How can Philip J. Fry be his own grandfather if he is sterile?
In season one, "Fry and the Slurm Factory", Bender uses the F-ray on Fry.
BENDER
What should we point it at first?
FRY
I 'unno. Try it on me. Ow! My sperm!
BENDER
Wow, neat! Mind if I try that again?
[He points it at Fry's crotch again but nothing happens.]
FRY
Huh, didn't hurt that time.
This ray is so strong when the professor uses it he is in a gigantic radiation suit. Then in season 3 "Roswell That Ends Well", and continuing forward it is stated that Fry is his own grandfather. How can this be if his "bits" were irradiated?
Best Answer
Between those episodes Fry had Brain worms from episode 34 "Parasites Lost" they repaired many things in Fry. It makes sense that they repaired that problem as well as many others for him. They did increase his strength and stamina overall. By the time he got to do the nasty in the pasty in episode 51 (get it!) "Roswell That Ends Well" he should have been able to impregnate everyone's grandma.
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Answer 2
Fry says "Ow! my sperm!" insinuating that his sperm died (and that he could feel it, which is a different matter), this has nothing to do with the rest of his reproductive system. New sperm would be generated in a couple days and he should be OK. The reason it didn't hurt the second time is simply because all the sperm was already dead.
Now the fact that he can feel his sperm dying is a separate issue, but is as believable as the rest of it...
Answer 3
It's a throwaway joke. There is nothing more to it.
Since so many people were quibbling this answer, I went back and watched both episodes on DVD with audio commentary.
There is no mention of Fry being sterile in Roswell That Ends Well.
In Fry and the Slurm Factory, the later episode is acknowledged by (I think) David X Cohen:
We established a few scenes ago that Fry is sterile. Yet in season 3 we find out that Fry impregnates his own grandmother.
That is their only comment and they offer no explanation, showing that it was just a throwaway joke that they did not try to make canonical.
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