Why didn't someone tell me Futurama was awesome
Friday, July 2nd, 2004 - 12:21pm
Since I picked up TiVo and have been looking for things to watch while my son takes his brief naps, I've been picking up the late night replays of Adult Swim and Futurama. I had seen a few episodes and walked away with a very 'meh' attitude, but it really is a genuinely clever show at times, certainly better than The Simpsons of late. I just watched 'Where No Fan Has Gone Before', and ... well, it was brilliant. Someone should have told me the show was this good, dammit!
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By the time Futurama arrived, I think it had exceeded the quality of the Simpsons of the same year. Although not consistently gut busting, every episode of Futurama was at least entertaining (the same, in my opinion, cannot be said of the last several years of the Simpsons... sigh...). And when Futurama was great, it was REALLY great.
no particular interest, no particular talent
Best Star Trek tribute, ever, that one was.
Sometimes it''s better to let people discover it for themselves. Futurama was one of those things that started off blah and then got better and better as it developed. I didn''t realize it either until adult swim started showing them.
Psychotic Foreign Teenage Chicks are so hot. - Legion
I find it ironic anytime a healthy vaccinated person bitches about science...on the internet. - MaverickDago
Fox is a puzzling network. They tend to have some really innovative and interesting shows but somehow tend to louse it up through scheduling or the dreaded ""network requested changes"". Futurama, overall, didn''t have too bad of a run but it certainly was hard to catch it on Fox due to consistent rescheduling and pre-empting in favor of other shows (and baseball).
Andy Richter Controls the Universe is another example -- critically lauded, clever, witty and unique but unable to find a following if anything in part due to how Fox marketed it and then rotated it around its schedule.
At least Arrested Development is getting a second season, I didn''t think that would happen.
no particular interest, no particular talent
Arrested Development has the advantage of heavy hitter producers and backing. You don''t just cancel Ron f-ing Howard.
"I think Elysium has the right of it" - Certis
FUTURAMA RULES. Never can get enough of Bender. Damn that show is funny.
I caught a few episodes and wasn''t that into it. Then my wife bought the first season on DVD. Now we own the first three seasons on DVD. Every episode has commentary. Mind you, about 1/4 of the commentary is just them laughing and maybe making a few remarks...but 1/2 of the commentary is hilarious (especially when you get Billy West who does alot of the voices--Fry, Professor, Zoidburg, random others-- and John Demaggio--Bender and Others--going. ). The most hilarious thing was the episode where they started beat boxing the credits (adding their own drum sounds). It was awesome.
They''re well worth the purchase, I think. There''s also deleted scenes, and some other random interesting stuff. We don''t actually have TV reception, but we usually eat in front of the TV. So we put in a Futurama w/ or w/o commentary and...very damned funny stuff.
The commentaries are a riot. I agree, when Billy West is on they are over the top funny. John Demaggio, however, starts to get on my nerves after a couple of episodes. Funny guy, talented, but always trying to crack a funny one during the commentary speaks of trying too hard.
no particular interest, no particular talent
The other semi-funny thing about the commentaries is the co-exec producer, David X. Cohen, who seems to be able to recall every detail of every episode in a way that none of the others (actors, writers, directors, Matt Groening...) can. He''s a little odd, in a cool kind of way.
Yeah, he''s a big nerd (said in a complimentary way). I recall one of the commentaries from the first season talks about how a large portion of the writing staff (including Cohen) are science majors including a few phds. The commentary then went on to comment on how some people on the Internet have critiqued some of the science on the show, with the irony being that the writing staff is likely far more qualified and educated on the topic than the audience.
no particular interest, no particular talent
Bender Bending Rodriguez, that''s golden
And here''s the article on the Mathematical backgrounds of the futurama guys. Pretty smart peoples! Oh!
http://www.mathsci.appstate.edu/~sjg/simpsonsmath/futuramamath/degrees.h...
The man wears a bucket of KFC on his head. I wouldn't expect anything less. - Pred
Futurama and Family Guy...both on Fox, both funny, both cancelled.
Thank goodness for DVD, the Cartoon Network, and future revival of Family Guy.....so when is Futurama turn?
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Ya I''ve also had to same thing happen. When Futurama was on fox I never really watched it, and was still in denial about the decline of Simpsons. But now I watch it pretty much every chance I get late at night. Teletoon (canadian version of cartoon network or whatever it''s called) runs it after Family Guy, so thats one hour of comedy goodness. From the sounds of it I need to pick up the dvds as well. Futurama is always entertaining, while maybe not being as laugh out loud inducing as Family Guy.
I have a depset hatred for Fox for canceling it, Family Guy, and Andy Richter Controls the Universe. By the way any hints that they might release Andy Richter on dvd?
Futurama, Family Guy, Firefly, and Andy Richter Controls the Universe were all grade A shows and all were cancelled. Damn You Fox!!!
We tried to tell you Elysium but you just wouldn''t listen.
McChuck wrote:
No plans at this point, unfortunately. The fact that this show can''t get a DVD release while at the same time the utterly forgettable ""Who''s the Boss"" gets a full blowout edition boggles the mind. Who on earth is going to buy that?!
Everything can be debated, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's debatable.
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As a Groening Junkie, I also tried Futurama in its first few episodes and wasn''t impressed, only to come back later and find that the show had become a comedic gem. And now for a selection from my favorite episode:
Femputer: The one called Zapp will snoo-snoo with the large women. The one called Fry will snoo-snoo with the petit women. And the one called Kiff, being the most attractive, will snoo-snoo with the most beautiful women on Amazonia, then with the large women, then with the petit women, and, once more, with the large women.
Credulous at best, your desire to believe in angels in the hearts of men.
I''ve had to be satisfied with recordings of ARCTU (MPEG and Divx) that I''ve made and supplemented the gaps with episodes from the net. When a DVD is released, I''ll buy it even though I have the episodes as a) it gets the creators some royalty money, and b) sends a message that the show did have a following.
There was one unaired ARCTU episode that I don''t have unfortunately. The last episode that aired was the one with Conan O''Brien in a guest spot as the loony boss who inherited the company. The midget boxing scene is priceless.
no particular interest, no particular talent
Futurama became, how the music critics say it, too self-concious practically starting from its second episode. Hell, it started off all too self-concious.
Xbox Live tag Gorilla800lbs
What do you mean, Rilla?
Psychotic Foreign Teenage Chicks are so hot. - Legion
I find it ironic anytime a healthy vaccinated person bitches about science...on the internet. - MaverickDago
The expectations were certainly high. The Simpsons really didn''t hit full stride (IMHO) until the 4th season. Everyone expected Futurama to be a homerun right from the start.
no particular interest, no particular talent
Anybody remember Freakylinks? The first couple of episodes were very cool. Then FOX decided it wasn''t ''campy'' enough and we got the tentacle guy episode.
Man I hate FOX...
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2005 GWJFFL2 Champion
I think he''s suggesting that the jokes are too self-aware, as in ''I''m Stupid Character #5 so I must make a joke that exposes me precisely as such.'' TV shows are at their most self-aware when the character turns to the TV and nods, grins, speaks to the audience and such. Ferris Beuler, for example.
"I think Elysium has the right of it" - Certis
Funny I have so many friends that tell the same tale. All disliked Futurama initially, loved the Simpsons and then as soon as Futurama died...they finally got it.
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""Yeah, well... I''m gonna go build my own theme park, with blackjack and hookers. In fact, forget the park!""
There came a point, a on Sundays when I would watch Futurama, and then King of the Hill (Mike Judge is a genius). Then I might skip the Simpsons, since some of the episodes in the past 2-3 years have been painfully unfunny.
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XBL Tag: Prederick
Dunno. It was really funny at some times, and yet it often smacked of a popular high school kid lazily trying to entertain.
Still, so many gems. ""Must... Kill.. All humans... Hey babe, wanna kill all humans?""
Xbox Live tag Gorilla800lbs
Funny you should bring this up. I literally just got around to ordering season 3 yesterday. I love Futurama. Better than The Simpsons, IMO. It took the Simpsons a couple of sesons to start rolling but Futurama was sharp right off the bat.
I see season 4 is coming out in a couple of months here also.
"Beer is proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy." - Benjamin Franklin
Well, I saw the light from the very first episode (When Fry falls into the cryo chamber and the whole history of the human races passes by the window... twice), and all I can say to you people who didn''t watch it the first time:
I told you so.
Now it''s YOUR fault that Futurama is dead. I hope you are happy. Did you buy the DVD at least?
Here in Mexico it had colossal promotion as ""from the creator of the Simpsons"", but it quickly died. Most of the jokes are way over the Simpsons audience.
Dudes! The episode where Donkey Kong invades the earth. Come ON!
The man wears a bucket of KFC on his head. I wouldn't expect anything less. - Pred
I love Futurama. From the first episode in 1999 to the last one, I sat waiting on irc for them to come out (when I used to live in Europe). If it wasn''t for the people who capped the shows with their tv card that put it online I would have had to wait long for this gem.
The boxed dvd sets are the best ones in my collection. Every episode''s comments are hilarious in so many ways, they also reveal alot of the shows secrets. I was happy to pay full price for all four seasons on dvd
I am still crushed that they cancelled the show, it was funny in an intelligent way, it made sense, it was and is the best show on TV.
RIP Futurama
For the Record:
Futurama, Family Guy*, Firefly, Farscape (yeah it was campy), and Aqua Teen Hunger Force are all great shows... Lexx is too once you get into it (It has a high ""WTF is going on"" factor to new viewers).
* How could I have forgotten Family Guy?!
"Also, I have four legs and am covered in wool. Baa!" *Legion* reveals his inner furry.
Why didn''t tell someone ...well... everybody that Invader ZIM is awesome?! Didn''t know that show until recently - never was or will aired over here - and it saddens me to know that this series was already cancelled a while ago. Anything that can feature a statement like ""And as sooooon as I''m done with these waffles I will discuss my eeeeevil plan."" deserves noteworthy mention in my book. And GIR just rocks.