What Futurama Means to Me.

[#40 :]

Being an anime fan I think thats one of the things that I like about Futurama.  It's pretty rare for an anime to fit nicely into one category, and most of them have their serious or sad moments, regardless of the tennor of the rest of the show.

Sometimes a somber moment in a comedy can be so much sadder than in a drama.

[#41 :]

Well, I'm pleased that something that I wrote just out of appreciation for a great show is being made a major topic.

Jacoby, that is what makes Futurama great, that it can be pretty much whatever it wants to be.

A point I want to make though is before I got the dvd's I was a casual fan. For a couple of years I just thought of it as a decent comedy, but nowhere in the league of say The Simpsons and King of the Hill. Now after DVD viewings multiple times I can proudly say it trumps them all.

I wrote my first message as a casual fan converted to a hardcore (or whatever you like to call yourselves) fan.

[#42 :]

 

Originally posted by Clonemenace:I wrote my first message as a casual fan converted to a hardcore (or whatever you like to call yourselves) fan.

I would say that covers me.  I actually had a dislike for the show before I really watched it.  Id seen a little of it and each time I saw it I guess it was in the middle.  Not really a great place to pick up the show.  That and the characters are a bit strange if you havent seen an early episode or two.

When I started really watching it on adult swim, I was very sad that I had never bothered to watch the show when it was still being made.  The DVDs totally solidified that view with the comentaries and the chance to see every episode.

[#43 :]

This is the so-called 25 Greatest Futurama Moments. Personally, I have these as my top 10.

10. The Becktionary and the Rhyming Becktionary
9. The Opera in TDHAIP.
8. "People of Earth, I am Lrrr of the planet Nintendu 64. Tremble in fear of our 3 different types of ships."
7. "I am the greetest! Now I am leaving Earth for no raisin."
6. "And I'm his friend Jesus."
5. Fry being his own grandfather.
4. "Your music's bad and you should feel bad."
3. "Number two: Daffodil"
2. The Sting.
1. Seymour. "If it takes forever..."

My Top 1011 Episodes
11. Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles
10. Bendin' in the Wind
9. Where No Fan Has Gone Before
8. Luck of the Fryish
7. Godfellas
6. Anthology of Interest II
5. Hell is Other Robots
4. Roswell That Ends Well
3. The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings
2. Jurassic Bark
1. The Sting

That's why I like Futurama. Good taste of comedy and sadness and everything inbetween rolled into one.

[#44 :]

I may have never told you this I.C., but you have some good taste!And you're a Nirvana fan. You are the F'ing man! Do you also like Flogging Molly?

[#45 :]

[#46 :]

Thanks.

The great thing about [as] and the DVDs is that I was able to watch episodes I had never seen before. Examples being Bending in the Wind, Where the Buggalo Roam, A Leela of Her Own, Jurassic Bark, and The Sting. I had never seen The Sting before, and let me tell you, if you haven't seen it before, watch it without prior knowledge of the episode. If you know anything about it, it'll ruin the first watch experience.

Flogging Molly: Heard them a couple of times. Pretty good.

[#47 :]

Right on. Futurama is my means of contacting my nerd side. I love Futurama, but this is my only way to talk about it w/ people who get it.
By the way I.C, pick up(or download) Flogging Molly "Swagger" it's a great cd.
Sorry for the plug, I'm listening to it right now.

[#48 :]

 

Originally posted by i_c_weiner:

I had never seen The Sting before, and let me tell you, if you haven't seen it before, watch it without prior knowledge of the episode. If you know anything about it, it'll ruin the first watch experience.

Aw man, yes.  The Sting is definitely in my top 3 favorite episodes, too.  Sitting through that for the first time, not knowing what the heck was going on, or what to expect, that was an amazing episode.  Your top 10 moments/episode lists look pretty good, too.  There are certain things I would take off/swap around on both, but what do you expect, we all have different tastes.

I would try to make my own lists but it seems like such a challenge.  I have no idea where I'd start, for thinking about my favorite moments.  D:

[#49 :]

How about this? Start off with episodes you like and then weed out it until you come up with a shorter list. Same with moments.

[#50 :]

I was hoping to use the list from that top 25 site to norrow my list down, instead I added like 10 more to my list of favorites...

Namely it reminded me how much I loved the take on 'God' (not religious in the slightest)
"When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all."

Not to mention the other good bits in that episode, or how nice the space animation was.

[#51 :]

 

Originally posted by i_c_weiner:
This is the so-called 25 Greatest Futurama Moments.

I like the list of things you can do to cope.  (2 and 3 seem to be very popular choices  )

They left out the best part of the Zoidberg as Jesus gag:
Mayor: "The real Santa!  Get him, Jesus!"
Zoidberg: "I help those who help themselves!"

Also, they misspelled Fry's first name right above a framegrab where it's spelled correctly.

[#52 :]

yea, but they got one of Zapps best lines:
Zapp: “The alien mother ship is in orbit here. If we can hit that bullseye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards… checkmate.”

Also, I relized something that I think really helps the ending of Devil's Hands.  The art for the last scene looks almost childish, and that makes it almost more pure than when it looked good.  Something about the way children draw tends to get across emotion very well.

[#53 :]

I guess I agree with the "25 Greatest Moments," but perhaps there shoulda been a 25 Funniest and 25 Saddest, also. (And why not 25 Most Romantic, to boot?)
Oh, and I agree with jacoby in that Futurama is one of the only non-anime shows I've seen that can pull off emotions as well as it does. For me, at least. 

[#54 :]

eh - decided this wasent the place to ask

[#55 :]

I agree with clonemenace. I am also attached to the show. It's a weakness, really. I hate to admit it (and don't you laugh) But on "Time keeps on slippin'" I actually cried. And I did again at the end of the last episode. (Because I wished the show wasn't cancelled) If Family Guy can come back, WHY CAN'T FUTURAMA?!

[#56 :]

 

Originally posted by Harry Sach:
I may have never told you this I.C., but you have some good taste!And you're a Nirvana fan. You are the F'ing man! Do you also like Flogging Molly?

I agree with Harry, I guess since Nirvana is my favourite band and Futurama is my favourite show...


About the show; I was also someone who wasn't that big of a fan, and never really watched it until after it was cancelled and I saw the re-runs... until they cancelled the re-runs. When they started showing Futurama on Teletoon two Januarys ago, I really got into it, and it wasn't 'til this year that I got the DVDs.


 

Originally posted by hail_futurama:
I hate to admit it (and don't you laugh) But on "Time keeps on slippin'" I actually cried.

Haha, that's so funny!!!!! Just kidding...

[#57 :]

 

Originally posted by GreyThinkyWhale:
  Haha, that's so funny!!!!! Just kidding...

Aww, thats so cold.

[#58 :]

 

Originally posted by hail_futurama:
I agree with clonemenace. I am also attached to the show. It's a weakness, really. I hate to admit it (and don't you laugh) But on "Time keeps on slippin'" I actually cried. And I did again at the end of the last episode. (Because I wished the show wasn't cancelled) If Family Guy can come back, WHY CAN'T FUTURAMA?!

The answer to your question can be found here.That will also give you information about efforts to save the show.

[#59 :]

 

Originally posted by Harry Sach:
I may have never told you this I.C., but you have some good taste!And you're a Nirvana fan. You are the F'ing man! Do you also like Flogging Molly?

Well Professor Weiner, looks like you've got a fan.  Speaking of fans, what is it with you people and Nirvana?

[#60 :]

WHAT?!?! You are questioning the greatness that is Nirvana. I guess I'll have to get my Nirvana Loving Posse on you.

Anyway, Nirvana is the equal in this situation to somebody, the equal to you in the situation, saying Futurama sucks or asks what's up with people and Futurama.

And because Nirvana is a great band with great music and we hate it when people deny its greatness, likewise to people and Futurama.

[#61 :]

Kinda off-topic here, but I've never heard Nirvana. What songs have they done? (Yes, I know shocking, I really need to crawl out from beneath the rock I live under.)

[#62 :]

Some of the More Well-Known Nirvana Songs:
Smells Like Teen Spirit
All Apologies
Come As You Are
In Bloom
Lithium
Also, Nirvana is no more, for all that don't know, since Kurt Cobain's been dead since April 1994.
Sorry for the off-topicism.

[#63 :]

 http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=2015315

30-second Nirvana samples there (Smells Like Teen Spirit is the most known Nirvana song), and for fun, here's a Nirvana/Simpson crossover site I found one day:

*realises that the site's no longer on the internet*

ah crap!
here's another link anyways:

 http://www.cobain.com/cobain.html

Now, back to topic...

[#64 :]

The show isn't really a show to me anymore... Futurama is more of a catalyst now for a heavy influx of memories that crawl around inside me.  Every time I sit down... like really sit down and watch it, it just flows throw my mind, my bones, my very core...... it's hard to explain, but Futurama has become a very real part of me; it almost defines how I define myself, and that has nothing to do with the content found within the episodes.

[#65 :]

My friend got me watching it..and I havent stopped since.  I finally completed my DVD collection for xmas, and Im working my butt off looking for the ps2 game.

It is really hard to explain all of this.  Its just become apart of my everyday life.  I dont know how many times Ive told people they gave me cancer because they did something very bad.  I even ended up using the scene of Kif giving birth to remember a word for a zoology test!

Honestly -  Thank God for Peel.  Until I found it, I had no where to release my thoughts.  I get mad at my friends when they dont understand, and always have to explain to my mother that Im not really being mean to her, Im just quoting Futurama.  Most of all, my favourite thing to do was fall asleep listening to the commentary.  Its almost scary how calm and comforting thier voices were to me. 

This show has had a serious impact on my life.  And although I can accept the fact that it wont come back, I will always have to hold onto it in some way...

[#66 :]

It's about a family.... the family you wish you had, but you aren't yet apart of.

[#67 :]

 

Originally posted by Slackit02:
Honestly -  Thank God for Peel.  Until I found it, I had no where to release my thoughts.

This is so true.  I was tlking to my roommate about something today and brought up a fututrama reference and just thought, it's so nice that I dont have to just talk about Futurama to funny looks anymore.  Yay for other people.

Also, the DVD comentary is why I am here.  Several times they talk about things 'on the forums'

I was originally looking for some sort of official forums, but these seem like a good substitute.

[#68 :]

 

Originally posted by winna:
It's about a family.... the family you wish you had, but you aren't yet apart of.

I completely agree Winna.  The characters, writers, everyone involved, and you guys, are all part of a family that we try to hold together

[#69 :]

That is true...from the commentaries I definitely noticed a certain sense of community and friendship among the Futurama staff, which is pretty unique considering the cutthroat nature of the tv business (the stories I've heard about Saturday Night Live alone....).

[#70 :]

I've noticed the same thing in the commentaries. I feel like, if I were to run into a Futurama voice actor or the like, I'd probably be comfortable talking to them. And the sense of community on this board is great, too. Especially when friends or whoever just don't "get" why I love the show so much. I'm with ya there. Oh, and Slackit02, how'd ya use the thing for the zoology test? I suck at science, so I was just wondering...

[#71 :]

Well - right now I cant remember the word, and I cant find it in my notes (not good for the finals) But I can describe it:

I think its frogs - when they copulate, the Female frog "Shoots" its eggs into the water.  The male then "Shoots" his sperm over the eggs.  The process starts with a P.  Now, kif reminded me of the Female part - eggs just shoot right out. 

Also, another thing about Kif.  He is supported by fluid filled bladders.  Well, these cavities are also known as coeloms (acoelomate, Pseudocoelomate, and Coelomate)

[#72 :]

It's nice to find people here who feel the same as me about Futurama. Most people assume that it's just a silly show I enjoy because of the humour but it's more. Futurama is a big part of my life. I want it to come back and reveal new stuff, although sometimes I feel that if they were to bring it back for too long, they'd screw it up... Still want it back, but the chances are 1000000 to 1...

[#73 :]

I think the chances are better than that, but I think those odds are about right for the show coming back and being the way we'd want it to come back.  The ending as it stands was a very nice ending.  I would be quite sad if they brought it back with, say a different cast, or different production crew, something like that.

I'd still probably watch though 

[#74 :]

If the show ever came back - i think the only person they would have difficulty convining to come back is Katey.  Everyone else would be a sinch

[#75 :]

Yeah...We can always dream thouh, right??

[#76 :]

I don't think Katey would be that hard to convince. When she was on the Caroline Rea show she asked if she could keep the Leela action figure.

[#77 :]

They could always...kill her off.[dun dun dunnn] Or bring in David Spade to fill in a role.[dun dun DUN dun] No, I'm just kidding. The show wouldn't be the same without Leela.

[#78 :]

Well just because she said something about a doll on tv it doesnt mean she would do it.  I find it hard to believe that with her new schedule she couldnt find time to be on atleast one commentary on any dvd. 

Since the show stopped airing, we've heard MG, DXC, Billy, and John still talk about the show, however, Ive never heard anything about Katey saying something about it.  Im sure somebody will find something though...

[#79 :]

I doubt Sagal's absence has much to do with a lack of interest.  She's definitely at least shown interest on the occasions that she actually adresses the show.

Some people just don't like doing commentary.  I don't know how often Sagal gives interviews but it may be that she just doesn't do those sorts of things often.  Some people also don't like the idea of commentary for various reasons.  Stephen Spielberg apparently doesn't like them because he feels they take some magic from the movie (and thus he prefers to do featurettes).  Julie Kavner (Marge Simpson) has done commentaries, but actually refuses to do the voices in public because she doesn't people to associate the voices with her, as opposed to the characters.

Who knows...Sagal may just have some personal policy on, may be shy, or may just not like talking about her work too extensively.  Its a shame she didn't show up on any commentaries (as well as other absents like Lauren Tom, David Herman, Phil Lamarr, etc), but I don't see why it would indicate some unwillingness to return to the show.