Futurama - New Season Coming in 2010

I agree they got a little too distracted by the political moralizing and the humor suffered a bit in the second half, but man they finished it up with a bang.

I do feel there's a bit more of a rapid-fire tone to the new episodes, I'm hoping they settle down a bit as they go on. I'm still laughing my ass off though.

I do get the feeling that there are more jokes (in the last movie or two as well as the new episodes) that are just there for the point of being jokes. Like the whole Boyle thing. That whole thing didn't give any insight into Leela's character, it was just there for a pointless laugh. Didn't get one from me, but from others anyway. From my jaded, nostalgic memory I remember more jokes with character insights, even though I knew there were others as well.

As I've said before, I'm still enjoying the character development, and the jokes are nice, I'm just looking for more jokes with character development in them (Fry being smelly after jumping in the vomit/poop pool and Leela not wanting to hug him) then without (The Boyle). The Killer App episode strikes me more as Superhero episode. Still funny, barely part of canon, and we shall never speak of it again.

Edit: again, LOVING that the series is back, and still very much enjoying the new episodes. Just throwing my two cents in.

I concur that they've been plugging to hard on some of the political messages, but there is a lot of gold that they touch on. The eyePhone hardware/interface, the robot 'reform' retreat, the crew attempting to impose morality on Earth, etc. The writers just need to settle down a bit and stop trying to justify their re-hiring. If they relax and write funny episodes, they will find the poignant and important episodes and minimize the ham-handed content of the last couple of episodes.

My third-favorite moment of last night's episode (following Bender's one-liner at the end and the Professor's pulse) was Morbo's memorial commentary on the pilot. These are the proof in my mind that the writers have still got it, but they are pushing too hard at the wrong areas.

Don't forget Circustitus. It affects children of all ages!

Gonna be honest, I didn't even finish last night's episode, but the whole premise of it disgusted me anyway. Not because of the actual subject matter, but throwing Amy and Bender together like that just felt like the writers themselves no longer care about what they do with the characters. I was glad to see Kif in an episode, and then they went and basically made him a vehicle for what amounted to, as stated before, an idea out of a terrible show like Drawn Together.

I wound up switching over to The Waterboy during commercial breaks, and in the end I wanted to watch Waterboy instead. That should never happen where Futurama is concerned!

ccesarano wrote:

...but throwing Amy and Bender together like that...

I agree with this part of your post. When it first happened, before I even knew where they were going with it, that was where my genuine laughter turned into uncomfortable chortles.

But, it wasn't the first (and I'm certain it won't be the last) character pairing that served as the disposable cardboard tube around which to spin cotton candy. Fry and Amy, anyone? The Professor and Mom? Bender and Planet Express Ship?

Honest question, because I'm too lazy to look it up myself...is it pretty much the same writers they've always had? I'm not necessarily asking for a complete episode-by-episode rundown of who wrote what, just a general idea of if it's a whole new stable, or if some of the original guys and gals are in there.

I thought Bender and Amy was a bit thin at first, but it's validated at the end when you realize that Bender was basically using Amy all along, and was only into it because it was illegal and taboo. Once it was legit he bailed. Very Bender.

"Our love's just like yours, only hotter 'cuz I'm involved."

Gah! Spoilers! Must... stop... looking at new posts... (none of your faults, I should have waited until tonight to check the thread again after I watched)

The bit that felt really old-style Futurama was Kif leaning somewhat unconvincingly against his vintage motorbike dressed up like Marlon Brando. Apart from that, the episode did feel a little bit hollow, too much like a string of worn jokes and stuff thrown in at random.

Now I want a cattle prod any time I tell someone to do something.

DanyBoy wrote:

Now I want a cattle prod any time I tell someone to do something.

Clearly you're not a public school teacher, or you'd have felt that way long, long ago.

dhelor wrote:
Rat Boy wrote:

Now that was a good episode. Funny, too, which is the important part.

Meh.

Concur. There were some good jokes but overall it was just alright. Then again, new Futurama is better than not new Futurama.

clever id wrote:
dhelor wrote:
Rat Boy wrote:

Now that was a good episode. Funny, too, which is the important part.

Meh.

Concur. There were some good jokes but overall it was just alright. Then again, new Futurama is better than not new Futurama.

And again it's certainly not the worst the show has ever done. Generally, I think this is people just settling back into the groove of Futurama actually having new episodes. When it was gone we could cherry-pick our favorite moments and pretend the entire show was that way. Now we have to deal with the reality of the fact that it's a TV show with it's ups and downs, like anything else.

PyromanFO wrote:
clever id wrote:
dhelor wrote:
Rat Boy wrote:

Now that was a good episode. Funny, too, which is the important part.

Meh.

Concur. There were some good jokes but overall it was just alright. Then again, new Futurama is better than not new Futurama.

And again it's certainly not the worst the show has ever done. Generally, I think this is people just settling back into the groove of Futurama actually having new episodes. When it was gone we could cherry-pick our favorite moments and pretend the entire show was that way. Now we have to deal with the reality of the fact that it's a TV show with it's ups and downs, like anything else.

THis is what I have to remind myself. For the last several years I had the luxury lf watching my favourite episodes any time I want. Can't do that until this season comes out on DVD.

I loved the eyephone episode. The boil thing wasn't very funny but the rest was great.

Spoiler:

I did get the impression that Fry and Leela broke up. I asked my roommate and he figures it was implied when Leela slept with Zap.

The fourth episode was weaker but had some great moments.

Spoiler:

And the ending was classic perfect futurama. Perfect smash cut, perfect choices by all three characters involved. It's like right there the writers remembered who these characters were and what there histories. Although Bender does have a bistory of dating asian women.

PyromanFO wrote:

And again it's certainly not the worst the show has ever done. Generally, I think this is people just settling back into the groove of Futurama actually having new episodes. When it was gone we could cherry-pick our favorite moments and pretend the entire show was that way. Now we have to deal with the reality of the fact that it's a TV show with it's ups and downs, like anything else.

I dunno. I've just started the second season on Netflix and thus far I've been consistently entertained, despite having seen these episodes repeatedly. On the whole, the Slurm episode is the grossest I recall Futurama really getting before these new episodes, and even then it wasn't that disgusting.

I haven't even hit some of the best episodes yet, like Snoo-Snoo (or snu-snu, or whatever).

I really liked the latest episode. It might be my favorite of the new ones.

Spoiler:

Although I began to suspect Hermes was #5, I had no idea what the circumstances would be!

deftly wrote:

I really liked the latest episode. It might be my favorite of the new ones.

Spoiler:

Although I began to suspect Hermes was #5, I had no idea what the circumstances would be!

I felt like it was pretty obviously telegraphed well before they reached the shack, and lost something because of that. Still, the ending was very nice. A similar feel to the end of "Jurassic Bark", only not soul-crushingly depressing.

Yeah, this last episode was great even if the ending wasn't a surprise. It was also nice to have an episode that focused on a pair of characters that haven't ever really paired up in the past.

MechaSlinky wrote:

Yeah, this last episode was great even if the ending wasn't a surprise. It was also nice to have an episode that focused on a pair of characters that haven't ever really paired up in the past.

+1

Definitely better than the Amy/Bender storyline.

Clemenstation wrote:
MechaSlinky wrote:

Yeah, this last episode was great even if the ending wasn't a surprise. It was also nice to have an episode that focused on a pair of characters that haven't ever really paired up in the past.

+1

Definitely better than the Amy/Bender storyline.

Yeah...that one kind of came out of left field.

Best episode so far. It WAS a surprise to me until I saw him pull out that file!

Anybody see tonights episode? Time-travel shenanigans! Probably one of my favorite episodes ever.

Spoiler:

That was the old Fry ... he's dead now

PyromanFO wrote:

Anybody see tonights episode? Time-travel shenanigans! Probably one of my favorite episodes ever.

Spoiler:

That was the old Fry ... he's dead now

Best of this season so far at the very least, just barely edging out last week's episode.

Is it just me or does Bender sound a little off in the new episodes? He's starting to sound more like John DiMaggio than Bender.

Considering John DiMaggio is a thieving drunken robot, I don't see what the problem is.

dhelor wrote:
PyromanFO wrote:

Anybody see tonights episode? Time-travel shenanigans! Probably one of my favorite episodes ever.

Spoiler:

That was the old Fry ... he's dead now

Best of this season so far at the very least, just barely edging out last week's episode.

Definitely some pretty fantastic stuff. On last week, I too was completely caught by surprise.

Last night's was my favorite of the reboot so far, but I'm a real sucker for time travel and Fry-Leela shenanigans. I have a feeling this one will just get better and better on the rewatch.

"Just slow down, and I'll shoot Hitler out the window."

Damn! I missed and hit Eleanor Roosevelt!

KaterinLHC wrote:

Last night's was my favorite of the reboot so far, but I'm a real sucker for time travel and Fry-Leela shenanigans. I have a feeling this one will just get better and better on the rewatch.

Me too.

Spoiler:

The cave-shooting stalagmite part was a bit too much, but it was cute. Old Amy, however, creeped me out. She picked up her mother's accent.