After creating the very successful and popular animated show The Simpsons, Matt Groening created another show. Futurama started airing in 1999 and was very different from Groening's other show. Unfortunately FOX didn't really give the show a chance - much like they didn't give Firefly a chance - and the show was canceled entirely too early. I started picking up the DVD sets and just finished watching Futurama - Volume 4.
Futurama was a futuristic animated show that took place 1,000 years in the future in New New York. Philip J. Fry had been a pizza delivery boy before he managed to get himself accidentally frozen for 1,000 years. He ended up becoming friends with the wise cracking robot Bender and Leela, a one-eyed alien woman who worked at the cryogenic facility where he had been frozen. The three of them ended up working for Planet Express, an interplanetary delivery company owned by Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth, a descendant of Fry. The intern Amy Wong, government bureaucrat Hermes Conrad, and alien lobster Dr. Zoidberg also worked for Planet Express.
The first season of Futurama was mostly focused on Fry and how he was adjusting to life in the future. By the time of the episodes included in Futurama - Volume 4, Fry was fairly well adjusted to his new life though he had a moment or two when he wished things had worked out differently. Fry did still end up having some new experiences like becoming a superhero with Leela and Bender or having aliens want to use a part of his body as an aphrodisiac. The crew continued to make deliveries around the universe and visited other new planets like the one where the cast of the television show Star Trek was living or the one that was like a giant beehive. The deliveries weren’t always extremely important to the overall plots, but they did add some interesting elements to the episodes. New New York continued to be the setting for at least a little bit of each episode since that is where Planet Express was located. I still enjoyed seeing some of the futuristic unique looking gadgets.
Different characters were focused on throughout the episodes included in Futurama - Volume 4. There was a significant development in Amy and Kif’s relationship in Kif Gets Knocked up a Notch that was very interesting. For some reason, that development seemed to be forgotten in later episodes. Leela’s Homeworld shared information connected to Leela’s past and included something very important that changed some things for her. She also played a larger part in some of the other episodes. A Taste of Freedom focused on Dr. Zoidberg and even featured some other aliens from his planet. Bender did play a major role in several episodes even when the main plot wasn’t connected to him in some way.
I have always thought that the episodes of Futurama were funny and I felt the same about the episodes on this DVD set. Fry still did some stupid things that made me laugh. The show did use unique humor that some people may not like or might even find offensive. Several of the characters ended up in some rather bizarre situations that were funny. I thought all the humor worked well for the show though some people may feel like it is too silly. Every character did something that added humor. The show continued to poke fun at science fiction movies in general and the episode Where No Fan Has Gone Before poked fun at Star Trek in particular.
Spanish Fry contained several sexual references and discussions. Even in the other episodes, there were things said that were at least sexually suggestive if not outright sexual in nature. Bender said a lot of those things. Kif and Amy were still dating and there relationship did receive attention. During Love and Rocket, Bender decided to date the Planet Express Ship. During the first three episodes, it slowly became apparent that Fry loved Leela and she really wasn’t as interested. During a few episodes it seemed like Fry was making some progress, but there really wasn’t a romantic relationship developed between the two of them. A few of the episodes on this set did focus in on Fry’s feelings and how he was still trying to get Leela interested in more. During the episode that showed a parallel universe, the Fry and Leela in that universe were actually happily married which was interesting to see. In The Devil’s Hands are Idle Playthings, Fry actually made a deal with the Robot Devil to try to win Leela. I was a little disappointed that something more definite wasn’t settled with that aspect of the show.
For the first time, the theme music was changed slightly for a few of the episodes included in this DVD set. The music still sounded very much like it had on all the other episodes. The main difference was the inclusion of some of the characters rapping a bit. The same opening sequence was used for all the episodes except for the two small things that have always been changed. The text that showed up on the bottom of the screen at the beginning of the opening credits changed for every episode. At the end of the credits, there was a screen shown that had different images displayed in every episode before the Planet Express ship would crash into it. The show continued to have the same style of animation with bright colors.
The same group of main characters as well as a few more supporting characters were back for these episodes. Bender and Fry once again seemed to receive the most attention. Fry had changed a bit over the course of the show, but he was still clueless about several things and still did some immature things at times. There were some very interesting new developments shared about Leela that added a whole new dimension to her character. Dr. Zoidberg, Hermes, and the Professor were still more in the background most of the time. Dr. Zoidberg’s first name was shared at one point. The professor did do at least a little in every episode and occasionally his part was a bit bigger. Some guest stars did make short appearances, usually as a head in a jar. Most of the regular cast members also did additional voices in addition to their characters. Billy West did voices for more regular characters than any of the other cast members.
Voice Talent
Dan Castellaneta - Robot Devil John Di Maggio - Bender/Additional Voices Maurice LaMarche - Kif/Morbo/Calculon/Additional Voices Phil LaMarr - Hermes Conrad/Additional Voices Tress MacNeille - Linda the Newsanchor/Mom Katey Sagal - Turanga Leela Lauren Tom - Amy Wong/Additional Voices Frank Welker - Nibbler/Animal Voices Billy West - Philip J. Fry/Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth/Dr. Zoidberg/Zapp Brannigan/Leo Wong/President Nixon’s Head
DVD Information
Futurama - Volume 4 contains the last eighteen episodes of Futurama on four discs. Each of the discs has their own slim plastic case. On the back of each case, there is a short plot summary for each of the episodes on the disc. The inside cover has a list of the episodes along with the chapter breaks for each one. Each case has a different case and when they are put side by side, they make up one larger picture. Every episode had a commentary and there were deleted scenes from sixteen of the episodes. There were also storyboards for one episode, an international clip for one episode, an animatic for an episode, some 3-D models, a still gallery, pencil test segments for some characters, and something that showed how to draw Bender and the Professor.
Each of the discs had a different animated menu that listed the episodes on the disc. There was an option to play all the episodes one after the other or each episode could be selected individually. When an episode title was selected, a second menu would load up with a few options for playing the episode or the special features connected to the episode. Different characters can be heard talking on the different menu screens. Some of the characters seemed to be heckling the user while others were just making comments.
Episode List
Kif Gets Knocked up a Notch Leela’s Homeworld Love and Rocket Less Than Hero A Taste of Freedom Bender Should Not be Allowed on TV Jurassic Bark Crimes of the Hot Teenage Mutant Leela’s Hurdles The Why of Fry Where No Fan Has Gone Before The Sting Bend Her Obsoletely Fabulous The Farnsworth Parabox Three Hundred Big Boys Spanish Fry The Devil’s Hands are Idle Playthings
Futurama was a very unique, fun, entertaining animated show that I really enjoyed when it was originally aired. I am still irked that FOX canceled it, but it does help to have the DVD sets. The show had airing on Cartoon Network for several years and as of January of 2008, moved to Comedy Central. The success of the DVD sets and the popularity of the episodes on Cartoon Network led to the show being brought back in the form of some straight to DVD movies. The first movie, Futurama: Bender’s Big Score, was released in November of 2007. I think the second will be released sometime in 2008. Futurama - Volume 4 is a must own DVD set for fans of the show.
Four Disc set includes episodes: "Kif Gets Knocked Up A Notch;" "Leela's Homeworld;" "Love And Rocket;" "Less Than Hero;" "A Taste Of Freedom;" "Bende...More at HotMovieSale.com
Prepare your home planet for an invasion of laughter with Volume Four of FUTURAMA, the final celestial cluster of episodes from The Simpsons creator M...More at Buy.com
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