David X. Cohen Feels One Futurama Moment Tarnished Zapp's Character
Even with a lascivious, rapacious character like Zapp Brannigan, things can be taken too far.
In Matt Groening's and David X. Cohen's "Futurama," Zapp Brannigan (Billy West) is the captain of an outsized warship called the Nimbus, and works for an organization called the Democratic Order of Planets, or DOOP. Brannigan is a vain, idiotic blowhard who treats his crew like trash and clumsily flirts with any woman within spitting distance. He often touts his sexual prowess, even though he is notoriously bad at sex. He loves his thigh-revealing velour uniform, murders alien invaders without considering the consequences, and calls his quarters "the love-nasium." He can't pronounce the word "champagne" correctly. Zapp is a terrible person.
That, of course, is the joke. In interviews, actor Billy West has said that Zapp Brannigan is what would happen if actor William Shatner was in charge of the starship Enterprise rather than Captain Kirk, a comedically absurd notion indeed. Zapp is a being of narcissistic, base impulses, but the universe of "Futurama" is so corrupt that he is always in a position of authority. Which, naturally, only adds to his confidence and egotism despite a complete lack of grace, intelligence, or talent.
But Cohen once said that Zapp, even though he is supposed to behave in a brash, misogynistic manner, did once cross a line. In a 2012 Ask Me Anything session on Reddit, Cohen was asked what episode he would alter, were he able to go back in time and fix it. Cohen revealed that it was an episode called "In-a-Gadda-Da-Leela," wherein Leela (Katey Sagal) and Zapp were stranded on a planet together. He felt Zapp's sexual manipulations went too far in that instance.
In-a-Gadda-Da-Leela
The plot of "In-a-Gadda-Da-Leela" involves a massive planet-eating sphere drifting through the heavens, destroying multiple worlds on its way to Earth. The sphere, it is soon revealed, was originally an Earth probe that was returning home after centuries in deep space (see also: "Star Trek: The Motion Picture"). In a satirical twist, the probe is also revealed to be made up of two media censorship satellites that collided. It is now "censoring" any planets that don't live up to strict FCC guidelines on sexual content and dirty language.
Leela and Zapp are recruited to combat the massive sphere, but end up being attacked and crash-landing on an Eden-like planet. Leela is trapped under a log, and Zapp must bring her food and water. As time passes, Leela begins to appreciate Zapp's care. Naturally, not all is as it seems. By the end of the episode, Zapp will confess that he and Leela were actually on Earth this whole time, and he had been lying incessantly about their circumstances in order to manipulate Leela into having sex.
Yes, the episode contains themes of gaslighting and sexual assault, something Cohen hated. He wrote on Reddit:
"In retrospect, I concede we went to far when we first came back on Comedy Central, in our second episode 'In-a-Gadda-Da-Leela.' Zapp and Leela get marooned on an Eden-like planet and he tries to deceive her into sleeping with him. But looking back it's a bit rapey. It was very funny at times but may have hurt Zapp's character."
He may be a pig, but making Zapp into a calculating predator was admittedly icky. As "Futurama" progressed, Zapp reverted to his usual lascivious self and the writers seemed careful to keep him back in the realm of "annoying," rather than "outright criminal."