"Futurama" (1999) TV series 1999-????

User Rating:

9.2/10   

Creator:

Matt Groening

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Release Date:

28 March 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy | Drama | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

The future is here!

Plot:

Fry, a pizza guy is accidentally frozen in 1999 and thawed out New Year's Eve 2999.

Plot Keywords:

Alien | Robot | Delivery Boy | Doctor | New York City

Awards:

Won 3 Primetime Emmys. Another 6 wins & 16 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Wed. Nov. 11	1:00 AM	COMEDY	A Leela of Her Own	#4.10
Thur. Nov. 12	1:00 AM	COMEDY	That's Lobstertainment	#3.8

Cast

Billy West	...	Philip J. Fry / ... (72 episodes, 1999-2003)
Katey Sagal	...	Turanga Leela / ... (72 episodes, 1999-2003)
John Di Maggio	...	Bender / ... (72 episodes, 1999-2003)
Tress MacNeille	...	Additional Voices / ... (70 episodes, 1999-2003)
Phil LaMarr	...	Hermes Conrad / ... (65 episodes, 1999-2003)
Maurice LaMarche	...	Additional Voices / ... (65 episodes, 1999-2003)
Lauren Tom	...	Amy Wong / ... (63 episodes, 1999-2003)
David Herman	...	Additional Voices / ... (58 episodes, 1999-2003)
Frank Welker	...	Nibbler / ... (30 episodes, 1999-2003)

Also Known As:

Aloha Mars! (USA) (working title)
Doomsville (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

30 min (72 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

UK:12 (video rating) (some episodes) | UK:PG (video rating) | USA:TV-14 (some episodes) (original TV rating) | USA:TV-PG (original TV rating) | UK:U (video rating) (one episode) | Australia:G (some episodes) | Canada:14+ | Ireland:12 (some episodes) | Ireland:PG (some episodes) | Argentina:Atp (original rating) | Argentina:M (DVD rating) | Australia:PG (some episodes) | Brazil:Livre | Canada:G (Quebec) (DVD rating) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) (DVD rating) | Finland:K-7 | Germany:12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Trivia:

According to Matt Groening, viewers were able to decipher the alien language that is sometimes seen in the background the same night as the pilot episode aired. The only primer for the code in that episode was a sign that read "Drink Slurm". The sign appeared once with the word "Drink" written in the alien code and once in plain English. This resulted in the producers creating a second, more complex alien code to be seen in the background of later episodes.

Goofs:

Continuity: The elements Bender claims to be constructed out of change throughout the series (though given Bender's nature, it's possible he's lying). This became an in-joke amongst the writers in later episodes.

Quotes:

[the lab is collapsing]
Professor Hubert Farnsworth: Buddha! Zeus! God! Somebody help me! Satan, you owe me!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Day the Robots Woke Up (2009)

Soundtrack:

Baby Love Child

All hail, the NEW king of animated series.

While the later episodes of The Simpson's have suffered, Futurama has matured, far more quickly than the Simpson's did, into a fantastic work of animation.

The similarities between the Simpson's are obvious and not to be ignored. A show as good as The Simpson's was is ripe for theft and Futurama, the brainchild of Matt Groening, borrows well from the former show. Bender is the Homer Simpson, devoid of responsibility, yet, as this lack of responsibility is placed in a robot, we do not have to feel anger at his wayward ways.

Leela is the far less annoying Marge. Less annoying for the simple facts. A) She has something resembling a personality, something that Marge definitely suffered from. and B) You can listen to her speak without wanting to kill yourself.

Fry however grounds the show with the emotional base that made the Simpson's great. A Pizza delivery boy from the 20th century transported forwards in time 1000 years into a world that he knows nothing about. While our imaginations might find it a little too easy coming to terms with the future and all the few new inventions that go with it (Perhaps a nod to how poor an inventor Farnsworth is that there seems nothing overly unusual about this future), we forgive this minor blip and embrace Groening new world vision.

As with The Simpson's, Groening has given us a host of superb background characters. Zoidberg the lobster Doctor, Amy daughter of money, Hermes the Jamaican limbo champion who keeps the business together and of course Zap Brannigan, the genius of lacklustre. All of these characters are easily the match of Chief Wiggum, Smithers, Krusty, Frink, etc.

Groening, clearly by taking the best writers from the Simpson's with him when he jumped ship, has done the impossible and found an animated series that is superior to the unsurpassable Simpson's. Groening's world is a good one. And so is his show.