of character this week as well, especially considering that in the previous episode he was completely ga-ga over Leela. The Lucy Liu-bot could be his rebound date, I suppose, but it did seem like a major switch of romantic obsession for him. And how come Fry had such a thing for Lucy Liu anyway? She was only just starting to become known in 1999, when he got frozen -- and he couldn't have seen her in Ally McBeal, because in Fry's universe the show didn't exist! (Incidentally, the existence of Single Female Lawyer on Fox in Fry's universe means that we're living in the parallel universe where everyone is a cowboy by 3002 -- betcha the writers didn't consider that! Okay, yes, they probably have better things to do with their time...) There were some good jokes, though. Fry's line about breaking in his new hands tonight ( I guess he could quite legitimately be called a wanker!) was going to be my header quote until I went for the political option, and things like Dinkin' Donuts, the Space Pope, Pavarotti's head singing "Nooooooo!" when Bender chucked it away and the whole thoroughly demented bit with Madeline Allbright were funny enough to get past my cynicism about guest star episodes. I think The Scary Door has now run its course, though -- great the first time because it was unexpected, okay the second time because of the volume of gags, but I think a third trip to the well would find it dry. Prove me wrong, writers! Rating: