Review: "Love's Labours Lost In Space" (Season 1, Episode 4)

This is not even remotely as romantic as this appears at first glance.

Airdate: April 13th, 1999

Synopsis: Leela's love life is at an all-time low- nobody wants to date her because of her one eye, and her standards are pretty strict. Kind of a bad combination for love. Not even a group trip to a disco is enough to get her a partner. (Even Zoidberg went home with a partner- an actual lobster, but still!)

However, she has to put her ambitions for love behind her, as the Planet Express crew are sent on a charity mission (for the tax breaks). Farnsworth directs the trio to Vergon 6, a "sunny little doomed planet" that's on the verge of collapse after the dark matter within was mined for sweet, sweet starship fuel. The three come across the Nimbus 5, a Democratic Order of Planets starship operated by the eccentric Zapp Branigan and his frustrated assistant, Lieutenant Kif Kroker.

Leela initially holds him in high regard, and requests help on the expedition. However, Zapp not only manages to show the callous he has to his crew members, but throws the trio in prison for violating "Branigans Law", which prevents interference of undeveloped planets. Zapp, however, has another plan- try and seduce Leela away from the mission. After making himself out as a buffoon while trying to seduce her, Zapp breaks down and laments his loneliness. Leela takes pity on the man... and beds him.

Review (SOME SPOILERS): When the internet was in it's early stages (read, the 90s), one of the great battles in science fiction fandom (right alongside B5 v DS9 and Joel v Mike) was who was the better Star Trek protagonist: Jean-Luc Picard, from TNG, or James T Kirk, from TOS. Defenders of the latter tend to colour Picard as being serious and a tad bit aloof to his crew, defending Kirk for his chutzpa and being a father to his men. Defenders of Picard, meanwhile, paint Kirk as a chauvinist cowboy who bedded everybody in sight, and praise Picard for his diplomacy and culture. Of course, these are just broad strokes, and both had elements of the other (just in different quantities), but my point still stands.

A crossover between these two could've shut the fans up for years. Unfortunately, said crossover just had them talk over breakfast, attempt to fight Malcolm McDowell, and climaxed in what is, in my opinion, one of the most underwritten scenes in Trek history. Few were really satisfied with the outcome.

Now, why do I bring this up?

Review: "I, Roommate" (Season 1, Episode 3)

Hey, by NYC standards, that's practically a mansion!

Airdate: April 6th, 1999

Synopsis: After living at Planet Express for the past few weeks, the crew tire of Fry's living accommodations, and literally move him out. Fry contemplates moving in with Bender, but Bender's apartment is a tad bit cozy (read, it's two cubic meters). The two go apartment hunting, but their house hunt turns up problems with every place (underwater, postmodern, and worst of all, technically in New Jersey). They eventually do get lucky- Farnsworth's friend has suffered an accident ("To shreds, you say?"), and Bender and Fry get a rent-free apartment. Unfortunately, there's a problem with the TV and Bender's antenna...

Review: We have a far more domestic episode here. We can thank the nutjobs at FOX HQ for that. Confused by the "out-there" sci-fi content (because FOX is known for their quality upmarket programming, like Dads and Allen Gregory), they wanted a more domestic script. Their reaction to this episode? "Worst episode ever." Groening and Cohen rebelled, and decided to do the show their way. Tellingly, this was the first episode to not follow The Simpsons in the schedule- moving to a Tuesday slot instead of Sunday- and was the first sign that FOX had no love for the show.

Was FOX correct in declaring it the "worst episode ever"? Far from it. Still, compared to the past two episodes, this episode is slightly weaker... possibly due to it's domestic plot.

This episode shows Fry finally "settled" into the year 3000- he really doesn't seem like he ever was from the year 2000, in the first place. It's also a glimpse at a problem that Fry seems to have- he's a bit short-sighted, and like everybody else, can be quite insensitive. None of it is intentionally callous- he's just a typical teenager trapped in the body of a 25-year old, a pure Gen-Xer. It certainly takes a while for him to realize his own insensitivity, and he decides to sacrifice his happiness for his friends happiness.

Speaking of which, this is the first episode to centre on Bender. Remember in "Space Pilot 3000", where Bender claimed that he didn't need to drink? That was a lie- robots in Futurama drink to power themselves. (Boring PSA time: you are not robots. Don't drink unless you are a responsible adult of legal age. Not doing so is a stupid idea.) At the same time, we learn that Fry was really the first person to genuinely befriend Bender. Once Fry seems to slight this relationship, Bender loses his sanity, going to insane lengths to preserve their friendship. Unfortunately, the climax of Bender's insanity was predictable.

Still, before you think that Bender's going to be made up of genuine pathos, we get hints of Bender's misanthropy during his dreams. "Kill all humans." Brilliant.

It's probably not the most memorable episode. The plot is somewhat "domestic", the problems with the antenna are a bit off, and the ending, funny as it is, just seems like it's there to provide a quick resolution. Still, even the best shows need a "light" episode, and this one is certainly alright.

Tidbits:

• The apartment hunt is hysterical. Fry, Bender, and Leela's hunt takes them underwater to a leaking apartment, to an apartment that's an outright send-up to the Escher painting Relativity, culminating in what seems to be the lowpoint of their search... an apartment in New Jersey.
• Fry and Bender literally being moved out of Planet Express is also hysterical. What seals it is Hermes telling Fry that they're sending the couch bill to him. Interestingly, due to an animation error, Hermes doesn't move his lips at all while saying this line.
• Bender's apartment number, translated from binary? $.
• All My Circuts is a brilliant send-up of soap operas- the insanity of the plots, the hammy acting, the cheesy dialogue.

Favorite Scene: Let me repeat- the apartment hunt is hysterical.

Least Favorite Scene: Again, the climax of Bender's descent eventually got boring.

Memorable Quote: Two, one practically after the other.

"Did he at least die painlessly? To shreds, you say... well, how's his wife holding up? To shreds, you say?" -Farnsworth, upon hearing that his friend has died.

Also- "Was his apartment rent controlled?"- Leela, upon hearing the news. Competent she may be, but it makes her comment on Fry's insensitivity a bit ironic. Not that it makes her unsympathetic, but it is a hint at future flaws that might show in her character.

Score: 7.5.

Review: "The Series Has Landed" (Season 1, Episode 2)

Thankfully, there's no dancing to the Vengaboys.

Airdate: April 4th, 1999.

Synopsis: Fry, Leela, and Bender are introduced to the inner workings of Planet Express. After previewing a commercial that will air during the Super Bowl ("Not on the same channel, of course"), they meet the rest of the crew- John Zoidberg, the quirky doctor; Hermes Conrad, the straight-laced bureaucrat; and Amy Wong, the slightly flighty intern.

With Leela chosen as the captain of the ship, the new crew are given their first job- deliver a package to the Moon. While Fry is initially excited to go to the moon, he realizes that the place has become a cheap-o tourist trap akin to Disney Land... and they can't even do that right. Aggravated, he drags Leela out into the "real" moon... and his antics almost kill them, forcing them to work for a "moon farmer" to get some oxygen.

Review: As mentioned in my "Space Pilot 3000" review, Futurama's view of the future is very dystopian. However, it goes about this in a unique way. Unlike Blade Runner, which did a straight-up dystopia, Futurama did so via pretty much taking our society, adding a few spaceships and aliens, and poof! Dystopia. It's done in such a subtle manner that the average viewer probably won't notice.

Review: "Space Pilot 3000" (Season 1, Episode 1)

And it's still slower then the C train!

Airdate: March 28th, 1999

Synopsis (SPOILERS): It's December 31st, 1999, Manhattan. Phillip J Fry's life is in the toilet- he delivers pizzas on holidays, his girlfriend dumps him, and he's placed on a crank call to a cryogenics centre. Ringing in the new year at the cryogenics centre, he winds up falling into one of the freezers. Thankfully, he eventually defrosts.

The date? December 31st, 2999. "My god! A million years!"

Fry is introduced to Leela, the cryogenics counselor/fate officer. After being given a physical examination, he is assigned the career of... delivery boy. He has two options - take the career chip given to him, or be fired... ("Good!" "...out of a cannon, into the sun!") He bolts for it, and runs for his nearest relative, the elderly Professor Hubert Farnsworth. While on the run, he meets Bender, who's queuing for a suicide booth (which Fry mistakes for a phone booth). After escaping with their lives, the two befriend each other, and eventually manage to convince Leela to join them.

They all wind up at Professor Farnsworth's place, and use his spaceship to escape prosecution from the cops. Afterwards, Farnsworth offers the three jobs at his intergalactic delivery company, Planet Express. This thrills Fry, who gets the job of... delivery boy.

Review (SPOILERS FOR THIS EPISODE): Pilot episodes are always hard to nail down- the writers still have doubts on the paths the characters are going, there might be idiosyncrasies relegated to the pilot, and the acting/art might be off until the show gets a full pickup.

Still, even with those elements, "Space Pilot 3000" is a pretty damn good pilot - in fact, it might be one of my favorite pilot episodes.

Welcome to the World of Tomorrow!!!!

Shamelessly stolen from Wikipedia.

"Why do you always have to say it that way?" "Haven't you heard of a little thing called showmanship?"

Let's get down to business - I love watching Futurama. I don't know exactly how it's possible to combine sci-fi, romance, drama, comedy, social commentary, parody, and genuinely-written scripts, and do it all well. But, by god, a crackpot team led by Matt Groening and David X Cohen did it! It worked so well, that it was brought back from the dead. Twice. (As of this writing, at least.)

Again - how, though, did Futurama do it?

Well, here's a great way to find out - go episode by episode.

You see, there are entire blogs out there dedicated to reviewing every episode of a particular series. The Simpsons, Star Trek: Voyager, and others, have all gotten blogs dedicated to going through every single episode, for good and for bad.

I'm sure that there's a blog out there dedicated to reviewing every episode of Futurama, as well. If so, what's another blog?

Before we start, you might have a few questions.

Question 1: What's this show about?

Short answer: it's a show about a delivery company in space!

Longer answer: Futurama follows the exploits of three close friends, all of whom work at an interstellar delivery company in the Year 3000;

• Phillip J Fry, the quirky, albeit mostly kind, delivery boy from the year 1999, who wound up in the year 3000 due to a prank call;
• Turanga Leela, the company's cycloptic starship captain, who comes off as the more "levelheaded" one of the three- although it's shown that she's really not too far above the insanity of the other two;
• Bender Rodriguez; the callous, egocentric, impulsive, misanthropic robot who is Fry's best friend/roommate.

In other words- Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. In the 31st century. With less diplomacy. And with 40% more dysfunction.

However, these are just the show's three central characters. There are many, many other characters in the show's canon- most, if not all, of whom are fantastically developed and contribute to the environment which fuels this show's plotlines.

Why is it so brilliant?

Awesome comedy, awesome plot, awesome characters, awesome drama... take your pick!

Is it perfect?

Nothing is perfect, and neither is this show. Continuity is sometimes a tad bit off, and there have been a few off episodes. Still, there's comparatively little to complain about in this show.

Wait... Matt Groening... that's the guy from The Simpsons, correct?

Yes. Ironically, the quality of The Simpsons began slipping around the time Futurama went into production.

So, how will this blog work?

My goal is to review every episode of Futurama ever made. I am going to get a few things out of the way, though.

First off, I'm not a fan of schedules, though I will try and get at least a review or two out every month.

Second off, the reviews will be in production order, not broadcast order. Why Netflix does the show in broadcast order is beyond me.

Third, there is a scoring system. I run another blog, where I review Red Dwarf and Gravity Falls episodes, amongst other things, and the scoring system there applies here. Basically, 0 goes to the most embarrassing to the show, and 10 goes to the episode that is closest to perfection.

Well... here's to another lousy review blog!

"Have a nice future!"