Author Topic: Futurama Season Six (Read 8974 times) Tweet Share

madhair60 · « **Reply #30 on:** July 05, 2010, 08:58:14 am »

Quote from: DJ Solid Snail on July 04, 2010, 10:42:17 pm

I'm a large fan of everything pre-movies, but I couldn't get through even half of that first episode. Is it worth sticking with at all?

The third episode, in my opinion, was classic Futurama in short bursts. First two were dog's. After the movies, it's extremely difficult for me to have any faith in the production team, but it's probably worth sticking with.

To respond to those saying about how Futurama always had the "fanservice" elements; I did notice, and it was uncomfortable then, too. Slightly less leering and more comedic (the aforementioned nude conga scene, part of the time skipping and thusly incredulous enough to be funny), but still got a reaction of "Erm... OK then" from me.

Little Hoover · « **Reply #31 on:** July 05, 2010, 10:42:17 am »

Quote from: Consignia on July 04, 2010, 10:19:20 pm

I didn't enjoy the latest eyePhone episode one bit. Mostly a string of references tied together with a poorly thought out plot. Why did Mom require a millon twits to launch her worm when she had full control of the devices in the first place? I suppose this isn't really for me anyway, since I haven't seriously enjoyed Futurama since season 2.

Well yes this was a minor problem, the top two celebrity twitters today have over 5 million followers, surely a celebrity in the future will have much more, so it didn't make sense that she'd use Fry or Bender.

alan nagsworth · « **Reply #32 on:** July 08, 2010, 10:36:09 am »

Not seen episode three yet, but god those first two episodes are rubbish. The pacing is more in the vein of Family Guy where it lacks emotion in favour of "this happened ANDTHENTHISHAPPENEDDIRECTLYAFTERWARDSBUTWHOCARES" and it grates heavily on me. The second episode is a particular offender, with the death sphere appearing suddenly with no real substance of a relevant threat, then there's hardly anything to do with it, then Zapp Brannigan is a chauvinist prick for a large portion of the episode which panned out terribly with a sloppy and uninteresting conclusion, and then the death sphere comes back for about three minutes and all is resolved.

I think both episodes raised two or three mild chuckles each, the rest was tedious nonsense. Different scenarios, same old played-out tosh. Does anyone feel that the lack of characters is what lets this down, or am I comparing this too heavily to The Simpsons now? By the sixth season of The Simpsons, there were so many well-established characters that there were a great number of avenues and plot ventures that were consistently interesting, but with Futurama there still seems to be nothing much going on outside of the main characters and a small handful of others such as Nixon, Brannigan and Mom - and even then, those characters only really add a general detriment to the grand scheme of the show which is resolved at the end with little desire for continuity.

Instead, it seems to use its futuristic theme to cram in any number of one-off alien/robot characters who look wacky and act likewise. For the first three seasons, and some of the fourth, it worked very well, but by this point it really seems to have reached a complacent standstill. It also carries the air of a show which, like The Simpsons, won't really know where to call it a day now it has seemingly found a cosy little corner from which it can spew endless pop-culture references.

MojoJojo · « **Reply #33 on:** July 08, 2010, 03:36:15 pm »

Yeah, I think you're right about the pacing.
I've been trying to work out what it is that's a bit off about these new episodes. It's something about the character's, I'm sure.
In most of the original run, there would be the main plot which centered around one of the crew, and that crew member would be in "serious" mode for that episode. That doesn't mean they weren't being funny, just that they'd be doing a bit of drama and actually seem to be emotionally invested in what was going on. The rest of the characters would just be put in a parking orbit of doing their funny catchphrase/attitude/joke thing. These new ones seem to have the second bit, but none of the first.
Without really being involved in what's going on the characters just do the same old stuff they always do, and it's too old to be funny anymore.

That was a tedious way of saying what Nagsworth said: it's doing what Family Guy does at it's most tedious.

Big Jack McBastard · « **Reply #34 on:** July 08, 2010, 05:27:21 pm »

I'm still optimistic it'll pick up, I wasn't hacked off at the first two but the third was a bit trite. At lest they're not outright pissing on everything that came before.

clingfilm portent · « **Reply #35 on:** July 08, 2010, 10:51:41 pm »

Ignore

stephenjwz · « **Reply #36 on:** July 09, 2010, 06:14:44 pm »

Episode 4: Nudity, out of character behaviour, plot jumping from one thing to another rapidly. I think there were some better lines though, and it was at least a more interesting topic than f'n iPhones & Twitter.

EFB · « **Reply #37 on:** July 09, 2010, 06:27:38 pm »

Epidose 4 is pretty much laugh free. And Morbo's voice is different. I think that's the end of Futurama for me.

alan nagsworth · « **Reply #38 on:** July 09, 2010, 07:35:40 pm »

What you guys saw in episode 3 I'll never know. What an abhorrent load of crap. And based on this:

Quote from: EFB on July 09, 2010, 06:27:38 pm

Epidose 4 is pretty much laugh free. And Morbo's voice is different. I think that's the end of Futurama for me.

I give up.

Little Hoover · « **Reply #39 on:** July 09, 2010, 08:20:01 pm »

While I can't see what's so terrible, even if it isn't as good as what went before.

Episode 4 felt much more like a futurama episode, it's structured properly and they have a proper resolution (even if it's a bit rushed) but a little lacking on jokes but there's still good moments. If you really see nothing amusing in this episode then please show me this secret other series of futurama you were watching that this is nothing like, because it sounds good.

Stanley Turbine · « **Reply #40 on:** July 09, 2010, 08:57:45 pm »

Yeah, I agree. This one felt much more in keeping with the original series. I think it's the best one so far, since I really didn't like episode 3. It's nowhere near the original standard of writing though.

DuncanC · « **Reply #41 on:** July 09, 2010, 09:06:25 pm »

I have to admit I actually felt Futurama was on the wane running up to the cancellation at the end of season 4 (maybe not the last episode, but the ones leading up to it). The kind of forgettable, washes-over-you, consequence-less, rushed, rapid scene-jumping stuff was all there, I'm sure of it. I actually liked the way that the individual scenes in the "movies" were longer and had a bit of room to breathe - even though the movies had plenty of other problems, I did like that aspect.

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth · « **Reply #42 on:** July 10, 2010, 02:55:55 am »

I'd like to echo the more positive comments and say that this was easily the best yet. The only bit that really marked it out as part of the new era to me was Leela saying "turds".

clingfilm portent · « **Reply #43 on:** July 10, 2010, 01:55:09 pm »

I skipped episode 3 but thought I'd give this one a go... and didn't regret it. A couple of daft moments, a plenty silly, but I've always found Futurama to be like that. Plenty of chuckles and two big laughs close together so... I'm happy.

For now

EFB · « **Reply #44 on:** July 10, 2010, 06:24:14 pm »

Yeah, ep4 was better structured and felt more like futurama. Still, very thin on laugh moments.

Reading through details of upcoming episodes, http://theinfosphere.org/The_Late_Philip_J._Fry sounds like it could be a beauty.

Snied · « **Reply #45 on:** July 10, 2010, 06:40:43 pm »

Preview pic: These titty ladies
Crap crude joke prediction: In the future, sexy ladies are prominent/in charge. The male crew members are pleased about this!

kittens · « **Reply #46 on:** July 10, 2010, 06:42:50 pm »

I enjoyed that one, it was good. Hopefully they'll just keep getting better.

neveragain · « **Reply #47 on:** July 11, 2010, 08:43:49 pm »

Well, despite the rubbishness, I'm looking forward to an episode called 'The Late Mr Phillip J Fry' in which Fry and Farnsworth end up getting stuck in a time machine which can only move forwards and so have to find someone who has a backwards travelling one. Alright, maybe that doesn't sound that interesting to you, I feel it's a nice twist even if it is similar to a recent Family Guy, but there could be some room for nice touching moments between the two related characters. Maurice LaMarche calls the episode 'metaphysical!'

alan nagsworth · « **Reply #48 on:** July 12, 2010, 03:49:20 am »

Episode 4 raised more smiles and chuckles than the previous three but the pacing of the story was, once again, terrible. I agree that it felt more like a conventional episode (it certainly beats the truly abysmal first two episodes by a country mile) but it has a long ways to go before it gains my approval.

Amy is promiscuous and experimental with her sexuality. Bender is a smooth-talking ladies man but ultimately can't hold down a monogamous relationship. Two seperately well-established facts, but if they combine them both into one all-new episode, maybe they can get away with it!

That said, I do retract my previous statement of giving up on this series so it must be doing something right. I just can't stand to see one of my favourite animated shows go down the tubes in such a way. I'm getting arthritis from having my fingers crossed for so long, though, so it better hurry the hell up and get great again.

Mister Six · « **Reply #49 on:** July 12, 2010, 11:04:31 am »

I'm starting to wonder whether Futurama is suffering from the same problem that Doctor Who does; whether spending a few years off-air has resulted in the fans' memories coalescing into a perfect version of the show that never actually existed. I mean, we have complaints about the show being lewd (despite previous episodes including giant amazon women who fuck men to death, various jokes about Amy's promiscuity, etc), having too many cultural references (the first season alone had pastiches of Titanic, Animal House and Ally McBeal), there being too many appearances by popular supporting characters (despite only having four episodes so far) etc. etc.

Not that I disagree entirely with some of the stuff being said - the pacing of the Eden episode was off, and the episode with the bizarre Susan Boyle gag was very choppy - but the gags are still solid, particularly the dialogue. Fry's "So why is... these things?", Zapp's "Once again, we meet at last!" and pretty much everything the Professor says have been up there with the best lines of previous years. Certainly the episodes are funnier than many from season four, which focused too much on mawkish character moments.

This season can certainly improve, but it's not deserving of the severe kicking that it's getting from some posters here, or on other forums.

alan nagsworth · « **Reply #50 on:** July 12, 2010, 05:23:20 pm »

I get where you're coming from, MS, but only to a degree. I'll be the first to admit that season 4 had its fair share of weak moments but it still... I dunno, felt like Futurama. The mannerisms were still there even if the gags and the plotlines weren't, or vice versa. It seemed to keep its head above the water, just barely and consistently enough to keep me engaged. I'm getting really hacked off with this season simply because it's only four episodes in and already I feel as though it's hit a brick wall.

My problem with the cultural references is that they have suddenly gone from being quite chronoligically broad into being something very relevant to modern culture. It just looks like shit when they jazz it up for futuristic purposes. It's because the Titanic references are hugely relevant historically, and stuff like Susan Boyle and iPhones will, in about two years time', be culturally irrelevant and a totally uninteresting point of reference. Even Ally McBeal has more long-standing relevance than a fucking X Factor contestant, for god's sake.

Quote from: Mister Six on July 12, 2010, 11:04:31 am

but the gags are still solid, particularly the dialogue. Fry's "So why is... these things?", Zapp's "Once again, we meet at last!" and pretty much everything the Professor says have been up there with the best lines of previous years. Certainly the episodes are funnier than many from season four, which focused too much on mawkish character moments.

With this, however, I just 100% disagree. I do still watch them fairly regularly, especially the first three seasons, and the second and third are pretty much the peak and nothing they've done since has come close to being on a par with those. It's not just the dialogue, but also the delivery, which now in season six feels laboured and 'hilariously' self-aware.

bad crap makes nagsy cry hurt

Snied · « **Reply #51 on:** July 12, 2010, 06:26:49 pm »

Quote from: alan nagsworth on July 12, 2010, 05:23:20 pm

My problem with the cultural references is that they have suddenly gone from being quite chronoligically broad into being something very relevant to modern culture. It just looks like shit when they jazz it up for futuristic purposes. It's because the Titanic references are hugely relevant historically, and stuff like Susan Boyle and iPhones will, in about two years time', be culturally irrelevant and a totally uninteresting point of reference. Even Ally McBeal has more long-standing relevance than a fucking X Factor contestant, for god's sake.

It is precisely this. Previous cultural references were far more timeless. They work well when they're timeless. References to fleeting, very recent things tend to encourage facile and weak writing. This is a problem I have with other shows (South Park in particular! It's so good when it isn't rushing to make some jab against a recent bit of pop culture, just because it can). There's nothing intrinsically better about timeless things (they could--and on very rare occasions do--work), but writers appear to think that their current relevance saves them from having to do any good writing. If Susan Boyle were to be as big as Michael Jackson is today in twenty year's time and became "timeless", the episode would not hold up.

In older, better Futurama popular culture was taken out of context and put into a futuristic setting in a way that was clever and amusing. Now we just get the same Susan Boyle from the present, but in the future (and as a boil). Same with the iPhone/Twitter stuff. It's not integrated well, it's just referenced. Making a crap pun about the iPhone being a futuristic eye thing isn't good enough. Compare this with the obsolete robot island with the cassette-driven ZX Spectrum robot and the water-powered one. Well-executed ideas vs referencing things that people might get excited about because they're currently trendy.

DuncanC · « **Reply #52 on:** July 12, 2010, 08:39:05 pm »

I really don't think the references were that much more timeless before the "break". There are plenty reference-points that really stick out as early 2000s like that episode based around Napster, and a videogame bit that referenced Nintendo 64 and All Your Base Are Belong To Us.

SavageHedgehog · « **Reply #53 on:** July 12, 2010, 08:46:03 pm »

Yeah, and Bender talking about Christina Aguilera singing in Spanish; at the time I probably wouldn't have said she'd still be remembered now, let alone in a thousand years. I think part of the problem may be that pop culture references in comedy have become increasingly prominent during Futurama's hiatus, and have gone from being considered hip to often being seen as a lazy substitute for actual gags.

Snied · « **Reply #54 on:** July 12, 2010, 08:58:38 pm »

Quote from: DuncanC on July 12, 2010, 08:39:05 pm

I really don't think the references were that much more timeless before the "break". There are plenty reference-points that really stick out as early 2000s like that episode based around Napster, and a videogame bit that referenced Nintendo 64 and All Your Base Are Belong To Us.

Not sure about the Napster one, I haven't seen it. Was the videogame bit a "bit" though, or a crucial, long plot device, and did its Nintendo 64-ness have any bearing on what it was about? (I don't remember it well, but I thought it was just a line about the computer game characters being from the "Planet N64", with the characters actually being styled after early arcade game characters that were already well out of date). In that case the reference is providing a joke, not replacing one.

Did they really manage to stretch All Your Base Are Belong To Us for longer than a single line?

I'm not claiming that the early episodes never referenced fleeting cultural things, but I would be surprised if it was at the same level as something like the iPhone ep.

kidsick5000 · « **Reply #55 on:** July 12, 2010, 10:47:55 pm »

Futurama has always had pop references. It's an 50/50 thing. Some have lasted, some not.
They have possibly got lucky on the whole, though there are plenty that had afew years on them before using, and there's a bunch that have that spanner clattering sound of irrelevance when dropped.

I'm enjoying the new run. Was a bit worried about the smut/risque overload, but rewatching the old series, that had it's fair share too. They do shine a light on it more now though.

Btw, how long have they been waiting to do the Clown Flu gag.
I'm amazed nobody's done it before

Big Jack McBastard · « **Reply #56 on:** July 13, 2010, 04:54:13 am »

Sort of happened with the alien clown virus/DNA in an ep of Aqua Teen Hunger Force....

MojoJojo · « **Reply #57 on:** July 13, 2010, 11:38:36 am »

While Futurama has always had lewd bits, and pop culture references, I think they are still a problem in the new episodes. There are quite a lot of episodes in the first 4 seasons, being able to say "ahhhh, but Leela was naked in S3E28" isn't a complete defense. I'm not sure if it's the amount of off moments, or just that the new episodes lack enough substance to balance them out.

Whatever the reason, they are definately more jarring than they were before.

alan nagsworth · « **Reply #58 on:** July 13, 2010, 05:37:11 pm »

Quote from: Snied on July 12, 2010, 08:58:38 pm

Was the videogame bit a "bit" though, or a crucial, long plot device, and did its Nintendo 64-ness have any bearing on what it was about? ... Did they really manage to stretch All Your Base Are Belong To Us for longer than a single line?

The episode was one of the two 'Tales Of Interest' wherein they asked the 'what-if' machine three questions and were given answers that told a story, each of which lasted about 7 minutes and so filled the space of an episode (like a Simpsons halloween special). Not only were the references fleeting, the plot in which they featured were deliberately inconsequential, and so the impact they had was almost completely irrelevant when compared to the standards to which the show has currently slipped.

Ditto the Aguilera reference - it was a complete one-off gag.

Quote

I'm not claiming that the early episodes never referenced fleeting cultural things, but I would be surprised if it was at the same level as something like the iPhone ep.

Dead right.

rudi · « **Reply #59 on:** July 14, 2010, 11:14:43 pm »

Just watched the first three. I rather enjoyed the first, the second still had some great lines, even if the plot was pretty puerile but that third? Oh my, that was god-awful. Boil/Boyle puns? iPhone gags? Christ alive.

My favourite thing has gone bad. :-(