The old "Everything is worse now" discussion - General Futurama Discussion. SPOILER ALERT

[Reply #520 on:]

Well what finally made Kif man up and give Zapp a punch in the guts?  Him seducing Amy.

True, but Zapp seducing Amy had nothing to do with him being a captain and Kif being his lieutenant. It was a personal matter, not a professional one, so Kif would have no qualms about being "insubordinate" in that case.

And if you think that's a stretch, well...I agree with spira that there was no reason to dwell on Kif's reaction to the situation. It would have mucked up the episode's pacing.

[Reply #521 on:]

Yeah, I can't really think of any example where Kif's at all successfully insubordinate in the professional realm. I guess maybe at the end of Into the Wild Green Yonder, but everyone ends up dying so that could probably be considered a failure. Kif's good at dramatically sighing and otherwise moping around, but he knows his place and Zapp intends to keep him there.

[Reply #522 on:]

Ep 18 and 24 are reasonably far apart. Flashbacks weren't a total rarity in the original run.

Well I mean, there were what, 2, 3 of them? And they were separated out by seasons, not by just five or six episodes. It starts to feel really repetitive if you do the same things too often in a season (I for one go crazy when I'm watching season one and there's ANOTHER chase scene).

Not that the two flashback episodes so close together bothered me personally, but I could understand it being a complaint. But I thought they were both great episodes.

[Reply #523 on:]

It can be harsh, but I don't find it to be harsh by necessity. I think this is an example of a time when they made a blunder when deciding the airing order (I don't know who decides this, but whoever it was made a blunder, and the others made one by letting him/her/them). Another example would be if there came an episode in which Bender finds an egg and it turns out to keep a creepy alien that needs to be put down. The episode could be aired years after "Fry Am the Egg Man", and can be entirely unrelated, and hell, it could be the best Futurama episode ever, but reviewers (and I) will still be mad about the plagiarizing of a previous plot.

My point is, if it's not evident, that episodes can be degraded for their relationship with other episodes, be it in correct production order or not.

[Reply #524 on:]

The writers totally need to read Peel more.  That way they can notice my Awesome Secksay Mary Soo Fanfiction where Fry dumps Leela and proceeds to get married to a character who looks and talks suspiciously like me and we go at it like the last two rabbits in the universe.

You know it would be the pinnacle of western animation.

[Reply #525 on:]

Comedy Central's definitely done some awful ordering this year. Too many Bender episodes too early, for instance. Season 5 (Fox's version, that is) was heavily criticized at the time and I always felt like the weird airing order had a lot to do with that. Individual episodes should stand alone and all that, but the order DOES affect how they play to the audience, even subconsciously. And there's a reason that the producers originally order the episodes the way they do.

[Reply #526 on:]

Well one thing that has bothered me is how many Bender episodes there have been since the cancellation.  Two of the movies are named after him (I never got why BBS had him in the title, when it's really about Fry and Leela), and there are times when Futurama feels like "The Bender Show".   He is a fantastic character, but even nutella can be spread across too much bread...

[Reply #527 on:]

BBM

Bender's Big Monkey? Bender's Big Mango? Bender's Big Moob?

[Reply #528 on:]

but even nutella can be spread across too much bread...

This is actually false. I could just sit down and eat a jar of nutella without anything as irrelevant as bread to distract me, would I not feel guilty about it later.

I agree though. There is quite a bit of Bender, and the Bender-centric episodes in the old run were never my favorites.

[Reply #529 on:]

I'm tired, BBS.  A big duhrr to me, if you will.

Perhaps you're right spira.  I can eat nutella with a spoon.  I don't know why they try convincing me it's healthy on those stupid adverts.  I'd still eat it if it made my intestines climb up through my digestive tract and jump out of my mouth. 

[Reply #530 on:]

I like the sound of "Bender's Big Monkey" for a King Kong-esque episode title.

[Reply #531 on:]

Well one thing that has bothered me is how many Bender episodes there have been since the cancellation.  Two of the movies are named after him (I never got why BBS had him in the title, when it's really about Fry and Leela), and there are times when Futurama feels like "The Bender Show".   He is a fantastic character, but even nutella can be spread across too much bread...

Yeah, generally I agree that too much Bender is usually, well too much Bender. It worked in Godfellas, it worked in Bender Gets Made and it worked in Hell Is other Robots, but even so too much of him can be a real drag if he's written wrong. I'm looking at A Pharaoh To Remember in particular, but if there's two Bender heavy eps in a row then it can grate somewhat even if they're not that bad. Since cancellation I've not noticed too much of a problem other than the movies as you pointed out. It's Futurama after all, not the Bender show!...

[Reply #532 on:]

Eh, by my count there's only been about six episodes of season 6 so far that are primarily about him (in most cases this also pairs him with other characters, too - Fry, Amy, Hermes - so there's only a couple where he's truly the only star of the episode) and that's if you count "Benda" which is really more of an ensemble piece anyway. There's been subplots here and there too, or he plays some part in other plots, but not more so than other characters. We'll see how front-and-center he is in Overclockwise, of course. But I don't think there's been a huge increase in him really, it's just that Comedy Central has bunched a few of them close together this year and created that feeling, much like FOX did toward the end of the show's initial run in 2003.

Calling it "Bender's Big Score" was probably for marketing purposes; he's the most popular and recognizable character. And he was integral to the plot, so it wasn't really false advertising, but again there wasn't a Bender overload compared to other characters. That's true of Bender's Game as well.

[Reply #533 on:]

The title Bender's Game is an obvious play on Ender's Game, so it makes sense. Bender's Big Score isn't a reference to anything, right? If not, eh, I've been stupider before.

Yeah, there was just a lot of Bender early in 6B. Specifically a lot of Bender-death.

[Reply #534 on:]

The writers totally need to read Peel more.

From a devoted fan's viewpoint I can relate, but from a writer's viewpoint I could see why they might never, EVER, check PEEL. I hate people critiquing my polished work when I feel it is perfection. Critique me in the process, yes...but if it's finished, it's done.

[Reply #535 on:]

The title Bender's Game is an obvious play on Ender's Game, so it makes sense. Bender's Big Score isn't a reference to anything, right? If not, eh, I've been stupider before.

Shaft's Big Score?

[Reply #536 on:]

Shut up, Svip, I know it!

Yeah, there was just a lot of Bender early in 6B. Specifically a lot of Bender-death.

Indeed. As a reviewer, I'd personally take greater offense to the fact that "Ghost in the Machines," "Law and Oracle," and "The Silence of the Clamps" aired consecutively and all featured Bender croaking (or allegedly croaking)--especially because "Ghost in the Machines" and "The Silence of the Clamps" were sub-par to begin with. The overuse of a plot device like, say, killing off a major character, is a way bigger deal to me than an overabundance (if you could even call it that) of well-done flashbacks.

[Reply #537 on:]

The writers totally need to read Peel more.

From a devoted fan's viewpoint I can relate, but from a writer's viewpoint I could see why they might never, EVER, check PEEL. I hate people critiquing my polished work when I feel it is perfection. Critique me in the process, yes...but if it's finished, it's done.

Yeah, it's like when I'm walking off to Uni with my homework all finished, and then my mom starts picking it apart.   It's like... great.  I could have used that critique a few days ago when I was working on it, not when I'm walking out the door to hand it in.

[Reply #538 on:]

Indeed. As a reviewer, I'd personally take greater offense to the fact that "Ghost in the Machines," "Law and Oracle," and "The Silence of the Clamps" aired consecutively and all featured Bender croaking (or allegedly croaking)--especially because "Ghost in the Machines" and "The Silence of the Clamps" were sub-par to begin with. The overuse of a plot device like, say, killing off a major character, is a way bigger deal to me than an overabundance (if you could even call it that) of well-done flashbacks.

You dislike the killing of a major character?  You are going to hate A Song of Ice and Fire.

[Reply #539 on:]

Since this is the General Discussion thread, can I ask, do we ever see the character's names from Leela's show written down or anything in Yo Leela Leela?

[Reply #540 on:]

Not that I know of, but I've only seen the ep twice. I don't think they are though.

[Reply #541 on:]

I know we see the spring thingie's name on a cue card, according to the Infosphere his name is 'Silly-Springed Doingg', but the cue card just says 'DOINGG'.

[Reply #542 on:]

Someone refers to him as "silly, springed Doingg", but I'm pretty sure they were just calling Doingg silly and springed.

[Reply #543 on:]

Damn, I called his Infosphere page 'Silly-Springed Doingg'...

Also, just noticed, Bender and Leela have both been coated in green liquid this season (Leela covered in Slurm in 'Yo Leela Leela', Bender covered in snot in 'Cold Warriors'), next up, Fry. Overclockwise and Reincarnation better deliver.

No, I don't really care that much.

[Reply #544 on:]

What can I say, the writers are the filthy, filthy, mechanics which drive us to

...I really can't even finish that thought.

[Reply #545 on:]

...fall apart over the slightest technical details?

That's a fun game, Finishing Other People's Analogies.

[Reply #546 on:]

Is everything you say a premise?

[Reply #547 on:]

I have to agree with Gorky. The concept of killing a major character has really lost it's dramatic sense, at least with Bender. There was a nice set up in Lethal Inspection, but to air three consecutive episodes where he 'dies' really looses any dramatic appeal. That's why The Sting is still my favorite episode, it was done so effectively and creatively. Yet it seems like the characters are always cheating death so seeing the death of a major character just isn't as interesting. If they another episode like The Sting, then I'm all on board but I don't see that happening within the next two episodes (maybe next season).

[Reply #548 on:]

Way back when, it always bothered me that "Obsolutely Fabulous" ended with an "it's all a dream!" ending so soon after "The Sting." I think that partially explains why it's remained one of my least favorite Futurama episodes (though it's watchable).

[Reply #549 on:]

I was going to mention that, too, DtB--though I really enjoy "Obsoletely Fabulous." At least in that case, it's not two consecutive episodes where Leela is dreaming the whole thing (or Bender is dreaming the whole thing); the plot device was used differently, and with two different characters, and the result was entertaining. But Bender "dying" three weeks in a row was a little ridiculous; Bender faux-dying three times in a single season might even be pushing it. And it didn't help that "Ghost in the Machines" and "The Silence of the Clamps" weren't particularly great to begin with, in my opinion.

Oh, and I know people were annoyed by the overuse of Scruffy this season, but I've been watching a lot of season three episodes recently, and he's used quite frequently there, as well. He's in "Parasites Lost" and "The Luck of the Fryrish," which are only an episode apart in production order. He also has quite a bit of dialogue in "Future Stock." These appearances don't bother me, of course, but they made me feel a bit better about what I thought was some Scruffy overload in the first few episodes of season 6B.

[Reply #550 on:]

I don't see why Scruffy was overused... I can't say he was ever a character that ever appealed to me, but I didn't notice him being overused.  He would appear, say a few lines, then vanish again, and he only really had a strong presence in the ensemble episodes like Prisoner of Benda and Neutopia.  He's appeared more, but he's hardly overused.  He's had the same presence he has had in each episodes, he just appears in more episodes, but he still only has two or three lines tops.  

He also made a surprisingly hot chick.  Hello from the neck down.

[Reply #551 on:]

Anyway, how about a special edition episode just for registered users of Peel, Futurama Big Brother with all the characters?

[Reply #552 on:]

To be fair, Scruffy must have died at some point because in "Law and Oracle" he's revealed to be a zombie.

[Reply #553 on:]

To be fair, Scruffy must have died at some point because in "Law and Oracle" he's revealed to be a zombie.

With the new approach to continuity, that might not be taken into account in future episodes. It'd be nice to see the crew get into a mess that only a person withiut a heartbeat could save them from though. Enter Scruffy, the shuffling, undead hero of the hour!

[Reply #554 on:]

I noticed this in 'The Tip of the Zoidberg', since when is there a High Voltage box above the couch in the PE lounge?

[Reply #555 on:]

Since when have they not altered the interior design of the PE building from episode to episode?

[Reply #556 on:]

Lets hope the last 2 episodes can stay as high or go even higher.

Though even with the last 2 episodes with 100%, Season 6 would still be on an average of 78%
With both being 90+ it would go all the way up to 77.xx%.... from currently 76.17%

So Season 6 will definitely stay the lowest rated Season ever. Thanks to episodes like TFHS, YLL and IAGDL.

[Reply #557 on:]

I don't think everything is worse now, but I do think this season overall is weak.

Does anyone else get the impression that the jokes are either being written by new joke writers or being screened by Comedy Central? It seems lately there are more misses than hits and Futurama used to rarely ever miss for me. Maybe season 7 will be better.

[Reply #558 on:]

My rating on Futurama vol. wise:

Best to worse

Vol.4 > Vol. 3 > Vol. 2 > Dvd Movies > Vol 1 > Vol 5 > Vol 6

[Reply #559 on:]

Vol 6

Season 6B has included some of the best episodes in a long time.