General Futurama Discussion - A New Thread

[Reply #320 on:]

Claudia Catz did say that the topical stuff will be continued next year. They do refuse to parody sci-fi in favor of topical themes purposely. A big mistake IMO.

Yeah, because why would they want to put sci-fi in a sci-fi cartoon? 

[Reply #321 on:]

Claudia Catz did say that the topical stuff will be continued next year. They do refuse to parody sci-fi in favor of topical themes purposely. A big mistake IMO.

Yeah, because why would they want to put sci-fi in a sci-fi cartoon? 

From what I understand after reading TV Tropes, when the show was greenlit, Groening, Cohen and the rest of the team wanted to do primarily satire, while FOX was kinda forcing them to do cartoony space opera. After revivals, the team must feel to be "free of shackles" so to speak. I can get that but it logically makes some alienating on the side of the fans who liked the original style. 

[Reply #322 on:]

Claudia Catz did say that the topical stuff will be continued next year. They do refuse to parody sci-fi in favor of topical themes purposely. A big mistake IMO.

Yeah, because why would they want to put sci-fi in a sci-fi cartoon? 

From what I understand after reading TV Tropes, when the show was greenlit, Groening, Cohen and the rest of the team wanted to do primarily satire, while FOX was kinda forcing them to do cartoony space opera. After revivals, the team must feel to be "free of shackles" so to speak. I can get that but it logically makes some alienating on the side of the fans who liked the original style. 

Satire is not really the issue though. The Momazon episode was a decent satire corporations taking everything over. Amazon Women in the Mood was a satire of gender stereotypes. I Dated A Robot was a good satire about downloading music. Rage Against the Vaccine was not a good satire. All the jokes were just stuff like, "Look the monkey podcast host is spreading misinformation just like Joe Rogan!" They were just stating what happened without putting any kind of original spin on it or adding anything new. If you don't have anything new to say, why say anything at all? I could read Wikipedia if I just wanted a play by play of the Covid-19 pandemic.

[Reply #323 on:]

Claudia Catz did say that the topical stuff will be continued next year. They do refuse to parody sci-fi in favor of topical themes purposely. A big mistake IMO.

Yeah, because why would they want to put sci-fi in a sci-fi cartoon? 

From what I understand after reading TV Tropes, when the show was greenlit, Groening, Cohen and the rest of the team wanted to do primarily satire, while FOX was kinda forcing them to do cartoony space opera. After revivals, the team must feel to be "free of shackles" so to speak. I can get that but it logically makes some alienating on the side of the fans who liked the original style. 

Satire is not really the issue though. The Momazon episode was a decent satire corporations taking everything over. Amazon Women in the Mood was a satire of gender stereotypes. I Dated A Robot was a good satire about downloading music. Rage Against the Vaccine was not a good satire. All the jokes were just stuff like, "Look the monkey podcast host is spreading misinformation just like Joe Rogan!" They were just stating what happened without putting any kind of original spin on it or adding anything new. If you don't have anything new to say, why say anything at all? I could read Wikipedia if I just wanted a play by play of the Covid-19 pandemic.

I agree, the writing needs to be sharper in general.

[Reply #324 on:]

I agree with you guys. The science fiction elements are what make the show unique. I don't know why they wouldn't take advantage of that. Satire is fine if it's well done but "Fulu" and "Mapple" aren't exactly Jonathan Swift level material, y'know?

[Reply #325 on:]

Mapple was The Simpsons.

It was a low point even by their standards.

[Reply #326 on:]

I have said this before, but one of the worst things the Simpsons (and later Futurama) started doing was they would "parody" something by changing one or two letters or so and then make the most painfully obvious, done to death jokes about it, usually while kissing its ass as well.   

Good thing we already have Malibu Stacey or we'd be having jokes about Narbie or Marbie dolls.

[Reply #327 on:]

From what I understand after reading TV Tropes, when the show was greenlit, Groening, Cohen and the rest of the team wanted to do primarily satire, while FOX was kinda forcing them to do cartoony space opera.

Space opera is a perfect vehicle for good satire, and Sci-fi is a fertile soil for parody - it's like they were handed a golden opportunity but were upset that they weren't allowed to make something crappy instead, and fans fell in love with Futurama because it was accidentally good. Only to be let down horribly once Groening and Cohen finally got what they wanted.

At this point, I think Groening and Cohen are essentially the same thing as George Lucas; in possession of great artistic ideas that they can't help but ruin if they're not surrounded by people who slap their fingers every time they reach for the macaroni, glue, and glitter.

[Reply #328 on:]

From what I understand after reading TV Tropes, when the show was greenlit, Groening, Cohen and the rest of the team wanted to do primarily satire, while FOX was kinda forcing them to do cartoony space opera.

Space opera is a perfect vehicle for good satire, and Sci-fi is a fertile soil for parody - it's like they were handed a golden opportunity but were upset that they weren't allowed to make something crappy instead, and fans fell in love with Futurama because it was accidentally good. Only to be let down horribly once Groening and Cohen finally got what they wanted.

At this point, I think Groening and Cohen are essentially the same thing as George Lucas; in possession of great artistic ideas that they can't help but ruin if they're not surrounded by people who slap their fingers every time they reach for the macaroni, glue, and glitter.

Yes, I remeber how shortly after "In -A-Gaddda-Da-Leela"aired, somebody mentioned George Lucas, concluding "Sometimes limitation is a good thing".

[Reply #329 on:]

I'm sorry to hurt people's feels but this last season was the worst season of Futurama. I'm not going to bother watching any more of the Hulu seasons. That being said here a Futurama panel at Megacon 2024: https://youtu.be/aY8HkViIqdE

[Reply #330 on:]

So, apparently Thursday was the 25th anniversary of the premiere of Futurama.  I guess we all forgot.  Typical.

Anyway, here's a list of 25 quotes from the first episode that some writer from Cracked thought were funny for some reason.

[Reply #331 on:]

Before clicking that link I thought to myself, "Isn't 25 quotes effectively the entire goddamn script?" and honestly it kind of was.

Anyway, happy (belated) 25th birthday to Futurama. It's now as dumb old as Fry!

[Reply #332 on:]

Fry is going to be Fifty this year!  Insaaaane.

So, apparently Thursday was the 25th anniversary of the premiere of Futurama.  I guess we all forgot.  Typical.

Anyway, here's a list of 25 quotes from the first episode that some writer from Cracked thought were funny for some reason.

Huh.  Had no idea Cracked still exists. 

[Reply #333 on:]

Huh.  Had no idea Cracked still exists. 

I don't really consider the current Cracked website in the same league as the old. They laid off most of the staff responsible for their great early 2010s content a few years ago.

[Reply #334 on:]

I'm sorry to hurt people's feels but this last season was the worst season of Futurama. I'm not going to bother watching any more of the Hulu seasons. That being said here a Futurama panel at Megacon 2024: https://youtu.be/aY8HkViIqdE

I would really suggest giving it a couple more episodes before you decide to give up. These two seasons were ordered together so they act like one season. The trailer for the new episode looked good, not even a single topical joke in it. Felt much more like classic Futurama hyjinx. I think it just took time for them to readjust to the show after being off the air for 10 years. The CC era got better with the second season in my opinion.

[Reply #335 on:]

'Futurama' Star Speaks Out on Show Being Canceled—'Short End of the Stick'

Probably nothing new here for anyone browsing this forum, but I thought I should post it anyway.

[Reply #336 on:]

'Futurama' star John DiMaggio hits out at show critics

"It's always been so topical," Herman told Newsweek. "It's always been social parody. It's always been about the moment that we're in, that's science fiction in general."

The duo specifically called out Reddit users for their comments about the show's storylines.

"It continues to do that this season, so if people don't like it, take a walk," DiMaggio said.

Recreating Bender's iconic catchphrase, the 55-year-old actor told critics to "bite my shiny metal a**."

"They can jump in the lake. They could fly a kite," the comedy star added.

tl;dr: In your face Futurama critics and fans I was waiting for this.

[Reply #337 on:]

Well, fuck John DiMaggio then. He wasn't bitching about the fans when they were clamoring for him to be hired back last season was he?

[Reply #338 on:]

Agreed, what a really nasty response.  "If you don't like the revival go jump in a lake"?

Don't know why he's bitching about reddit of all things.  For the most part, anybody there who criticises the revival gets downvoted and told to shut up.  You're not really allowed to dislike the revival over there.

[Reply #339 on:]

"It continues to do that this season, so if people don't like it, take a walk," DiMaggio said.

Way ahead of you, John.  Already did that two revivals ago.

These people continue to fail to understand what made Futurama great in the first place.  Sad, really.

Unrelated, but I think that "Go post on Reddit." would be a great 21st century equivalent to such phrases as "Go jump in a lake." or "Go fly a kite."

[Reply #340 on:]

I think it was John or one of the other actors who defended the show last season by saying something along the lines of “The same people who worked on this show from day 1 are still working on it now, so it has to be good!”

That’s not really how it works.

[Reply #341 on:]

Aren't you guys just happy the show is back on the air? 

[Reply #342 on:]

That's a pretty superficial way of looking at things. I mean why would people be happy to have their favourite show brought back if every episode sucked, they didn't enjoy any of it and they felt like it tarnished the overall legacy and beautiful ending it already had?

It's like asking the wife from Pet Sematary isn't she just happy to have her dead kid brought back to life. Who cares if their soul is gone and they've started murdering people and they stink of death, right?

Personally, I am happy to have the show back on the air. But I'm certainly not *just* happy to have the show back. I'm happy because I've found enough enjoyment in the revival for it to feel justified to me. It's a very fine line, though, and a lot of it for me is resting on faith that there are still going to be some excellent episodes down the line.

[Reply #343 on:]

cyber_turnip pretty much summed up my thoughts on the matter. Sometimes I wish people involved in producing shows were more "fannish." By that I mean that I wish the writers, actors, and executives loved their shows and wanted them to be the very best. But how often do we see any of them come out and say "We need to do better"? Sure, after a show has been cancelled we get recriminations, but by then it's too late. Worst of all, you have some of these folks pissing on their fans for pointing out the obvious.

I think Futurama still has a ton of potential. I liked 4 of the 10 episodes from last year. I would be content if this year's batch turns out that well. Unfortunately, I don't think that's going to happen. I think the show will coast along until the next cancellation. John DiMaggio can blame the fans or studio execs or whoever but the show has had shots on three networks and managed to blow it due to, imo, producing a frequently bad (but occasionally brilliant!) program.

[Reply #344 on:]

Personally I have mixed feelings about the show coming back, not everything is black and white. In my case it is a big gray area.

I'm happy to see my favorite character -ever- back and some episodes aren't that bad, at least it gives me something to look forward and discuss weekly with my gf.

But if in, I don't know... the next year we get the news the show is dead again...I hope this time add a lot of cement in the grave. Also, is a DISCUSSION forum, not an APPRECIATION one,well most of the time!

[Reply #345 on:]

I do really hope they get to go out with a bang, however the show finishes this time round.

It'll be hard to top "Meanwhile".

My dream scenario would be the renewed interest allows them to get a theatrical movie off the ground to really end on a high note. If Bob's Burgers can justify a cinema release, surely Futurama can as well.

[Reply #346 on:]

Wow that Dimaggio quote up there is pretty crazy, LOL. I Sort of lost interest after the last season, I've only seen one episode from S9 so far. Wasn't good. Is it worth seeing the rest?

As someone else posted in another thread it really does start to hit you that even though you mightve grown up with a show, and loved it forever, there can be a point where it's just become... meh? CC era got offensively bad, hilariously bad sometimes. This stuff, no. Meh?

 Sometimes I think Futurama could benefit from a total creative reboot in some way. Not that I'm generally a fan of those sort of things but I just feel like it's got so much potential - not wasted potential even, just potential

[Reply #347 on:]

Wow that Dimaggio quote up there is pretty crazy, LOL. I Sort of lost interest after the last season, I've only seen one episode from S9 so far. Wasn't good. Is it worth seeing the rest?

As someone else posted in another thread it really does start to hit you that even though you mightve grown up with a show, and loved it forever, there can be a point where it's just become... meh? CC era got offensively bad, hilariously bad sometimes. This stuff, no. Meh?

 Sometimes I think Futurama could benefit from a total creative reboot in some way. Not that I'm generally a fan of those sort of things but I just feel like it's got so much potential - not wasted potential even, just potential

Is it worth watching? Well, I guess it depends on what else you've got to do. It's not "offensively bad" it's just extremely unremarkable. Every episode, other than Mystery Liberry, is watchable, but none of them are particularly memorable, imo. Cuteness Overlord was probably this season's strongest episode.

[Reply #348 on:]

That's pretty much how I feel.  This season was a huge improvement over the last, but it's at best very unremarkable.   

Didn't really care for DiMaggio's remarks, people are allowed to feel what they feel about a show, whether it's good or bad. 

It's odd they would call out Reddit, since generally the Futurama subreddit doesn't like it when anyone criticises the Hulu episodes.

[Reply #349 on:]

I like the irony that a show about the future has started running into the issue of topical jokes becoming dated before episodes even come out haha

Not that it's their fault exactly, culture moves so quickly nowadays.

[Reply #350 on:]

I remember Groening saying something to the effect that Trump would have become President of Earth if Futurama were still on the air back somewhere between 2016 and 2020.

I wonder if they'll follow through on that come season 10.

(I doubt they will / hope they don't because it'll date the show in quite a negative way. I don't think people need another reminder of Trump and I can't see it making for an especially great episode. But I can definitely see them doing something with it).

[Reply #351 on:]

[Reply #352 on:]

Having Trump (or his head I suppose) as president in the show sounded like an awful idea.

Thank god for the four year dry spot then, dark times for the most biteless, back-patting jokes haha

[Reply #353 on:]

In the last term, it seemed like there was more appetite to try and satirise the whole thing. Whereas now it feels like everyone just feels incredibly worn down by it. I'm hoping that means they leave it the hell alone, but given their love of overt, immediately-dated topical plot concepts at the moment, it wouldn't surprise me if they dusted off the idea.

[Reply #354 on:]

They should mirror Trump's presidency by making Zapp the president of Earth. Especially since West was quoting Trump using Zapper's voice.

Also, of all things I'm tired of status quo the most. Nixon got boring, the Fry-Leela relationship feels resesting back constantly to their relationship pre Meanwhile.Also,Roberto should stay dead or comeback for Night of Automated Dead comic adaptation

Edit: an they should stop with segmented episodes or do a proper AOI III with great writing (Landehson!!!)