Futurama is quite simply one of the greatest TV shows ever created. Set in the year 3000, it was a fresh take on late-night cartoons. Although it was created by Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, and had a similar development team, Futurama was, and still is, on a page of its own. The characters are imaginative, the art is unique, and the writing never got old throughout its 4 seasons on air.
Unfortunately, in the summer of 2003, the show was cancelled by Fox (who seems to have a record of cancelling shows at the most inappropriate times), and fans were left in a state of shock. How could such a creative show be tossed out like rubbish. Lucky for them, in the spring of this year, Futurama went back into production for 4 movies, which will later be split up into a 16 episode season. So, in honour of this great un-cancellation, let's look back at the second episode of the very first season of Futurama. I consider it to be one of the best.
"The Series Has Landed" did a superb job of introducing the humour, characters, and basic story of the show to the viewers. It actually did a better job than the pilot episode. This episode followed the Planet Express space delivery team of Fry, Leela, and Bender as they head out for their first delivery to the moon. Fry, being new to the year 3000 after he was cryogenically frozen, has never seen the moon and its futuristic Theme Park. He convinces the others to check it out with him. After a series of hilarious antics, the show ends with one of the funniest and best directed endings I've seen. To understand the beauty of this episode, you really do have to watch it.
Other characters introduced in this episode are the Professor, Dr. Zoidberg, Amy and Hermes, the rest of the regular cast and workers at Planet Express. Zoidberg is my personal favourite. He's just so damn funny. The writing for the characters and the whole series in general is fantastic. Each episode brings something new and fun to the show and uses its cast of hundreds to full adavantage. Never have I seen so many characters used so right.
If you have never seen Futurama, or just don't like these kinds of "cartoons", you really should watch this one. It's nothing like the Simpsons, even though it shares the same creator, and it has a mature humour, even if it doesn't seem like it at times. Thank god someone saw the show for the greatness it is and decided to bring it back. It deserves all the air time it can get.
Expect more reviews of other Futurama episodes now that this little introduction to the series has been done. I've seen this series enough times to write lots about each episode.
You can watch the episode "The Series Has Landed" here, but it's not a site I've heard much about, so just be careful when viewing. Enjoy!
"The Series Has Landed"
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