FUTURAMA: Rebirth

[Canadave]

^ I'd probably put "The Problem with Popplers" in my top five, personally.

As for "A Clockwork Origin?" Well, I guess they were due for a dud after the fantastic run they had going on the past few weeks. Some individual jokes were quite good, but as a whole it fell a little flat.

 

[Mr Light]

I love the penguin episode... and the Lucy Liu bot episode... and the Popplers episode... actually there's only a few episodes I don't like. Particularly in the last couple (old) seasons. I only didn't care for the overtly emotional eps like "Luck of the Fryish" and "Jurassic Bark" and "The Sting".

 

[Christopher]

I only didn't care for the overtly emotional eps like "Luck of the Fryish" and "Jurassic Bark" and "The Sting".

You just named three of my all-time favorites.

 

[Mr Light]

I certainly understand the appeal of them but I just don't come to Futurama for tear-jerking emotional manipulation, I come for jokes and sci-fi

 

[shivkala]

See, I love it when a show can make you laugh one minute and cry the next.

That being said, I loved Hermes line, "Uh-oh, another of Fry's dogs."

 

[auntiehill]

^ I loved that the Flying Spaghetti Monster was one of the crowd protesting the teaching of evolution.

 

[shivkala]

^
And he even got a line, though I was a bit disappointed he didn't refer to himself as a Flying Pastafarian.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Another good episode but like the Apple parody, Futurama is at its best when sticking to the sci fi stuff and in jokes (it's another one of Fry's dogs! ) and gets strained when going for social commentary, which is like finding brussels sprouts in your hot fudge sundae.

I've been watching episodes on Netflix, and after seeing the popplers episode, the penguin episode, the Lucy Liu-bot episode, I'm closer to making it universal.

Yeah, I don't remember them ever doing it well, but I also don't remember it being so obtrusive. Stuff like Nixon's head being president is funny because it's too diffuse and indirect to be true social commentary. If it were George W. Bush's head, it wouldn't be nearly as funny (but I think he should make an appearance, along with Clinton and Obama.)

 

[AdmiralGarak]

This sudden sentiment that social commentary has no place in Futurama is completely baffling. It's a staple of Futurama.

A Big Piece of Garbage, The Problem with Popplers, Birdbot of Ice-Catraz, and Crimes of the Hot are all consistently ranked among the better Futurama episodes. (Proposition Infinity looks to be up there, too, judging by the positive reception it got in this thread.) Add to that, most Futurama episodes have at least a few moments of social commentary even if that isn't the focus of the episode.

(but I think he should make an appearance, along with Clinton and Obama.)

Clinton appeared in "A Head in the Polls".

Clinton: "Hey, sugar cookie. You know, legally, nothing I can do counts as sex anymore."
Ford: "I apologize for his rudeness, ma'am. He gets this way around meaty-looking women."

 

[Dac]

This sudden sentiment that social commentary has no place in Futurama is completely baffling. It's a staple of Futurama.

I'd say it depends on what their ribbing on. Science Vs Religion and Gay Marriage are issues which I liked their spin on. I don't on the other hand give a shit about Susan Boyle and thus that reference I didn't like, plus found perplexing and just dumb.

Plus, while the Duh Vinci code was initially heavy on the Da Vinci Code jokes, it eventually became its own story with a somewhat clever spin on Da Vinci. That was something I did like.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

A Big Piece of Garbage, The Problem with Popplers, Birdbot of Ice-Catraz, and Crimes of the Hot are all consistently ranked among the better Futurama episodes.

Popplers is the only one on that list that I recognize as being one of my favorites and in Popplers, the writers made fun of the vegan hippie, and maybe that tells us the problem with the new stuff. It's too PC. Futurama is better when it's attacking assumptions on all sides willy nilly, not going after easy/obvious targets like "consumerism" and "dumbell Creationists."

 

[SG-17]

OMG tonight's episode reminds me of the Stargate SG-1 episode "Holiday".

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I'm in Cali, hasn't aired here yet. My only question is whether it will outdo the reigning mind-switching episode champ, Farscape's Out of Their Minds.

 

[Mr Light]

Another great episode. I really like the episodes that have like 5-10 different stories going on at once. How many more episodes are going to air in this run? I'm gonna be so sad when there won't be a new Futurama every Thursday night!

 

[Christopher]

OMG tonight's episode reminds me of the Stargate SG-1 episode "Holiday".

Yeah -- I'm usually skeptical of assumptions that show A inspired something similar in show B, but given the specific premise of a mind-switching technology that only allows one switch per pairing, and the need to devise a roundabout way to put everyone back in their rightful places through multiple switches, I'd say there's a very good chance that this is a deliberate riff/expansion on that.

And of course, this being a Ken Keeler script, there's a good deal of math-related material in it. I was hoping for more exploration of the logistics of putting people back, but I guess all the math in-jokes are in the equations you have to freeze-frame to read. (According to The Infosphere, Keeler actually devised and proved a mathematical theorem in order to explain the plot twists of this episode. So we're seeing original mathematical work being done here!)

Overall, "The Prisoner of Benda" was a fun yet insubstantial episode. I could've done without the stuff about Fry and Leela in Zoidberg and the Professor. Prof-in-Bender and the circus folk, especially the cannon, was kind of nice, and it was unexpected how it dovetailed with the Bender plot. I think my favorite part was Scruffy's scene with washbucket-in-Amy. Was that an homage to some movie?

Nice to see the continuity with "That Darn Katz!", with Amy working alongside the Professor on his invention. But I wish they'd make up their mind about whether Fry and Leela are involved or not.

 

[bigdaddy]

Another great episode. I really like the episodes that have like 5-10 different stories going on at once. How many more episodes are going to air in this run? I'm gonna be so sad when there won't be a new Futurama every Thursday night!

There are three and then there is a Christmas special.

What worries me is that Comedy Central hasn't ordered anymore episodes yet, what are they waiting for? The ratings are good and would be amazing if they suck it on after South Park.

Sure there is another year until the finale episode is aired, but that episodes is already being made, so they better hurry it up.

 

[Meredith]

Title Shout out!

What Happens on Cygnus X-1,
Stays on Cygnus X-1


It is funny because Cygnus X-1 is a freeking black hole, so everything STAYS on it!!!!!

 

[Christopher]

What worries me is that Comedy Central hasn't ordered anymore episodes yet, what are they waiting for? The ratings are good and would be amazing if they suck it on after South Park.

Sure there is another year until the finale episode is aired, but that episodes is already being made, so they better hurry it up.

Given that they do have a full year or more as a cushion, it's not like there's an urgent deadline for renewal.

Title Shout out!

What Happens on Cygnus X-1,
Stays on Cygnus X-1


It is funny because Cygnus X-1 is a freeking black hole, so everything STAYS on it!!!!!

Ohh, I can't believe I missed that! Good catch!

A discussion of the Keeler body-switching algorithm (not the actual algorithm itself as I initially thought) has now been posted on the Infosphere page. Here's the link again: http://theinfosphere.org/The_Prisoner_of_Benda

 

[bigdaddy]

This is a cartoon, if we don't want another gap between seasons they need to get more episodes ordered by the end of the year.

 

[Christopher]

Well, the end of the year is over four months away. It's a bit early to panic.