Well, Lets Bring Her Around Again - General Futurama Discussion

[Reply #40 on:]

Hell yeah if their faces were following their right age they should looks like Fry, in 2012, in Bender's Big Score. And this is 2013, you're right.

[Reply #41 on:]

Bender's Big Score aged the characters way too visibly/rapidly anyway. I get that it was necessary for "the twist," but it's always been a minor annoyance in what was otherwise easily my favourite of the dvd movies.

[Reply #42 on:]

20 Mind-Blowing Facts You Never Knew About Futurama

Never seen number 17 anywhere before.

[Reply #43 on:]

I had this weird dream last night about Futurama. It was an episode where The Professor finally got himself the chest-cannon he always dreamed about having. It was pretty awesome. He blew up Zoidberg's dumpster with it.

[Reply #44 on:]

20 Mind-Blowing Facts You Never Knew About Futurama

Never seen number 17 anywhere before.

I knew all of them except for 17, 15 and 12.

[Reply #45 on:]

I've known about "Moon Pie Fight In Mars Bar" since more than a decade ago when I first thought to freeze frame it on one of the DVDs. I'm pretty sure it's still in the HD version as well (they did make a few minor changes).

[Reply #46 on:]

I knew all of those except 17, but for the most part, I can't remember how...

[Reply #47 on:]

I knew all of them except for 17, 15 and 12.

17, 9 and 3 for me (though 9 came as no surprise).

[Reply #48 on:]

I knew about 17, but not until I got the Bender's Game bluray (I could never read what the newspaper said on my DVDs).

[Reply #49 on:]

IGN's Top 25 Futurama Episodes

They chose

Show spoiler

Godfellas

as #1.

[Reply #50 on:]

For all of their silly reviews and somewhat confusing choices in that list, that's a pretty good choice for number 1. It would certainly rank as one of my favourites (although I don't think I have a definitive favourite episode ever).

[Reply #51 on:]

I'd say it's interesting choice for number 1, but I can see it with the message in it and it is overall good. There is about all the great episodes in the list, but I wouldn't agree with the order.

[Reply #52 on:]

It's cool to see that MOTPE and Meanwhile ranked up so high on that list! Most 'Top __ Episodes of Futurama' don't have any CC run episodes in them at all, which is a shame, because there are some great episodes in the newer run.

I think 'Brannigan, Begin Agian' is pretty underrated, which makes me glad to see that it ranked well. It's a very entertaining episode, what with it having a pretty submersive plot and having Zapp in it and all.

[Reply #53 on:]

Of the new run episodes which definitely deserve a place in the "Top __ Episodes" lists, the likes of TLPJF, F&LBF, and Meanwhile are definitely heavyweight contenders. But the "classic" episodes that made Futurama's reputation and gave it that special place in fans' hearts, like TLOTF, TKOS, JB, RTEW, TPWP, AFTR, BBA, and TDHAIP outnumber the new run contenders, which is why so many more of them end up in the "Top __ Episodes" lists than their new run counterparts.

[Reply #54 on:]

Godfellas is such a great episode. Not my overall favourite, but I won't disagree with anyone who says it is.

[Reply #55 on:]

Godfellas is great because it actually makes you think, the same way classics such as RTEW, TLPJF, and even Meanwhile do.
The quote, "When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all" is a very true one. If some bad episodes, such as IAGDL and TFCS, never existed, leaving only the very best episodes alive, how would we be able to differentiate what episodes are good and which are bad? We wouldn't be able to, as we'd see every episode as mediocre, as they'd all stand up to the same high standard.  Without bad, there would be no Good, as what is enjoyable when there is nothing not to enjoy?
This all makes me glad that there are some bad episodes in the series, as strange as it sounds. We'd never realize just how good the classics are if we had nothing to compare them to, ater all.

[Reply #56 on:]

That list is pretty accurate, I don't think godfellas deserved to be so high tough. TLPJF should've been higher. The rest tough, pretty much spot on for the first time on a review site ^^

[Reply #57 on:]

A lot of great episodes in that list, and a few questionable ones. Still, I've seen worse from IGN.

[Reply #58 on:]

10 Soon-to-Be Classic 'Futurama' Clips.

[Reply #59 on:]

Interestingly, they don't (obviously) age, even though the time passes. They should look little older after 14 years, right? Well, maybe that difference wouldn't show in animated characters, but I doubt they would change them.

The events of Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles act as scientific handwavium on that point... they all came out of the fountain of aging younger, except for the professor.

Plus, all that youthasizing tech and such.

[Reply #60 on:]

It doesn't account for the likes of Cubert whose aging should have been far more noticeable by now. I mean, he should be in his mid-20s.

What's more confounding is that Jrrr has aged as you would expect a being to over 13 years, although we don't entirely know how Omicronians age, so it's not too much of an issue.

All the same, it's best to just sort of ignore the lack of ageing on the show. David X. Cohen has basically said that they don't age because it's a cartoon and they don't need to, as much as it can irk people given that time passes in the show.

What really annoys me is that there's no reason for time to pass on the show in real-time relation to us. The ageing problems wouldn't exist if the show was still set in, say, 3000, or if it's too hard to believe that all 7 seasons took place over 1 year, then just a few years would do. 3003 or something. I could buy Fry and Leela's relationship having the necessary time to evolve to the point that it did over 3 years.

[Reply #61 on:]

I completely agree. If anything, it was a pretty dumb decision to keep moving the year in relation to us, because there's no accounting for the off-period between Devil's Hands and Bender's Big Score, despite them mentioning there was a long passage of time between the two, and that fact not having any impact on the episode at all. Don't even acknowledge the year unless you absolutely need to for story purposes.

[Reply #62 on:]

Well, it's a neat idea to have show set 1000 years later all the time in the first place and the contradiction doesn't bother me, but yes, I think it's unnecessary to keep it in real time +1000, but then if they didn't, there isn't point to let time pass.

[Reply #63 on:]

Like cyber_turnip said though, time could've progressed at a slower rate. Every one or two seasons could've counted as another year in their lives, or they could've factored in other things. ie. Fry's first Xmas is in season 2, which means he's been in the future one year at that point, then two years at the Xmas episode in season 3, Bender's Big Score could've served as their third Xmas if they hadn't already acknowledged the year as being something higher than 3002 in Obsoletely Fabulous and Bend Her, and then the half-seasons on Comedy Central could each cover a half-year in their lives. That would equate to Futurama's run covering roughly a 5 year period, which is perfectly believable for the number of episodes/stories they did.

The character's lack of visible aging wouldn't be an issue except for Cubert and Dwight, and given how rarely they appear and how generally insignificant their characters are, I don't think anyone would object to THEM being aged slowly. King of the Hill aged their characters very slowly over the years (I believe roughly four years in the character's lives was covered over their 13 season run), and The Venture Bros ages their characters at roughly a "one year per season" rate; even going as far as to incorporate it into the storyline. I liked the fact that Futurama had some small semblance of continuity and mythology - it's one of the things that actually sets it apart from The Simpsons (which is one of the main things they were making a conscious effort to do when it began). Setting the show's 7 season run over a 13 year period of time is just jarring to me.

[Reply #64 on:]

I'm pretty sure more happened in the the whole run of KOTH than 3 or 4 years could reasonably account for. Including multiple Christmases and stuff like that. I just see it as cartoon logic that doesn't matter. You age them now and then if it's advantageous for story purposes, but otherwise leave them alone.

I just always assume that the characters' pasts and futures have them aging properly, but for whatever period of time the show is on they don't age in their "present."

[Reply #65 on:]

Hell yeah if their faces were following their right age they should looks like Fry, in 2012, in Bender's Big Score. And this is 2013, you're right.

No, they shouldn't. Lars-Fry is actually a lot older than our Fry. I think Fry is something like 36 when he returns to the past and creates the duplicate. Original Fry then returns to 3012 immediately, but the Fry who becomes Lars does not. He spends from 2000 to 2012 in the past, then freezes himself in Michelle's cryotube. She defrosts around 3003 - at which point Lars presumably unfreezes too, and gets his job at the Head Museum. But he doesn't meet up with Leela until 3007 /8. Another four or five years. So he's actually around 18 years older than "our" Fry. I put it at 53. All things considered, Lars-Fry looks pretty good for his age. (He also spent a year or two on a fishing boat in the Arctic, which would weather anyone's face.)

It's also worth taking into consideration the fact that it seems the norm in the future to live longer and age slower. The Near Death Star takes old people away at 160, for instance, but even then they don't die. And flashbacks to the Professor and Mom thirty or fifty years ago don't make them look nearly as decrepit at they ought to do.

I like to imagine artificial preservatives and pollutants are preserving human beings unnaturally, like the way a McDonald's hamburger can sit out for six months without starting to decay. (Seriously, this was a legit experiment. The thing didn't even smell bad. Apparently it just went all shiny and sweaty, like plastic.) Considering Mom and Leo Wong's disregard for the environment, and the toxic lake mutating under NNY, not to mention the Slurm and Soylent-everything that composes the diet of the average Earthican, the theory makes enough sense to keep me happy. 

[Reply #66 on:]

They weren't talking about Fry as Lars; they were talking about Fry after he starts to age in the montage that bridges how he looks now with how he looks as Lars.

[Reply #67 on:]

I like to imagine artificial preservatives and pollutants are preserving human beings unnaturally, like the way a McDonald's hamburger can sit out for six months without starting to decay.

This isn't a function of preservatives or pollutants so much as the sheer lack of nutrition to be obtained from such an item. It's a chunk of assorted lipids and proteins, without any simpler sugars, amino acids, oils, or other micro-organisms for unicellular beasties to feed on. The most nutritious thing for the bacteria and other detritivores that normally break down food items to feed upon are the dead dust mites and bacteria that fall onto its surface from the air.

Such patties are typically made by grinding up a cow, sterilising it, washing it with a chemical rinse to soften things like bones or gristle, sterilising it, mixing it into an homogenised paste, giving it another chemical wash, sterilising it, washing out any chemicals that might still be in there, adding a colourant, and then texturing and forming it in an anaerobic environment.

After which, it is sealed and packaged, kept chilled at Arctic temperatures, and then within 12 hours or so of being thawed out, it's flash-cooked on a hot grill platen or flash-fried in oil so similarly devoid of nutrition that it can be re-used after sitting out for a week (and it's not unheard of for unscrupulous or uncaring franchise owners to recycle the same oil for months on end).

The end result of all this processing is a meat product that's difficult for any creature's digestive system to extract useful nutrition or immediate energy from (but easy enough to break down into fat and the raw ingredients needed to expand fat cells so that they can accomodate said fat). For micro-organisms, it's pretty much a sterile wasteland upon which they starve to death (forming that sweaty film, which is about the only thing for the next bacterium that arrives there to feed upon).

[Reply #68 on:]

I'm pretty sure more happened in the the whole run of KOTH than 3 or 4 years could reasonably account for. Including multiple Christmases and stuff like that. I just see it as cartoon logic that doesn't matter. You age them now and then if it's advantageous for story purposes, but otherwise leave them alone.

They slipped up a few times, but it's one of the better examples out there of time passage in an animated series. I mean, Luanne was pregnant for, what, almost 2 seasons? Not to mention certain single-character-centred episodes could easily be happening at the same time as one another. Though hey, for a show that has a reputation for being dull/boring, a hell of a lot happened in Arlen over 4 years.

[Reply #69 on:]

I'm personally glad they didn't visibly age the characters as they logically should have - I mean, who really wants to see old, baggy versons of the characters? I get that having Dwight and Cubert age might've worked, but i'm sure it would have just led to episodes about their High School lives and crap like that.

I think they did age the characters to some extent, at least maturity wise. Almost all of the main Crew are a little more mature in the new run in some way - Fry & Leela have stopped haggling and just decided to become a couple, Hermes became a Father Figure of sorts, Bender expressed alot of feelings for others (especially in TBATB), and even Zoidberg seems to be more accepting of his terrible living conditions.

I've always thought the Voices of the characters showed them aging, too. Listen to Farnsworth's voice in SP3K, then listen to it in Meanwhile, and there is a pretty big difference. Same with Bender, Fry, Leela, and all the other's voices - they seem to have gotten deeper or clearer over time. Now, I know this aging was most likely unintentional, as everyone's voice changes over time, but It's still a solid example of characters aging over time.

[Reply #70 on:]

I'm personally glad they didn't visibly age the characters as they logically should have - I mean, who really wants to see old, baggy versons of the characters?

If the show's timeline hadn't progressed at the rate of "13 years covered in 7 seasons," they wouldn't have needed to physically age any characters apart from maybe the kids, though. Grown adults don't age that noticeably.

[Reply #71 on:]

Anybody else find it a bit strange how kids in cartoons only age if needed for a storyline?

[Reply #72 on:]

It's not unique to kids.

The exception being when they aged Homer Simpson up from 36 to 38, but that was just because people on the staff found it depressing that he was supposed to be that young.

[Reply #73 on:]

They weren't talking about Fry as Lars; they were talking about Fry after he starts to age in the montage that bridges how he looks now with how he looks as Lars.

  Yes, and Fry in 2012 essentially was Lars, only with more hair and beard. I'm not sure what you're getting at.

Gede thought the characters should look now the way Fry does in Bender's Big Score in 2012. I was saying that a lot more time passes for that Fry than for our Fry. Even now (in 2013) he should only have aged about five years. (2008 - 2013.) The duplicate Fry, by contrast, aged twelve. (2000 - 2013.)

Listen to Farnsworth's voice in SP3K, then listen to it in Meanwhile, and there is a pretty big difference. Same with Bender, Fry, Leela, and all the other's voices - they seem to have gotten deeper or clearer over time. Now, I know this aging was most likely unintentional, as everyone's voice changes over time, but It's still a solid example of characters aging over time.

Yeah, I think this is just a combination of better audio equipment and the voice actors settling into their roles, rather than anything deliberate. Some character's voices have changed hugely - for example Hermes, in the early episodes, has a much heavier Jamaican accent than he does now. And Fry was much more nasal.

[Reply #74 on:]

I actually think Leela sounds almost exactly how she did 10 years ago.

Fry, Bender, Hermes and Professor all sound noticeably different now. But as Phil LaMarr said, it was 10 years ago. Voices change over time.

[Reply #75 on:]

Different voices? I didnt notice that

[Reply #76 on:]

Well, Futurama will always live on in the comic books and in reruns.   TV Shows never really die you know.  MeTV is proof of that.

[Reply #77 on:]

At least the comic books out about every months, so there will be more and more new adventure and stuff in futurama.

[Reply #78 on:]

You guys sound unhopeful about the series possibly returning.
Anyway, I'm actually very fond of the comics and I'm glad it's one of the ways the series lives on.
Plus, since Matt Groening is the founder of Bongo comics, he probably has a say in how long the comics go on for, and it doesn't look like they're ending anytime soon.

[Reply #79 on:]

Unhopeful? Im always being optimistic there will be season 8 as soon as possible. Im just too lazy to talk about it