In 1989 Matt Groening revolutionised the TV sitcom with The Simpsons, a show that has gone on to be the longest running primetime TV show in U.S. history. However, I and a small yet feverish subsect of Groening fans would argue that despite The Simpsons’ mass popularity and acclaim, that Groening’s follow up show, Futurama, is far superior to America’s favourite yellow family. First airing in March 1999, Futurama ran for four seasons before its subsequent cancellation by Fox, only to be revived and cancelled multiple times ever since. With the show set to enter its eighth season with its third network later this year I thought that now would be the perfect opportunity to revisit Futurama and see what made it so great. This first in a series of reviews will cover the initial run of the show, Seasons One through Four which broadcast between 1999 and 2003 on Fox.
December 31st 1999 and Philip J. Fry (Billy West) is delivering pizza. When one of his deliveries takes him to a cryogenic lab, Fry accidently falls into a cryogenic chamber, freezing him for one thousand years. Awaking on January 1st 3000, Fry must acclimatise to life in the thirty-first century and to do so he becomes a delivery boy for his great (x30) nephew, Professor Hubert Farnsworth (also Billy West) at his courier company, Planet Express. With his crewmates being cyclops Captain Leela (Katey Sagal), Bender (John DiMaggio) the bending robot, Martian intern Amy (Lauren Tom), crustacean-like alien Dr. Zoidberg (also Billy West), and requisitions officer Hermes (Phil Lamarr), Fry must travel to new planets and interact with alien species, often leading to disturbances in the fabric of space and time.
December 31st 1999 and Philip J. Fry (Billy West) is delivering pizza. When one of his deliveries takes him to a cryogenic lab, Fry accidently falls into a cryogenic chamber, freezing him for one thousand years. Awaking on January 1st 3000, Fry must acclimatise to life in the thirty-first century and to do so he becomes a delivery boy for his great (x30) nephew, Professor Hubert Farnsworth (also Billy West) at his courier company, Planet Express. With his crewmates being cyclops Captain Leela (Katey Sagal), Bender (John DiMaggio) the bending robot, Martian intern Amy (Lauren Tom), crustacean-like alien Dr. Zoidberg (also Billy West), and requisitions officer Hermes (Phil Lamarr), Fry must travel to new planets and interact with alien species, often leading to disturbances in the fabric of space and time.
Futurama is often referred to as ‘The Simpsons in space’, but that’s a hugely misleading generalisation. Whilst it shares a similar animation style and humour due to it being produced by the same people, Futurama puts its sci-fi premise at the forefront of everything and backs it up with some rather awesome scientific accuracy. It’s dumb humour done intelligently, and exploring these new cultures with Fry and the Planet Express crew never ceases to be hilarious and enlightening.
The show doesn’t have a throughline narrative as such, with the vast majority of episodes existing independently of each other, though there are a number of story threads carried through the series run; the most prevalent of which sees Fry trying to win the heart of Leela, which becomes the emotional core of the show and often influences the events of the episode. Due to the outrageousness of the sci-fi on display in Futurama, there are also a number of episodes that re-contextualise, or even rewrite the events of previous episodes. The most notable of which is the Season Three episode ‘Roswell That Ends Well’ wherein the Planet Express crew are sent back to the 1950’s and Fry becomes his own grandfather. An obvious riff on Back to the Future, this is far from the only episode that pays homage to great cinematic stories but puts an absurd sci-fi twist on it.
Though I stated that episodes don’t tend to follow on from each other, there are some notable exceptions, and these episodes become considerably more important in the various revivals the show had over the years. Episodes like Season Three’s ‘Parasites Lost’ acts as the setup for the first of many finale episodes Futurama would have over the years, ‘The Devils Hands Are Idle Playthings’. There is also the Season Four episode ‘The Why of Fry’ which recontextualises the entire show so far and becomes a key episode in future seasons of the show. There are others which are referenced back to outside of the first four seasons, though those two in particular are ones I noted of particular importance when rewatching the show.
What really makes Futurama so endearing though is the eclectic cast of characters, and their fantastic voice actors. Billy West voices the majority of the characters on the show and this guys vocal range is simply incredible. Fry, Leela, and Bender are the shows main trio, with the other crew of Planet Express existing on the periphery along with a number of other eclectic characters. Fry is the shows leading man, and he’s a hapless twenty-something with no ambition and no brains. But he has a lot of heart, even if he’s often too busy sitting in his underwear watching trash TV and drinking beer to realise his friends need help. Leela is the last of her kind and as a result is often seen as inferior by humanity and the other alien races, this rejection over the years has hardened her into a woman who punches first and asks questions later. But deep down all she wants is to be valued by someone as an equal. Bender meanwhile is a chain smoking, alcoholic, foul mouthed robot who will do whatever he can to swindle anyone out of cash or valuable items. That doesn’t mean he’s beyond compassion, but he can’t help being a menace, it’s part of his programming.
The show doesn’t have a throughline narrative as such, with the vast majority of episodes existing independently of each other, though there are a number of story threads carried through the series run; the most prevalent of which sees Fry trying to win the heart of Leela, which becomes the emotional core of the show and often influences the events of the episode. Due to the outrageousness of the sci-fi on display in Futurama, there are also a number of episodes that re-contextualise, or even rewrite the events of previous episodes. The most notable of which is the Season Three episode ‘Roswell That Ends Well’ wherein the Planet Express crew are sent back to the 1950’s and Fry becomes his own grandfather. An obvious riff on Back to the Future, this is far from the only episode that pays homage to great cinematic stories but puts an absurd sci-fi twist on it.
Though I stated that episodes don’t tend to follow on from each other, there are some notable exceptions, and these episodes become considerably more important in the various revivals the show had over the years. Episodes like Season Three’s ‘Parasites Lost’ acts as the setup for the first of many finale episodes Futurama would have over the years, ‘The Devils Hands Are Idle Playthings’. There is also the Season Four episode ‘The Why of Fry’ which recontextualises the entire show so far and becomes a key episode in future seasons of the show. There are others which are referenced back to outside of the first four seasons, though those two in particular are ones I noted of particular importance when rewatching the show.
What really makes Futurama so endearing though is the eclectic cast of characters, and their fantastic voice actors. Billy West voices the majority of the characters on the show and this guys vocal range is simply incredible. Fry, Leela, and Bender are the shows main trio, with the other crew of Planet Express existing on the periphery along with a number of other eclectic characters. Fry is the shows leading man, and he’s a hapless twenty-something with no ambition and no brains. But he has a lot of heart, even if he’s often too busy sitting in his underwear watching trash TV and drinking beer to realise his friends need help. Leela is the last of her kind and as a result is often seen as inferior by humanity and the other alien races, this rejection over the years has hardened her into a woman who punches first and asks questions later. But deep down all she wants is to be valued by someone as an equal. Bender meanwhile is a chain smoking, alcoholic, foul mouthed robot who will do whatever he can to swindle anyone out of cash or valuable items. That doesn’t mean he’s beyond compassion, but he can’t help being a menace, it’s part of his programming.
Futurama has the same style of animation as The Simpsons, but the art direction is very much inspired by the ‘World of Tomorrow’ visions of the future from the 1950’s. Everything is made of shiny, colourful metal, lots of curves and rings on things, and of course there are hover cars and tube based public transport. Its an extremely exaggerated form of the future, but despite this it has a number of similarities to modern day. Whenever the show journeys to new worlds, it always feels a little Star Trek in tone as Fry learns about the native lifeforms, but it’s very clearly done in a tongue in cheek manner with aliens often depicted as technologically and intellectually inferior to humans, but despite this being able to outsmart and outgun them at basically any given opportunity.
Futurama is must see television, and whilst there are a lot of references to life in the late twentieth century it doesn’t feel like it’s aged an awful lot. The initial run of seventy-two episodes is over in a flash with their twenty-two-minute runtimes, and there’s never a dull episode. The final episode ties things together relatively nicely for a show that has almost no throughline narrative, and the eclectic cast of characters will ensure you come back again and again. Of course, whilst this seemed like the end of the show in 2003, Futurama would be back for four feature length episodes in 2008 and 2009.
Futurama is must see television, and whilst there are a lot of references to life in the late twentieth century it doesn’t feel like it’s aged an awful lot. The initial run of seventy-two episodes is over in a flash with their twenty-two-minute runtimes, and there’s never a dull episode. The final episode ties things together relatively nicely for a show that has almost no throughline narrative, and the eclectic cast of characters will ensure you come back again and again. Of course, whilst this seemed like the end of the show in 2003, Futurama would be back for four feature length episodes in 2008 and 2009.