Or I helped, anyway. I was all excited about the show when I first heard about it, watched the premier episode as a Big Event, and then swore I’d never watch it again. It just wasn’t all that funny. But worse, it was just mean-spirited. The main character is a total, shameless loser, unlike Homer Simpson, who at least had a semi-functional family. Bender was an unrepentant asshole. No one on the show likes each other; they’re stuck in meaningless jobs with people they hate for eternity. There’s a middle ground between mauldlin hugs-for-everyone endings and depressing nastiness, and this show seemed to fall on the wrong side.
Later, I gave it another chance with the first X-mas episode, and was even more disappointed with it. One obvious joke dragged out and beaten to death over 30 minutes. See, it’s not an overly sentimental Christmas episode because it’s really about how Santa Claus is a killer robot! That’s edgy satire! Bleah. It was all Shrek humor (and that’s not in any way a compliment).
Now, years later, they’re rerunning “Futurama” on Adult Swim. I’ve been hearing enough good stuff about it all this time that I decide to record a week’s worth and watch them. And I love every one of them! (Except for the pilot and the X-mas episode; my opinion of those hasn’t changed.) Every one I’ve seen has at least two great lines, and some of them are even really sweet, well-constructed stories.
What happened? Did the writing staff change? Did the philosophy of the show change? Did they just have weak “event” episodes? Did the series just suddenly get better? Do you have to watch them all back-to-back to enjoy them? I’m pretty sure my taste hasn’t changed.
The final episode was genuinely sweet without being overly sentimental. They ran the second (I’m assuming) X-Mas episode tonight and although it has the same general premise it’s executed so much better and has some great lines. (“I know it’s scary bein’ in that witness box, but you don’t need to fear me. SQUAAAWWKK! I’m sorry, I thought you was corn.”) So what’d I miss?
Actually, no. The characters do like each other. They’re often a bit cruel to one another, but they do live work, and have fun together. And Fry loves Leela, and Leela loves Fry. They were, in a sense, cosmic losers.
You underestimate Fry. He saves Planet Earth. And the Universe. And he was an Emperor once. Fry is pretty dumb, but there’s actually a reason for it.
Well, it was an overly sentimental Christmas episode. Or maybe I’m thinking of a later one, but they pretty well played up the Christmas spirit of being hunted by killer robots.
Nothing changed. But the opening was only the beginning of the story, not a story in and of itself. In a sense, all the characters are cosmic losers. They are never going to be wealthy (except by accident), powerful, or respected. Bender is, in a sense, a total jerk. Fry has no alpha brainwaves. Leela is, well, everything she could be except rich and powerful and respected.
When the series opens, the characters don’t even know each other. Bender was going into a suicide booth! Leela was trapped in a dead-end job she hated. That’s what changed between episode 1 and the rest - Fry came along and changed everyone’s lives. Sure, he’s an idiot. But he’s an idiot of cosmic proportions, dammit!
Well, Sol, keeping in mind that humor is subjective, I think I can reply to some of your complaints.
Seems to me here that your comparing the first episode of Futurama with later episodes of The Simpsons. Early on, much of The Simpsons was supposed to focus on Bart - described as an “underachiever and proud of it”.
Personally I think the first season of Futurama is far superior to the first season of The Simpsons. Unfortunately, you didn’t give Futurama much of a chance and didn’t turn it back on until…
And here you loose me completely. The episode deals with Fry missing his family until he learns that Leela has it worse. He resolves to cheer her up. It’s only when he’s heading out to buy her a present - well into the episode - that the killer Santa-bot is even mentioned and it’s almost the third act before it shows up. They even have time to go skiiing and do a “Gift of the Magi” parody. Hardly 30 minutes on one joke.
Now, I’ll be the first to admit that much of the humor is rather grusome. Fry gets body parts hacked off with alarming regularity. But this is a sci-fi parody so there must be distopian elements in order to make fun of them. In a certain respect, I think Futurama succeeds in what it tries to do more than some more serious shows. I’ve laughed at how they dispatched minor characters more than I’ve grieved over the death of a redshirt.
No you didn’t, FOX cancelled Futurama. They never liked the show - probably for many of the same reasons you list - and so stuck it into a timeslot that would assure it a slow and painful death. The only reason it lasted as long as it did is probably because of some sort of deal between FOX and Matt Groening, otherwise they most likely would have axed it in its first season…
The problem I think is that FOX wanted “The Simpsons in Space” and what they got was a show that, while just as hilarious in my opinion, could also be a lot more mean-spirited and had less relatable (and therefore less marketable) characters. FOX wanted another Simpsons that they could turn into a marketing money machine and they didn’t get it, so they hated the show and sabotaged it . . . or so I’m guessing.
As the show’s currently popularity as part of Adult Swim proves, FOX was underestimating its audience and I’m certain Futurama would have been a huge hit had FOX only given it a chance.
As an aside, when the subject of Fox cancelling “Futurama” comes up, I’m always tempted to say something like “When did they ever SHOW Futurama?” It seemed like whenever I tried to watch an episode, it was always pre-empted by the football game. I could have watched it in the spring, of course, but by that time I generally would have forgotten about it completely. It certainly seems to bear out what Fibber McGee stated about Fox sticking the show with a crap timeslot.
That’s exactly what they did, r.j.a. They put it in a timeslot usually reserved for Simpsons or King of the Hill reruns. To assure the death of a good show by sabotaging the numbers, this is as good as it gets (followed by mysteriously playing the shows out of order all of a sudden, as with Undeclared et al.).
I never really liked Futurama, but, in fairness, I never gave it a chance after the first couple episodes. Perhaps I’ll give some episodes a try on adult swim.
As far as the poulalarity on adult swim, aren’t the ratings on the cartoon network for shows like Futurama and Family Guy high for the cartoon network (or cable in general), but low for a network? While there is a niche audience for shows like this, I don’t think the ratings and ad dollars these shows bring in make it possible to make a profit on anything other than re-runs.
I think there just wasn’t the audience for the show. While it’s timeslot was bad, at least it was consistent. They jerked Family Guy around so much it was almost impossible to find. I love the Family Guy.
Well don’t look at me. I personally helped keep Futurama on the air.
A couple of months back, I was sent a Nielson survey. Unfortuantely, I don’t watch a lot of TV in the summer (reruns and all). So I only watching three shows in the week I was surveyed; one of which was Futurama. I figured I must have spiked the ratings.
I recently started watching Futurama when I put the DVDs on Netflix. I’ve seen all of season 1 and all but the 4th disk of season 2 (should be in today). I love it so much, I’ve almost convinced myself that even The Simpsons aren’t very funny in comparison (not that I’m truly deluded or anything; I still plan to order Season 3 as soon as possible).
I’ve been enjoying the Futurama reruns much more the second time than the first. And some of the later-season Simpsons that I have been seeing in syndication have gotten more laughs from me the second-time around. Particularly “Behind the Laughter”, which I thought was brilliant when I saw it the other day, but which didn’t really move me the first time around.
The cartoon network runs cartoons for adults from 11-2 am. They’re mainly anime, but also include shows like Futurama and Family Guy. They call that programming block “Adult Swim”
SolGrundy - I know just how you feel. I didn’t like the pilot or that Christmas episode.
The thing I’ve learned over the years, is don’t judge a show by the first episode. It can be very different from the rest of the show. I think that was the case with Futurama. The first episode was much more serious. I found it very sad. But since I didn’t know any of the characters, I didn’t find it “touching.” There were later episodes that were sad, but because I was attached to the characters I found them touching. But that first episode was just unpleasant (for me).
Just consider yourself lucky that you get a second chance to watch the show.
My story is similar to the OP’s, but kinda the opposite.
I got all excited about the first episode and loved it, but I just never watched the show again. Whenever I caught a random episode, I would think how great it is, but I never got into a routine of watching it.
I’m not sure about Futurama, but as for Family Guy:
This is especially impressive when you consider how many more people have CBS and NBC than the Cartoon Network.
As for my opinion of Futurama, I thought it was crap at first. Then I gradually grew to love it - even the episodes I hated when I first saw them. I think the turning point for me was the episode where Leela found her parents. Very touching.
Sol if you open the door one day soon and theres a blond kid in a dinosaur shirt on your porch poise to throw something at you tell him Mom said to come home and not to throw those anchovies at the nice lady ( Or man) because anchovies will be extinct in a couple millenia and he doesnt need to push the extinction along.
They were, in a sense, cosmic losers.
I for one thought the first Xmas episode was far far better than the second.