Right before I call it a day I can usually find some syndicated sitcom to make me feel all nice and cozy as I crawl into bed. Most of the time it’s either Friends or That 70’s Show, but lately I’ve been warming up to an old favorite of mine that is ready for a comeback. In 1999 The Simpsons creator, Matt Groening, premiered his show about a young man from the present who gets stuck in the future. The journey of this show, like Phillip J. Fry’s journey, hasn’t been an easy one. But new episodes of Futurama will be begin showing on Comedy Central June 24, and I for one cannot wait to see what Fry, Bender, and the rest of Planet Express discover next.
On New Years Eve, 1999, the world was about to enter a new century, but for pizza delivery boy, Phillip J.Fry, it was just another year in his pathetic life. But an accidental delivery to a science lab traps Fry in a cryogenic freezing chamber for 1,000 years and he awakes in the year 2999. Fry locates his nephew’s descendant, Professor Farnsworth, who runs an intergalactic delivery service to help fund his mad scientist ways. Fry takes up a job as a delivery boy, along with his robot roommate, Bender, and a tough-as-nails woman, Leela; who just happens to have one eye. These three go across the galaxy making deliveries as Fry tries to win Leela’s love, and the two of them try to keep Bender from getting too drunk and operating his shady personality. Also employed at Planet Express is the girly intern Amy, the crab alien Dr. Zoidberg, and the Jamaican accountant Hermes. This bunch of losers help make Plant Express the worst delivery service in the galaxy.
To me Bender is the best part of the show. He’s a robot who likes to smoke cigars, drink too much, and swears more than a sailor. That’s the kind of robot I want. My second favorite character has to be the other man who is after Leela’s heart, Captain Zapp Brannigan of the starship Nimbus. Brannigan is like a bad impersonation of Captain Kirk, who endlessly tries to pursue Leela with little success. You never know what this crew will get into next, like dropping off candy hearts across the stars on Valentines’ Day, fending off a homicidal-robot-Santa on Christmas, or stumbling onto a planet of giant barbarian women who like to fornicate. Welcome to future Phillip J. Fry!
Futurama enjoyed four seasons on Fox’s Sunday Night line-up, getting better ratings its first season than King of the Hill or Family Guy. 72 episodes were aired, but 88 were made. While on Fox Sundays Futurama won several Emmy awards for outstanding animated programming. After being taken off the air in 2003 Groening fought hard to continue making Futurama, leading to several direct-to-DVD movies; and in 2008, Comedy Central, who Groening always had a good relationship with, began airing all 88 episodes in syndication. Then, in 2009, Fox agreed to start making Futurama again and airing it on Comedy Central, but there was a snag; the voice actors couldn’t reach an agreement about their salary.
The cast isn’t full of known actors, but people who have been doing voices for quite some time, like Bill West who does the voice of Fry, and also Bug Bunny in Space Jam. Perhaps the most famous voice on Futurama is Katey Segal from the Fox comedy Married With Children, who voices Leela. So after a lot of negotiating, and missing a Comic Con convention, the cast of Futurama is back to provide voices for the future.
I feel very happy about the return of this show mainly because of Matt Groening. The Simpsons has always been a quality show, and this last season, its 21st season, I believe was one of the best. I know most people these days are more interested in the works of Seth MacFarlane’s Family Guy, but their best episode this year involved Brian eating poop from Stewie’s diaper. How is that funny? Groening has always provided solid programming for over 20 years, dating all the way back to the Simpson family’s premiere on The Tracey Ulman Show in 1987.
Being on Comedy Central also means that Groening and the rest of the writers can get away with a few more things than they did on Fox, which I hope means spicing up Bender's rude-and-crude behavior. Just like The Simpsons, Futurama’s beginning credits is always a little bit different in each episode, and the 20th Century Fox logo at the end always say 30th Century Fox. These little things are what help make the show a cult classic, and one that will hopefully last past 2999. Now I leave you with some of my favorite Futurama quotes; enjoy!
Amy Wong: You just have to give guys a chance. Sometimes you meet a guy and think he's a pig, but then later on you realize he actually has a really good body.
Captain Zapp Brannigan: In the game of chess you can never let your adversary see your pieces.
Fry: I'm not a robot like you, I don't like having discs crammed into me... unless they're Oreos... and then only in the mouth.
Fry: Mister Nimoy, I came as soon as I heard what happened centuries ago.
Bender: I was a hero to broken robots 'cause I was one of them, but how can I sing about being damaged if I'm not? That's like Christina Aguilera singing Spanish. Ooh, wait! That's it! I'll fake it!
Leela: I'll find Fry's coffin, get his corpse, and keep it under my mattress to remind me that he's really dead. That'll prove I'm not insane!
Bender: Game's over, losers! I have all the money. Compare your lives to mine and then kill yourselves.
Captain Zapp Brannigan: [after destroying an alien mothership] Well, we destroyed the... what the hell is that?
[a ship materializes out of thin air]
Kif Kroker: It appears to be the mothership, sir.
Captain Zapp Brannigan: Then what did we just blow up?
Kif Kroker: The Hubble Telescope.
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