Topic: Futurama (Read 16933 times)

Brentai · « **Reply #100 on:** July 10, 2010, 12:05:25 PM »

No, because every single joke about the Professor is "the Professor is old". It feels like the characters in general are flattening out into vague archetypes to be inserted into whatever wacky situation the writers wish to parody, like That Family.

They're going in that direction, but it's not like that can't change.

Brentai · « **Reply #101 on:** July 10, 2010, 12:09:15 PM »

Also at this point every time Bender joins a Robot * or goes to Robot * or finds out there's a Robot * I want to punch the TV. That started way before the show got canned though.

Thad · « **Reply #102 on:** July 10, 2010, 12:47:20 PM »

Quote from: Henton on July 10, 2010, 12:05:25 PM

No, because every single joke about the Professor is "the Professor is old".

Or "the Professor is a mad scientist." I quite liked the tornado-in-a-jar idea.

I also like that, unlike the past couple weeks' episodes, the jokes that only have 30 seconds' worth of potential only last for 30 seconds. Like Hermes' clown flu. You know they could have written an entire episode around that, and it would have been awful; instead it was a brief gag and -- while not exactly brilliant -- was worth a smile.

Quote from: Henton on July 10, 2010, 12:09:15 PM

Also at this point every time Bender joins a Robot * or goes to Robot * or finds out there's a Robot * I want to punch the TV. That started way before the show got canned though.

Yeah, and Hell is Other Robots remains one of the greatest episodes of the series. Like, top 3.

And Robot House was pretty great too.

Point being, it's a great bit, they just need to settle down with it.

In a lot of ways Bender's best used as the B-story protagonist and should only be the focus of the episode a few times a season.

Fortinbras · « **Reply #103 on:** July 10, 2010, 01:04:37 PM »

I really liked the first episode, thought the second half in particular was played perfectly. Tend to agree with everyone else on the next three. But watch some of the very first season sometime. I think this stuff measures up to the earliest episodes, and getting back into writing a long running series could be rockier than starting one. Still got high hopes for the show's future.

Quote from: Thad on July 10, 2010, 12:47:20 PM

In a lot of ways Bender's best used as the B-story protagonist

Agree. Three Hundred Big Boys does exactly this and is one of the best.

Brentai · « **Reply #104 on:** July 10, 2010, 04:03:03 PM »

Quote from: Thad on July 10, 2010, 12:47:20 PM

Yeah, and Hell is Other Robots remains one of the greatest episodes of the series. Like, top 3.

And Robot House was pretty great too.

Point being, it's a great bit, they just need to settle down with it.

Both of those were in the first season though. By the third season I had had enough fucking robots.

Though it's less the redundancy and more the increasingly lazy habit of taking * and putting robots in it so they can have more Bender.

Quote

In a lot of ways Bender's best used as the B-story protagonist and should only be the focus of the episode a few times a season.

There's the other problem. He's pretty much taken the main character spot from Fry, and it's hard to argue on the surface that he shouldn't. How many episodes can you make of "Modern man is lost in the future"? The only other things he's got is his complex relationship with Leela, which is currently being stored under the rug, and his stupidity, which isn't quite as entertainingly clownish as Homer's stupidity. Bender, though, nobody gets tired of "Asshole Robot". Unless of course he gets completely overplayed, which is looking likely. At least he hasn't somehow turned from an evil genius to a sassy gay friend yet.

Thad · « **Reply #105 on:** July 10, 2010, 04:27:27 PM »

Quote from: Henton on July 10, 2010, 04:03:03 PM

Both of those were in the first season though. By the third season I had had enough fucking robots.

Still some exceptions in the later seasons. Robot Santa, Sport Utility Robots, etc.

Quote from: Henton on July 10, 2010, 04:03:03 PM

There's the other problem. He's pretty much taken the main character spot from Fry

Well, he did in the movies (his name was in the title of half of them, for God's sake), but this is the first of the four episodes this season where Bender's been center-stage.

Quote from: Henton on July 10, 2010, 04:03:03 PM

The only other things he's got is his complex relationship with Leela, which is currently being stored under the rug,

Now see, you've got other people in the thread saying it's been focused on TOO MUCH.

I'd argue that it was handled really well in the premiere (it was at the center of the episode but was never overbearing), and was entertaining enough in the end of the second (Leela and Zapp having sex right in front of Fry in order to save the Earth from annihilation -- and then that's just the end of the episode). The Fry/Leela dynamic was also at the center of the third ep, but the third ep just sucked out loud.

So, to summarize: the relationship was handled well in the first ep, it was handled well in the second but that was harder to see because the second ep was flawed in so many other ways, it was handled poorly in the third ep but the third ep just sucked in general, and Fry and Leela weren't the focus of the fourth ep.

I think the best way to handle it is to acknowledge it but only bring it front and center once or twice per season. Eps 1 and 2 are actually a good template (despite 2's other flaws).

Brentai · « **Reply #106 on:** July 10, 2010, 05:46:31 PM »

Robot Santa's kind of the exact point I started to get irritated, actually. I never liked that character as much as I feel I'm supposed to. Good musical bit in the first movie though.

Thad · « **Reply #107 on:** July 11, 2010, 12:28:31 AM »

I quite liked both Robot Santa episodes. The first one had John Goodman, but the second one was funnier.

Thad · « **Reply #108 on:** July 17, 2010, 08:26:55 PM »

I thought that last one was pretty good!

Mothra · « **Reply #109 on:** July 18, 2010, 01:15:16 PM »

Wow, yeah, the robosexual episode is really, really good!

Envy · « **Reply #110 on:** July 22, 2010, 06:33:23 PM »

That episode was pretty decent, and the ending was really good I thought.[spoiler] I had a feeling once Hermes decided to help.[/spoiler]

Fredward · « **Reply #111 on:** July 23, 2010, 10:24:37 AM »

[spoiler]"adobe photo shoppe"[/spoiler]

Thad · « **Reply #112 on:** July 23, 2010, 09:44:52 PM »

Yeah, the ending was pretty well telegraphed, but it was a sweet episode -- not one of the funniest, but it had heart. Not in the same league as Godfellas, let alone Luck of the Fryrish or Jurassic Bark, but very solid.

I do like that the show's been going for unusual pairings the last few weeks -- Bender and Amy, Fry and the Professor, Bender and Hermes. I look forward to Leela and Cubert!

Thad · « **Reply #113 on:** July 29, 2010, 08:20:37 PM »

Hardest I've laughed all season. I think we can stop being wary now.

Lady Duke · « **Reply #114 on:** July 30, 2010, 09:11:50 AM »

Quote from: Thad on July 29, 2010, 08:20:37 PM

Hardest I've laughed all season. I think we can stop being wary now.

Yeah, it was a totally ridiculous and cute episode.

Royal☭ · « **Reply #115 on:** July 30, 2010, 06:27:40 PM »

Ha ha, good episode.

Quote from: Thad on July 23, 2010, 09:44:52 PM

I look forward to Leela and Cubert!

Recommend other things!

SCD · « **Reply #116 on:** July 30, 2010, 06:42:56 PM »

Reminded me of "The Accidental Time Machine" By J Haldeman, the head of the English department at MIT.

Fun episode. I laughed

Thad · « **Reply #117 on:** August 13, 2010, 09:12:53 PM »

So really I would sum this season up as one of unlikely pairings, not just of cast members but also some great anachronisms. (And yeah, I realize the entire series is about anachronisms, but the da Vinci episode had some really beautiful ones -- and this week's tread familiar ground, but who doesn't love a robot dinosaur?)

TA · « **Reply #118 on:** August 13, 2010, 10:00:47 PM »

This week's episode contains probably the single best Farnsworth line, writing and delivery, in the show.

Mothra · « **Reply #119 on:** August 27, 2010, 03:32:29 AM »

MAN, I think I can safely call this week's episode the most phoned-in anything in the history of ever. Not a single chance taken remotely anywhere.

Can we please stop using Lurr please

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Author Topic: Futurama (Read 16933 times)