581: The Race: Part 5

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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The Race: Part 5
It was actually canceled because they just noticed he's been naked under that coat the whole time.  There's a petition on Facebook to get Fox to un-cancel it, and one on Livejournal to get him to take off the coat.
Title text: It was actually canceled because they just noticed he's been naked under that coat the whole time. There's a petition on Facebook to get Fox to un-cancel it, and one on Livejournal to get him to take off the coat.

Explanation

This is a continuation of the previous comic in "The Race" series, xkcd 580: The Race: Part 4.

In panel 6 (2nd panel in the 2nd row), Nathan Fillion line is reminiscent of a similar quote from the 2nd episode of [[wikipedia:Firefly (TV Series)|Firefly]], The Train Job: "I just wanted you to face me so she could get behind ya." In the show, Malcolm Reynolds is aided by Zoë Washburne, his second in command, who gets behind the bar thug he is speaking to. In the comic, Nathan Fillion is using the line on a fan, but Gina Torres is not standing behind Cueball this time.

The final panel is a reference to Fox TelevisionTV's treatment of Firefly. Firefly was cancelled after only 11 episodes of the 14 made were aired, leaving 3 episodes unaired.

Internet petitions, contrary to the sarcastic suggestion in the final panel, rarely, if ever, work.

All comics in "The Race" series:

Transcript

Note: The transcript below comes from the xkcd website itself, however it appears to be the transcript for 582: Brakes, not this comic. If and when Randall updates the transcript for this comic this transcript will be updated.

Of the potential responses to my brakes' failure, I did not choose the best.

[A car, in silhouette, is sailing off the edge of a cliff. The voice comes from a phone inside the car.]

Voice: Hello, you're on Car talk.


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Discussion

The phrase "captain tightpants" is also a reference to the episode "Shindig" in which Kaylee calls Captain Mal by that name when he is dressed up in fancy garb, and also acting uptight. 184.40.33.194 23:22, 20 October 2013 (UTC)Ethan Francis

Extrude, but not retract?

Is that a reference to The Sarah Connor Chronicles? Swartzer (talk) 07:35, 19 November 2013 (UTC)

I don't think so. I think she's mainly just referring to the way hair grows, and how you can grow hair but you can't "take hair back". --JayRulesXKCD (talk) 12:13, 21 September 2016 (UTC)

In one episode River is scared by the open and off-standing hair of the priest (a long-term passenger on board the Firefly) who usually has his hair tied back. The text in the first panel might be a reference.