Futurama changed throughout its run

[Reply #40 on:]

Poor Hermes - forever regulated to rasta stereotype jokes. Perhaps the muderous thing was the writers tring to find another angle for joke milking (okay, it definately was). Hermes still can't carry whole episodes entire stories by himself. Even when he did take centre stage, he was either regulated to a side story for the most part (HHRHGB), or being used in his role as Dwight's father (TROAE & BSNBAOTV). The character's just a little too simple to have an entire story rest upon his flabby Carribean shoulders.

I think that the strangest thing about the change in Futurama is that whilst the show did take a dip in qulaity for general gag episodes, the absolute funniest episodes are found lurking in seasons 3&4 (in my opinion, of course).

The saddest thing is post WTBR, Zapp just didn't have as many good lines as he used to.   

Hmm... Top of the page, wasn't there something... oh yes *eats a sandwhich*

[Reply #41 on:]

Another thing that changed was Amy.  Before meeting Kif she was cool, but when they had her have a relationship with Amy she seemed to be more swallow in some way.  I really didn't like the Kif/Amy relationship, but the episodes that focused on their relationship were funny.

[Reply #42 on:]

Kif changed quite a lot, as well. Over the seasons he has become more and more romantic and/or pathetic.

[Reply #43 on:]

To be honest though, Amazon Women In The Mood was a great episode and the Amy + Kif relationship worked really well there. But in subsequent A+K episodes (WTBR, KGKUAN), the writers screwed up somewhat by having the rest of the cast become a third wheel to Amy + Kif's antics, relegated to simply following the dufus duo around and having a line here and there, which really tends to drag. 

[Reply #44 on:]

I think early on Kif is less of a sap. He has just been ground down by Zapp. He can't do anything about it because Zapp is his superior, thus the exasperated sighs.
But, in later episodes, post getting together with Amy, it seems like he has no backbone. (Yes, I realise that he is actually supported by a system of fluid filled bladders, but you know what I mean.)
He just seems like a bit of a pushover.

[Reply #45 on:]

Love the avy, can't_read. Okay, so if the crew went to a different planey every ep, it would start to get formulaic. So they 'stay home' in the fifth season more, sure, but the fifth seaon also has some of the most bizarre and outlandish episodes in the run. Kif getting pregnant? The crew becoming superheoes? Human horns? Boxes with universes in them[Blue Zoidbergs, for that matter]? Bender becoming a lady? Need I even mention Leela's languish [on Earth] in The Sting.. Even on Earth, freaky shite goes down.
And so far as Hermes goes.. If I had to live with The Crew, I'd go a little mad too. I'd rather just watch them on the Tee Vee.

[Reply #46 on:]

I noticed that Zapp apperences peak around the 2acv episodes and then slowly drop until episodes with Zapp in them, focus on Kif more than they do Zapp in the 4acv run. It's a shame, Zapp is a great character.

The series also got injected with a massive amount of emotion starting in season 3 with "Parasites Lost". It was risky, because it could have eaten into the humor, but I think it ended up changing the series for the better.

[Reply #47 on:]

That happened with Nixon, too. He was in alot of the episodes of season 2, then he kind of disappeared season 3. Then, he had a few lines in season 4, but they were rare.

 

Originally posted by ooy:
futurama also changed as i explain:
season 1: for the whole family, exeption is love labors lost in space
season 2: a bit adult like
season 3:as season 2 but a bit more
season 4: adultish and weird stuff happening.

I disagree, season 1 isn't family friendly. It could be families of with the youngest being about 12, but I probably wouldn't let someone under 11 watch it. There are many adult jokes and language. The making love joke in TSHL, LLLIS, the adult store among other things in FOABP, little Neptune and some other jokes in MTS, the foul language in FFOD, the porno in ABPOG, the obvious drug (and other things    ) references, and the strip joints in HIOR, the trannie and Fry's sterilization in FATSF, and the language. Maybe it got a little more adultish in season 2 especially near the end, but the real jump in adult content came with season 3. Then, with the exception of Spanish Fry and Bend Her, season 4 wasn't so bad.

[Reply #48 on:]

yeah Season 4 wasnt that adult like, it was just more about developing characters and making the episodes much more emotional and great.

[Reply #49 on:]

Ok maybe part of Spanish Fry was a little disturbing and Bender should not be allowed on T.V. But I don't think Jirassic Bark was 'adult' like. It was just so sad. Ahhhhhhha haaaa! 

[Reply #50 on:]

Bah, kids barely even understand what they see on Television. Show them every episode with pornography, sexual references, language, adult themes and drug references. They probably won't even catch or question what it is.
Trust me. I wouldn't lie.... 

[Reply #51 on:]

yeah, you're right.  In fact, children's cartoons generally have hidden innuendo within them (for the parents mostly)...

The voices for sure change, watch the first 3 episodes and then a season 4 episode.  Also their characteristics moved into a more directed direction. As the show progresses the professor becomes more angry, bender becomes more rambunctious, etc. 

I'm also not a big fan of the amy/kif relationship.  kif/zapp was the best in the beginning and amy as a slut was funny.  I really liked the early episodes, and in fact if it weren't for that I know everything about those episodes they'd probably be my favorite to just watch. 

[Reply #52 on:]

Another thing I noticed is that season one seems a lot quieter than the later seasons. Not that the voices are louder or anything, but there is a lot less music, sound effects and noise in between people talking.

[Reply #53 on:]

Finally! I'm not going insane! I thought i was the only one who noticed! Thank You Dr. Morberg for proving that my hourly medication is working!

[Reply #54 on:]

 

Originally posted by Dr. Morberg:
Another thing I noticed is that season one seems a lot quieter than the later seasons. Not that the voices are louder or anything, but there is a lot less music, sound effects and noise in between people talking.

it is like that with the season one of a lot of animated shows.  The Simpsons, Family Guy, King of the Hill.

[Reply #55 on:]

I think he's right, because I watched FOTBP on Adult Swim last night and than later watched LOTF. It was a lot quiter.

[Reply #56 on:]

I posted this in a thread in General Discussion, but I'll repeat it here since I believe it has relevance:

 

Originally posted by some tedious git called Mouse On Venus:
In a way, I think that Futurama was going simultaneously uphill and downhill in its last season. Season 4 contained some of the best episodes but it also contained some of the worst. The plots and characters in general were improving but the level of quality gags and comic lines had decreased.

[Reply #57 on:]

On the subject of the Amy/Kif relationship.
The way I see it is love changes people, which is a pretty Shakesperian idea actually. I dont think its such a bad thing yes they lost some of their humour, but it adds more dimension to there charcters. there pretty one joke characters anyway and it would have worn thin after a while.
And Kiff does still retain his sarcastic side in A Taste of freedom, because he's around Zapp. but It makes sense that around amy he's much more nervous and shy.

[Reply #58 on:]

Fry, Bender and the Proffesor's voices have changed. Bender has changed a lot, and also the professor. Fry has just a little. I don't know about Hermes, as he is Jamaican and he changes mood in like 2 seconds. Zoidberg vioce hasn't changed, his attitude has, and he is also more liked by the employees. Bender in OF: "Save all my friends.... and also Zoidberg".

[Reply #59 on:]

Zoidberg gets better lines as the series' progress. WMIBACIL? was centred around him in Season 2, but as an episode, it pales in comparison to his smaller roles in Parabox or Tale of two santas (part 1).

[Reply #60 on:]

Bender's voice was kinda raspy in the first season, than it seemed to clear up.
Farnsworth wasn't as selfish as he is in TTOTS or TMLH.
Fry is stupider in the 1st season.
And Zoidberg wasn't as stupid as he is in the later seasons.
But the first season is always differentwith a new show. YOu learn to live with it.

[Reply #61 on:]

 

Originally posted by Spacedal11:
Bender's voice was kinda raspy in the first season, than it seemed to clear up.
Farnsworth wasn't as selfish as he is in TTOTS or TMLH.
Fry is stupider in the 1st season.
And Zoidberg wasn't as stupid as he is in the later seasons.
But the first season is always differentwith a new show. YOu learn to live with it.

I dunno, i think Fry got stupider as the series went on. Remember, he ate a toilet sandwich, became his own grandpa, tried to eat a pineapple on a string (why of fry) and almost jumped in lava to save a long-dead dog. Sounds pretty stupid to me.

[Reply #62 on:]

No, Fry definitely got smarter. Well, more mature would be a better way of putting it, but he was smarter, too. I mean, of your examples, only one (the toilet sandwich) is actually pure stupidity. Becoming his grandpa was not a stupid thing, it was a time paradox thing (his reasoning wasn't that bad, and it WAS kind of fast for any real thougt), the pineapple on the string was specially chosen to show his stupidity, so it really isn't a good measure (extremes are no indication of the norm), and the lava bit was during a very emotionally charged moment, and Leela (arguably the smartest, if not SANE-est character) almost did the exact same thing later. Fry is definitely more of a real person (albiet a simple one) in the later seasons, not the simpleton-because-it's-funny of the first season.

[Reply #63 on:]

I still think that even though he got more emotional with Leela, he still was pretty damn stupid later on.

[Reply #64 on:]

Fry is consistently dumb. But I agree with Ranadok, he does mature.

[Reply #65 on:]

He did gain a bit more responsability as the series progressed-for example, he learnt to pilot the ship for TKOS, and had mastered the Holophoner to a certain degree by TDHAIPT

[Reply #66 on:]

He began holding his stupidness inside, so it could fester as a mental illness.

[Reply #67 on:]

Wait.. you can hold stupidness inside? Quick, tell me how to do it!

[Reply #68 on:]

I've got so much stupid in me, I could.. nah, forget it. Near the beginning of the series, Bender's voice was much more appealing to me. He really sounded like a weary, selfish sot. Later on, his voice has more personality and is more distinct, but somehow I don't like it as much. Also, in season 1, many of Bily's voices sounded almost too similar. The Professor sounded younger, just like a slightly more eccentric Fry. Zapp's voice was higher, a sleazy Fry. Zoidberg didn't sound Fry-ish, but actually a bit older and calmer than later on. I think the voices in season 2 were evolved enough but still close enough to the original to be my favorites of the run.

[Reply #69 on:]

 

Originally posted by Teral:
Billy West: "Awww, another sweet ending. There's a lot of heart. (mimicking Fry) "yes!"."
Maurice Lamarche: "Season 4: The Season With Heart."
Laughter
Maurice Lamarche: "That's were we went wrong! The show started to get a heart!"
More laughter

FIXED. (better late than never  )

[Reply #70 on:]

*bump* So nobody's going to agree with or challenge my theory on Season 4 that I posted further up the page then? 

[Reply #71 on:]

"Futurama Changed Throughout it Run"
of course it did there not gona play season 1 over and over agen, SPLUH!

[Reply #72 on:]

Hahahahahahahahahaha...ha.

Every show changes it's evolution, the voices especially, the crew gets more familiar with it.

[Reply #73 on:]

I'm glad their voices changed(slightly)
it does not sound as stale.

[Reply #74 on:]

 

Originally posted by DELTAWOLF:
I'm glad their voices changed(slightly)
it does not sound as stale.

Yeah, I agree. I think the voices sounded much better in the final episodes, especially Fry's. 

[Reply #75 on:]

 

Originally posted by Mouse On Venus:
*bump* So nobody's going to agree with or challenge my theory on Season 4 that I posted further up the page then?   

Ooh! Ooh! I will!

I partially agree. I would say there was a decrease in consistency, but I also think that Season 4 had fewer great episodes than Seasons 2 & 3. Its best were probably more Season 1 standard, without Season 1's consistancy.

You're right about the decrease in comedy and increased focus on plot & character development though, which I reckon is a bad thing (not plot and character development itself, but the way it took away the focus on keeping Futurama as fun & funny as possible).

So basically, in my opinion season 4 was the worst season of Futurama. Which isn't to say that it was bad, it just wasn't as good as those that came before it.

[Reply #76 on:]

And I still defend Season 4 by saying they had to wrap up everything because of the cancellation....who knows what would have happened if they had a few more seasons up their sleeves....

[Reply #77 on:]

Season 4. It made me laugh.
Perhaps not as often as previous ones... but harder.

[Reply #78 on:]

Wow zoidyzoid, I completely disagree with you. After studying my ordered list, I have concluded that Season 4 is the best. Season 2, however, is my least liked, mainly due to all those bendercentric episodes. Season 3 was a mix bag: 9 episodes in the top 20 and 8 episodes in the bottom 20...

Anyways, what's wrong with season 4? I mean, TWOF, TS, and JB alone should triumph over the other seasons. Well, maybe not the almighty AWITM, PL, and TLOTF opening of season 3...

[Reply #79 on:]

But still, almost all the big, amazing episodes we think of are in the last production season.

In my mind, only Season 3 comes close to being as good as season 4.