Thoughts on SABF16 - Simpsorama - Simpsons/Futurama Crossover Event SPOILERS

[on:]

Since there'll probably be alot of discussion here about the episode, and we probably won't have another one of these episode threads in a while, here's another episode thread for the spectacular crossover super happy fun time event.

Original Airdate: November 9th, 2014. In a crossover with Futurama, the Planet Express crew comes to present-day Springfield to stop the Simpsons from destroying the future.

Rate and Review after it airs.

[Reply #1 on:]

Well, that was an unexpectingly good crossover. Nothing great but 7/10 or 8/10 material.

I actually liked the way it ends, with

Show spoiler

Bender just turning himself off to wait out the 1000 years, a callback to BBS, and a hint of more to come? Nahh

I'm actually surprised of how little cringeworthy moments there were. Not the best thing ever but it was actually pretty good, and another would always be welcome with me.

[Reply #2 on:]

Kill all humans.
- Start with Flanders
Kill all humans.
- Start with Flanders

Enjoyable, plus Fry's dog and the heart-pulling abandonment music made a cameo!

[Reply #3 on:]

That was a pretty solid episode

[Reply #4 on:]

Can't say I was dissapointed . It was big, it was fun, and that's all I really wanted it to be.

[Reply #5 on:]

Watched it and felt it was too fast-paced. Of course, I'm a stickler for detail and drawn-out plots so something like this crammed into 30 minutes feels, well, rushed. Now, that's not to say the crossover was complete ass. It wasn't. At the same time, I didn't walk away thinking 'BEST THING I'VE WATCHED ALL WEEK!'. Overall I was left with an 'ok, that happened' vibe. I did enjoy all the little nods tossed in, the plays upon similar characteristic and the dig at the designers.
 
Maybe a re-watch or two would make me like this more but upon initial review? 7/10 or thereabouts.

[Reply #6 on:]

I just watched the crossover, and I'd say just as a modern Simpsons episode... it was a 5/5.
But, as a Futurama episode... it was about a 2.5/5.
It was very funny, but the pacing was insanely fast, and thus it simply needed to be two episodes.

For various reasons beyond math... Simpsorama averages out to be a 7.4/10 overall.

As far as big shocking moments, what they did to Scruffy was intense, and it was made funnier by the fact that I just watched an episode today where they comment that Scruffy is now a zombie.
So the fact that he could still sweep at the very end (without a head) was almost canonical with Futurama. Even if it was accidental that the writing of both shows lined up, it made the joke oddly work on multiple levels at the end.

Anyway, Scruffy's insanely funny and shocking moments, Bender and Maggie splitting the money, Marge and Leela's introduction, and Lisa's holophoner/saxophone were some of the most hilarious bits.

They definitely did it justice... but it wasn't the greatest thing ever, and could have been done much better.

Also, Bender and Homer's ending was cute, and a nice metaphor for where Futurama is at as a show; put away, but not forgotten, just like the annual christmas lights.

Maybe in a thousand years, the show Futurama will "wake-up" again?
Perhaps, similarly just as Bender is destined to one day awaken in the Simpsons basement.. it's only enviable.

[Reply #7 on:]

This episode was too fast-paced but it was okay.

It wasn't the best crossover or even Futurama or Simpsons episode but it did exceed my expectations on this episode, not by much that is.

This whole episode was a large heaping of "meh" with some sweet spots in it.

7.5/10

I wouldn't count the inconsistency in the Futurama characters' look throughout the entire episode since well one year does wear on.

[Reply #8 on:]

The only part I cringed at in a "oh god, i'm watching a crossover" kind of way was the bit where Hedonism Bot is unexplainably at Planet Express. But there were a lot of moments that made me laugh really genuinely, which is something I don't think I've really done at Simpsons/Futurama in a while.

I don't know why, but somehow the whole tone of this episode, too, felt like Pre-First Cancellation Futurama to me. I mean, I see all of Futurama as one show, but there's not doubt that after the Fox-era it started feeling different, even if just super, super slightly. I dunno.

Overall, I think this was a great episode, but as everyone else has said, this needed to be a 2-parter. Why does Simpsons Guy get two parts when that story was something that could easily have been told in one part, but Simpsorama, which has one of the most complex plots in any Simpsons episode, only gets told in one part? I mean, I guess ultimately I know why. I dunno.

Also the animation was a bit off on some of the Futurama characters every once in a while, but I think a big part of that is that Rough Draft wasn't doing the animation.

Anyway, 9/10. Loved it, but it wasn't perfect. But then again, I'm just glad to watch what was basically a brand new Futurama episode.

[Reply #9 on:]

Clearly this wasn't canon, because of things like Linda & Scruffy's deaths and Seymour & Panucci's being in Springfield, plus it never explains the skin tone thing.

It was very fast-paced, some decent gags throughout, but the animation of the Futurama characters was super odd.

Overall, it was probably a 7/10. I'll probably post more thoughts soon.

[Reply #10 on:]

Exactly Danny, I concur with that sentiment.

At the very most it's Simpsons show canon... but not Futurama canon.

[Reply #11 on:]

Was this canon in The Simpsons' universe? It really feels non-canon for both shows.

[Reply #12 on:]

It's what long-term Simpsons fans call "Al Jean" canon... trust me on that.  

The joke being the current long-lasting showrunner doesn't understand what canon is b/c it's all just a cartoon to him.

I just wanted to make that extra clear for people who don't watch the Simpsons and read this statement.

[Reply #13 on:]

bad, Family Guy cross over was a bit better.

[Reply #14 on:]

What is this, NoHomers suddenly?

That post gets a 1/10.
And you didn't even use capitalization, next time... don't bother to post if it's going to be subpar.
It's fine to hate the crossover, but post something with intelligence or don't post.
I'm not trying to be mean, just give us a post with depth, or please post later when your not busy to write out your thoughts.

This is not a garbage heap like NoHomers. Thanks.

[Reply #15 on:]

I don't it can be counted as canon in the Simpsons due to the appearance of Kang and Kodos at the end. They only show up during the Treehouse of Horror episodes, which are clearly not canon.

Overall, a rough, but nice tribute to Futurama, and it was nice to see those characters one more time. Try not to overthink it, and just enjoy it for the homage that it is.

7/10

[Reply #16 on:]

I voted 6/10.

21 minutes definitely isn't long enough to really make the most out of the idea. There were a couple of funny jokes and most people felt in-character (it's been years since I've seen the Simpsons though, so no comment on them).

What I found incredibly off-putting was how off-model the characters were. It was honestly quite jarring.

Wasn't too bad overall, though. Passable, even.

Favourite bits:

Bender giving Maggie her "cut"
The scene with Lrrr at the end
"These are the only clothes that fit me"
Bender's cyclops eye-laser

[Reply #17 on:]

It was okay. I'd probably put it at the same level as The Simpsons Guy: interesting getting to see the different characters interact, but nothing special. Getting to see the Futurama gang again probably made it slightly more enjoyable than The Simpsons Guy, though.

All the Futurama characters looked really off, but yeah, it had its moments.

[Reply #18 on:]

Well, guess it's time. Was really excited about this at first, but after hearing a bunch of mixed reviews...well, here we go.

 Act 1: Still love the caption to this episode. Oh, the caption just cuts to the couch gag? Couch gag was funny, just because of Hedonism Bot being Hedonism Bot. No ship crashing into the TV, boo. "Even God hates jazz." Scenes to actual crossover are boring, but at least seem to be quick to getting to the Futurama characters. Like SLH gag. "A robot, wish a catchphrase!" Bender sounds kind of off. Homer and Bender bonding meh, mainly just a bunch of generic robot jokes, along with the similar design mentions, heh... Would've been nice to see Bender do things more exclusive to himself, or even some references to the show would've helped. Decent act, hoping this picks up when the other characters appear.

 Act 2: Ugh, another Homer whispering joke. Gah that off model Leela. Oh Christ, do those characters look bad in the hologram. I know the show does a lot of off model drawings, but good God, at least make the characters first appearance in the episode look right. If cable budget Rough Draft could do it, you should at least do it somewhat decent.

 Anyway, laughed at Zoidbergs line (since I'm pretty sure these are the only lines these characters will be able to say). Farnsworth saying he's better than Frink was cringy. The 30 second Homer freemium speech was painful. Oh hi Seymour. And...bye Seymour. Time machine joke was decent. "Kill all humans, start with Flanders." Well Linda's dead, goodnight. "I'm doing the same jokes 1000 years later." *sigh* With the limited time you have these characters, either have them say lines and jokes relating to the show they came from, or make the things they say funny, not just lines you'd hear from any character in a normal HD Simpsons episode. Oh, hi Amy, And...bye Amy. Scruffy killing himself was awful.

 Yeah...not as happy with this episode as I thought I'd be...

 Act 3: So was the opening we saw at Comic Con just cut? We see the PE building destroyed like it was in the clip, but the tube part and regular opening is just gone now? Eh.

 Homer killing the mutant Barts is funny. That Farnsworth atheist joke was harder to watch than is should've been. Hedonism Bot is just there...k. Ugh, soo many future jokes. You've had 6 episodes to do random future jokes in, do some jokes specific to Futurama, or 4th wall jokes, anything to make this crossover worth the time to make. Ech, at least they got Hypnotoad in, always love some Hypnotoad. Anyway, Lisa saves the day, of course. Like holophoner saxophone gag. Bender with Maggie was cute. And I gotta admit, that ending with Bender and Homer made me smile, definitely the best part of the episode.

Oh, and I liked the Lrr/Ndnd/Kang/Kodos ending. Oh, so they just put the opening at the ending...k.

 So yeah...pretty much what everyone else said, it was an episode with a lot of potential that just ended up being a slightly above average normal HD Simpsons episode. If the writers made this into an hour long crossover event and put a lot of time into seeing the 31st Century and "crossing over" the two shows, this might've been a good episode that would've been close to The Simpsons Guy. Instead, the episode felt really rushed in pace, the Futurama characters barely got to say more than 1-2 lines each, a lot of potential jokes were either left out or poorly executed, and the entire thing just felt very disappointing overall. It's not a bad episode, since I got some laughs from it, and some delight just from seeing the Futurama cast one last time on Fox, but it could've been so much more, and it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth because of it.

 Overall, a 6.4/10, or a 6/10 for the poll.

[Reply #19 on:]

Well that was disappointing. Why did they even bother if that was the best they could do? I'm amazed that for how long they've had to plan this crossover, it wasn't any better paced or thought out than it was. They wasted time on stupid scenes at the beginning and then rushed haphazardly through all of the important plot in the blink of an eye. There were a few good gags spread out, but mostly they didn't leave themselves any time to crack many jokes or do anything interesting with the characters being together at all. If only it had been an hour, maybe it would have had a chance to breathe. The result they got here though was almost like a fever dream, I just watched it and I barely remember what happened. Oh well, shouldn't have gotten my hopes up.

[Reply #20 on:]

I enjoyed it. Didn't go in with expectations high, didn't mind the occasional joke that fell flat. Laughed a fair number of times too. Maybe I'll dissect the episode if I see it again, but for now I'm content to just assign a rating...

7/10. I'm not rating this as a Futurama episode (in which case I would have been a little tougher) but as a Simpsons episode. After all, it aired in The Simpsons' timeslot and will inevitably end up in the Simpsons season 87 DVD/Blu-ray set. To me, 5/10 is average TV, 7/10 is a good cut above average, 10/10 would be among the top episodes of my favorite shows, a lofty mark indeed.

Edit -

That post gets a 1/10.
And you didn't even use capitalization, next time... don't bother to post if it's going to be subpar.

Look at who you're talking to, Muchado.

[Reply #21 on:]

This definitely wasn't as bad as I was dreading it would be, but it still didn't quite live up to the potential of what it could have been (I'd have hoped a Futurama crossover should've had a far more intricate science fiction narrative). They also didn't really use any of the Futurama characters particularly well, save from Bender and the Professor (the latter got some fucking excellent lines though, and was easily the MVP for this episode).

And yes, the animation on the Futurama characters looked a little weird - especially the mouths - though I guess it wasn't a bad effort given that it would've likely been the first time most of the current Simpsons animators had to draw these characters (I say most because I know there's a bit of crossover with the shows' respective creative teams, though admittedly, I don't follow the animators' career paths like I do the writers'). Like the episode itself - it could've been better, but it was far from bad.

Anyway, the most important part is that this episode was surprisingly hilarious. Especially by current-era Simpsons standards. Lots of laughs the whole way through, and even the ones that fell flat weren't as cringe-worthy as the usual misfire is on The Simpsons these days. By current Simpsons standards, this was an 8/10, and by Futurama standards, it was a 6/10. I'll put them both together and give this one a 7/10.

[Reply #22 on:]

It was a bit of a disappointment for me. I was expecting more out of the other characters. I mean, Fry and Leela had like five lines each. I wanted the episode to, just one line is necessary, address the terribly-ambiguous current-standing series finale, particularly regarding Fry and Leela's marital status and fate. tl;dr I wanted more Fry and Leela.

[Reply #23 on:]

I'm inclined to give that episode 5/10 by Simpsons standards, and 7/10 by Futurama standards. Leaving a 6/10 rating overall.

[Reply #24 on:]

Clearly this is an alternate version of the Futurama universe that exists within The Simpsons' universe, since both yellow and pink skinned people can be seen in New New York toward the end.

Other things:

The crossover is said to have taken place "3 months before" Futurama's series finale, yet when they show up in the future, the calendar reads 3014. This means that "Meanwhile" and the majority of season 7 took place in 3014, or they slipped up.

Scruffy killing himself was really out-of-character and not that funny, for me.

"Meanwhile in the past (or if you're a Simpsons fan, the present)" was a great touch.

John DiMaggio's delivery of the line "where I know the result of every horse race ever!" was really good, I found it hilarious.

Chief Wiggum's rant at Lou was very funny.

I'll probably update this with more thoughts as they come to me.

[Reply #25 on:]

I enjoyed it. I'm not good at reviews, but my only problem is how rushed it all was. This definitely needed to be an hour long.

7/10

[Reply #26 on:]

Loved it. Made me really miss the show again

[Reply #27 on:]

It wasn't as good as I could have hoped for it to be, but it was as good as I hoped for a new episode of Simpsons. Somewhat interesting plot, which was rushed and not well-paced, but ending was nice. Still, lots of good jokes and that's good enough for what I can wait from a crossover.

I chose the number 5/10, but against Futurama, it would be in close approximation to those episodes that everyone hates. You know the ones I mean.

[Reply #28 on:]

One complaint I have is that it seemed a bit rushed. The Futurama also characters looked a bit... odd? It seemed Leela's facial features fluctuated at times and there were moments where Bender's head looked lopsided. Oh well, I guess it could have been worse, even though I was extremely disappointed. Thankfully, I was able to switch right to the channel with the Futurama reruns and you wouldn't believe how much of a relief it was.

[Reply #29 on:]

1st reply here
missed futurama and have no one to share how this got me thrilled ,
Il take any chance to see futurama , so i loved it
the best part was the reference to seymour  asses from the jurasic bark episode !

[Reply #30 on:]

That was decent, which is about as much as I could have hoped for from The Simpsons as it stands, these days.

I had a lot of problems with it and almost all of them came down to the pacing being far too fast (how little any of the The Simpsons characters seemed to care about the implication of what they were witnessing, for instance - they just accepted it like it was just another day at the office).

Almost all of the Futurama characters that made an appearance felt shoe-horned in for the sake of it. Only Bender, The Professor, Lrrr and Ndnd felt like natural additions to the cast. The rest seemed to be there just because they had to show up, and that meant that they felt a bit stilted and out of character. Also, if you're going to shove every character in for the hell of it, why not shove Zapp Brannigan in there, somewhere?

Still, there were some good jokes and none of it was particularly awful beyond it playing absolute havoc with the world that The Simpsons inhabit. It's clear that nobody involved gives two shits any more.

Overall, I enjoyed it and I hope they make some more.

Now, for probably the last time ever:
By Futurama's standards: 4/10
By The Simpsons' standards: 4/10
By modern The Simpsons' standards: 10/10
By general TV standards: 7/10

[Reply #31 on:]

The red AL1 sign that you briefly see in the normal Futurama opening that reads "2D RULEZ!" says "EAT MY SHORTS" in the mash-up opening.

*edit*

Hehehe...

[Reply #32 on:]

Eh. It wasn't bad, and it had some good gags, but it was just too rushed to really enjoy. Some jokes went by really slowly and were followed by important plot points that just whizzed by. I liked seeing Seymour, Zoidberg's line was funny, and Professor Farnsworth had some great lines. It just went by too quickly. It would've done much, much better as a two-parter.

6/10

Genuinely liked 5-10 minutes of it, but the rest wasn't good.

[Reply #33 on:]

Anyone notice the nod to Neutopia?
Yup, there was a Farrah Farnsworth calendar in the episode.
And Burns wrote both episodes.

[Reply #34 on:]

All I have to say about this is...

Decent idea... Could have used the 1 hour airtime that the Family Guy/Simpsons crossover had (not that I saw it, perhaps one day...) because EVERYTHING seemed like a big conglomeration of catchphrases. I mean, of course that was bound to happen (and funny), but more substance would have done a great service to this.

Having said all that, I did enjoy it. Just... for Futurama's final huzzah, I'd have liked more. Perhaps I'm greedy. I've made peace with the fact there won't be any more episodes, but I'd have liked more from this event... :c

[Reply #35 on:]

Yes, yes, it was rushed. We knew that beforehand.
Not too many of you have complained about the Simpsons' quick acceptance of the situation. I really would've liked to see them  in awe of the future, like Fry in the pilot. The closest thing we got was the hypnotoad and beer sign jokes.
A highlight: "outlawing motherly love". Not really funny, but these kind of jokes were often used in Futurama to be followed by an example, i.e. the cold opening to The Series Has Landed. Though not really the same, it's about "what a wierd yet familiar future it is". Sadly, what we mostly got were the generic future jokes.
We also got an expected Life in Hell reference.
My opinions don't otherwise differ from those already expressed.

A 6/10 from me.

[Reply #36 on:]

Yes, yes, it was rushed. We knew that beforehand.
Not too many of you have complained about the Simpsons' quick acceptance of the situation.

You could say those aren't necessarily mutually exclusive problems. Though, I didn't really feel it needed that, as it's a crossover and not so serious.


Also, surprisingly no-one has complained that this ruined the Jurassic Bark again.

[Reply #37 on:]

Also, surprisingly no-one has complained that this ruined the Jurassic Bark again.

I was gonna mention something about that. Seymour's appearance was stupid and made no sense.

On the other hand, only an idiot would think that "ruins" JB.

[Reply #38 on:]

Seymour's appearance was just something dumb that Al Jean insisted that they put in.
It was a dumb moment of them wanting to insert a 'cool' reference to past episodes, and being out of touch with what they were making.
The crossover has seriously dumb issues like that, and even more issues upon pondering it over.
Like, how did the Prof. know whom exactly Homer Simpson was to send Bender back? How did his device know the creatures had Homer Simpson's DNA, a random man who died 1000 years ago in the Futurama timeline? Why didn't Bender just use the time-code to travel back 1000 years in the beginning? How did.... and on and on like that if you analyze it.
It was literally just... joke, plot advancement, joke, the plot advances, odd joke, plot device, joke, clumsy pacing, joke, plot advancement beat, joke, clumsy plot device, odd beat, joke,. on and on... boom, boom, boom.

It had no room breath as a crossover, it was never going to work properly in a 21 minute timeframe.
The crossover was mediocre (at best), and Al Jean should feel mediocre!
It was funny... but they probably edited a good (almost two-episode long) lengthy script by Burns, down into a speedy, simple, lazy, jokefest of a mash-up. That merely stole the best beats and jokes and crammed them into 21 minutes. Seemingly, they rushed it out during the latter portion of production season 25 to get it on the air during 2014, being each shows anniversary year.

I've listened to Al Jean in commentary enough... that I know I'm right.
It was funny, but Matt G. should of had them freelance DXC for showrunner of the crossover, made it two episodes, and done the crossover we truly deserve.

[Reply #39 on:]

Question:

Would you have preferred if they just made an animated version of the Simpsons/Futurama Crossover Crisis comic books or made something different like this episode?