Thoughts on Episode 8ACV01 – The Impossible Stream (SPOILERS)

[on:]

Premieres (I think?) tonight, 9pm EST.

Fry risks permanent insanity when he attempts to binge-watch every TV show ever made.

Review and discuss the Season 8 (or 11) premiere in here.

[Reply #1 on:]

^Small correction: According to the Futurama on Hulu Twitter account, new episodes will premiere at 12 midnight Eastern and 9 PM Pacific.

I’ll see y’all some time tomorrow afternoon or evening (I’m not committed enough to stay up until midnight on a work night. ) Hope the premiere doesn’t suck!

[Reply #2 on:]

Let me be the first to say:

I have seen the new episode.

Welcome back jerks.

[Reply #3 on:]

My God... I never thought I'd see the day. A new episode discussion on Peelified. Crazy.

It was solid - I really wish it was more grand scale, because I'm a sucker for head-on sci-fi insanity. BBS and Rebirth had much bigger plots that felt a little more in-line with a hyped up return. I personally wanted to see them spend more time on the aftermath of Meanwhile; even just seeing the still world and the time tunnels was awesome, i adore that entire episode. But, the Calculon plot gave plenty of excuses for cameos, in-jokes, meta commentary and all that good stuff, and it was neat to see them approach this return as if these past 10 years literally never happened - it's just another adventure in the Futurama universe, with no greater stakes beyond the usual melodrama. Fry dieing and the courtroom scene in particular immediately reminded me of the sometimes very dramatic Comedy Central run.

My favorite self-referential jab was when Bender seemed to slip back into a pause after being freed from the Meanwhile time freeze - seemed like a little joke about John Dimaggio's pay disputes and the uncertain future of his character.

All in all, not really as monumental as I was going in expecting, but it certainly delivers on casually bringing us back into the world of tomorrow while still bringing the expected rounds of cameos and fanservicey moments. I just wish it aimed a tiny bit higher, conceptually, though it is also neat how it ties into today's events in entertainment pretty seamlessly despite the on-the-noseness of it all.

Also... shouldn't Calculon have been a robo-ghost or whatever? I forgot just how that all works. Wouldn't blame the writers if they did too, haha.

[Reply #4 on:]

FirstTHIRD review, first vote (6/10)!

The manner in which they brought back the daily lives of the Planet Express crew was better than I theorized- not only does it seem like Fry, Leela, and Farnsworth retained their memories of the time freeze, but society didn't skip ahead ten years! Having an "atomic clock" is a pretty clever way of having it be current year + 1000 without aging up the characters.

Humor was great. Had me audibly laughing by myself a couple of times. It's still sharp and nerdy. It would be fantastic if all future episodes remain this level of funny.

Story was meta, which was expected, but I'm kind of disgusted with Patric Verrone on this. He wrote my favorite episode "The Sting", but the story was almost as garbage as "Attack of the Killer App". However, the most egregious thing was having the writing room reflect Futurama's current writing room and having Verrone voice himself. Not only was it tasteless, the dialogue implies Verrone hates his job of writing for the show. If you're this miserable dude, just freaking quit. You got a Harvard education in history, I believe you passed the bar and can practice law, so maybe go back to that. I would delightfully take his job for free and while I doubt my writing ability and I know I'm not as funny as I wished, but hands down I would be far more passionate about the series than he has been in the past two decades.

I really was hoping for something more profound and insightful for the first episode back for a second time. Oh well.

There was one detail I noticed in the end of the episode that really took me by surprise- John DiMaggio now has top billing. Maybe that was one of DiMaggio's concessions for his return.

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I have a feeling DiMaggio's outcome of his holdout is pretty much a premonition for how the strikes are going to end.

I don't think I've ever said this before on PEEL, but the voice actors are a major part of why the show is so successful. The cast is extremely talented and the delivery of their lines makes the show.

[Reply #5 on:]

I just seen the episode. And man... Just man... All I can begin to say is that Futurama continues to lose it's depth as it ages. This episode's pacing was so rushed and forced in a way that wasn't very coherent after the first 10 minutes or so. I get it's the first episode back and everything, but in the span of 23 minutes they did quite alot. Such as

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The fact they basically undid the spectacular Season 7 finale in a way that makes little to no sense (may have to give the episode another rewatch) AND Brought back Calculon in the most forced way imaginable that completely undoes all of the development from those two season 7 episodes. I mean he didn't even recognize Leela or Bender. Not to mention they did slurms mackenzie dirty....Is it just me or was he horribly animated?

It's a complete opposite from the likes of Season 6's "Rebirth". They did alot more with this episode to really try to bring the status quo back to what it used to be, which in a sense is appreciated but is executed in a fashion that is much more rushed and leaves alot to be desired. I did like the beginning segment and was pleasantly surprised to see the Opening Title Card saying what it says, in the same font and everything.

To put it frank, I was expecting the pop-culture references we were used to from Season 6/7. I'm used to this kind of Futurama by now. But I honestly wasn't expecting them to undo so much in such a short span of time. I can tell they're genuinely trying to spread their creative wings, the jokes alone are evidence of that, but they can only go so far. It may sound like a nitpick, but I think that while the plot was... okay, the jokes are really what made this a more rewarding viewing experience. Kind of like Season 7 episodes such as "Viva Mars Vegas" and "A Farewell to Arms". It was fun to watch in it's own right, but not very plot-driven like Rebirth was. In fact, I'd argue that some of the concepts they toyed with during this episode very damn well could have been their own respective episodes.

It's abundantly clear that, although they don't have the request to make things dirtier like CC asked for during it's run, they still held onto breaking many of the rules from the Fox Era of Futurama. Something that seems new is how meta it kind of feels in comparison to both the Fox and CC run. Don't get me wrong, the CC era had lots of the same kind of meta but the excerpts seen in this episode kind of made this episode of Futurama feel like a modern episode of The Simpsons, especially with those ending bits. Like,

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how & why did Fry end up in court, again? Gonna need to rewatch that bit. And I did just that recently in this second edit. Even this time around, the whole skit had me saying to myself "...um what?" just as my initial viewing. It feels so much like something you'd see Homer Simpson say and not Fry. Probably just me. Loved Nixon's line at the end though.

I understand that may have entirely been the point of this episode, but it still felt very off to me. Hoping for a more... straight forward narrative moving forward. Sorry for the rant or spiel.

Can't really say much else about the episode. I was going in not expecting much and came out with a... weird aftertaste I can't really make up my mind on. Kind of like trying a new beverage for the first time or something like that. I didn't really mind the fact most of the character's voices (Especially Billy West) have aged & sound a bit different. They're doing a heck of a job! I just really hope the writing, consistency, and narrative of these episodes continues to improve as it goes on. This episode was all good fun, but not enough to convince me things will get much better. I'm welcoming to the show proving me wrong though as it goes on, kind of like how Season 6B did just that. So tbh I think I'm going to rate it a 5/10 at best. It was a fun return, but not a very memorable one in my opinion.

*Edit: By the way, it's absolutely bonkers to see you all again (: I can't believe we all kinda just crawled out of our holes. It's nice to be back, JoshTheater.

*Edit 2: Just rewatched the episode and, yeah my mind is pretty much still the same. It was fun like a mid-Season 7 episode. But is still kind of full of issues. Nonetheless it is still better than most things on TV or Streaming Services these days.

[Reply #6 on:]

That was a weird one.

I enjoyed the ridiculousness of it all. The whole PE crew just helping Fry waste months of resources binging television. The execs at Hulu reviving/funding this 24/7 TV series just for one viewer. Leela having to direct a TV show forever to keep her vegetable husband alive, why not.

I got several laughs from it, the biggest ones being Robot Devil quickly shooting Calculon back to Earth (God I love that pairing), and the shock of seeing old Slurms Mackenzies design.

Worst thing about this was just having to constantly hear the name “Fulu” (just say Hulu damn it!). That and the initial binging scene with the NFT/Siri Scary Door and all those parody titles felt very modern Simpsons, but thankfully those bits were pretty short. The court room scene also reminded me of those "episode is short" end tags The Simpsons would do, though at least this one was related to the story.

It didn’t feel as awkward to me as Rebirth, both in tone and its choice of cancellation/revival references. It didn’t really say a whole lot, but the jokes it gave around its concept of binging/the All My Circuits revival were overall solid. A few misses, some genuine laughs, a weird breezy episode that, outside some age in the voices, made me forget Futurama was ever cancelled.

Uh...7/10.

However, the most egregious thing was having the writing room reflect Futurama's current writing room and having Verrone voice himself. Not only was it tasteless, the dialogue implies Verrone hates his job of writing for the show. If you're this miserable dude, just freaking quit. You got a Harvard education in history, I believe you passed the bar and can practice law, so maybe go back to that. I would delightfully take his job for free and while I doubt my writing ability and I know I'm not as funny as I wished, but hands down I would be far more passionate about the series than he has been in the past two decades.

It was just a joke... It was an easy joke, but a joke.

[Reply #7 on:]

This is a weird feeling, giving first impressions of a Futurama episode on PEEL. What year is it again?

The episode was... pretty good. Perhaps a bit mild compared to "Bender's Big Score" and "Rebirth"; they could have come up with something that had a bit more substance. I enjoyed Calculon's antics and the silly joke about the atomic clock being an ordinary calendar. The constant "Fulu" jokes were kind of irritating. Like, we get it. It's on Hulu. Shhhh.

It's a hell of a lot better than Disenchantment at least, which had me a liiiittle sceptical about the quality of the show. Also, the voice actors sound exactly the same! It's like there wasn't even a 10 year hiatus.

First impression says maybe a 6 or 7/10. I don't know. Numbers are meaningless.

[Reply #8 on:]

It was about what I was expecting honestly. Cheap/easy meta jokes and just bringing back Futurama. Sadly it seems like the writing is going to be more on Season 7 side of things than 6. Rushed endings and things just happening in a sloppy way. I’m glad the full opening sequence is back though, baby! Had a couple of little laughs, but it wasn’t hilarious. Voices sound alot deeper, but expected. The Meanwhile stuff could have been handled a lot better though. I think I prefer Rebirth.

6.5/10

[Reply #9 on:]

So I will be honest, I was not overly excited for this new season. While there were some great episodes in the previous reboot, most vary from okay to mediocre  (with some that were just bad). So I went into this new episode with low expectations and it did manage to exceed those but it was a very low bar.

I am not sure this brought anything new to the discussion regarding binge culture and the parodies felt a little weak. The bits that did make me chuckle were some of the random parts, but the trouble is those do not tend to be as funny the second time around. Perhaps I would like the show to follow it's own advice from so long ago

"Comedy come from character, real situations, not abstract craziness."

I would of like my first post in god knows how long to be more positive, but still 9 more chances to impress

6/10

[Reply #10 on:]

I'm in the (current) general consensus here, ratings-wise: I'd say this is a 7/10, as in a C, as in "so OK it's average" (but with a few legitimately funny and/or clever moments). More detailed/cogent thoughts below:

I thought the first few minutes and the handling of "Meanwhile" were pretty good, though I do have questions about whether or not Fry and Leela are still engaged (it seems not, but my guess is this will be addressed in future episodes) and whether or not the characters themselves are aging as the show continues to be set exactly 1,000 years in the present future while still acknowledging that Fry was unfrozen 23 years ago (I don't think the writers want us to believe Fry and Leela are now pushing 60, and I understand this is just how long-running animated shows work, but it still bugs me).

The bingeing stuff was hit-or-miss for me: the show wasn't doing anything especially new or biting with the concept satirically, and the excessively self-referential stuff was a bit cringey. That said, I did appreciate some of the more general commentary on the changing landscape of television with the rise of streaming. I also really enjoyed the (relatively subtle) callbacks to "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on TV" and got a kick out of the Execubot's reaction to the news that Calculon is dead ("Everything is negotiable"). In fact, a lot of the stuff about the nature of writing, acting, directing, and executive-producing in the TV industry was both pretty amusing and oddly timely, what with the ongoing WGA and SAG strikes. (I have to respectfully disagree with Frida here: I thought the writing room stuff was rather funny, and it was obvious the writers were more ventriloquizing the anti-writer rhetoric you often get from studio executives rather than genuinely calling their own work meaningless.)

The return of The Scary Door Mirror was underwhelming, and I cringed at the non-binary joke (I get that the point was the doofy pun on "PC culture," but it makes me fear somewhat for the upcoming "Zapp Gets Cancelled" episode if this is the level of sensitivity to social justice issues we're bringing to the table). However, most of the stuff with All My Circuits was highly amusing to me, quite possibly my favorite part of the episode. I especially loved the scene on the paddleboat where everyone was getting their mack on with Human Friend; that dialogue was absurd and delightful. And, actually, the whole weaning-Fry-off-bingeing scene was pretty clever—exceptionally well-animated and visually interesting.

But on the topic of Fry's near-deadly bingeing: Much like Monster_Robot_Maniac, I am so fucking sick of this show's need to turn everything into a life-or-death scenario. (I also think I just have to resign myself to the fact that Fry is kind of a sad sack now. In the original series he was definitely prone to melancholy, but overall he was a sincere, well-meaning, and generally happy idiot. I think that balance has irreversibly shifted in favor of making him a whiny, self-pitying loser, and I can't say I'm a fan.) Making the stakes of his bingeing so ridiculously high had the ironic (and presumably unintended) effect of making the stakes so low that I stopped caring. Oh, and

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him not being in the suit when it exploded

was a really dumb cop-out.

Overall, though, I think this may have been the most graceful post-cancellation episode we've ever gotten: the self-referential stuff was less annoying here than in "Bender's Big Score" or "Rebirth," and by dispatching pretty quickly with the direct consequences of the previous series finale this premiere episode got a chance to actually be relatively "normal" instead of some big, special event. I liked that more understated (or "mild," in UrL's words) vibe. The less this show can be up its own ass about stuff—particularly the meta-mythos of its own repeated cancellations—the better.

I came into this thing with pretty low expectations, and those were marginally exceeded, so all in all I'm pretty satisfied and looking forward to not completely dreading future weeks' episodes.

[Reply #11 on:]

I didn't have any expectations; I'm just pleased to see it return.

That said, I was slightly put off by the extent of the self-referential jokes; the ironic humour rubbed off pretty quickly (for me) and some of the plot I guess seemed rather more contrived/forced than it needed to be. I'd say it's one of my least-preferred return episodes but I'm not entirely certain I fully remember some of the others...

But, it was still enjoyable enough. Certainly brought a smile to my face on several occasions, more than I remember some of the more recent Futurama episodes. I'm happy to say it didn't feel weird or slightly-false as some resurrected shows sometimes feel. I guess the only voice that I noticed as sounding a little strained was Fry's. We'll see how that goes though.

Otherwise, I'm particularly glad that they've got the "We're back, baby!" episode out of the way and am looking forward to seeing what they come up with. I'm not hugely enthused with some of the storylines seemingly being direct commentaries on 2020-22 (because I generally find Futurama is at its worst when its allegories are at their most blatant) but perhaps I should give them more benefit of the doubt. I certainly was pleased when the "[it's] not like what it was in your time, Fry" line subverted my worst expectations.

Oh, hey guys, btw!

[Reply #12 on:]

We're back baby! I was surprised to remember my password here and log in in a single attempt. It's been so, so long...

Overall, I enjoyed the episode, though the writing and executive producing really went downhill towards the end.

But seriously, it's about what I expected for a "we're back" episode. I feel like the show is allowed to make jokes about cancellations and comebacks given the absurdity of Futurama being revived yet again. The story wasn't as strong as "Rebirth", but this return episode also felt less shaky to me than that one was. The Professor cutting off Leela's ponytail and later wearing it was the most hilarious moment for me. Most of all I'm just impressed at how it all looks and sounds almost exactly the same after 10 years! Remarkable work from all involved.

Also, did anyone notice Bender dangling from the Planet Express Ship during the intro? New type of intro gag, perhaps?

[Reply #13 on:]

Hey everyone.

I was very scared going into this. I watched a couple new simpsons episodes a few weeks back and was terrified at the prospect of futurama meeting the same fate.

Based on this ep, it might be alright. Might.

It was better than rebirth and part 1 of bbs in my opinion. In those eps characters seemed dumbed down with simplified jokes, seemingly for the point of reintroducing people, I imagine. I didn’t get that with this, I laughed quite a bit which is the most important part to me. People annoyed with scary mirror and the other pop culture references gotta remember futuramas always been full of that.

It def wasn’t perfect, the current day references that I just defended were definitely a bit too much in abundance, the plot relied too much on it being life or death with an 11th hour twist which i just don’t care to see anymore, and, I’m gonna say it, billy west sounds old. That fry speech at the end sounded a struggle and makes me worry a little for the rest of the series.

I’m gonna give it a 7/10. Has not given me any good or bad expectations for the rest of the series.

Also, anyone else notice how John DiMagio’s name is first billing now? Did I miss news stating that was going to be the case?

[Reply #14 on:]

We're back baby!

Enjoyed this episode a lot. Was hoping for a bit more intelligent commentary on the current landscape of Television, but maybe I've been spoiled by the HBO series Barry on that front.

The episode as a whole felt like a weaker version of "When Aliens Attack" in my opinion.

I can't complain too much, I found it entertaining throughout which is more than can be said for a lot of the Comedy Central run.

7/10

[Reply #15 on:]

J, Philip I Fry... declare 7/10...

I won't lie, I'm probably feeling so positive about it due to the novelty of new episodes - like the CC run, that will probably diminish.

I absolutely expected a slap-dash explanation of the Professor's deus ex machina with an immediate return to normal, even if I didn't want them to go down that route. But I think we're all of the same assumption that we won't get as many thoughtful plots moving forward, and that sucks. Hopefully the Kif & Amy (& Leela) episode next week will at least attempt some emotional depth.

I gotta say, the backdrop of a historic Hollywood strike helps this episode land. Every voice actor sounds fresh from 2010. The robot stand-up bit was both so extremely obvious but so perfectly pitched that I cackled and thought "wow, only Futurama's existence can facilitate a joke like that" - more good use of the wacky world y'all've built, please!

Strange that the last revival ended when I was 16, and now I'm 27 - and still know my PEEL login. Life changes a lot in some ways and barely any in others.

[Reply #16 on:]

I’m gonna say it, billy west sounds old. That fry speech at the end sounded a struggle and makes me worry a little for the rest of the series.

Yeah, both Fry and Farnsworth were sounding rough—it’s less conspicuous with the latter because he’s meant to be a doddering old man, but Fry sounds like he’s suffering from a mild case of laryngitis for something. Nixon also sounded a little different (less…growly, maybe?). Zoidberg was really the only Billy West character who didn’t sound noticeably/alarmingly different to me.

I mean, it makes sense that Fry—whose voice Billy West has described as an imitation of his real speaking voice at 25—sounds less youthful than he did circa 1999, and it’s not West’s fault (time makes fools of us all), but it is a pretty constant reminder that, hey, it’s been 24 years since SP3K. The main character sounds tired, less dynamic, and that’s certainly to the show’s detriment (again, at no fault of West’s own—it’s just a bummer is all).

On a related note, Fry’s absence for most of the episode was an interesting move. I’ll be curious to see how the balance shakes out over these next nine episodes in terms of Bender- vs. Leela- vs. Fry-centric episodes. This one was definitely more of an ensemble piece, and for the most part I thought it worked well—but, again, kind of strange for the show’s ostensible main character to be sidelined for most of the episode (even if his stream-dream is the instigator of the plot).

[Reply #17 on:]

I quite liked the episode.

On the plus side,
- more than a few laugh-out-loud moments (my favourite was the love-geometry)
- the characters' personalities stayed the same
- a few classic Groening-esque moments of insight (Fry's brain emulating the TV show after watching too much)
- good ol' fashioned science-y humour (again with the geometry!) & freeze-frame pedanticness (July 3023 does start on a Tuesday)
- some subtle callbacks (the typewriter)
- some classic Futurama-sounding lines (fat chance, sweatpants)
- a really impressive free-frame joke collection (I counted 82 tv show names)
- a couple new - but still very Futurama - robots (the EMT-bot was really nice, the makeup-bot had echos of hairbot).

Most of all, the central motivation - Fry having a kind of mid-life crisis and wanting to find a goal in life, and Leela wanting to support him - was a realistic motivation for the two of them, I think.

One the down side, the type of episode where the gang takes on some new occupation with no regard for income or their work history has always been kind of weak, since they're distractingly divorced from reality (how does Fry pay for all his barrels of food? How does Fry single-handidly support an entire TV show through buying advertised goods - the trickle-down percentage that the studio must get from product buys from ads has to be tiny..). There were some gross-out jokes, too, which aren't my favourite.

It's not a top-5 episode, but it's solidly in the camp of good episodes.

For me: 7.5, rounded up.

Also, I'm starting a running tally for the season: episodes with a package delivery: 0/1

[Reply #18 on:]

I return from the depths of living hell to bring forth my opinions about this re-reboot.

First of all, the biggest thing I got from watching this episode was deep relief. I had expected the worst when they'd announced that Hulu had picked up a season. After all, we all know how the CC run went and I'm sure we're all keenly aware of how plenty of other reboots and 're-imaginings' have utterly destroyed brands, especially under the Disney umbrella.

My thoughts? The pacing was zippy. The visual gags had me snickering and snorting for 99% of them. The commentary on the utter state of modern television and modern society was somewhat light-handed but still packed enough punch to be amusing. The meta commentary at the very end was fun. There were even a few jokes and lines in there that I was honestly surprised were allowed, considering Disney owns FOX and a great stake in Hulu to boot.

All in all, this first episode felt a lot like the initial run of the show, a continuation of the series using Coke Classic formula versus New Coke. I hate but also love that this gives me hope for what's coming in the following weeks. Maybe television capitalizing on my nostalgia doesn't have to suck after all.

7/10

[Reply #19 on:]

Not as bad as I was expecting, and I did laugh a couple of times. (the professor's metaphor of cutting off leela's ponytail, the love geometry, whatever the hell was going on in that episode leela produced)

I worry that much of the season is going to be parodying a popular trend or event from the exact year the episode was wrote, but this felt more general and less specifically 2022.

I wish they hadn't touched Meanwhile at all. I don't know exactly what they would have done instead but I didn't need or want the direct connection to one of the best episodes of the show. It felt as though it undermined that episode's conclusion somewhat.

The meta jokes were a little much but they always are immediately after a cancellation and they weren't as mean spirited as the BOX Corporation ones, so I'm okay with it.

I give it a 5/10

[Reply #20 on:]

J, Philip I Fry...

This one caught me off guard. That might be my favourite line because I relate too much to fumbling basic sentences.

Also, hello returning PEELers! Zoidy... Beanoz... Snrub... just like the good ol' days.

[Reply #21 on:]

I may not be winna, but damnit, I'm going to keep the spirit of winna alive when are the peelies?

[Reply #22 on:]

It was pretty weak but I didn't really expect much more from it once we had the synopsis revealed.

What I will say is that, overall, I think it was better than "Rebirth" and I ultimately ended up loving season 6, so I'm still optimistic for where things are going.

It's also far from the worst episode of Futurama ever made, so you know... it's fine.

The main issue is that it's such a small-scale, low-stakes nothing-y plot and yet it's tacked directly onto the ending of "Meanwhile", which is one of the most emotionally beautiful, funny episodes of the show ever produced and one which had a pretty great concept and degree of scale at its core. This starts off by essentially undoing that episode and then just giving us another inside-Hollywood episode (historically always a weaker area for Futurama -- see Bender Should Not Be Allowed on TV, That's Lobstertainment!, Bend Her, etc).

Most of the jokes felt stale and fell flat for me, but there was nothing especially cringe-y in there and I did get one or two laughs.

John DiMaggio bumping up to top billing in the credits left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. Clearly, it's the result of his contract negotiations and the one thing he was able to get out of them given that they didn't end up paying him any more money, but at the end of the day, all he's doing there is overshadowing Billy West who's frankly far more talented and a much bigger, more important part of the show. DiMaggio had 2nd billing prior to this and that was always sensible. This does nothing for his image when all he's essentially doing is a disservice to West.

Baffling to see Cara Delevingne's name in the credits too. From what I can gather, she was the voice of the makeup robot on the All My Circuits crew -- the one who has zero lines and just screams at one point. It's the only female voice in the episode that isn't clearly Tress MacNeille. I wonder what the story is there -- like is she a huge fan of the show who asked to be in it? Is she friends with someone on staff? Did she record a larger role elsewhere in the season and just chuck an extra voice in while she was there? Did she have a larger role that got cut?

Anyway, I suspect this is about as bad as this season will get -- and that's great.

6.5/10

[Reply #23 on:]

It was weird watching a new ep of Futurama, especially it's ten years since last one.

I'm right after second viewing, and it's not bad. Humor is better than in the CC run, but still, it's kinda rushed with underwhelming twist and too high stakes for what should have been a smaller topical episode.

Nonetheless I enjoyed it a lot, it looks like Futurama and feels like a stronger new run ep. The original run is still the best with most of the eps being 10/10.

+ Great to hear Chris Tyng's dreamy score again, loved the very first seconds, felt like a classic run ep <3
+ Zoidberg - everything he said here was funny
+ Love the Scary Mirror and Humorbot 5.0. scene
+ No problem with reseting Meanwhile in like 2 minutes, it's definitely my least favourite finale. Sure, a sequel to that story with some interesting s-f ideas and high stakes could be better, but I'm happy with what've we got
+ No two headed goats and  singing boils
- The wrap up.


8,5/10 overall

[Reply #24 on:]

Fry died doing what he loved.

[Reply #25 on:]

Oh my.  I wasn't expecting much from this episode as the initial plot premise sounded pretty dull, and I was expecting a lot of meta jokes and so forth....but I still ended up feeling pretty disappointed.

The whole episode felt like it they animated one of the stories from the comics, because of how much it reminded me why I don't consider the majority of the comics a "must read" even for Futurama fans: weak initial premise, convulated and choppy plots and a lot of jokes that don't really land.

I hope this just an example of a stumbled landing rather then a regular trend.

[Reply #26 on:]

It is wild to see and I am glad this forum still active after so many years, I'll endeavor to haunt here again with the three-boot off and running!

I enjoyed the first ep more than I was hoping to, but I'll admit setting my standards low going in.

[Reply #27 on:]

I'll give this a seven.

My expectations were low, but the cast didn't nail the voices terribly well after all this time. There were a ton of veiled references that felt clumsy, the introductory few minutes before the plot started rolling was a rehash of the intro to BBS, and another fakeout character death in the season premiere is just lazy.

But it was sorta Futurama. It was there. It wasn't a strong episode, but it kept me watching. It didn't make me want to turn off the TV, I didn't have a strong reaction to any of the small continuity goofs, I could cope with the lacklustre plot and the references to modern entertainment consumption habits which will very quickly be dated, and I won't go into the next episode with too high an expectation for it to meet.

It's a decent return, although not the strongest the show has made.

The sheer variety of nonsensical soap-opera shenanigans going on for most of the episode made me chuckle somewhat, and that earned it an all-important bonus point, saving it from scoring a mere six.

In conclusion: it was okay.

[Reply #28 on:]

Fantastic that our show has returned, but this episode was a slow run to the start. Although I did enjoy there.

[Reply #29 on:]

OMG, it's a Juliet post!!!

[Reply #30 on:]

I could cope with the lacklustre plot and the references to modern entertainment consumption habits which will very quickly be dated

On the modern references: I'm also doing my damnedest not to be bothered by them—and, in the case of this episode, I actually kind of enjoyed them and found them at least semi-insightful. Sure, this episode was extremely specific to the streaming landscape, but it gave me more "Bender Should Not be Allowed on TV" vibes than it did "Yo Leela Leela" vibes, which is to say I think it'll hold up pretty well down the line.

I've mostly come to accept that the show has always leaned pretty heavily into then-contemporary references, and my level of receptivity to them is largely based on my level of familiarity with (and/or personal fondness for) the thing being lampooned. I think this may be one of the reasons why "Attack of the Killer App" never bothered me as much as it did others: it was a decent enough spoof of our excessively dumb times (in which I was firmly enmeshed) circa 2010, as "The Impossible Stream" is of our even dumber 2023 times. (Similarly, though I haven't seen "Decision 3012" in a long while, I'd imagine it still holds up—perhaps even more so, after the most prominent birther conspiracy theorist went on to become our fucking president—because it's a rather spot-on parody of the then-current political landscape.)

Like, I'm more bothered by the degradation of our society writ large than I am by the show's attempts to capture the moment, if that makes sense. I'd prefer the writers steer less aggressively into specific cultural/social satire, but I also accept that that's always been the show's way and I just have to deal with it. The particularly ham-fisted stuff still annoys the shit out of me, but I don't think what we got here was especially inelegant.

[Reply #31 on:]

OMG, it's a Juliet post!!!

Hey Winna!!!!! It has been a long time since I was here.

[Reply #32 on:]

I enjoyed this a lot. The reboot gags were funny and relentless. I didn't mind the whole episode being one long skit on reviving an old show, because it kept doing it in interesting and funny ways - I laughed out loud more in this one episode than in a whole season of CC episodes. I liked the bit that was essentially an apology for the CC seasons. It kinda acknowledges that they weren't up to scratch and that they need to do better this time - and I think they achieved that.

I kinda liked that they breezed over Meanwhile. They filled the gap they needed to but didn't dwell, and drew a line under it so the episode could move on. No doubt there will be more to come in future episodes, but they didn't let it hold the new season premiere back.

All in all, I think it closer in tone, feel and quality to the old seasons than to the CC seasons.

7/10

[Reply #33 on:]

The whole episode felt like it they animated one of the stories from the comics,

This is the most insanely accurate review I've seen.

[Reply #34 on:]

First of all I can’t believe that Futurama is back again, and second of all I can’t believe that Peel is still here.

Regarding the episode I quite enjoyed it. I knew it would be a bit ridiculous given the premise, and it was, but it was quite entertaining. Most of the jokes hit even if the whole situation of watching new Futurama in 2023 felt totally surreal.

[Reply #35 on:]

Hulu hulu hulu, h, ulu. 5 hulu out of 10 hulu. Would Hulu a Ulu, again.

[Reply #36 on:]

You better mention Hulu a few more times just to make sure everyone knows what streaming service it's on.

[Reply #37 on:]

Disney+?

[Reply #38 on:]

I actually enjoyed this episode a lot. The humor to me was very very similar to how I remember Futurama in the early seasons.

I enjoyed the meta humor and the self-depreciation, definitely done better than the meta joke in BBS and Rebirth imo.

Plot was a little thin and having Fry not be in 90% of the episode hurt it a bit. But the situation lended itself well to funny one-off gags about TV shows, and I've always loved Calculon so that was a plus.

So yeah, I was pleasantly surprised after reading so much negativity about the episode in advance. Maybe in the eyes of superfans this isn't a good ep but to me it was absolutely fine and actually made me laugh out loud a couple of times.

I thought the first few minutes and the handling of "Meanwhile" were pretty good, though I do have questions about whether or not Fry and Leela are still engaged (it seems not, but my guess is this will be addressed in future episodes) and whether or not the characters themselves are aging as the show continues to be set exactly 1,000 years in the present future while still acknowledging that Fry was unfrozen 23 years ago (I don't think the writers want us to believe Fry and Leela are now pushing 60, and I understand this is just how long-running animated shows work, but it still bugs me).

Assume you meant pushing 50? Fry was 25 when frozen, right? I took it as the characters haven't age since Meanwhile, so Leela's chronological age would be late forties (assuming she was 25 when the show started) and her biological age would be late 30's whilst Fry would have a similar biological age but his chronological age would be ~1048 + the age of 2 universes (due to TLPJF).


As for Fry's and Professor's voices sounding different, it did but I'm not so sure that is entirely down to Billy West's age.
The voices actually sound similar to how they did back in SP3K, so it could be that Billy West is rusty after not doing the voices for a decade. Time will tell I guess whether the voice changes remain permanent

[Reply #39 on:]

Assume you meant pushing 50? Fry was 25 when frozen, right? I took it as the characters haven't age since Meanwhile, so Leela's chronological age would be late forties (assuming she was 25 when the show started) and her biological age would be late 30's whilst Fry would have a similar biological age but his chronological age would be ~1048 + the age of 2 universes (due to TLPJF).

That is indeed what I meant. Apparently basic math is not my strong suit.

In any event, and as I noted here, since Dwight is canonically still 12 I'm going to assume all the characters' ages are static. It drives me mildly crazy to do so, but without clear evidence to the contrary I'll just have to accept that the characters are not aging even though the world around them clearly is.

As for Fry's and Professor's voices sounding different, it did but I'm not so sure that is entirely down to Billy West's age.
The voices actually sound similar to how they did back in SP3K, so it could be that Billy West is rusty after not doing the voices for a decade. Time will tell I guess whether the voice changes remain permanent

I didn't get a SP3K vibe from Fry's voice in the first two episodes of this season, but I do agree that what I'm attributing to age could also just be a consequence of not having performed the voice consistently in years. I noticed Fry's voice was a lot more normal-sounding in "How the West Was 1010001," so it seems this may not be as much of an issue going forward.