Thoughts on SABF16 - Simpsorama - Simpsons/Futurama Crossover Event SPOILERS

[Reply #40 on:]

Question:

Would you have preferred if they just made an animated version of the Simpsons/Futurama Crossover Crisis comic books or made something different like this episode?

I wasn't that impressed by the comic book, honestly. I actually think that "Simpsorama" had a pretty interesting story but was let down by it's short running time. I suppose the comic book gave a more meaningful reason for the shows to be, well, crossed over, but the story isn't as strong and it also couldn't fit into 20 minutes. Along with that, Crossover Crisis felt, to me, like a Futurama product more than a Simpsons which is potentially another disadvantage against it.

If "Simpsorama" was longer, it would have been something special.

[Reply #41 on:]

Why didn't Bender just use the time-code to travel back 1000 years in the beginning?

David X. Cohen has stated on at least one occasion that the episode would take place before the events of Bender's Big Score, assuming it was canon

edit: cannot find a source, can anyone confirm this?

[Reply #42 on:]

edit: cannot find a source, can anyone confirm this?

He said it in an interview way back when the crossover was announced, can't find a source though.

Al Jean said this in a super-recent interview, which I posted in the news thread just over a week ago:

"If you asked me, I'd say this crossover takes place three months before [the finale] occurred. I would never dream of trying to replace that ending."

Both of them are wrong though, since the calendar in Planet Express confirms the episode is set in 3014.

[Reply #43 on:]

Thanks. Anyway, it being non-canon and set before an existing episode allows for a lot of plot holes as for what they (the crew) actually know. We don't know how much time they spent in the future before they sent Bender back in time.

As for your question Danny, I'd rather have them make something new like this episode, but it would've been interesting to see what the comic book crossover would've looked like animated.

[Reply #44 on:]

If "Simpsorama" was longer, it would have been something special.

Nailed it. I was hoping that there would be a sequence of the Simpson house falling down around Bender, for example, and him waking up in a very surprised 31st Century family's sub-basement.

Still, it's non canon so it didn't violate any continuity, and it's not awful. Therefore I gave it a seven.

I don't it can be counted as canon in the Simpsons due to the appearance of Kang and Kodos at the end. They only show up during the Treehouse of Horror episodes, which are clearly not canon.

Overall, a rough, but nice tribute to Futurama, and it was nice to see those characters one more time. Try not to overthink it, and just enjoy it for the homage that it is.

7/10

Kodos and Kang were easily my favourite bit. I can't help but agree with the rest of this post as well.

[Reply #45 on:]

I was gonna mention something about that. Seymour's appearance was stupid and made no sense.

I don't see how it makes any less sense than the cast of Futurama and The Simpsons sharing the same universe.

[Reply #46 on:]

Exactly. And they didn't even make a joke, it was really just a quick reference to the episode. I don't see how that's at all offensive, even if it didn't do anything for you.

[Reply #47 on:]

Wow. It's, ah... it's been a while.

So, yeah, Simpsorama. It wasn't great. It felt more like "The Simpsons meet Bender". Fry and Leela were kinda just there, and most of the rest kinda just showed up to do their one piece of schtick and disappear. And oh god, that Seymour scene. "Hey, remember that thing from that great episode that everyone remembers? Well, we refenced it with no real context! We're clever, except what's the exact opposite of clever?"

What did I like? Well, the Professor had some funny lines. And the animation was pretty good. And I liked the coda with Lrr and Ndndn meeting Kang and Kodos. And Homer dispatching the Bartlings, with a perfunctory "Why you little. *snap*" That was cute.

Anyway, at least it was better than Simpsons Guy. But the gold standard is still Archer/Bob's Burgers.

[Reply #48 on:]

I wouldn't really call the Archer/Bob's Burgers episode a crossover. It wasn't a case of the Bob's Burgers characters literally appearing as themselves - it was merely a family in the Archer universe that resembled them. And it was pretty much just confined to that one scene at the beginning, leaving is as little more than a giant wink to the viewers.

[Reply #49 on:]

I think The Simpsons Guys was leagues above Simpsorama, and not just due to being an hour long. But I guess people's hate for Seth MacFarlane outweighs an eye for good writing, which Simpsorama had none of, even if it managed to be entertaining by novelty. I swear to god, give me a week and I could have busted out a script that was just as long while being ten times more interesting and with better jokes, all by myself. And I'm no screenwriter. I know it seems like I'm writing checks I can't cash but I truly believe this.

[Reply #50 on:]

I don't see how it makes any less sense than the cast of Futurama and The Simpsons sharing the same universe.

"Not making sense" was a poor use of words on my part. Kryten put it better:

"Hey, remember that thing from that great episode that everyone remembers? Well, we refenced it with no real context! We're clever, except what's the exact opposite of clever?"

[Reply #51 on:]

I feel like every reference to Futurama characters or events in the entire episode was like that though, with maybe one or two slightly clever exceptions. The Seymour reference didn't really stand out among them as being any particularly worse than the rest.

[Reply #52 on:]

I feel like my main problem with this episode was that I just couldn't turn off the part of my brain that says "this makes no sense!" in the same way that I can when I watch a non-canon episode of Futurama.

[Reply #53 on:]

Simpsorama certainly had big problems, but there were some good jokes and I found it entertaining to watch unlike most Modern Simpsons episodes. It doesn't quite reach an 8/10 though because the plot felt too rushed as expected, and some characters didn't have enough screentime to shine. However, I found it enjoyable nevertheless.

7/10

[Reply #54 on:]

I enjoyed the ep, it was entertaining and at times I couldn't believe I was watching it as I never thought it would happen. The Simpsons side of things was perhaps a little better than I thought it would be. The Futurama side of things took a little longer to take off than I wanted and was too Bender heavy, but it was still pretty good, especially when the other crew members joined in...

Not the funniest ep ever, and at times I thought it felt a bit empty, which is surprising considering how much they crammed in. I liked how they went about the time travel aspect and that we saw both Simpsons world and Futurama future in the same ep with both shows characters on either side...

Animation was poor for the Futurama characters, but I let it slide and just enjoy the ep. Simpsons animation was better though. I liked the Lrrr bit at the end, nice touch. All in all a decent worthwhile ep, an experiment which worked, but perhaps did not live up to its potential...

7/10

[Reply #55 on:]

Another problem I had with this episode: they really ham-fisted in references and jokes about the future being really dark and horrible. Don't get me wrong, I know Futurama is chock-full of dark humour and depressing/horrible scenarios that would normally be happy and pleasant in our time, but Simpsorama seemed to really force this type of stuff on the audience.

[Reply #56 on:]

It was too "small". Fry had nearly no lines at all, which is quite sad. Barely any Zoidberg at all. Also sad. Too much Simpso-, not enough -Rama.

Also, we will never get an ending to the "The Simpsons" where Fry tells Bender, "Man, that show should've ended a thousand years ago."

But good overall, lots of keks for the fans.

[Reply #57 on:]

Just watched this one for the first time in a while... I think it's settled enough for a real review, at least from me.

Like everyone has said, it was just too rushed. So much more could've been done with the characters interacting with each other's worlds, but time didn't allow it. My biggest issue is that some scenes easily could've been cut down to make room for more important stuff to be focused on, such as how they drove away the Bart creatures (they quick way it was done wasn't necessarily bad, but it feels kind of simple for how apocalyptic it was supposed to be) or even more lines from Fry or Zoidberg.

To be fair, though, what was done was good and definitely fun - there were some good jokes, the story was just about as large and crazy as it ought to be, and they managed to capture the Futurama feel pretty well. Actually, the fast pace sort of works well with the episode, at least during some parts, since it makes it feel more panic-y.

I'd give it a 7/10, or a 4/5. In short, the fast pace worked sometimes and felt unfitting other times, but the story and mood were both really enjoyable, and for a crossover, it did it's job really well.