Reviews WesternAnimation / Futurama

Screw the Roche Limit, Futurama's back in business!

There are only two words that can really describe Futurama: "Fucking Awesome." It's one of those rare shows that is smart, funny, hilariously well planned ahead (Remember Nibbler? Yeah. That's this development team for you), and takes the entire concept of space and time exploration and mixes every attending cliche and trope in the blender to parody and revel in every aspect. Frequently running on Rule Of Cool, Futurama is pretty much the definition of Troperiffic, and it will lampshade, deconstruct and freaking re-invent every convention in both the comedy and sci-fi genres to the nth degree, and it won't be shy about it. What really makes this one of my favourite comedy series of all time is not only the flat laugh-out-loud jokes, but also the more subtler ones on astronomy and engineering that make you want to not only sacrifice a live goat in a bloody sacrifice to the creators of this show, but also buy a really expensive goat for said sacrifice. I mean, what other show would ever include a joke on the Keeler Gap of Saturn's rings? And the shout-outs and affectionate parodies of everything from Star Trek TOS to Doctor Who to LOTR are enough to make your inner geek jump for joy. For fuck's sake, this show got me interested in string theory again!

This show really caters to all aspects of the human psyche, when your main characters are Fry, a ditzy Cloud Cuckoo Lander with a heart of gold, Leela, a Kick Ass Captain with one eye, and Bender, a robot who smokes, drinks, does drugs, and can and will steal the pavement you're walking on just For The Evulz. Oh, And Zoidberg. Hell, this show has NAMED so many tropes, that I know I for one owe it for many a TV-trope entry.

And boy, did Futurama get Royally Fucked Over By The Network. I think it's really a testament to how good a show is when it survives a run on Fox (a.k.a Satan's Evil Spawn (The Guys Who Destroyed Firefly)), and has 4 movies to its name. No one was happier than me when after a horrific run of mid-year university exams I found a new episode out for the start of season 6, and got to laugh my head of. Thank god for Comedy Central.

Alright, I've ranted on for long enough. I really wrote all this just to celebrate one of the best shows in Western Animation and say "FUCKING YES! FUTURAMA'S BACK!"