For 23 years now, Futurama has been one of the most consistently funny, whip-smart comedies on television. Photo / Futurama
For 23 years now, Futurama has been one of the most consistently funny, whip-smart comedies on television. Photo / Futurama
If The Simpsons holds the record for the longest-running animated show in American history then creator Matt Groening’s other show Futurama must be getting close to holding the record for the most cancelled show ever.
The sci-fi comedy has been killed off more times than a particularly tenacious zombie. Despite its enthusiastic fanbase, pop-culture impact, critical acclaim and cabinet full of Emmy awards it was never able to outgrow its cult status and push into the mainstream in the same way as rival adult-orientated animated shows like Family Guy, South Park or King of the Hill.
Audiences don’t know what they’re missing. For 23 years now Futurama has been one of the most consistently funny, whip-smart comedies on television. Like all the best sci-fi shows, books and films it used its futuristic premise to comment on society today. It crammed each episode with zings, one-liners, visual gags, repeatable catchphrases and hard scientific facts to create one of the most razor-sharp satires on TV.
Despite this, it looked like its death blow was fatal. The series wrapped up its loose ends and departed with an emotionally charged happy ending which saw the hapless hero Fry finally win the heart of the assertive ship’s captain Leela to blissfully live out their days stuck in some kind of strange time anomaly.
That was a decade ago. Even in today’s reboot culture, there was no reason to believe that Futurama would be resuscitated. After all, the show had farewelled its characters three times already.
To quote first Professor Farnsworth, the show’s eccentric borderline-senile scientist, and then Bender, its loudmouthed, shiny metal-assed robot, good news, everyone! Futurama’s back, baby!
Even in today’s reboot culture, there was no reason to believe that Futurama would be resuscitated. Photo / Futurama
Truly the show that won’t die, Futurama has, unbelievably, risen from the grave for a fourth time. Having bounced from networks Fox to Cartoon Network to Comedy Central, American streaming outfit Hulu is the latest to grab the defibrillator and jumpstart the show’s heart.
For its troubles, it gets relentlessly mocked by the show in the first episode of its eighth season, which has just begun streaming here on Disney+, quickly dismissing any thoughts that its wild, anarchic spirit may have been tamed by the spirit-dulling passage of time.
In fact, Futurama holds true to the rebellious, counter-culture ethos of Life In Hell, the early comic strip that Groening made his name with before hitting it big with the unfathomable success of The Simpsons.
In case you missed it over the last quarter of a century, the show follows Phillip J, Fry, a gormless pizza delivery boy who stumbles into a cryogenic machine and is put on ice for 1000 years. He’s defrosted in the year 3000 and goes to work at the delivery company run by his elderly distant nephew and maddish scientist Farnsworth. As mentioned he falls in love with Leela, a one-eyed alien, and befriends the beer-chugging robot Bender.
Essentially, Futurama is a workplace comedy. The rest of the cast filled out with Dr Zoidberg, a put-upon giant lobster-like creature; Amy Wong, a rich kid slumming it as an intern; and Hermes, the company’s proudly Jamaican accountant and resident limbo champion.
One quick jump into a time portal and the old status quo has been restored before the opening credits roll. Photo / Futurama
Pleasingly, there’s absolutely no dip in quality in the new season. Gags are dumped with more frequency than this year’s non-stop rain and its satire is more spot-on than a dalmatian.
This could be because our real world is slowly catching up to its animated one. When the show debuted smartphones weren’t a thing and we were still accessing the internet on dial-up modems. We may not be delivering good to far-off planets yet but we’ve still come a long way from the dark ages of 1999.
The show picks up right where it left off in 2013. Not that it matters much. One quick jump into a time portal and the old status quo has been restored before the opening credits roll.
There’s little leeway given to new viewers of the show. But with its poking of fun at present issues like binge-watch culture, crypto speculation and pop-culture favourites like Black Mirror (“You’re entering a show which is slightly different from previous, very similar shows. That one with the phone call from the Devil? Now, it’s a FaceTime call from the Devil. The devil part didn’t change. Prepare to see your unflattering reflection in The Scary Mirror.”) It shouldn’t take too long to get up to speed. Especially, if its humour, which fluctuates from gutterish to intellectual, clicks.
It may be the most surprising comeback of this year but the present is far better with Futurama.
