One of the great questions among fans of the edgier, adult cartoons of the 90's is which Matt Groening creation was superior: Futurama or The Simpsons. It is sort of a chick and the egg concept at heart, but what The Simpsons did for satirizing sitcoms, Futurama did to the science fiction genre by lampooning every known property while building up an impressive resume that included guest stars such as Al Gore, the Harlem Globetrotters, and the original cast of Star Trek. Their legacy is almost as strong in a fifth of the time. However, with the series having it's second series finale, it is an apropos time as any to look on the later years when the show was pulled away from Fox and resurrected thanks largely to reruns and the growing DVD box set sales.
There is little doubt that anyone who has admired the show in its initial run, which ended in 2003 with "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Play Things," wasn't looking forward to seeing them return. After all, the less successful Family Guy came back with a vengeance thanks largely to similar methods. Unlike Family Guy, Futurama's odds didn't lie in overthrowing something on their birth station Fox, but on Comedy Central. It probably wouldn't be a problem, if just because the show's audience was well known in the seven year gap. It was Comic Con nerds and cartoon enthusiasts alike who were amazed by the show's ability to trump The Simpsons in terms of background sight gags.
One of the reasons that Futurama's return will always be significant to me is because a few months before, I had the chance to meet Phil LaMarr at the Anaheim Comic Con. Billy West was also at a panel and it was just an unbelievable experience. While to anyone else it would seem just like a hype machine full of the typical buzz words, it was that moment when I got why the show was coming back. If not just for me, but for the audience there who regaled in trying to get West and LaMarr to have Samurai Jack talk to Fry. It was ridiculous, but over the course of that weekend, I gained a stronger appreciation for the people behind the art.
With very limited exceptions, I caught Futurama's Comedy Central era pretty much all the way through from night one with "Rebirth" in 2010. Maybe it was the hype surrounding the show and that it had definitely been seven years, but I was in awe. With exception to four inferior movies that were released in the seven year absence, this was the first sense that everything was going to work out. The characters were back and making jokes. Some would complain that they were now pandering to their demographics, but I didn't feel that the stories suffered that much.
One of the downsides of Futurama in general is that despite being satire set in the year 3000, their references are inconsistently changing to match the current market. While it could be that around the time of the Fox era, technology was rapidly changing and old formats were still viable, the satire worked better at painting Fry (West) and his outdated passions as something more endearing. The exploration of old technology in its incorporation into the new atmosphere was brilliant. Not so much with the Comedy Central era, which almost seemed too comfortable with the technology, which almost seemed more compatible than ridiculous with the modern episodes.
This was first notable in "Attack of the Killer App" in which a boil on Leela's (Katey Sagal) back named Susan gets recorded and turns her into a sensation on a Youtube knock-off. While the episode itself was enjoyable and reflected the show's ability to mix heart with comedy, this was only the start of the show's problem with modern references. They almost felt more forced or not as clever, if just because technology in the real world was more ridiculous and easier to lampoon.
If the show had any problems, it was that it became more hit and miss. However, the first real standout episode in the new era's run was "The Duh-Vinci Code," in which the show made an elaborate series of machines into delightful sight gags that played off of concepts established by Leonardo DaVinci. It reflected the show's ability to mix the old with the new, though it had to be more clever with them as a result. The show continued to churn out an impressive batch of episodes, including "The Late Philip J. Fry" and "That Darn Katz" in the same season.
The most impressive part is that the show continued for four years until Comedy Central decided not to pick it up. While there are those adamant that the new incarnation isn't worth investing it, there is enough that was there all along. The amount of scientific references kept the show's sci-fi satirical edge. Bender (John DiMaggio) was continually obnoxious and fun. Fry and Leela kept having their problematic on-and-off relationship that eventually paid off with a beautiful finale called "Meanwhile."
The show never lost its edge contextually. It may never get the respect it used to get, but all of the elements are there that keep it from feeling like a worn out return. Where Family Guy came back and outstayed its welcome, I don't feel like Futurama has come close, if just because of how shortly it came back for. It had a nice run of 52 episodes and those who liked it were fine with it. At very least, it gave Comedy Central a much needed boost of quality, notably in a wasteland of comedies that weren't on the same playing field as Futurama.
I even appreciate the show's choice to go meta and commentate on modern society. "Decision 3012" is the best example. While it reflects the show's flaw of trying to do too many modern pop culture references (Panem does get a name drop), the plot at the center is basically the same as Barrack Obama's birth certificate fiasco. While the reference itself is not blatant enough to ruin anyone's appreciation of the episode, it is a nice subtext that makes it more interesting. It explores a lot of interesting things regarding how we perceive politics and the lengths that some go to dethrone others. To keep it from getting too serious, the plot eventually evolves into a candidate being a time traveler born during the actual election process. It is perverse, but one of the most solid takes on current events I have seen the show do.
I could try to name all of the episode parodies that were done, but it would be too tedious. However, even when the show went for blatant rip-offs such as "T.: The Terrestrial," there was an absurd respect that the show had towards its source material. Even "Mobius Dick" had a nice update by setting the plot in space against a whale that crosses multiple dimensions. The show continued to explore what made these characters special.
In a large respect, the reason that the show was successful was not because it was the freshest, smartest show on the block. If the show's return reflected anything, it was that the creators seemed to think that we needed to understand these characters better. The Fox era created some of the best sci-fi satire where Comedy Central era created some of the better character pieces, including a lot of time to understand Zoiberg (West), who gets episodes like "The Tip of the Zoidberg" and "Stench and Stenchibility" to develop in ways that are almost too kind to the usual whipping boy of the series. The final episodes were actually probably the most self-aware that the show had been about its cancellation by making them almost all deal with some sort of character resolution that has been building through the show. In a way, Zoidberg's conflict got the best result. It also featured "Game of Tones," which if nothing else, gave us one last chance with Fry's family and beloved dog Seymour.
It is true that it didn't all make sense. Professor Farnsworth (West) had an entire episode of The Fast and the Furious street racing satire called "2-D Blacktop" that while having plenty of great moments, did seem baffling to the character. The show, for the most part, was tame in what it did to its characters. That didn't mean that there weren't a few bad eggs, including the show's overall worst "Saturday Morning Fun Pit." Where the show had been successful before in making the crossover satires work, including the most popular of the new batch "Reincarnation," this attempt at Saturday morning shows was just terribly self-aware to the point that I wrote a whole Channel Surfing column about it. This is an extreme example, as most of the time when an episode was bad, it was just forgettable.
It is impossible for me to hate this show simply for all of the thrills that it has given me. Even the newer episodes have plenty of merit and I could watch them all for fun. However, when it was announced that it was the end, it felt like the show had run its course and I was fine with it. In reality, it could have gone forever, but that wouldn't have carried an impact at all. It would have just made it like Family Guy: one big regret of a once brilliant show. Even if at times it was too self-aware, I felt like the Comedy Central era was bold in tackling current events more than Fox's era. I appreciate when it wasn't on the nose either, as that keeps the episodes in having the ability to be somewhat timeless.
Then there was the finale, "Meanwhile," which summed up what made the new era solid. With a small time travelling plot and a large recall to the show's second ever episode "The Pilot Has Landed," it gave us that one last trip into the world of these characters, hitting all of the beats that you liked. Even if it felt rushed, it had the Fry and Leela finale that was bittersweet. They lived out their lives in a frozen world well into old age. It was poetic and while it ended with a twist that technically could be fixed if the show ever came back, I feel like this is as good of a point as any to do just that. It didn't have the gang doing one last mission, but it did have plenty of heart and finished the past few episodes of payoff, which if anything, justifies the Comedy Central era entirely.
I am going to miss the show and probably will watch them all too much in reruns. I am an unapologetic Futurama fan. It may have had problems, but it also just had enough ingenuity to not just be another show struggling to be relevant. I may even get around to compiling the best of the latter era of the show, as writing this retrospective has made me fond of many episodes. Either way, as time goes on, I am sure there will be people who notice the difference between the Fox and Comedy Central episodes, but I wonder if they will care. The moments that clicked recalled the show's glory days so successfully that it doesn't matter. Futurama will remain a great ball of sci-fi satire and even if it never gets answered as being truly better than The Simpsons, I think that it has the advantage of now being able to look back and admire what it has done in its entirety.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Comments
Post a Comment