Bring on Season 7! - General Futurama Discussion

[Reply #640 on:]

I think Season 6, despite it's short length, was just as good as Season 2, which was the most consistent season. Too bad it didn't have many brilliants episodes, because with it's level of consistency it could've been the best season...

[Reply #641 on:]

SHORT LENGTH?! Season 6 has been the biggest season so far, 26 episodes...

In order:

Season 6 & 7 - 26
Season 3 - 22
Season 2 - 19
Season 4 - 18
Season 5 - 16
Season 1 - 13

[Reply #642 on:]

Crap! I was thinking about the broadcast seasons again! It's just that there's such a long space in between 6A and 6B that it feels like different seasons.


In other words: Brain Fart...

[Reply #643 on:]

Season 2, which was the most consistent season. Too bad it didn't have many brilliants episodes, because with it's level of consistency it could've been the best season...

Yeah, I agree with you there, I think if there had been more brilliant episodes it might have been top. I think that the problem was that the show hadn't built up enough in terms of relationships and back stories, so the episodes weren't as deep. Also, there weren't many hilarious episodes, which was a shame. If only every episode could've been as funny as HHRHGB. That would have been amazing!

[Reply #644 on:]

Season 2 mainly consisted of 8's and 8.5's. There were a few 9's in there, but they wouldn't be considered classics (And those 9's are mostly by opinion, for example, I give Raging Bender a 9). In my opinion, the best episode from Season 2 was WITHW, but if there were more episodes like this, I'm sure 2 could've debatably been the best season...

[Reply #645 on:]

It doesn't feel right saying this, but I think Season 1 is the worst. It took a little while for the writers to get into the swing of things. It's certainly not terrible, but it has the smallest amount of really good eps I think. (Those being IR, HIOR, and AFTR.)

Season 4 is the best, as I've said before. Just about everything is absolutely brilliant.

Seasons 3 and 6 are tied for second place. Both had some extreme highs and some extreme lows, but the highs made up for them.

Seasons 2 and 5 are tied 4th place. Not particularly bad, but a small number of really great episodes.

[Reply #646 on:]

I consider Fry and The Slurm Factory to be one of the fantastic episodes from Season 1. The humor was great, and the spoof was awesome. I can't name every great line from that episode...

Show spoiler

And I remember every good line!

[Reply #647 on:]

I'm shocked Otis, how can you not like Season 4?!

I like it, I love some of it, but I just think it's the worst of the original run. This Sting is in my top 5 ever, so y'know...

Sometimes I can't believe how some people can find things that I love terrible (Season 4, Futurama In General), and they find things that I find terrible to be good (Jersey Shore, The Cleveland Show, etc.). .

But from Otis: . Somethings just wrong about that...

Well, I'm generally quite brutally honest with my opinions. Even bad Futurama is better than most stuff. I don't hate any of Season 4, I just don't like certain eps that much. The animation was probably at its best though...

I consider Fry and The Slurm Factory to be one of the fantastic episodes from Season 1. The humor was great, and the spoof was awesome. I can't name every great line from that episode...

Yes, that is my second favourite ep of all time. So many classic funny and damn hilarious lines! It's the essence of Futurama in my mind!...

[Reply #648 on:]

It doesn't feel right saying this, but I think Season 1 is the worst. It took a little while for the writers to get into the swing of things. It's certainly not terrible, but it has the smallest amount of really good eps I think. (Those being IR, HIOR, and AFTR.)

I completely agree with this. Season 1 is fantastic but it's also not as fantastic as the others in my opinion. It didn't really begin to explore the show's emotional possibilities and none of the episodes are as brilliantly hilarious as say "The Farnsworth Parabox".
Season 2 only really got there at the very end of its run with "War is the H-Word" and "Anthology of Interest I" but still.

And then seasons 3 and 4 are both sublime.

[Reply #649 on:]

I'd also throw season 6A in the same league as 3 & 4. Season 4 is the best though. No other season's top 5 can beat: Devil's Hands, Jurassic Bark, The Why of Fry, Leela's Homeworld & The Sting. Lots of other good episodes too, hardly any filler other than A Taste of Freedom.

[Reply #650 on:]

I made a chart (Yes, I'm a massive geek) of every Futurama episode. In my chart, I gave every episode a score out of 10. Most of these episodes were between 7 and 10, but there were a few worse. I rated:
9.2+ as a brilliant ep; 8.2-9.1 as good; 7.2-9.1 as medium; less than 7.2 as bad.

Here is a list of every season in terms of episode percentage:

Show spoiler

Season                Brilliant%      Good%           Medium%       Bad%
1                              7.7              84.6                  7.7               0
2                              5.3              42.1                 42.1             5.3
3                             36.4             27.3                 31.8             4.5
4                             22.2             44.4                 22.2            11.1
Films(5)                    25                50                    0                 25
6                             23.1             11.5                 38.5            26.9

So in my opinion season 6 isn't worse because of a lack of brilliant episodes, but because there are more bad episodes than every other season put together, and also not enough "good" episodes. Obviously this is all relative, even most of the "bad" Futurama episodes still make good TV.

[Reply #651 on:]

* futurefreak squints

Totalnerduk, is that you?

But anyways, nice work! I do agree that the later seasons post movies may have a select few wowsers lile TLPJF, but they also have arguably some of the worst episodes ever like YLL.

[Reply #652 on:]

It doesn't feel right saying this, but I think Season 1 is the worst. It took a little while for the writers to get into the swing of things. It's certainly not terrible, but it has the smallest amount of really good eps I think. (Those being IR, HIOR, and AFTR.)

Though I'm pretty meh on season one as a whole, I will say that the first three episodes are among my favorites of the series ("The Series Has Landed," in particular, is really well-done). The rest of season one is passable, yes--but nowhere near as brilliant as the seasons that follow it.

Season 2 only really got there at the very end of its run with "War is the H-Word" and "Anthology of Interest I" but still.

I think season two has a smattering of really fine episodes throughout ("Xmas Story," "A Bicyclops Built for Two," "Put Your Head on My Shoulder," "The Problem With Popplers"), but I agree that the final few episodes of the season (except for "The Cryonic Woman") serve as a preview for the greatness that will follow in seasons three and four.

Anyway: My season-by-season rankings go like this: 4 > 3 > 2 > 6 > 5 > 1. If you divide season six into part A and part B, then I think 6A slightly edges out season two. Taken as a whole, though, season six isn't quite as enjoyable to me as season two.

[Reply #653 on:]

After watching through season 6 on DVD as a whole, it kind of reminded me of when I first watched through season 3 in that they both feel really mixed in terms of quality (i.e., lots of good episodes but also lots of "meh" episodes). This actually kinda makes sense, considering that they're both very long seasons. Or something.

I also found that season 6 seemed far more enjoyable on DVD but I was expecting that to be the case anyway, since it's easier to not get so hung up on a sub-par episodes because you can just go and watch the next one straight away. The whole of 6B also seemed to work better with the episodes in production order rather than the order they were aired in.

And still on the topic of season 6 on DVD, this watch-through of the season also reinforced my stance that Yo Leela Leela is actually not that terrible of an episode and in fact has several quite funny parts.

[Reply #654 on:]

I'm actually with Otis on this one. Of the original run, Season 4 is my least favorite. To clarify, however, I still love Season 4, I just love Season 1-3 more. I also seem to enjoy Season 1 more than most. They are all still great, but Season 1 had this sort of homely charm. I also loved watching as they were experimenting with new characters and whatnot. 100 episodes in, it is so easy for the writers throw in a well-established character into the background rather than creating a new one. If this practice were also inherently true for Season 1, do you know who we wouldn't have now?: RANDY!

[Reply #655 on:]

Yes we all love Randy *ahem*

You can't really knock on Season one being so ...bland I say. The show was just getting it's footing and finding out where to go. Remember Season One of The Simpsons? Bart was like...Indian for an episode he was so dark

Season One may not have had those "wowsers" but it definitely has some of my more favorite underrated episodes, like My Three Suns and A Fishful of Dollars (I think the former is definitely more underrated than the latter). Season Two was full of good underraters too, like The Deep South, which gave birth to the everpresent manwich.

The difference between those seasons and seasons now, aside from writers and stuff, is, as so often touched upon, the airing time. Season One episodes could really "breathe" which might make it slow for some; for me, it allows me to take in the whole episode like it were a movie as opposed to a then 22 or 23 minute show. The Late Philip J. Fry is one of the only newer episodes where I felt the storyline could breathe, and it did feel like one of the earlier perhaps Season Two episodes for this reason. And yet...so much had to be told in 21 minutes. Amazing.

Also I seem to be the only one non-troll here who didn't think The Cryonic Woman was a bad episode. Mehhy, maybe. Terrible? No way. It was quite entertaining to watch Fry jump through hoops for some cad. I can see where people would get annoyed bringing some new character way to the foreground like that though, especially with the shippers considering the poor treatment Fry got. I found it a good watch though with good support from Bender and Leela in the first few acts.

YLL is the worst for me, followed by my old worst one, That's Lobstertainment!...It just wasn't funny, either of them. Except for the barbecuing pirate. That...was gold haha. Bender's Game was pretty bad too and fits somewhere between those too.

[Reply #656 on:]

Also I seem to be the only one non-troll here who didn't think The Cryonic Woman was a bad episode.

This guy.

[Reply #657 on:]

I enjoyed The Cryonic Woman. Really, I enjoy every episode of the original run except for Love and Rocket.

1) I held this same opinion before there was even talk of making the four movies.
2) I seem to be the only person who doesn't like Love and Rocket. This seems like one of the least talked-about episodes, in fact. Nobody ever lists L&R as their top or bottom choices.

[Reply #658 on:]

I agree LAR is a really underrated and un-talked about episode, but I don't see how you can find it bad...? Elaborate please.

[Reply #659 on:]

I suppose there are a few reason, some which I can pin on the writers and some which I can't.

• Too weird. Bender dating the Planet Express Ship? Like I said, I enjoyed every other episode of the original run. Everybody probably sees different things which put them off, and this was the thing for me.
• Too forced. No vehicle has been an actual character in the show except for quick throw-away gags here and there. The PE ship exists before and after this episode as a vehicle only, not a robot or a character. (I understand they installed AI software - I'm not confused about the story mechanics.) To me, this is the same as Fry having a relationship with the Planet Express building. Just a bit too off base for my tastes.
• Too much mush. I don't like when shows skip genres - especially to genres I'm not interested in watching. If I wanted to watch romance, I would watch something with romance. I watch Futurama for humor, wit, and pseudo-sci-fi. I also love to watch Wheel of Fortune, but I am infinitely more likely to skip an episode if it is one of those lovey-dovey couples-in-love valentines-day-week episodes.
• Lame lines: I think Season 4 had the most "lame lines" - lines that I consider to stick out while lacking good humor, wit, references to past episodes or other media, or character development. I realize that this point is entirely subjective, however.

I am not the most eloquent person. Hopefully I explained this sufficiently. There were some good jokes but overall it is my least favorite episode of the original run.

[Reply #660 on:]

I don't dislike "Love and Rocket" but it's quite easily one of season 4's weaker episodes in my opinion.

It seems like forced mush, more than anything.

[Reply #661 on:]

Too weird.

Not buying that. It's Futurama. It's VERY weird. (The good type of weird.)

And you can't say you expect no romance from Futurama, romance is one of, if not the #1, biggest plot points on the show. (Fry and Leela.)

[Reply #662 on:]

I must admit, I do love the idea of Bender dating a spaceship from inside her just because... well, I love when Futurama is weird like this.

But I think it's a fairly dull episode for the most part.

[Reply #663 on:]

I seem to be the only person who doesn't like Love and Rocket. This seems like one of the least talked-about episodes, in fact. Nobody ever lists L&R as their top or bottom choices.

I think Bend Her and Obsoletely Fabulous are weak eps, not very good and some of the worst in the original run. Three Hundred Big Boys is merely ok as well, although pretty fun I guess. Then there's no AOI or equivalent, and no quality Xmas episode like Seasons Two and Three. Sure it has fantastic eps like The Sting, Love & Rocket and The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings, but for all those poor eps I can't see it as Futurama's peak, it just never will be to me...

Love & Rocket is one of my favourite Season 4 eps! I like the concept and I find the ep very funny and entertaining, with great animation and it's clool ...

[Reply #664 on:]

I love LAR. It's one of my favourites actually. Bender is hilariously in-character and there's a great number of funny little moments. The concept is strange, but that's why it's funny.

The Bear "Hospital" scene is one the series' best moments in my opinion.

So yeah, LAR is certainly Season 4's most underrated episode.

[Reply #665 on:]

To me, this is the same as Fry having a relationship with the Planet Express building. Just a bit too off base for my tastes.

Does having a relationship with part of a building count?  Fry has a relationship with a radiator.  (Admittedly he thinks that the radiator he "got it on with" is actually a radiator woman from the radiator planet, but still...)

[Reply #666 on:]

Yeah but the Radiator was at the Miss Universe Pageant on Tova 9, not Planet Express.

[Reply #667 on:]

Plus the radiator was a throw-away gag, not the focal point of an entire episode.

[Reply #668 on:]

The Bear "Hospital" scene is one the series' best moments in my opinion.

Second.
Personally, I do like L&R quite well. Alone for taking on "A Space Odyssey", and Sigourney Weaver as guest star.

[Reply #669 on:]

Love and Rocket was on one of my local channels yesterday, so I stuck around to watch. I laughed quite a lot, and who doesn't love the "breathless" ending? Great ep...

[Reply #670 on:]

The animation is stunning in LAR.

[Reply #671 on:]

Agreed. The way they animate the ship to appear as a person is incredible. Also the candy hearts falling into the quazar, the quazar itself, the way the candy hearts were all over the ship looked neat, and the purpleish explosion at the ending. WOW, the animation was great!

[Reply #672 on:]

Love & Rocket is definitely one of the best animated eps of the entire run. Everything which you've just pointed out is a large part of why. I also loved the colours used on the ending sequence, really nicely done...

[Reply #673 on:]

The Bear "Hospital" scene is one the series' best moments in my opinion.

Second.

No arguments from me. That's probably one of the darker and crueller sight gags in any animation that's only PG-13, to be honest. It's one of the things that marks an episode out from its peers, to have rich background "bonuses" like that. Sadly, there aren't nearly as many of those in the movies or the newer episodes.

It doesn't appear to be something that the show's writers and animators seem to feel is a priority anymore, but stuff like that was part of the show's original appeal to me.

[Reply #674 on:]

I don't see how that was in the background. It was brief, but very much in the foreground.

[Reply #675 on:]

It's more that there are things implied which you don't see happening, that makes this a background item.

[Reply #676 on:]

Ahhhh, because it is much more implicit than explicit.

[Reply #677 on:]

Someone on the writing staff hates bears. There's the bear hospital and of course the pile of dead bears in LI. This type of hate is simply unbearable.  ...  ..........

[Reply #678 on:]

I like it when the characters are cruel to animals. Call me creepy, but I find it quite hilarious... 

[Reply #679 on:]

"Robo-puppy mistreatment alert! Robo-puppy mistreatment alert!" I don't think they hate animals, but they definitely use unpleasant jokes involving animals...What about Leelu, Seymour, and Mr. Peppy? They were left to live peacefully...