Katz v Taco: Futurama

So both Jon & I wanted to write our reviews of Futurama. But me, being a hardnosed jerk, didn't want to post 2 full blown reviews on Matt Groening's new show. So instead, Jon and I each wrote mini reviews of the show, and have attached them below. Its Taco vs. Katz. JonKatz

When Richard Nixon's head falls out of a jar 1,000 years into the future, growls, and bites the arm of Fry, the hero of Matt Groening's new TV show "Futurama," it was clear Groening has another hit on his hands.

"Futurama" isn't much like Groening's "Simpsons," except for its bug-eyed (or in this case, sometimes one-eyed) characters.

This time, the target is us - nerds, geeks, the power of computing, the sci-fi culture and the insanely-hyped Millenium. In "Futurama (8:30 p.m., Sundays on Fox)," Groening's target is the hi-tech future, and if it isn't pretty, it's sure funny as hell.

Our hero Fry is a pizza delivery boy with higher aspirations who, through a series of mishaps, is catapulted 1,000 years into the future, where he hooks up with a shoplifting robot named Bender and a lonely Cyclops who was originally supposed to be his "fate" counselor - that is, it was her job to make sure he had as crummy a job in the future as he'd had in the past, because that's what the compute program chose for him.

When he thinks about it, Fry is delighted to be free of his former family, girlfriend and job. But he wants a better life for himself, running afoul of future regulations, which are centered on the universal principle that "You gotta do what you gotta do." With Bender's help, he runs from the police - who beat people of the future with wimpy "Star Wars" Jedi laser swords rather than guns and clubs.Fry takes refuge in the Hall of Heads, a repository for still-talking, important heads from the past.

Appropriately enough, the first head he runs into is that of Leonard Nimoy, who's being fed fish-flake food in his jar. Asked by the incredulous and worshipful Fry what he's doing there, Nimoy declines Fry's request that he do "Spock" talk. He tells Fry that he's leading a life of "quiet dignity." (Groening's head is one of those lined up in a row of jars).

The second head Fry encounter's is that or Richard Nixon, whose jar breaks in the tussle and who vengefully clamps his teeth into Fry's arm and won't let go.

Like the "Simpsons," "Futurama" is subversive, rebellious and scathing. In an upcoming episode, Fry - who ends up being an interstellar pizza delivery boy despite himself - meets a race of aliens who happen to spend part of their time in liquid form.

Fry gets along with them fine, until he accidentally drinks the emperor.

"The 10-year-old Simpsons" was a landmark in the bland history of commercial television. It defied almost every conventional wisdom about demographics and market research. No network executive believed that America was interested in a dysfunctional cartoon family led by an addled Mom in a bee-hive hairdo and a fat, bald wreck of a father. Only Fox, struggling to invent itself as a new network, dared to put it on. By May, there will be at least eight mostly iconoclastic cartoons on television, including "King Of The Hill", and "Family Guy", another Fox show that takes aim at families.

"Futurama isn't as revolutionary as "The Simpsons," mostly because the idea of the satirical non-kid TV cartoon isn't as original anymore. But judging from the first episode, it's as funny, and for the sci-fi worshippers, geeks and nerds it targets, hits even closer to home.

CmdrTaco

Matt Groening's "The Simpsons" is an icon. Its a hard act to follow, but he's actually done it with Futurama. Don't kid yourself- its not as good as "Peak Simpsons" (which I define roughly as Season 3 through 6 or so, give or a take several episodes on either side) but this is television we're dealing with. Its a cespool guys, and this show doesn't stink, so its good simply because of what its surrounded by.

The show is simply "Guy From Present Winds up in Future". (like Back to the Future 2, or The Time Machine, or maybe Planet of the Apes, and, well, thousands of other books and movies with the same premise). In this case, The Future that "Fry" (our hero, a pizza delivery boy) is a mishmash of every future you've seen or read about. It steals from Trek, Star Wars, 1984, and warps them appropriately through Groening's artistic and humourist perspective. In short, its worth seeing just to see the stunning parody of every sci fi you've ever seen, and done well.

Last nights episode suffered from the same problem as every premiere episode of every show: to much time spent introducing the characters and environment. On one hand, the environment is fascinating- the charachters look like Simpsons characters of course, its Matt's trademark style. It's just like Life in Hell. But the backgrounds have much more depth, and many of the objects are actually 3D objects. Its much more advanced then The Simpsons would ever try (outside of a halloween episode anyway), and it all works. It looks good. It feels right.

The advantage of a sitcom in its 3rd season is that you know the exactly how and why charachters operate, so you can simply enjoy their wacky misadventures. The struggle of a new show is to set the characters up. The first few seasons of The Simpsons struggled as the writers tried to find the angles that worked. As the shows focus shifted from Bart's wise cracking, to the "Family", with the major emphasis on Homer, the show improved. Likewise, Futurama has to find its footing.

Its got a good start. The characters aren't bad. Bender is especially interesting. But as with The Simpsons, the guest appearances are what really make the show shine. In this case, the Heads of famous people appear in jars and are quite funny (this weeks episode included the heads of Leonard Nemoy, Richard Nixon, and even Matt Groening himself).

Futurama suffers from the same flaw as modern Simpsons episodes though- the end of the show almost tried to have a moral. The best of the Simpsons never tried to preach, it simply did its thing- and while there often is a moral, it doesn't sit down and scream it at you like a minister on a roll in his Sunday Sermon. South Park has it right- the "Moral" is terribly overdone- a parody of the crappy sitcoms that it strives to mock. Early Simpsons had it right too- the "Moral" simply isn't summarized at the end of the show. Futurama blew that one with a cheesy little dialog about being free to choose your own destiny.

Some things are obvious guys. You don't need to say them. But this is a minor nitpick relative to the number of good gags and jokes (and yes, social commentary) scattered throughout the show.

Anyway, I'll tune in again. Its visually pleasing, and as long as its in a sweet time slot (between Simpsons and X-Files for example) I won't run off to check my email. And I'll give it a few episodes to find its footing.