As we wind down to the series finale, I thought it appropriate to take a moment to reflect on what I consider the best animated show of all time.
Futurama was wonderfully animated, rich and thick like a great chocolate shake.
The top tier characters were just about perfect. Not only that, the second tier (Amy, Zoidberg, Hermes) were excellent, as were even the third tier characters (Mom, Zap Brannigan, Kif, Calculon of course) and hell the fourth tier (Robot Devil, Scruffy, Nibbler) too.
Futurama could move you. It had heart and soul. Think The Luck of the Fryish, Jurassic Bark, Game of Tones. When was the last time The Simpsons moved you? 10-15 years ago? Has Family Guy ever done it?
The romance between Fry and Leela (they'd better not screw this up!!!!) is epic. So hopeful. A mutant and a reject from the past, finding love in the 3000's! Brilliant! Think Fry's Holophoner episode, or the worms in Fry's sandwich. Or Leela being stung by the space bees. If you aren't rooting for these two, you're dead inside!
And how about the vision? Far from the ideal Star Trek future, this is a realistic vision, where we have a bunch of new stuff, but we're still lazy morons with a bloated bureaucracy and political corruption ("NIXON'S BACK!!!!"). We have more toys, but really haven't learned anything. "Society is never gonna make any progress until we all learn to pretend to like each other."
Bender...sure some will argue he's nothing more than a robot version of Homer Simpson, but that sells him short. An absolute breakout character. He's an awful, anti-social creature ("And on more than one ocassion, he stole my blood!"). But we still love him. What great depth and characterization is that?
I know there's already a thread for the final season, but let's take this thread to remember all the Greatness that is Futurama. Let us share our memories, favorite episodes, and favorite quotes one last time, in honor of the (almost) late, great, Futurama.
And if you don't like that, well: "JAM A BASTARD IN IT, YOU CRAP!!"
Futurama was wonderfully animated, rich and thick like a great chocolate shake.
The top tier characters were just about perfect. Not only that, the second tier (Amy, Zoidberg, Hermes) were excellent, as were even the third tier characters (Mom, Zap Brannigan, Kif, Calculon of course) and hell the fourth tier (Robot Devil, Scruffy, Nibbler) too.
Futurama could move you. It had heart and soul. Think The Luck of the Fryish, Jurassic Bark, Game of Tones. When was the last time The Simpsons moved you? 10-15 years ago? Has Family Guy ever done it?
The romance between Fry and Leela (they'd better not screw this up!!!!) is epic. So hopeful. A mutant and a reject from the past, finding love in the 3000's! Brilliant! Think Fry's Holophoner episode, or the worms in Fry's sandwich. Or Leela being stung by the space bees. If you aren't rooting for these two, you're dead inside!
And how about the vision? Far from the ideal Star Trek future, this is a realistic vision, where we have a bunch of new stuff, but we're still lazy morons with a bloated bureaucracy and political corruption ("NIXON'S BACK!!!!"). We have more toys, but really haven't learned anything. "Society is never gonna make any progress until we all learn to pretend to like each other."
Bender...sure some will argue he's nothing more than a robot version of Homer Simpson, but that sells him short. An absolute breakout character. He's an awful, anti-social creature ("And on more than one ocassion, he stole my blood!"). But we still love him. What great depth and characterization is that?
I know there's already a thread for the final season, but let's take this thread to remember all the Greatness that is Futurama. Let us share our memories, favorite episodes, and favorite quotes one last time, in honor of the (almost) late, great, Futurama.
And if you don't like that, well: "JAM A BASTARD IN IT, YOU CRAP!!"
). Futurama is not only the best animated series ever, but one of the best series ever, period. The sheer amount of storytelling, characterization, themes, deeper meanings and the superhuman level of background detail is mind boggling. Oh, and it had comedy, too-- intelligent, lowbrow, pop cultural, historical, political, self-referential, character-based, slapstick-- they missed nothing. I don't have the encyclopedic knowledge that some of you have, but my favorite episode was the flashback to Fry's brother-- was that "Luck of the Fryish?" And, of course, "Jurassic Bark."
