Maybe It's Us?

[on:]

"Pharaoh" gave me plenty of giggles, and was over before I knew it--in fact, I was caught off-guard by each commercial interruption, always a good sign--but I still had that "meh" feeling...the same one I've had starting with "Leela's Homeworld."

When I peek at the reviews here and at CGEF, I see a lot of similar feelings--and as usual, some quite different. I'm wondering now...

...Am I down on the past few eps because of The Bad News? Is it making me over-anticipate, hoping each second of every episode will knock my socks off? Am I picking and picking at episodes I will just adore in another month or so? Or is the show hitting the inevitable pothole all shows face (and recover from)?

Thoughts?

[Reply #1 on:]

It may be a little bit of both BrainSluggo. With so few episodes aired so far this season it makes it difficult to really gauge how good/bad they have been.
With only 7 new episdoes ran the probability that the overall season looks drab becomes greater. In a typical season I would expect to see 24 episodes and out of those 24 there is a reasonable expectation that some of those I will not like. When you condense the number of episodes down to 7 or even 13 (which it looks like that is all we will get this year) and you get a few episodes that are not particularly to your liking, plus add on top of everything the recent Bad News and it would appear that this season is not up to par.

I have really enjoyed this season of Futurama and feel that Leela's Homeworld and A Pharoh to Remember are two great episodes. You can also add AoI II to that list as well followed closely by Roswell That Ends Well, Love and Rocket and A Tale of Two Santas. The only episode I have not been too impressed with has been Where the Buggalo Roam.

I too have felt pressure at the beginning of this season with Roswell that Ends Well to really like it and found that it hampered my viewing pleasure. When Futurama gets on a roll with a few episodes in a row I tend to relax a little more and enjoy each episode more than if I know it will be two, three or four weeks before another one is aired.
I think you will find after some time has passed that there are some real gems shown this year wether or not they are the same ones as other people like or not.
RM

[Reply #2 on:]

i have not been dissapointed or had a 'meh' feeling about any ep this season. I adored Leela's Homeworld and all the other eps people seemed not to like so much. Maybe i'm jusy way to easy to please. Oh well, more fun for me then.
 

[Reply #3 on:]

welcome to PEEL Bendo! 

[Reply #4 on:]

So far I think Season 4 is turning out really well. The late start of the season generated a big need in the fans to see a new episode and the first new eps had to be pretty darn brilliant to live up to the expectations and not leave people a little disappointed. I think they were pretty darn brilliant. "Roswell That Ends Well" was a excellent seasonopener, incredible funny, and I think it still stands out as the best so far.

Next came "A Tale Of Two Santas". Not as good as "Xmas Story", but that was a high standard to top. Still I enjoyed it tremendously, I must've played that song a billion times by now, and it's still funny.

"AOI II" gave me my first "meh" feeling. Benders story was decent and I didn't laugh during Fry's at all (it did create some sense of nostalgia about the part of my youth lost in arcades (and the pig pile of allowances those damn machines swallowed  )). But that's hardly why I watch Futurama. Leela's story did make up for it somewhat, it was quite good.

"Love&Rocket" was good. I loved the homage to 2001: A Space Odyssey. Brilliant use of a guest star, and a nice story. even the Valentines Day parts was halfdecent (and I'm no big fan of that day).

"Leela's Homeworld" was, much like Fryish, not a huge jokefest, but I loved it. I absolutely loved it, good background info on Leela, nice story and a great song. Even though I still feel it was too early for her to find out about her heritage, it worked surprisingly well.

I can't comment on "Where The Buggalo Roams" for another 10 hours, and "A Pharao To Remember" is further down the line. Overall the season is looking good. Some minor "meh" feelings, but nothing that has ruined my enjoyment so far. The Bad News, now that's an entirely different story, but I seem to have rambled on for long enough.

[Reply #5 on:]

See? I just watched "The Honking." When it first aired, I was picking at it the way I was picking at "Pharoah" on Sunday. Tonight, I was laughing my arse clean off. Sure, it's hardly perfect, but it seems almost perfect now. "Anti-Chrysler." "The Abominable Snowmobile." Heeheeheeheeheehee!

Gem:
Robot Hermit: "Ye think ME be HE?"
Bender: "Si!!"
Robot Hermit: "NI! ...I mean, NO!"

[Reply #6 on:]

Yeah thats definitely a good episode.  I love that part with the gypsy: "My friend you have nothing to worry about...except a nightmarish life of unremitting horror!"

[Reply #7 on:]

I tend to do the same thing: I watch one of the ones from this season, and while I'm watching it, I'm hyper critical. Then when I watch it the second time, i like it more, and i like it more the third time, etc. It was that way with the Buggalo one. Now I think its really funny (like when they go past the big mountain, and fry squints and hes like "Where?", and then when they're in the twister, hes like with the exact same face and tone of voice, "where?".
It is hard, knowing it will end, and hoping they'll release the DVD sometime in the next millennium...

[Reply #8 on:]

Ya , i think Season 4 is a whole new type of season, the shows are entertaining a different way. before i used to laugh more and i like when fry was just screwin around the Planet Express biz, and still figuring out the city and the future. We need a Fry episode pretty bad kuz these episodes are alright...2s and 3s outta 4...but a lot of the older ones i would give a 4..
Just IMO.

[Reply #9 on:]

Well so far i really like the fourth season, they only one that Im not too fond of is the Buggalo one, but I still thought it had its moments.  But I do agree that the plots are kind of thining out, Buggalo and Pharoah were fine but they wernt all that complex.  And they dont add anything to the charaters, I tend to like the Eps that have subplots ie, Roswell, Love and Rocket, Fryish, Flight To remember, Time Keeps on slipping.... But I have noticed the change that everyone is talking about, I guess im just so glad that they are still showing episodes that im not that critical of them...oh well thats just me!

[Reply #10 on:]

Most of the episodes they have shown so far are season 3 holdovers.  There have been only two real production season 4 episodes (roswell was produced in production season 3).  The two season 4 episodes they have shown have been a holiday special episode (love and rocket), and an episode that reveals the history of Leela (which they kept fairly serious).

So the rest of the episodes they have shown are just season three.  As fox just randomly decided which episodes of season 3 to throw together, it could easily have ended up being almost any season 3 episode.  So far, the season 3 episodes that have been shown have been above the average compared to last season.

There hasn't been any changes between airing season 3 and airing season 4, as they are almost the same season.  (I think in the longer term, what has happened is season 1 was building up, season 2 continued that build up to *something*, and season 3 was a mixture of "Ok, we are getting comfy with the show, lets have some fun" and "But we need to continue building our plotline".  There has not been enough production season 4 episodes to change to tell if they suddenly started doing it differently)

[Reply #11 on:]

 

Originally posted by McGrady:
a holiday special episode

Wait, you mean "A Tale of Two Santas?"  That was meant to be released last season, but wasn't because of "excessive violence."

[Reply #12 on:]

i think he meant Love and Rocket. it was the special valentines day ep

[Reply #13 on:]

Well ya'll, I'm getting that meh feeling too. For a good two years Futurama was exciting from the beginning to the end of each episode. Now, you definetely see a change. I'm not exactly sure if it's a change for the better and that's what's bothering me.

About a year ago if I were trying to introduce Futurama to a friend, I would pop in Amazon Women in the Mood - no problem. Now, I wouldn't dare stick A Pharoah to Remember in the VCR.

Futurama has lost it's luster. The shine isn't gone, it has just gone a little dull. That's just my opinion.

[Reply #14 on:]

the point I was trying to make is that amazon women in the mood is the same production season as a pharoah to remember.  They didn't change the episodes so they would be different in airing season 4.  Maybe you wouldn't use pharoah to remember to introduce people to the series, but would you use "That's lobstertainment!" or "The Cryonic Woman"? (actually The Cryonic Woman is pro season 2...)

What we are seeing is still season 3.  If you say season 3 is worse than season 2, that is open to debate.  In my opinion, there was the best and worst episodes in season 3; I thought season 3 was better than 2 overall, and season 2 was better than season 1, and what I have seen of season 4 (love and rocket and leela's homeworld), season 4 seems very good.

Maybe quit being so hypercritical.  Don't compare Leela's homeworld to luck of the fryish; don't compare a pharoah to remember to amazon women in the mood.  Those episodes are among the best that have been made.

What is better: a pharaoh to remember or:

Mars University; A Head in the Polls; Lesser of Two Evils; Raging Bender; A Bicyclops Built for Two;How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back; A Clone of My Own; The Deep South; Bender Gets Made; The Cryonic Woman; Bendless Love; That's Lobstertainment!; The Cyber House Rules; Bendin' In The Wind; I Dated A Robot

Sure, many of you will like 1/2 of the list, many of you will like the other 1/2, some will like the entire list.  But me, I think every episode in airing season 4 is better in either entertainment value (was I entertained?  Did I like watching this episode?) or funny factor (did I laugh multiple times?) than the ones I mentioned above.