From June 16 to June 23, as part of its "Countdown to Futurama" event, Comedy Central Insider, Comedy Central's news outlet, released various preview materials for the episode, including a storyboard of the time machine and character designs for the aged Planet Express crew.
After arriving late for work and standing her up at her birthday lunch date, Fry is determined to make it up to Leela by skipping a party hosted by Hedonismbot and meeting Leela for a birthday dinner date at "Cavern on the Green," a fancy restaurant situated in a deep cave with naturally occurring stalagmites.
However, they are repeatedly sidetracked during their travels, encountering numerous periods of Earth civilization (at one point managing to find a time period populated by beautiful and intelligent women who have mastered backwards time-travel, but are sent forward by an angered Bender, who was not let off in an era where robots were conquering humanity), until they arrive at the year One Billion when Earth is barren and all life extinct.
Back in the 31st century, Leela takes over Planet Express and turns it into a successful company for over forty years, but still harbors some nostalgia and hurt toward Fry for standing her up before his "death".
They realize that they can continue forward in time and eventually reach the moment that they left in the new copy of the universe (although the Professor takes the opportunity to assassinate Adolf Hitler).
After dinner, Fry apologizes for losing his birthday card to her, but Leela dismisses it and tells him that she will always remember their time together.
[2] From June 16 to June 23, as part of its "Countdown to Futurama" event, Comedy Central Insider, Comedy Central's news outlet, released various preview materials for the episode, including a storyboard of the time machine and character designs for the aged Planet Express crew.
[3] Comedy Central also released a preview clip of the episode online on July 23, featuring Fry's tardiness to the initial lunch date with Leela.
The short story shares largely the same plot as the episode where two men get stuck in a time machine that only moves forward.
[7] A parody of the 1969 Zager & Evans song "In the Year 2525" accompanies the scenes of Fry, the Professor, and Bender traveling through the various eras of the future.
The episode has also been interpreted as a light homage to Douglas Adams' series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, particularly a scene in which Fry, Bender, and the Professor "casually drink beer and watch the end of the universe".
"[7] Robert Canning of IGN gave the episode a 7.5 out of 10, citing it as another example of Futurama's "smart takes" on time travel.
[12] On his Facebook account, Maurice LaMarche commented that he found this episode "[h]ilarious, touching, meaningful, philosophical, even metaphysical".