Futurama
What Was it About? Fry, a pizza delivery boy and general waste of time, is accidentally frozen on New Year's Eve 1999 and wakes up 1000 years in the future. There, he is employed as an interstellar delivery boy by his descendant Professor Farnsworth, an absentminded and crazy scientist. He works alongside Bender, who is a robot and his best friend, and Leela, the cyclops he loves.
How Long it Lasted: Four seasons
Why Was it So Great? Created by the the guy behind the Simpsons, Futurama exists in the same animated vein. Unlike its predecessor, Futurama's setting allows for a more absurdist streak. Heads live in jars. Suicide booths line the streets. Futurama's writers use the future to poke fun at the present, with Fry anchoring the audience. The show was hilarious and tailor made for sci-fi fans, but its heart appeals to all.
Best Bits: Al Gore's cameo as "Inventor of the Environment and First Emperor of the Moon" in an episode poking fun at global warming. Fry drinking 100 cups of coffee. Kyf's pained sigh whenever Zap Branighan speaks. Dr Zoidberg and everything he does. Farnsworth's love of nudity. Nibbler's homeworld.
What Went Wrong? Thrown around the schedule like hepatitis at a Motley Crew concert, Futurama was denied an audience. It lacked the 'everyman' aspect of The Simpsons, which provides a grounded character for every member of the family. Really, I have to point to 'some people are different to me' for this one.
Should I Still Watch It? I rewatch Futurama of a monthly basis. So yes. The made-for-DVD movies that have resurrected the show have failed to recapture the magic, but the episodes are as strong as ever.
3 comments:
You forgot to add the 80's guy dying of 'bone-itis' as a best bit!
Will and I have many favourite bits that we quote to each other around the house at random. So sad that it ended - I was quietly distraught that we never saw Fry and Leila as a couple (except in that episode where Fry's brain gets improved by parasites).
Bender as a pimp was classic.
"We love you daddy-Bender!"
"Shut up baby, I know it."
"Here I am, destined to float through space for eternity, with hardly any swag"
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