Thoughts on 6ACV13 - Futurama Holiday Spectacular - SPOILERS

[on:]

The Futurama holiday special "Futurama Holiday Spectacular" marks the end of the 2010 Futurama run. Use this thread for reviews of the episode and for general discussion about it.


Beware, SPOILERs!



Don't forget to leave a short review on CGEF.

[Reply #1 on:]

I only saw the last two segments, but both were great. I'd love to see Al Gore as Captain Lance Starman. Can't wait to see the Xmas segment and the new season in June!

[Reply #2 on:]

Honestly, to me, the Kwanzaa segment seemed like an after thought.  But it was an alright epp.

[Reply #3 on:]

not bad, but could've been a lot better

[Reply #4 on:]

the middle section was the most thought out and best, by far.

[Reply #5 on:]

Good, not great but still solidly good. The exploding gingerbread house and Zoidberg knowing Kwanzaabot was coming were hilarious.

[Reply #6 on:]

That.

Was.

SHIT.

I skipped the last segment to watch Venture Brothers, and I don't regret it one bit.

[Reply #7 on:]

Well, that was disappointing.  I was really looking forward to this too. 

[Reply #8 on:]

Flat.  Like many of the episodes this year, it's missing something; the writing was not quite there.  Comedy Central played "XMAS Story" and "A Tale of Two Santas" before the new episode, and it didn't hold up in comparison to the classic episodes.  I was disappointed somewhat.

[Reply #9 on:]

An "Anthology of Interest" episode, minus the interest ...

EDIT: Hey! I'm a bending unit now!

[Reply #10 on:]

Pretty good episode. It had some really funny bits and some really good moments animation-wise.

The first two parts were better than the last one although I thought the shot at the end with them all in the Kwanzaa candles was pretty cool.

Overall, It was an interesting concept, like an Xmas episode had sex with an Anthology of Interest episode. I'd still like to see a new AOI episode and a new regular non-AOI Christmas episode at some point...

[Reply #11 on:]

Jesus Christ, what has happened to writing team? 
BTW , what is that with new title? I think that Holiday Val-U-Park would be just fine...

First segment had no plot and felt like rejected idea for comic.
Second had nothing except two pretty hookerbots.
Third one seemed to be just excuse to make reference to much better episode.

Also, when you are writing non-canon episode, don´t you think there is something more creative to do than kill all the characters? 

Waste, waste, waste...

[Reply #12 on:]

What is the deal with killing everyone? Is this The Simpsons now? It was ok I guess...

[Reply #13 on:]

I'm not surprised at the freak-out...this was definitely a disappointment. But it wasn't all bad.

The cheesy opening and sponsorship was quite funny. But then as soon as they broke into song, they lost me. I think I am officially "over" comedy musical numbers in cartoon shows. They've been really hit or miss for me. Futurama has had some good ones, but when they miss, they can really derail the episode.

From then on, segment 1 was just bad. I don't know what else to say. Not much to laugh at.

But there is good news! Segment 2 was great (again, except for the song)! Fry and the crew turning into oil was a hilarious ending. I loved how Bender just forgets they're dead after 500 million years, or whatever. "Hey do you guys wanna--oh yeah". Funny!

Kwanzaa segment was "fair". It had some laughs. I love seeing Barbados Slim. I thought it was pretty lazy that they went for the same story structure (explain the holiday with a song; realize you need something like pine trees or oil or beeswax; search for it and end with the crew dying) for each segment, and honestly seeing the bees again didn't do a whole lot for me. The kwanzaa song actually wasn't too bad.

Unfortunately, this is yet another case of "we waited [insert period of time] for THIS?". If this were a normal episode aired right in the middle of 20 other episodes, like in a full broadast season, I think this would have been alright. Instead, the way-too-short season 6 ends, and then we wait months and we get this holiday special as the only episode until whenever-the-hell season 6.2 starts airing. It leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth to know that this is the only new Futurama we've had in so long.

But whatever. Like I said, it wasn't all bad. At least I have the Robonica segment.

[Reply #14 on:]

I will go with 'okay'.  I wasn't hyped for this episode, so I guess that helps.  The problem is that each segment was very 'format-y', unlike regular AOI-episodes, where each segment can be vastly different and unpredictable.  And the songs weren't as great as in the previous Xmas-segments, including Bender's Big Score.

To me, this entire episode seemed just to be a nod to old episodes, which I didn't really care for.  Why the mention of pine trees?  Sure it was established in "Xmas Story" that they were extinct, but why not keep them that way?  Was I the only one who caught Farnsworth's line, 'and again the only hope is Norwegian' to be a nod to 'Angry Norwegian Anchovies'?

Then you had the second episode picking up Robonica from "Fear of a Bot Planet" and the mention of petrol, which had been the topic of many an episode prior to this.  And yeah, the bees.

What bothered me the most is actually that I am a canon-guy.  I like canon, and I like it not to be disrupted.  While each of these segments are obviously non-canon, it doesn't alter the fact that they weren't established with the same kind of 'framing' as the regular AOI-episodes were.

The segments were not really interesting and it seemed like a cheap cop-out at best.  It had some good lines, here and there.  But none of it was the songs.  While not specifically bad, they were uninteresting and forgettable.  Unlike many previous songs on the show.

[Reply #15 on:]

I hated it. I'd even go as far to say that it was even worse than AOTKA (my previous least favourite of season 6).

Honestly, none of it was funny, and the plots were terrible. It was absolutely pointless in my eyes. Just seemed like an awful modern simpsons haloween special, but christmas. One of the worst episodes of all time, this.

In terms of futurama, this is the lowest of the low, and it cannot get any worse than this, surely.

[Reply #16 on:]

I enjoyed it,  it was just mindless fun.  It's a holiday special so I really don't compare it to an actual episode.  It was more AOI than Tale of Two Santas.  I thought it was clever and liked the running theme.

[Reply #17 on:]

I am going to reserve voting until I download it a watch it a few more times as I was a bit distracted when I was watching it.  However, the first thing that I thought when I finished the episode was that I cannot wait to see the deleted scenes, because that should have been an hour long episode for sure.  I liked the plots, the songs and the environmental themes - especially the bit about the bees (that is a serious issue), but it was all squeezed into half the time it should have been.  My favorite part was when Scruffy died and the crew is all nonplussed, but at home I was like NOOOOOOO!!!!!

[Reply #18 on:]

I think I would have liked it more if I knew it was going to be AOI-style..as it was I watched the first part wondering why everything was being rushed at breakneck speed and wondering wtf was going on.

"Anthology of Xmas" as the title would have made it much better for me.. even if it meant losing the Scruffy joke (although, now that I think about it, randomly killing him without any explanation or acknowledgment would be an awesome conclusion to the characters story arc :P).

Middle section was definitely the best, simply because it made the least sense and was the most entertaining and well written... the drilling was cool, and the jokes were good in that bit.... loved the mole graves and albino humping worm.

[Reply #19 on:]

Well <i>I</i> liked it. Sure it was the weakest Christmas-themed episode, but it still wasn't bad. I love the anthology episodes and this didn't disappoint, I don't get where all the hate is coming from. Here's hoping for many more seasons, can't wait 'til June! I just wish this episode wasn't competing against "The Walking Dead" and others.

eh 8.5/10

[Reply #20 on:]

I was extremely disappointed with this one... it's an okay episode but nothing more. Especially the songs were extremely forgettable. Sorry.

[Reply #21 on:]

There were a handful of belly laughs and the 2nd segment was genuinely quite good once it got going (basically everything from after the musical number) but the 1st and 3rd segments were awful. And I wasn't hyped for this episode either.

This'll probably make my bottom 10 episodes of all time although there have definitely been worse and like I said, it did have its moments.

[Reply #22 on:]

People will never be pleased. Like someone said earlier, this was mindless fun, and I enjoyed it.

Ranks:

Robanakah
Kwanzaa
Xmas

8/10

[Reply #23 on:]

People will never be pleased. Like someone said earlier, this was mindless fun, and I enjoyed it.

I was quite pleased with the season overall, but I'm realistic. The episode could have been so much better.

[Reply #24 on:]

Damn DVR cut off the end credits again. It stopped when Bender came back to Planet Express as saw the floozybots wrestling in the oil. What happened after?

[Reply #25 on:]

Damn DVR cut off the end credits again. It stopped when Bender came back to Planet Express as saw the floozybots wrestling in the oil. What happened after?

...the next third of the episode came.

[Reply #26 on:]

It wasn't great, it wasn't awful. I laughed a fair few times, if I'm honest, but there was just something missing from it. But Bender's line "Ooh look the air's on fire" really tickled me, and I'm not sure why.

The first segment was my favourite, the voice acting from the other actors in the 3rd part just seemed off. Labarbara didn't sound like Labarbara enough.

Overall I gave it a 6. Not bad, not amazing.

[Reply #27 on:]

4. Subpar for a Futurama episode and I didn't LOL at all. I don't like when the crew dies especially if it doesn't serve a plot reason... I especially dislike when they break cannon unexplained...

The Anthologies of Interest are forgivable to me only because it is clear that they are musings. In this episode, I'm not sure what I watched...

If I wanted to watch Treehouse of Horror I'd watch Treehouse of Horror god dammit...

[Reply #28 on:]

I like "Anthology of Interest" episodes because they have no real effect on cannon if any at all, so they can be as crazy as they want to be. For it kinda said in the end they'll all be back and alive just as they ever were.

I give it 9/10.

What did the Futurama crew do on Xmas in the universe (Universe  Gamma/Universe A) where we mostly seen them on TV? I'd guess they put down those armored shutters from "A Tale of Two Santas" and barricaded/reinforced the armor-plated chimney cover so that Robot Santa wouldn't be able to get in. Then Robot Santa would of given up and moved on to terrorize some others.


As many of you may know it's original name was meant to be "Holiday Val-U-Pak". Do you think the "The Futurama Holiday Spectacular Speculation" is a better name? I do.


It was a nice break from Fry and Leela shippyness even though I'm a big shipper.

[Reply #29 on:]

I thought this was really good... for a 3 parts episode :P  a good mix with the treehouse of horror and anthology of interest. I love when Zoidberg is watching the wall, knowing that Kwanza is coming XD

[Reply #30 on:]

I thought it was alright. A perfectly decent episode, provided you actually view and treat it as the three-parter it's actually meant to be. I found it to be a bit weaker than the full-length Xmas episodes though, and I think I would have preferred that.

I enjoyed Xmas and Robanakah (the latter much more so than the first). Kwanzaa was good up until the bees started talking (and Zoidberg's line near the end was quite lolworthy).

It's interesting to see they've found a replacement for Agnew though. The perfect partner in evil!

[Reply #31 on:]

Damn DVR cut off the end credits again. It stopped when Bender came back to Planet Express as saw the floozybots wrestling in the oil. What happened after?

That was pretty much the end of Robonica part if you missed the part where Bender says it's a miracle.

You just missed the Kwanzaa part Where they were searching for bee's wax for candles. They couldn't find any on Earth because the bees were infected with parasites. So they went to the giant space bees who were also infected. They got rid of the parasites on those bees but then the bees made candles out of the crew.

[Reply #32 on:]

IAs many of you may know it's original name was meant to be "Holiday Val-U-Pak". Do you think the "The Futurama Holiday Spectacular Speculation" is a better name? I do.

I don´t. This way it sounds that Comedy Central wants to get across that this is Futurama episode even if aired out of broadcast season. It also kinda reminds me "Top secret season premiere extravaganza" which at the time was code name for "Roswell as ends well".  

[Reply #33 on:]

The 3rd weakest episode of the new season so far. The first segment was passable, the 2nd one faired alot better in terms of the quality of writing and the number of jokes, whilst the 3rd and final one went from passable to rock bottom standards, especially with the Family Guy jokes and talking bees (That one annoyed me big time, because The Sting did the bees and the hallucinations really well). There was too much singing in ths one too, and the songs were no where near as good as they should have been. Overall, a huge disappointment, and by far the worst holiday episode of Futurama. Thankfully, it's non-canon I guess. At best a 7/10 from me, mainly due to the 2nd segment being pretty good.

[Reply #34 on:]

I didn't give this episode a thorough watch, but I paid enough attention to know that it was pretty damn lame (and yes, I realize that doesn't sound like such an awful indictment, but whatever). I enjoyed the first two segments (and all three songs were decent), but none of them were particularly inspired. Like others, I think the Robonukah segment was the most well-thought-out, and definitely the funniest (best song, too, if that matters). It can't redeem the sub-par first segment and stupid-as-hell final segment (I'm worried that my opinion about the final segment might be offensive in some way, but oh well). Neither can Al Gore.

Also: the "Sting" callback was pointless and kind of gross. It also bugged me that the bees could talk in this one; last time, they only communicated by hitting dancing.

This was easily the least enjoyable episode thus far for me this season--but I didn't exactly have high expectations for it in the first place. I'm not worried that next summer's episodes will be equally disappointing; I think this one was kind of screwed from the start, destined to be a bit self-conscious, self-serving, and hokey. So I'm not bummed, but I'm not ecstatic--but I'm ultimately of the opinion that new, kind of lousy Futurama is better than no Futurama at all (in small doses, that is).

5/10

[Reply #35 on:]

Xmas-after watching it . . . wtf?  that's the best you can do?

Robanukkah- i liked this one (sorta).  it just left me wondering that after 500 million years why were the fembots still wrestling?  wouldn't they get bored at some point before that?
im probably overthinking the small details but i dont fricken care.

Kwanzaa- i didn't like how it started off, but the fact that they actually went back to the space bee hive seemed to me extremely stupid, then funny.

[Reply #36 on:]

Technically the bees couldn't talk anymore than they could in The Sting. The Professor put translators in everybody's helmets before they left.

I'd have to give the episode a 7 it seemed they got hung up on making each segment with too many similarities - a song about the holiday, most everybody must die at the end, etc. Like they used the same framework and the just filled in exchangeable blanks
for the different stories. Songs went on too long and sort pushed out a lot things that
could have been done. Sort of like the episode was done on the cheap.

I'd have to rank The Prisoner of Benda tops of the season with Rebirth and A Clockwork Origin a bit below.

[Reply #37 on:]

since it was 'treehouse of horror' with a holiday tinge, it was okay. some weak segments and one rather good one.

1st segment: felt like futurama comics. that is not a good thing.
2nd segment: i liked it from start to finish.
3rd segment: the first half was good, as well as the ending ending. i didn't care for the talking bee's, but their dialogue was pretty funny.

anyways, they should have done something like AOI, where you know that it is not real(cannon). that is their only fault, imo.

as for bartley's nuts sponsorship, i loved it. i keeps with the retro tinge that futurama has.

[Reply #38 on:]

Robanukkah- i liked this one (sorta).  it just left me wondering that after 500 million years why were the fembots still wrestling?  wouldn't they get bored at some point before that?
im probably overthinking the small details but i dont fricken care.

that was part of the joke, friend. the fact that they were still there, and the PE building was still there was just so stupid, that it was hilarious.

i thought so, anyways.

[Reply #39 on:]

Futurama should have stayed off the air, this season has been a series of disappointments, when did it become ok to replace jokes to references to previous episodes? Not funny, just a sad reminder of what the episodes used to have