Thoughts on Season 6 - SPOILERS

[#40 :]

but I thought the fact that it was slightly shorter made it rush along more quickly so all the scenes seemed like they were jumping back and forth pretty quickly.

Was it really shorter? I thought it was longer, because they even shortened the intro. It was definitely disjointed though.

I think IAGDL was far less disjoint than Rebirth.  In that aspect, it felt like a regular Futurama episode.  Its pacing was decent and so forth.  It unfortunately just approached a scenario of pointlessness by the end.  And while the whole Zapp revealing his plan thing was fun, I felt the joke didn't escalate enough.  It was just him revealing more parts of his plan, he should have done more and more crazy or ridiculous or horrendous things.

I fail to see how their length had anything to do with the episode being a bit disjoint or oddly paced.  After you are 12 minutes in, there aren't really much meat on that story.

I don't know, I guess the fact that I knew that it was slightly shorter or that they cut down the intro made it seem to me like the pacing was a little quick or something. Stop yelling at me! It was like 9:30 AM and I'd been up all night waiting for these bastards to download.

[#41 :]

I noticed the intro was shortened, I'm wondering if that was just on the downloads, but that seems strange. It didn't feel right...

I never actually noticed that IDGDL was shorter until I looked at the time it was running the second time I watched it. So that said, I don't think it made a difference.

[#42 :]

The shortening of the intro was probably due to distribution and not the actual episode.  I recommend we making further decisions on this when the episodes have actually aired.  Maybe even scenes could have been lost and other things.

[#43 :]

I think IAGDL was far less disjoint than Rebirth.  In that aspect, it felt like a regular Futurama episode.  Its pacing was decent and so forth.  It unfortunately just approached a scenario of pointlessness by the end.  And while the whole Zapp revealing his plan thing was fun, I felt the joke didn't escalate enough.  It was just him revealing more parts of his plan, he should have done more and more crazy or ridiculous or horrendous things.

I fail to see how their length had anything to do with the episode being a bit disjoint or oddly paced.  After you are 12 minutes in, there aren't really much meat on that story.

I kinda agree. In my opinion, it was fine until the third act. At this point, there was extremely little shown of the other characters, and Leela and Zapp had to carry virtually the entire act in a scenario that I feel wasn't nearly as strong as it should have been. The B-plot just disappears. Maybe if they had at least one other scene of the crew interjecting the garden scenes, perhaps involving a real reason why they suddenly decide to roam the island, it would have worked much better.

[#44 :]

Exactly. As I said before in some other thread (stupid thousands of threads for the same thing), the real problem with IDGDL was that there was no strong B-plot and the A-plot was only two characters talking back and forth.

[#45 :]

But I still think Zapp and Leela are fully capable of carrying an episode where all they really do is talk back and forth. This plot just didn't do them justice/wasn't well-executed. I'm convinced that all the Eden stuff would have been better if Leela's supposed delirium was more convincingly conveyed, and if they had tried to tie her fear that earth would be annihilated with something more concrete than "everyone is gone; oh well, let's bone" (something more emotionally grounded, meatier: "I'll never see Fry/my parents/Nibbler again"). I mean, I know it was supposed to be an Adam and Eve allegory (if you can call it that), and more a gag-driven episode than an emotional one--but it could have benefited from something more specific for Leela to miss. It seemed like her primary concern was how nice Zapp was and the possibility that they would have to, y'know, mate. Leela quasi-falling for Zapp--and Zapp being this chivalrous version of himself--messed up the dynamic and made the whole thing seem forced.

[#46 :]

^^I completely agree.

[#47 :]

I agree that it seemed forced, but for the people who are saying that Leela is consistently repulsed by Zapp, it's quite possible that even though he's a total jerk and she hates him, she's known him for a long time, so the repulsion might be gone as she's used to him now and the way he is... but it could have been conveyed a lot more effectively than it was in the end. Which is a shame, it had potential. There was some funny bits though.

[#48 :]

Or maybe Caroline Premish is just a inexperienced nutter.

[#49 :]

There is that too.

[#50 :]

Any mistake this season will hence forth be known as "pulling a Premish".

[#51 :]

Final ratings

Rebirth 8/10

IAGDL  8.5/10

edit: Should it be IAGDL (In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela)

[#52 :]

But IDGDL just feels more natural!

…

IAGDL it is.

[#53 :]

Any mistake this season will hence forth be known as "pulling a Premish".

Premish kinda sounds like an amalgam of President and Jewish.

[#54 :]

I am a HUGE fan of Futurama, in fact I've probably watched every episode at least 10 times so when I heard that it was coming back I was extremely excited.

For some reason after watching tonight premier episodes I was kind of disappointing.  I think the show has lost something.  Its almost like what happened to the Simpsons.  The first couple seasons were great but now the new seasons are all crap.  Futurama has drifted from its roots.  What happened to the delivery company?  and making extremely dangerous and ridiculous delivery's to crazy planets?  They even made current pop culture references in the show.  The Ipod hermes was wearing, the reference to CSI Miami.. come on man, this isn't the simpsons, its supposed to take place in the year 3000  .  They really tried to jam pack every scene with under par jokes, almost taking away from the main plot of the episode.  Bender shoving a male input plug into the satellite dishes computer?  What happened to the subtlety of him just randomly pushing buttons making sparks fly everywhere? Its funnier because you know hes doing something wrong/lewd but its not as bluntly suggesting sex   eh maybe I'm just tired and delirious.

Maybe they lost some of the original writers and brought in some amateurs.  The things that made the show great where the subtleties of the characters personalities coming into play. Maybe as the season goes on the episodes will get better.  I certainly hope so.

Anyone agree? or convince me otherwise??

[#55 :]

I think that perhaps you need to set your expectations a little lower.

Futurama's back, and whilst it's suffered a little in the seven years it has been off the air, it's got most of the old force behind it. I'm confident that it will improve.

Besides which, "Rebirth" was a very strong episode. Felt like it was Season 1 all over again.

[#56 :]

Indeed, stop moaning and be happy that Futurama is even back.

It's an unmoveable force, and the episodes were actually pretty darn good.

[#57 :]

The CSI Miami joke seems to play off of Zapp's referencing of Duran Duran in ITWGY. Perhaps he likes David Caruso's style.

And Hermes' iPod joke is classic Futurama: the misdirection joke. It's like Farnsworth's "Let us never relive that" in Rebirth and a similar moment in The Sting when Hermes didn't want to know what the bees did.

[#58 :]

It's been a while since episodic format, but it will get better as the season goes on. K?

[#59 :]

And Hermes' iPod joke is classic Futurama.

Yeah, a throwaway misdirectional gag. Was pretty funny. As for Zapp's reference to CSI Miami, would you rather he mentioned some other show? Because it was a reference to every single show that does that zoomy thing with perfect resolution. They had to pick one. Why not one that will resonate with the audience?

[#60 :]

I think you may be forgetting the fact that:

1. There were only two episodes, maybe save the "oh my god Futurama's turned shit" stuff until there's been a couple more.
2. They made reference to current things in the original series.
3. There's always been bluntly lewd jokes in Futurama (Seriously, I shouldn't have to keep reminding people that Futurama's subtleties AND immaturities were what made it great!)

Also, you probably could have just posted this in the Season 6 thread...

[#61 :]

Exactly. Let's wait until Carolyn Premish gets another episode, then we can officially say that Futurama's hit the shitter.

[#62 :]

Bender shoving a male input plug into the satellite dishes computer?

You're the kind of guy who visits Jerusalem and doesn't want to see the Sex-ateria.

[#63 :]

I think the eps were fine. I was worried about them, but I found them very entertaining. So we'll have to agree to disagree.

[#64 :]

The first episode was absolutely brilliant, I don't know how on earth you could expect more from a return episode!?!!

My first thought at the end of Rebirth was: "I bet they put A LOT of effort in to making sure the first one back wouldn't disappoint, and no-one could be disappointed by that!" - but then I come on here and learn how wrong I was. How sad for some fans who can never be pleased.

[#65 :]

OH NO OH NO OH NO GOD WHY I FORGOT THEY WERE ON TONIGHT WHY GOD

[#66 :]

Exactly. Let's wait until Carolyn Premish gets another episode, then we can officially say that Futurama's hit the shitter.

Stop stealing my opinions, dwarf!

[#67 :]

I wasn't disappointed at all.

[#68 :]

I agree about being disappointed about the second episode -- IMO it's the worst episode of Futurama ever -- but "Rebirth" was all right. As I've explained already, it was creatively constrained by being the transitional episode between the movies and the return of the TV series, which is why it had the self-referential gags at the beginning, and the theme of the episode was "Rebirth". The self-referential gags weren't nearly as clever or funny as the ones in "Bender's Big Score", but they weren't terrible either.

I rated "Rebirth" as a 6/10 in the poll thread, because I felt it was below average for an episode of Futurama. After watching it multiple times and with other people, I've realized that my opinion might be biased by my admittedly impossibly high expectations. Regardless, opinions are personally subjective, and my initial impressions of this episode are the most relavent, do I'm sticking with my rating.

The same for IDGDL. It's a terrible episode, based on a terrible premise, and terribly written. Leela and Zapp naked on a Garden of Eden Planet is just a lame idea from the beginning. The episode would've been much better if it had focused on the V-GINY Deathsphere and it "censoring" indecent planets by destroying them; the episode could've tackled the issue of censorship, but it basically ignored it in favour of a contrived plot to get Leela and Zapp to have sex again -- which I don't think many fans were clamouring for anyway.

I'm not saying that Futurama is shit now or anything as ludicrously reactionary like that. I'm merely saying that I didn't like IDGDL and I hope the next episode is much, much better; and that the show can quickly regain the momentum and the free-spirited humour and craziness of the fourth season.

I can't wait until next week's episode!

[#69 :]

I know you're not saying it's not shit now, and I agree, but if you think IDGDL is the worst ever, you really need to rewatch Where the Buggalo Roam. Now.

[#70 :]

Hello, cryonic woman?

Damn. People really like to complain and set such high standards. Where the Buggalo Roam is watchable, Cryonic Woman makes me cringe every time though.

[#71 :]

Still, point remains that there are far worse than IDGDL.

[#72 :]

Oh, indeed.

[#73 :]

Preview of 6ACV03:
http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=314027&title=preview-e-waste-delivery
This is hilarious. To all the naysayers of new Futurama, watch this.

[#74 :]

It won't let me watch it

[#75 :]

Hahahaha! Great jokes in there!
The effects were specky as well.

[#76 :]

Goddamn you Americans! Rarr!

[#77 :]

I hope you like later episodes more.

I liked the two new episodes, they may not have been the best Futurama ever but they were far from the worst.

[#78 :]

"This thing is 40% Chromium"
Ah, running jokes.

I wanna know who wrote that episode.

[#79 :]

I agree Tweek. These episodes were solid--far from the worst.

But the original poster has a good point about the current-pop-culture references. WAY too many of them. Yeah, I laughed at the CSI Miami joke...but boy I wish Fry had made it instead of Zapp.

Also, I do agree that the censor-probe had potential that was wasted on the Zapp/Leela garden of eden thing. But whatever, the episode was still funny enough.

I am satisfied by this level of quality, but of course I share in the haters' hopes that the writing will improve.