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PEEL - The Futurama Message Board    General Futurama Forum Category    General Disscussion    How do you arrive at a rating for each episode? « previous next »
Author Topic: How do you arrive at a rating for each episode?  (Read 1819 times)
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PEE Poll: So, how do you do it?
Compared to TV in general   -0 (0%)
Compared to other Futurama   -8 (22.2%)
Based on enjoyment   -24 (66.7%)
Other (share it with us!)   -4 (11.1%)
Total Members Voted: 36

transgender nerd under canada

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« on: 07-06-2011 12:03 »

Don't bother comparing or contrasting your personal rating systems for scoring Futurama episodes. It'll just lead to another pointless argument.

As no argument on PEEL is pointless, I feel that this merits discussion...

Do you rank episodes out of ten compared to other TV shows, compared to other Futurama episodes, or purely based on the amount of personal enjoyment you get from them?

I use the third scale, myself. Very few episodes will ever get scores below 6 for me, because almost all of them give me quite a lot of personal enjoyment.
Gorky

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« Reply #1 on: 07-06-2011 15:01 »

I'll abstain from actually voting for the time being, but I think I probably grade episodes based on a combination of how much enjoyment I get from them (and, honestly, any new episode of Futurama is bound to make me giddy) and how they hold up to most other TV shows. I don't think an episode's quality in relation to other episodes of Futurama is a key factor for me, because it's not like I sit there thinking "If only this episode was more like 'Roswell that Ends Well' or 'The Sting,' I would really love it"--but I am, at the very least, aware of what the show has done in the past and what it is capable of. So, I don't know, maybe I actually use a combination of all three methods, albeit to varying degrees.
spira

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« Reply #2 on: 07-06-2011 15:26 »

I literally don't watch any other TV, except sometimes the news, so I only know about "TV in general" from various third party comments and that doesn't go into my rating system at all. But I think I consider elements of the second and third option. I'd guess mostly the third, but the third is definitely tied into the second because all of the episodes that are generally considered in the top twentyish give me great enjoyment (is that a sentence?) so I am going to enjoy and rate highly episodes that are excellent within the standards of Futurama. Anyways, I voted for the third because it fits best.
DannyJC13

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« Reply #3 on: 07-06-2011 17:38 »

I use the third scale, myself. Very few episodes will ever get scores below 6 for me, because almost all of them give me quite a lot of personal enjoyment.

This. I don't rate other TV shows, just Futurama, based on how I feel about the ep. :)
SorynArkayn

Bending Unit
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« Reply #4 on: 07-06-2011 17:57 »

My personal ratings system is basically a hybrid of 2 and 3 (but I voted for 2): I base my scores on how much I enjoyed an episode compared to other episodes of Futurama.

If I really enjoyed a particular episode of Futurama, I'd score it between 7-9. If I sorta enjoyed it, but felt kinda "meh" about an episode, I'd score it between 5-6. For episodes I really disliked and did not enjoy watching, 2-4. For the worst episodes that I don't ever want to watch again, 1. For flawless episodes that I enjoyed the most, 10 (obviously).

My personal favourite episode is "Amazon Woman In The Mood", which I score a 10. I also score "Roswell That Ends Well" a 10, but I rank Amazon #1 because its audio commentary is nearly as funny as the episode itself!
DotheBartman

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« Reply #5 on: 07-06-2011 18:23 »

I used to rate things but don't really do it anymore. I'll vote in polls, but only on gut-feeling. I feel that thinking about it too much more than that forces me to "readjust" past ratings as I take other things into account ("I liked this more than that last thing, so how can I give this an 8.5 when I gave the other a 9?"), and it's already mostly guesswork anyway. I prefer to just give my general thoughts, be they praise or criticism, because "grading" things just requires too much thought and almost saps some of my enjoyment of a show if I put too much effort into it.

That said, I probably evaluate Futurama episodes most commonly against other episodes of Futurama, unless there are episodes of other shows that I find to be very similar (for instance, "Lrrenconcilable Ndndifferences" was similar in plot to a lot of old Simpsons shows) and therefore worth comparing it to. I also probably take other shows into account more often than I used to, for the simple reason that TV comedy has improved quite a bit since Futurama was first canceled. Back in 1999-2003, sitcoms and serialized comedies in particular were in the pits basically (South Park - another cartoon - might have been the only other truly great one, and it wasn't until about 2001 or so that it hit its stride). But now, there are a bunch of great shows out, so naturally Futurama will be compared a little bit to those in my mind. Which isn't to say it doesn't still compare quite favorably.
flesheatingbull

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« Reply #6 on: 07-06-2011 18:24 »

good question, totalnerduk.

i strictly rate episodes based on enjoyment. i also choose to rate them after the initial viewing. unlike a lot of nerdlingers, i don't analyze the episodes too much. i put myself in their universe, and go with the flow. maybe that is why the only episodes i really didn't like consist of two(rebirth and pi).

either way, i'm interested to see some other folks replies.
cyber_turnip

Urban Legend
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« Reply #7 on: 07-06-2011 19:24 »

When I'm on here I rate episodes on a Futurama-scale because otherwise no episode would get below a 6/10 and very few would get below an 8/10. I think it's better to have more distinction between how much I like each episode on here with 5/10 being average, 1/10 being the worst episodes and 10/10 being the best episodes.

But if I'm rating the episodes on a site like IMDb, I rate them compared to TV in general.
Aki

Professor
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« Reply #8 on: 07-06-2011 22:26 »

I rate on a Futurama-scale, but I admit it is somewhat destroyed by the fact that I have never given a grade below 4/10. I know I logically would, but I have great difficulty grading an episode so low. If everything works as it should logically, I give an average episode (say, to keep with the current season, Neutopia) 5/10, an awesome episode (The Late Philip J. Fry) 10/10, and a lousy episode (The Futurama Holiday Spectacular) 1/10.
Otis P Jivefunk

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« Reply #9 on: 07-06-2011 22:41 »

I rate Futurama episodes based on enjoyment and in comparison to other Futurama episodes, but not only based on those two factors alone. I don’t rate them against other TV programs because I like Futurama more than any other TV program. I do love other TV shows as well though, but despite this due to the overwhelmingly large amount of trash on TV if I were to rate it against TV in general then Futurama would always score highly and give an inaccurate outcome...

If I find enjoyable factors within an episode I will not rate it a 1/10 for two reasons:
  • Because I found enjoyment in that episode
  • Because potentially there could be a worse episode which I don’t enjoy at all

Therefore I will only rate an episode 1/10 if they contained no merit whatsoever...

So far no episode of Futurama has done that to me, but I believe it could be possible in the future if it continued for long enough (as much as it pains me to say). This is based partially on current trends, but also on common sense due to the fact that it simply isn’t realistic for a program to maintain a high quality standard once it goes beyond a certain amount of years...

I guess based on that, I also rate Futurama episodes on where I think its future potential quality may lead. Using trends in episodes already aired I try to evaluate the shows future potential quality basis and ensure that my rating system can fairly accommodate such potential lower quality future episodes if it were to slip to those levels. This forward thinking will help enable me to fairly rate those such future episodes without having to change the ratings of existing episodes I’ve already rated, because I see no sense in doing so purely for that reason alone. That is why it makes more sense to me to give credit to episodes now if they contain some merit, and to reflect this merit in the given rating...

In regards to the poll, I guess I’m a little bit of options two, three and four. I’m not sure which would be the most accurate option to accommodate my system, but I’m leaning towards option four due to the fact that the other options are specific, as where option four could accommodate any rating system including combinations mixed with additional methods...
jeepdavetj

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« Reply #10 on: 07-06-2011 22:42 »

Pure personal enjoyment. I know what I like and I judge accordingly.
cyber_turnip

Urban Legend
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« Reply #11 on: 07-06-2011 23:15 »

But I mean... I also rate them according to me personal enjoyment as well as against each other.


Of course you base things on personal enjoyment, unless you're trying to be objective. Personal enjoyment and a TV scale or Futurama scale aren't mutually exclusive.
futurefreak

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« Reply #12 on: 07-06-2011 23:32 »

I base it off other Futurama episodes and how much I liked the episode. The initial rating I gave Neutopia was a 1, upon second viewing perhaps I would give it a 2 or 3...If it wasn't a 1, compared to the rest of the series though, I don't know what would be because at the moment it is my least liked episode.
spira

Liquid Emperor
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« Reply #13 on: 07-07-2011 05:29 »

[...] Therefore I will only rate an episode 1/10 if they contained no merit whatsoever...
So far no episode of Futurama has done that to me, but I believe it could be possible in the future if it continued for long enough (as much as it pains me to say). This is based partially on current trends, but also on common sense due to the fact that it simply isn’t realistic for a program to maintain a high quality standard once it goes beyond a certain amount of years...

I felt the need to quote this because I agree with it 100%. There is not a single episode that completely failed to amuse me at least a little, and so I feel like none deserve 1/10. But if someone really was completely unamused by an episode, then obviously that is a fair rating. I try to rate on a Futurama-based scale, but the fact that the scale has the word "Futurama" in its name pretty much bumps the minimum score to about 3/10 for me.
transgender nerd under canada

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« Reply #14 on: 08-03-2012 12:32 »

I use the third scale, myself. Very few episodes will ever get scores below 6 for me, because almost all of them give me quite a lot of personal enjoyment.

Revisiting this after just over a year, I find that it still holds true for me. Even the episodes I don't particularly think are particularly good are still more enjoyable than, for example, watching coverage of the Olympics. Even the episodes I haven't enjoyed as much as others, even the ones I've criticised unmercifully... they don't tend to get a rating below 6. Most of the time.

It should be borne in mind that I'm really picky and hard to please in many respects... the fact that most Futurama can get me to give it a rating over 6 when I've got a lot to complain about in any episode speaks to it still being fairly high quality TV.
UnrealLegend

Space Pope
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« Reply #15 on: 08-03-2012 15:05 »
« Last Edit on: 08-04-2012 09:21 »

I rate episodes based on how much I enjoy them overall. I typically try to avoid comparing episodes when deciding on a rating because I feel that it incorrectly impacts the final score sometimes.

I have also never given a 1/10, and I probably never will either. Like others have said, the tiniest amusement gives it at least a 2/10. I think the lowest scores I have given are to Neutopia and the Holiday Spectacular, which I'm pretty sure are 3/10's. Even those awful episodes have at least a couple of moments that warrant a smile.

Likewise, an episode needs to be literally flawless in order to win a 10 from me. Most of my top 10 are 10's.
Jarvio

Bending Unit
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« Reply #16 on: 08-03-2012 19:12 »
« Last Edit on: 08-03-2012 19:18 »

A combination of 'compared to other futurama' and 'based on enjoyment'.

When ranking a futurama episode, it is always how it compares to other futurama episodes. But those futurama episodes, in the first place, were ranked on how I enjoyed them. No set criteria here - just pure enjoyment.

My least liked futurama episodes would indeed beat most things on TV (except the holiday spectacular, which truly is awful).

I think the lowest I've ever given an episode (apart from holiday spectacular) was a 4/10, maybe 3. But no lower. (The holiday spectacular gets a 1 though, the only futurama episode that is truly bad, even compared to normal TV)
DotheBartman

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« Reply #17 on: 08-03-2012 20:25 »

I think I honestly forget to actually vote on the polls for these things all the time.

I've been reading the The AV Club for many years, and I sometimes really miss the days when they didn't even have grades and it was all about the content of the review (though even now, apparently they just do it for Rotten Tomatoes/Meta Critic purposes, and many of the reviewers admit that they don't really think about the "grade" for more than a few seconds, and don't care about it).

Guess I'm the same way with TV shows. I can go a little bit by gut feeling, but trying to formulate any really comprehensive or precise grade system seems silly and unrealistic to me, even as someone who's attempted to do that before. It's not like the writers were given a series of math problems and either got them right or wrong.
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