Futurama’s back for it’s final half-season tonight. First up Fry and Leela’s Big Fling.
I see they decided to air these in a different order for some reason. The first episode was “2-D Blacktop” and then “Fry and Leela’s Big Fling.” I think I preferred “2-D Blacktop” because it had some more classic messing-with-the-cartoon-format work and a fun story. I’ve never seen the Fast and Furious movies, but the gang was funny anyway and I liked that they used the Professor as the death wish drag racer rather than making jokes about him being a scared old guy who drives slowly. Doing it this way felt organic to his and Leela’s characters but it also felt fresh.
I’m not sure how I felt about the show finally introducing Sean because I think I prefer it when characters like that are left to our imagination. But he was almost exactly what I pictured and I was very grateful when they didn’t let him jeopardize Fry and Leela’s - acknowledged, for once, and complete - relationship. I think they could do more with that this season. And while I did feel bad for them when they couldn’t get any time alone, I did wonder why they were at the Planet Express office and not at their own apartments. Fry lives with Bender but I thought Leela had a place of her own.
Two pretty solid episodes, IMO.
I would love to think the kangaroo pimp was an homage to Jonathan Lethem, but I admit it’s tenuous.
I miss the jokes.
Yeah, the first seasons were more dense with teh funny.
But these two episodes were enjoyable; it was a good investment of an hour of time. There’s always something of interest in even the latter-season episodes of this series.
The kangaroo pimp had nothing to do with anything, but man, did I laugh hard when he started hopping away from URL and Smitty (who I guess is back on the force again).
I’ve always wondered if I like futurama better when they try to be funny or when they try to tell a story.
It’s hard to tell. I think the random jokes are the things you usually remember the most, but when they tell a really great story it’s very satisfying.
See, I thought there were great jokes.
“I can’t picture that! You’re dumb!”
“You kids and your Topology!”
“It’s Dr. Zoidberg, from work and LinkedIn!”
“You know who I hate? That monkey we haven’t seen for years. Gunther.”
Tonight’s special: THEM any style
The hands that gave Fry the “whoa - no thanks” gesture when he implied that they could help him out sexually
I also just watched Fast Five, not having seen any of those movies before, so for me the forced pathos of the “verbal abuse” crap with the weird beats and reaction shots was totally spot-on.
Anybody else watching? I didn’t love “T.,” but “Forty Percent Leadbelly” was kind of right in my wheelhouse since it was about a crusty, lawbreaking folk-blues guy and had Billy West doing a great Johnny Cash impression.
“Suck it Gilgamesh!”
The Inhuman Torch was really good, it felt like classic Futurama.
“My baby’s in that podium!”
“Suck it Gilgamesh!” This one is worth mentioning twice.
The whole verbal abuse thing from the racing one had me cracking up. It was a perfect parody of the trite crap that often passes for character development in movies.
I wasn’t crazy about the episode, but I did like the miners trapped in the Sun premise- that felt like a classic sci-fi idea to me even though I’m sure it came from the Chilean miner story. And “Suck it, Gilgamesh” was funny.
I dunno, the flame creature’s ongoing feud with the alderman reminds me of that crazy guy you see outside polling stations every election ranting about how zoning board director Ted Murphy is clearly a 12th level Mason because he won’t allow the ranter to build a 40 foot tall electric fence in his backyard.
After last night’s episode, I’ve come to realize that all that’s missing from my life is some sugar blasted purpleberry puffs!
The Scooby Doo parody was the best segment.
Yes, it was. Everything about it was dead-on, and George Takei was supreme.
“You wanted to scare everyone out of the basketball game so they’d come to your Kabuki Theater!”
“No, I’m just mentally ill.”
My wife and I cracked up at “Now you know something.” at the end of last night’s episode.
I thought the Nixon-dubbed GI ZAPP section was the best.
“Yay! I caught it!” after the guy getting the axe to the chest made me have to pause my DVR I was laughing so hard.
Was the G.I. Joe cartoon really like that? I know that even action cartoons will sometimes go to ridiculous lengths to avoid saying someone is dead if the show is aimed at children, but jeez.