over. Meanwhile, the time skips are only getting worse, with peoples' entire lives being lived out in only a few seconds. Meanwhile, Bender tries to persuade Tate to let him join the Globetrotters, but Tate tells Bender the hard truth that he will never be "funky enough" to join the team, causing him to break down in tears. With the assistance of the other Globetrotters (the greatest scientific minds in the universe), a new plan is devised. The Planet Express crew will use one of Professor Farnsworth's doomsday devices to implode the nebula, creating a black hole which will prevent the further release of chronitons. Fry and Leela have an amicable conversation where Fry apologizes for his actions and agrees that Leela will probably never feel the same way he does about her. Bender releases the doomsday device and Leela, feeling bad for breaking Fry's heart, allows Fry to pilot the ship to safety. As they leave, Fry notices that during one of the time skips, he had spelled out the message "I LOVE YOU, LEELA" with stars, but the message is destroyed by the implosion before Leela can see it. Fry stares sadly out into space while Bender whistles a slow, sad version of "Sweet Georgia Brown". Production Ken Keeler used the story "Strange Romance" from the book Y. Cheung, Business Detective by Harry Stephen Keeler (of no relation to Ken Keeler) as the basis for this episode. Marv Albert is portrayed by comedian Jeff Cesario. Broadcast and reception In its initial airing, the episode received a Nielsen rating of 3.9/8, placing it 80th among primetime shows for the week of April 30 – May 6, 2001. In 2006, IGN ranked "Time Keeps On Slippin'" as number 15 in their list of the best episodes of Futurama. The episode is included in the list because of the last scene where Fry's star message "I Love You, Leela" gets destroyed. Although the ending is described as heartbreaking, it still leaves fans looking forward to the future possibilities for Fry and Leela's relationship. Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode an A. References External links Time Keeps on Slippin' at The Infosphere. Futurama (season 3) episodes 2001 American television episodes Cultural depictions of the Harlem Globetrotters Television episodes written by Ken Keeler