Doctor Farnsworth says that 1 pound of dark matter weighs several tons. (I think is was meant to be funny.) He should have said 1 cubic inch/centemeter weighs several tons. Also, it good to see that English weights and measures are alive and well in the 30th century. BTW, did anyone notice that the 1st 4 have covered 3 and a half months? (Jan. 1 through April 13 or so)

Capt. Zapp Branigan's alien sidekick stole the sceans with him in them. Oh and I gota have a hoverbed.

I think when we are nitpicking this series we have to remember that it isn't supposed to be realistic. It is meant to be as unrealistic as possible! For example, the gag about "one pound of dark matter weighs over 300 tons!" That WAS supposed to be funny. It isn't a serious show at all.

I loved Zapp Branigan's log entries:
"Star Date....Uh, what's the date?"
"April 13"
"Star date April 13.........point 2"

I know that isn't exactly how it went, but that's okay.

Obviously this episode is a HUGE Star Trek reference..infact it REAKS of it. The uniforms, the Confederate Star Fleet, establishing shots of the ship between sceens, the list goes on. Obviously Branigan is supposed to be some sort of bizzre mutation of the past and present Capt. Kirk. A womanizer... and well fat and not very "desirable" while still having a bit of a younger-Kirk charm/handsomeness.
I imagine if the planet were hollow it wouldn't have much of a magnetic or gravitational feild or be a planet at all.
This episode establishes that the starships in Futurama use, possibly, a quatumn singularity drive.. alot like Romulan Warbirds. The darkmatter is probably fed into the singularity to keep it open.

Also, there is a Star Wars reference. In the beginning, the Professors speech includes a holographic table similar to the one in ROTJ.

IT actualy reminded me of a similar table device seen in a TNG episode, the one where we first run into the Ferengi and they're stuck in orbit around a planet because it's taking their energy.

Leela says that they have to rescue 2 of each animal. That's awfully presumptious of her. How does she know that the animals don't have 3 or more sexes.
What about the plants? Do they assume that the animals can eat any old plants from any planet?
Also they only have one Nibbler. Will its species go extinct?

Why was Nibbler so quick to eat the animals, but not to try and eat Leela & Fry? ("You want Fry with that?")
I would be extremly nervous to be on the same ship as that creature.

So Leela went all through dinner without noticing the guy had a lizard tounge?

This episode establishes that Bender has a "Gaydar" that works well unless there is interference from the Gay Weather Balloon. After Leela passes one of her prospective suitors (the being composed of pure energy), Bender's Gaydar starts going off in the direction of "Pure Energy" guy (can't remember his name :( ). Later, as the gang leaves the club, "Pure Energy" is seen linking arms with Amy. Now mind you, Amy was present when the "Gaydar" went off.

Does anybody find that just a bit... peculiar? Did I misunderstand the whole thing?

Possibly.
Guys have been known to say a guy is gay and claim that they can tell, especially if a woman is interested in the guy in question.
I just saw the gaydar joke as the situation taken to an extreme. (And what is a gay weather balloon anyway? A weather balloon that is attracted to other weather balloons? A weather balloon built by homosexuals? A balloon that can detect gay weather?)
As for Amy leaving with energy guy (I think the name was M5, but I'm not certain) either she didn't believe Bender's gaydar (and neither did energy guy, obviously) or she is one of those women who is attracted to gay men. (Yes, there are such women.)

Mabye Gaydar dosen't work properly around energy beings such as M5. Because it is very obvious the the Gardar was just plain wrong about M5.

The most Star Trekkish thing about the episode was that sappy speech MX95 (the energy being)gave Leela when she rejected him. And Kip was a riot!

Re: "Also they only have one Nibbler. Will its species go extinct?" Maybe it's asexual and doesn't need a mate to reproduce?

Most women I know would love a guy with a talented, prehensile tongue.

Are their any animals on earth that have three sexs? Vertabrates for that matter. The point is life has to follow some rules.

The rules for life on Earth doesn't necesarily apply to life on other planets. Different conditions in their primordial soup, environmental conditions, etc., etc.

I was watching a show a few years back (Charlie Rose?) where a scientist had said there are microscopic organisms with 5 sexes.

As for vertebrates, well..., I believe there is a species of snake that is only female. They reproduce by mating with males of closely related species. (I think I read that in Natural History magazine.)

Whales mate in threes..., but the third one is just there to help the other two stay together. (Although maybe the moon whales have 3 sexes? ;-)

And then there's always parthenogenesis.

They could just clone a gazillion Nibblers.

Well, that would take care of the problem of Human overpopulation. *burp*

The lack of pants in the uniform is obviously a 'revenge' for the miniskirts in Star Trek TOS.

It's established later that Leela has grown up on Earth so her having heard of it is not unusual.

Ah yes..Now I remember.

The DVD mentions that Zapp Brannigan is meant to be based on 50% Captain Kirk and 50% William Shatner.

I don't know whether William Shatner would take that as a compliment.

As for a nit mentioned awhile ago, now we know why Nibler didn't eat Fry or Leela.