When Aliens Attack

Fry delivers a pizza to the control booth of WNYW, New York’s Fox flagship station. A spill—beer, or perhaps soda—interrupts a spoof broadcast, and Fry mutters, 'Like anyone on Earth cares.' The chaotic broadcast tower becomes a focal point as the camera pulls back, revealing Omicron Persei 8 in space and their invasion fleet taking advantage of the interruption.

In space near Earth, the Omicronians begin their invasion, furious at the interrupted transmission. The attack is framed as retaliation for the disruption, signaling the start of a planetary crisis.

Jumping to the year 3000, the Planet Express crew, off duty, heads to Monument Beach for Labor Day, a rare moment of leisure amid a landscape where monuments still stand. The Omicronian invasion continues, and they systematically destroy the monuments one by one.

Lrrr issues an explosive demand for 'the one called McNeal' as the invasion escalates. President McNeal orders Zapp Brannigan to mount a counterattack, but Earth's fleet suffers devastating losses, culminating in the destruction of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Earth's government hands over President McNeal to appease the invaders. Lrrr reveals the grim twist: the McNeal they want is not the real one, and he vaporizes the actual president. They flash a photo of Jenny McNeal from the show Single Female Lawyer, demanding the broadcast of that series or Earth will be destroyed.

With the clock ticking, the Planet Express crew races to fake the required series. They scramble to recreate the show using their limited resources, hoping the ruse will stave off annihilation.

Leela steps in as Jenny and improvises a courtroom scenario, even proposing marriage to the judge—portrayed by Professor Farnsworth—during a crucial moment. Her performance blurs the line between script and reality as the clock ticks down.

Between breaks, Fry confesses that audiences prefer familiar structures and endings over clever twists. Lrrr publicly backs Fry's viewpoint, signaling a willingness to settle for a conventional payoff. The team presses on to craft an ending that might satisfy both sides.

Fry crafts an ending in which Farnsworth dies, leaving Jenny McNeal a single female lawyer again. The Omicronians declare the result good enough to spare Earth, but not good enough to grant immortality. The crew reluctantly accepts the grim resolution as the price of safety.

The aliens depart Earth to watch a 1,000-year-old Jay Leno monologue. Fry reflects on the craft of television, arguing that a successful series hinges on returning to normal by the end of each episode. The Omicronians depart satisfied with the result.

Fry proclaims that the secret to a successful TV series is that everything ends up back to normal at the end of each episode. The curtain closes on New New York burning, yet the world pauses to resume its ordinary rhythm.

As the credits roll, the burning city serves as a stark reminder of the price of interstellar entertainment demands. The world steadies itself and reaffirms the comfort of the familiar normalcy as the only constant in a chaotic universe.