It’s getting hard to keep track of how many times Futurama has been brought back from the dead. It was initially cancelled in 2004 following its fourth season, then once again in 2008 following the four feature length episodes, then for a third time in 2010 not long after being acquired by Comedy Central, and finally a fourth time in 2012 after being hastily revived following fan backlash.
Regardless, when Hulu announced that Futurama would be revived once again, this time for streaming, and in part thanks to Disney’s acquisition of Fox, it was an all too familiar feeling of elation, though one tinged as always with the potential of the new episodes failing to live up to what came before. Thankfully David X. Cohen & Matt Groening deliver once again, proving that there’s still plenty of sci-fi shenanigans left to explore in the thirty-first century.
After being rescued from their time loop by Professor Farnsworth (Billy West), Fry (also Billy West) and Leela (Katy Segal) are ready to settle down together. But returning to Planet Express with Bender (John DiMaggio), Amy (Lauren Tom), and Hermes (Phil Lamarr) proves difficult following their long and happy period of isolation.
So begins a new chapter, where perhaps there is life beyond Planet Express, and then again, probably not.
Regardless, when Hulu announced that Futurama would be revived once again, this time for streaming, and in part thanks to Disney’s acquisition of Fox, it was an all too familiar feeling of elation, though one tinged as always with the potential of the new episodes failing to live up to what came before. Thankfully David X. Cohen & Matt Groening deliver once again, proving that there’s still plenty of sci-fi shenanigans left to explore in the thirty-first century.
After being rescued from their time loop by Professor Farnsworth (Billy West), Fry (also Billy West) and Leela (Katy Segal) are ready to settle down together. But returning to Planet Express with Bender (John DiMaggio), Amy (Lauren Tom), and Hermes (Phil Lamarr) proves difficult following their long and happy period of isolation.
So begins a new chapter, where perhaps there is life beyond Planet Express, and then again, probably not.
Despite Disney+ insisting that this new season is Season Eleven, it’s actually Season Eight.
But for all intents and purposes it may as well be the eleventh season because so much time has passed that this Futurama certainly feels as though it’s gone through multiple seasons worth of development. At its core it’s the same show, but the way it tackles current affairs is much more direct than it has ever been before. Episodes such as ‘Zapp Gets Cancelled’ run the risk of being labelled ‘woke’ by the more fragile and right-wing viewers, and whilst that may cause concern ultimately Futurama’s political stance hasn’t changed and so neither has the humour.
As good as Season Eight is, I didn’t think there were many standout episodes. There’s a few great callbacks to older episodes such as ‘Children of a Lesser Bog’ which continued the story of Kif (Maurice laMarche) and Amy (Lauren Tom) having children which started all the way back in Season One with ‘A Flight to Remember’. Plus ‘Parasites Regained’ was an excellent continuation of the Season Three episode ‘Parasites Lost’, as well as a very funny Dune parody in its own right. I also felt like the finale, ‘All the Way Down’ utilised the concept of simulations really well, presenting true scientific inquiry in the classic Futurama style of doing smart things the dumb way.
I know I should have expected a pandemic episode, but ‘Rage Against the Vaccine’ was a little too on the nose for me and felt like one of the seasons weakest episodes, and I also found it difficult to get on board with ‘The Princess and the Product’ which took a more conceptual leaf out of the likes of the Season Seven episode ‘Naturama’.
Futurama is definitely back, and it does a really good job of exemplifying why the show should never have disappeared in the first place. It’s not the best season of the show, but it never feels old, tired, or as though it comes from a bygone era. Groening and Cohen have really poured their hearts and souls into Futurama over the years and it makes me so happy to see it back once again. Whilst I hold out hope that it’ll be around for a long time to come, part of me has a sneaky suspicion that the show’s days are already numbered, I mean this is Futurama after all.
But for all intents and purposes it may as well be the eleventh season because so much time has passed that this Futurama certainly feels as though it’s gone through multiple seasons worth of development. At its core it’s the same show, but the way it tackles current affairs is much more direct than it has ever been before. Episodes such as ‘Zapp Gets Cancelled’ run the risk of being labelled ‘woke’ by the more fragile and right-wing viewers, and whilst that may cause concern ultimately Futurama’s political stance hasn’t changed and so neither has the humour.
As good as Season Eight is, I didn’t think there were many standout episodes. There’s a few great callbacks to older episodes such as ‘Children of a Lesser Bog’ which continued the story of Kif (Maurice laMarche) and Amy (Lauren Tom) having children which started all the way back in Season One with ‘A Flight to Remember’. Plus ‘Parasites Regained’ was an excellent continuation of the Season Three episode ‘Parasites Lost’, as well as a very funny Dune parody in its own right. I also felt like the finale, ‘All the Way Down’ utilised the concept of simulations really well, presenting true scientific inquiry in the classic Futurama style of doing smart things the dumb way.
I know I should have expected a pandemic episode, but ‘Rage Against the Vaccine’ was a little too on the nose for me and felt like one of the seasons weakest episodes, and I also found it difficult to get on board with ‘The Princess and the Product’ which took a more conceptual leaf out of the likes of the Season Seven episode ‘Naturama’.
Futurama is definitely back, and it does a really good job of exemplifying why the show should never have disappeared in the first place. It’s not the best season of the show, but it never feels old, tired, or as though it comes from a bygone era. Groening and Cohen have really poured their hearts and souls into Futurama over the years and it makes me so happy to see it back once again. Whilst I hold out hope that it’ll be around for a long time to come, part of me has a sneaky suspicion that the show’s days are already numbered, I mean this is Futurama after all.