EVEN MORE Futurama news [Warning: SPOILERS]

[Reply #600 on:]

I feel like the Futurama universe is strange and creative enough to not need wacko spin-off anthologies. The AOI episodes fit in fine enough, but the other ones just felt like gimmicks for the sake of gimmicks. Least Reincarnation is really cool, though. Pretty much the only CC one that matches the Futurama theme anyway.

[Reply #601 on:]

I'm actually of the opposite opinion- while the Anthology of Interest episodes were pretty good, they really aren't necessary. All five stories could have been written as full, canonical episodes, and the sixth is already all a dream. We're getting giant Bender sometime in the future, Leela could have become more impulsive because of side effects of a drug, we could have found out the consequences of Fry not going to the future from a time-travel episode, the professor is crazy enough to invent a way to convert robots into animals, and a video game invasion episode could have been fun. In the realms of sci-fi, anything is possible. The non-Anthology of Interest episodes are basically what The Simpsons and Family Guy already do but with the Futurama cast. They're typically fun. Okay, "The Futurama Holiday Spectacular" was crap but "Reincarnation" made up for it.

[Reply #602 on:]

Ugh. I really wish they'd stop bothering with these anthology episodes. I guess the actual Futurama staff must be the ones who like them because I rarely see fans talk highly of them, besides Reincarnation which I'm pretty sure was just a fluke at this point.

Naturama was okay, albeit nothing special. TFHS and SMFP are tied for the worst episodes of the entire show.

I guess we'll see. If they actually have something new and interesting to say, then sure. Reincarnation was brilliant because it was creative with the different animation styles; making each segment revolve around a plot point that was inherently impossible to convey in that style was genius. SMFP failed because the parodies were just so... uninspired. Like, what was the point of the Scooby-Doo segment? None of the characters retained any semblance of their Futurama counterpart, they were just arbitrarily assigned a character to dress up as. It might as well have not even been an episode of Futurama.

I guessing “The Prince and the Product" will likely spoof specific toy brands. Hopefully I'm wrong, because that's already veering closer to SMFP. Lego seems likely. Barbie as well. In any case, I really hope they'll make the most of it.

When the season is just 10 episodes long, having one of them wasted on this stings a bit.

[Reply #603 on:]

The first sneak peek for episode 8.

Also some words on potential future movies from Claudia Katz.

EDIT: ... aaand a second and third clips.

[Reply #604 on:]

While I don´t usually like predictions and the third clip might have been a little better... I suspect for a long time that Zapp Gets Canceled might be one of the classics!

[Reply #605 on:]

Yeah, I found all three of those clips—especially the Employee of the Month one—quite promising! I was skeptical of this episode based on its title and premise, but my hopes are now significantly higher for it.

Also, I’m like 85% positive the female DOOP officer in that third clip is voiced by the comedian Kathy Griffin, which would be a great in-joke in light of all the flak she received for that somewhat regrettable Trump’s-bloody-head photo shoot in 2017.

[Reply #606 on:]

Interesting, as the female Doop officer is normally the kind of role that gets voiced by Tress McNeille, to the point that I'm surprised it is someone else.

Speaking of Tress, her voice for Glab feels off, though in her defence, Glab hasn't had a speaking role in over twenty years at this point, even if Glab seems to be one of the default voices Tress does for female characters.  At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if Tress forgot what Glab sounds like exactly: she sounds the same as she has always done for characters she voiced a lot more regularly, like Linda, Mom or the Grand Midwife.

[Reply #607 on:]

^Yeah, I noted the same thing of that character (whose name I did not realize was “Glab”; I always thought of her as “DOOP boss lady”). Zapp is also sounding pretty rough, as he did in “Children of a Lesser Bog.” I suspect there’s something about the original deepness/growl of his voice that Billy West just isn’t quite able to reach anymore. Combined with Zapp’s typically slow/labored line delivery, it makes the character sound pretty old and worn out. Thematically appropriate for an episode where he gets suspended in disgrace, I suppose, but still a bit distracting and disappointing.

[Reply #608 on:]

I'm actually of the opposite opinion- while the Anthology of Interest episodes were pretty good, they really aren't necessary. All five stories could have been written as full, canonical episodes, and the sixth is already all a dream. We're getting giant Bender sometime in the future, Leela could have become more impulsive because of side effects of a drug, we could have found out the consequences of Fry not going to the future from a time-travel episode, the professor is crazy enough to invent a way to convert robots into animals, and a video game invasion episode could have been fun. In the realms of sci-fi, anything is possible. The non-Anthology of Interest episodes are basically what The Simpsons and Family Guy already do but with the Futurama cast. They're typically fun. Okay, "The Futurama Holiday Spectacular" was crap but "Reincarnation" made up for it.

Maybe I lack vision, but I don't think they could do "Leela kills everyone in cold-blooded murder" as a normal, canon episode of the show. The video game one and Wizard of Oz ones were also well outside the realms of a typical episode. But sure, they could have probably expanded the rest into normal episodes.

[Reply #609 on:]

The first sneak peek for episode 8.

I don't like the constant repeating of "I'm going to allow this" as this character's catchphrase now. That appeared in one episode before but now it's just a lazy callback. That said, it made me laugh as the punchline to the clip so maybe I should just shut the hell up.

If this clip is anything to go by, the cancel culture stuff in this episode is going to be "Rage Against the Vaccine" levels of lame. And, like... why is Kif only now taking issue with this stuff after decades of it? I hope they actually write a reason for it like Amy pushing him to stand up for himself. That said, the humour around the cancel culture stuff was good.

Also some words on potential future movies from Claudia Katz.

I'm seeing a lot of "Futurama Producer Teases Movies" headlines and, in the context, that's not even close to what happened here. BUT the fact that she's even thinking about big screen movies at all is amazing news to me. I'd love nothing more than a real Futurama movie.

EDIT: ... aaand a second and third clips.

Ooh, that sounds like a guest star as the woman in the final clip. Any ideas who it is?

[Reply #610 on:]

Also, I’m like 85% positive the female DOOP officer in that third clip is voiced by the comedian Kathy Griffin, which would be a great in-joke in light of all the flak she received for that somewhat regrettable Trump’s-bloody-head photo shoot in 2017.

Ooh I could totally see (hear) that! And cool.

[Reply #611 on:]

As for anthologies, I'm a bit miffed that "The Prince and the Product" just seems to be one. I'm not sure I want them to use up an entire episode on this every single broadcast season now that each broadcast season is only 10 episodes long.

That said, I'm clearly the most positive about their past anthology outings here. Both "Anthology of Interest" episodes are some of the best of the original run. "Reincarnation" is a 10/10 episode of the show as far as I'm concerned. I've never understood why people hate "Saturday Morning Fun Pit" as I think it's hilarious and one of the few genuinely great season 7 episodes (is it just the middle segment putting everyone off?). I agree that "Naturama" is a baffling, pointless exercise but it's also a season 7 highlight so I'm fine with it. Obviously, "The Futurama Holiday Spectacular" is one of the show's low points, but overall I'm fine with these things.

That said? The crew as toys? It doesn't hugely excite me.

What are we predicting? LEGO seems almost guaranteed for one of the segments. The only question there is whether they go for 2D, hand-drawn LEGO or if they use CGI to give us LEGO animation akin to when The Simpsons did it.

We've already had G.I. Zapp so I guess any macho action figure lines like that are probably out of the question. I can't really see Futurama gelling with Barbie or having the foresight to see the movie being a gigantic hit they could ride some of the success of, either, so I'm guessing they'll probably not be segments.

[Reply #612 on:]

Futurama + Barbie would be amazing if done right though.

And it's not something that would need to be complex. Here's a 30-second pitch;

Barbierama. Fryken and Leelie take Hermeken, Zoidallen, and Benken for a ride in Professor Hubarbie Fanworth's Dream Space Corvette to deliver paper straws to a burger bar on the other side of the universe. They're enjoying a milkshake together when literally every Mattel trademarked robot shows up to destroy the planet, and Benken is too much of a coward to stand up to his brethren. So Leelie has to organize the other three into an effective army of sacrificial pawns in order to serve as a distraction so she can climb into the head robot's brain and smash it with a crowbar.

Leelie delivers an important message about how young girls occasionally need to smash things with a crowbar and shouldn't let people stop them. Then they go home.

[Reply #613 on:]

Synopsis for episode 10, All The Way Down:

The crew investigates whether the universe is a simulation.

ETA: a production guy on Reddit says this is likely to be the episode that they are submitting for awards.

[Reply #614 on:]

Synopsis for episode 10, All The Way Down:

The crew investigates whether the universe is a simulation.

ETA: a production guy on Reddit says this is likely to be the episode that they are submitting for awards.

Honestly, when I read the description I wondered if it won´t be something like LEGO Movie when characters will discover they are just created for TV show but the writers will probably come with something more sophisticated. Color me curious!

[Reply #615 on:]

Yeah, I'm hoping it's not horribly self-referential...though I suppose that would make it a nice bookend with "The Impossible Stream." I've been spoiled to expect emotionally potent (often shippy) season finales, so I'll be sort of surprised/disappointed if that's not the case with this one. But DXC is writing it, and as far as I'm concerned he has just one stinker ("Free Will Hunting") to his name, so I'll hold out hope that it's not only a thematically interesting episode but also an emotionally affecting one.

[Reply #616 on:]

I wouldn't say "Free Will Hunting" is a stinker, personally. In fact, while it's nothing remarkable, I'd say it's one of the few good episodes from season 7. Season 8's overall quality has been much higher so far, so I'm hoping that'll hold true here as well.

[Reply #617 on:]

8ACV09 preview:

https://youtu.be/DxcZJFfH68s?si=NzyVQGGihnjbxsVj

[Reply #618 on:]

And here are the other two...
Promo 2
Promo 3

[Reply #619 on:]

Somehow those clips raise more questions for me than they answer. It seems the toy parodies (if you could call them that) are rather general, which could work to the episode's advantage or could just make the whole thing feel even more needless. Guess we'll just have to wait and find out.

It is pretty amusing that we've seen more deliveries—or at least heard more talk of deliveries—in those three brief clips than in the preceding eight episodes combined.

[Reply #620 on:]

Guess we'll just have to wait and find out.

Well, you were sort of right. Generic toy parodies that were somehow very specific at the same time.

I did get a chuckle from the fact that the wheels for the cars were "sold separately", as it felt like a pretty clever poke at the number of items in a typical Hot Wheels commercial that don't come as part of the actual toy, but the obvious focus on a specific brand makes me wonder if this was simply a stealth job application on the part of the writers for a position somewhere in Mattel's marketing division.

And this doesn't give me great hope for what remains of the season. Which will contribute to decreased activity here, which will in turn probably have a negative effect on the PEELies 2023 (nominations are open until October, so hustle your butts over there and nominate, even if it's just a thinly-disgused ruse to up your postcount).

[Reply #621 on:]

A crap-load of pictures of the season 8 finale have been released, and it’s looking interesting to say the least.

[Reply #622 on:]

First sneak peek!

[Reply #623 on:]

Hmm that clip combined with the images suggests that the Professor creates a simulation of the Futurama universe that will presumably contain a Professor that creates a simulation of the Futurama universe & that chain/loop will just keep going all the way down, hence the episode title.

Not to mention we’ll probably get the obvious reveal that the Futurama universe we’ve been watching this whole time is already extremely-deep down on it’s own level in this universe-simulation-chain.

[Reply #624 on:]

That clip intrigues me—I’ll be curious to see if Bender’s warning to the Professor is somehow a subtle (or, knowing how the Hulu run operates, not-so-subtle) callback to his experiences in “Godfellas.”

I truly don’t know what to expect from this episode…but I’m not dreading it, at least, so that’s a plus! (And hell, I was dreading “The Prince and the Product” and I wound up being one of the few people here who actually liked it, so what good are my hunches?)

[Reply #625 on:]

Another Sneak Peek.

[Reply #626 on:]

I am so happy: the yiddish fembots are back!  Well, one of them at least.  I'm a bit surprised it took so long for them to turn up: they were apparently favourites of the crew, if the audio commentary is anything to go by, and they made a surprisingly high number of cameos and appearances for characters introduced so late in the show's run.  They pretty much took over the role of Bender's armcandy from the various generic fembots that were used before, and had a huge focus in Bender's rap video/song.  They also made more appearances then any other character introduced in the CC episodes.

Hope they will turn up more in the second half of the revival.

[Reply #627 on:]

The sneak peeks reassures me that this ep's gonna be the best or among the best this season. I hoped for Mom and Robot Santa episodes and they were great so I keep hoping for this one

[Reply #628 on:]

The crew exploring whether or not the universe is a simulation is certainly a more exciting, Futuramary premise for an episode then... Fry binge watches Netflix, the crew are Hot Wheels toy cars or Covid happens again.

[Reply #629 on:]

Yeah, they wasted an entire episode for this soap opera/cars/ducks stinker. I thought they learned after Yo Leela Leela, or after Purpleberry Pond that we hate this childish/random style...

Edit: at least the covid ep had some original series feel. I think the depiction of New New Orlean could be very similar if that were depicted in the FOX era.

[Reply #630 on:]

Purpleberry Pond: sugary breakfast cereals marketed to children with cartoons are actually unhealthy!  Wow, what cutting edge social commentary!  I just can't keep up with the savage and accurate cultural observations!   

[Reply #631 on:]

One last preview clip here. This episode is giving me slight “Overclockwise” vibes, just in terms of how Bender-centric and quasi-philosophical it seems to be, all while exploring a science-nerdy concept.

Oh, and “They’re goin’ at it like two packs of gum” did make me giggle. I wasn’t overly impressed with that second clip—some of the visual humor felt derivative of the gags in “Reincarnation,” particularly the video game segment—but now I’m just being negative for negativity’s sake. I legitimately think this episode could be a good’n!

[Reply #632 on:]

I did get a chuckle from the fact that the wheels for the cars were "sold separately", as it felt like a pretty clever poke at the number of items in a typical Hot Wheels commercial that don't come as part of the actual toy...

It goes deeper than just all the extras in the commercials. If you're signed up for Mattel's Redline Club (join now so you can pay money to pay money for die cast cars), you  can specifically buy wheels separately.

As for what's coming up this week, I have my fingers crossed that this will make up for how last week's episode went. The clips seem promising enough; the second clip had me chuckling a little at the pixel art gags if nothing else. And it feels pretty Futurama-y.

[Reply #633 on:]

PEELies news:


Nominations will be closing at the beginning of October.

Please, if you have not yet made nominations, click here and make them now.

This is likely to be the last PEEL awards ceremony, since PEEL's activity is dwindling again and will drop to potentially nothing after the latest run of Futurama stops airing. So, take your chance to participate.

[Reply #634 on:]

Surely PEEL is going to see a resurgence for 10 weeks once season 9 starts airing and then it might be over forever?

[Reply #635 on:]

I wouldn't say "Free Will Hunting" is a stinker, personally. In fact, while it's nothing remarkable, I'd say it's one of the few good episodes from season 7. Season 8's overall quality has been much higher so far, so I'm hoping that'll hold true here as well.

FWIW (not much) I think "Free Will Hunting" is one of the very few CC episodes that isn't crap. In fact, I think it's a pretty good episode.

[Reply #636 on:]

To be fair, I haven't seen the episode in at least seven years, so I could be misremembering it as worse than it is. If memory serves, the philosophical stuff was just too heavy-handed for my taste, and Bender's motivations felt sort of off or unearned to me. (Some of the story beats were also kind of absurd, and not in a good way. The monks? Ugh.)

I will say that, after having seen "All the Way Down," I'm willing to concede that "Free Will Hunting" is just a lesser version of it—tepid praise, I know, but I mean it as a compliment.

[Reply #637 on:]

NYCC will feature Futurama on October 12th.

[Reply #638 on:]

First 8 writing credits for production Season 9

https://directories.wga.org/project/1239816/futurama-2023-s8-present

The One Amigo – Eric Horsted
Quids Game – Cody Ziglar
The Temp – David A. Goodman
Beauty and the Bug – Patric M. Verrone
One is Silicon and the Other Gold – Maiya Williams
Attack of the Clothes – Ariel Ladensohn
Planet Espresso – Bill Odenkirk
Cuteness Overlord – Kristen Gore

Neat seeing Kristen Gore back.

[Reply #639 on:]

Ooo, yes, and Bill Odenkirk. Very cool!