Futurama
- For the exhibit/ride, see Futurama (New York World's Fair).
| Futurama | |
|---|---|
| File:Futurama-title.jpg Futurama title screen | |
| Created by | Matt Groening |
| Starring | Billy West Katey Sagal John DiMaggio Lauren Tom Phil LaMarr Tress MacNeille and David Herman |
| Country of origin | USA |
| No. of episodes | 72 |
| Production | |
| Running time | approx. 0:21 (per episode) |
| Original release | |
| Network | Fox Broadcasting Company |
| Release | March 28, 1999 – August 9, 2003 |
Futurama is an animated American cartoon series created by Matt Groening (creator of The Simpsons) and David X. Cohen (also a writer for The Simpsons). Set in "New New York City" in the year 3000, it was introduced on the Fox Network and received airplay between March 28, 1999 and August 10, 2003. Futurama now appears in syndication on the Cartoon Network and the TBS Superstation in the US, Sky One and Channel 4 in the United Kingdom, Teletoon/Télétoon in Canada, Fox 8 in Australia, C4 in New Zealand, Pro7 in Germany, Italia 1 in Italy, Canal Fox in Latin America, One TV in the Middle East and SF2 in Switzerland.
The series begins with Philip J. Fry, a New York City slacker who is cryogenically frozen by accident on New Year's Eve, 1999. He is defrosted one thousand years later on December 31 2999 and finds himself in New New York City. Fry's attempt to escape from his now-mandatory job assignment as a delivery boy ends when he is hired on at Planet Express, a small intergalactic package delivery company run by his distantly descended nephew. The series covers the adventures of Fry and his colleagues as they travel around the universe making deliveries on behalf of Planet Express.
The futuristic time frame allowed the show's writers to be creative with their humour by introducing ideas and events from pulp science fiction of the mid 20th century into the series. As such, the show is as much a testament to the creativity of the writers as it is a story of Fry and his colleagues.
Characters and plot
Futurama centers around seven main characters who work for Planet Express, as well as several secondary characters.
Characters
- Philip J. Fry ("Fry") (Voiced by Billy West) - was "accidentally" cryogenically frozen just after New Year, 2000, and thawed out in time to usher in the year 3000. Something of a misfit in the 20th century, he adapted to 31st century life with ease after finding employment outside the field of pizza delivery and taking up residence in Bender's closet at the Robot Arms apartment building. He generally has a lower intelligence than the rest (the cause of which is later revealed to be due to the lack of the "delta brainwave," which all other humans, robots, animals, and certain types of plants emit) but occasionally has moments of genius. Through a time travel accident, he is his own grandfather.
- Turanga Leela ("Leela") (Katey Sagal) - The ship's captain, and usually the most disciplined member of the Planet Express crew. For most of the series she believed she was an orphaned alien, and desired to learn of her origins. It was later revealed - in Season 4 - that she is a sewer mutant instead of an alien as previously believed.
- Professor Hubert Farnsworth (Billy West) - Fry's great-great-...-great grand-nephew who runs Planet Express. In his 160s, he peers through cokebottle glasses, has bad posture and frequently forgets who or what he was talking about. Farnsworth is a mad scientist whose inventions are of variable usefulness. Has a long-standing rivalry with former student Professor Wernstrom.
- Bender Bending Rodriguez ("Bender") (John DiMaggio) - a foul-mouthed, hard drinking, misanthropic robot (catchphrase: "Bite my shiny metal ass!") built in America's heartland of Mexico. He frequently violates the Three Laws of Robotics. The only thing he fears is an industrial-size electric can opener. He also is known to uncontrollably sing folk music when exposed to a magnetic field.
- Hermes Conrad (Phil LaMarr) - a Jamaican Bureaucrat with a flair for filing. He is also an Olympic Limbo-er. He manages Planet Express delivery business, and his responsibilities include paying bills, giving out legal waivers, and notifying next of kin. In direct contrast to most stereotypes of Jamaicans, he is an uptight workaholic, a stickler for doing everything according to regulations, and frequently admonishes the staff for not working hard enough. The character was originally named "Dexter" who did not sport a Jamaican accent; this was changed after the first few episodes were recorded.
- Dr. John Zoidberg (Billy West) - a lobster-like alien from planet Decapod 10 who (as a self-proclaimed expert on humans) provides incompetent medical care for the crew. He is strongly disliked by Hermes Conrad and lives below the poverty line. Zoidberg combines features of several sea creatures, scuttling sideways like a crab, producing ink like an octopus or squid, and creating pearls in his digestive tract like oysters. He is often treated as the outcast in the group. Zoidberg is curiously a joke on a few levels. A famous New England sauce is named Lobster Newberg, while Zoidberg himself also exhibits many of the stereotypes of Jewish doctors, including his grammar, his accent, and his sandals.
- Amy Wong (Lauren Tom) - an intern at Planet Express (supposedly kept around because she shares the professor's blood type) and heir to half of Mars. Her parents, who constantly pester her about the lack of grandchildren, came to own half the planet through a legitimate deal that parodied colonial exploitation of gullible natives. On the show, Amy is known for being somewhat shallow and ditzy, and for her overuse of futuristic 31st century slang. She also tends to dress provocatively, frequently being the person on screen wearing the least clothing. When aggravated, she occasionally starts cursing in Cantonese.
See also: Futurama's recurring characters.
Planet Express
Planet Express is a delivery company held by Professor Farnsworth to fund his "research" and "inventions". It is revealed later in the series that Farnsworth thought of the company as a form of cheap labour.
The Professor often makes passing references to the fact that many of his past crews have been brutally killed. The crew prior to Fry's arrival was said to have been devoured by a space wasp, although in the episode "The Sting", the crew is sent on the same mission that killed the last crew and finds the old Planet Express ship whose crew was killed by giant space bees while attempting to gather space honey.
The Planet Express ship is helmed by Leela as captain and pilot, Bender as cook, and Fry as delivery boy. Amy and Dr. Zoidberg join the crew as needed. Hermes oversees operations and human resources in the company. The ship has an autopilot and a shipboard AI, which may be separate entities. Nearly every mission that the Professor gives to his crew is dangerous or quickly degenerates to a suicide mission.
Setting
The world of Futurama is not a utopia but neither is it a dystopia. Unlike past cartoons like The Jetsons, which showed an efficient, clean, happy future, Futurama portrays a less idealistic view, with humans still dealing with many of the same basic problems of the 20th century. The show's vision of the future is very similar to the present in many ways: the same political figures and celebrities that we know today survive as heads in jars, a method invented by Ron Popeil; television remains the primary means of entertainment; the Internet is still slow and filled with pornography, and problems such as global warming, inflexible bureaucracy, and substance abuse are still pressing issues.
Race issues in 3000 are now centered around relations among humans, aliens, and robots. A common clash between the former two is alien immigration plaguing Earth. A specific issue on Earth is the large population of super-intelligent/super-incompetent robots (such as homeless robots and orphan children robots, like Tinny Tim); they are generally lazy and surly, and often unwilling to assist their human creators.
Despite this, Futurama's world also showcases numerous technological advantages that have been developed by the year 3000. Wheels used in transportation have been made obsolete by hover technology, to the point that 31st century characters do not know what a wheel is. Among the robots, spaceships, and floating buildings, Professor Farnsworth introduced many memorable new inventions such as the Smell-o-scope, the What-if Machine, and the Parabox. Less inspiring 31st century innovations include coin-operated Suicide Booths and Soylent Cola (The taste "varies from person to person").
Some of the show's humor comes from passing references to historical events of the past thousand years. For example, in the time that has passed owls have emerged as the primary urban pest, at the expense of rats and pigeons.
See also: Timeline of Futurama
Linguistics
Futurama's universe also makes several bold predictions about the future of linguistics. In "A Clone of My Own" (and "Space Pilot 3000"), it is implied that French is now a dead language, and that the official language spoken by the French will then be English (interestingly, in the French version of the show, German is substituted as the 'dead language' rather than French).
English itself has also evolved from today; however, it still remains comprehensible. These changes include the disuse of the word Christmas in favor of Xmas (with the X pronounced) and the pronunciation of ask changing to aks, an indication that ebonics had long-lasting effect on the English language.
The show also often makes use of a pair of alien alphabets in background signage. The first is a simple one-to-one substitution cipher from the Latin alphabet, while the second uses a more complex modular addition code (officially an ancient alien language predating the universe). They often provide additional jokes for fans dedicated enough to decode the messages.
Galactic politics
Numerous other galaxies have been colonized or have made contact by the year 3000. Much of the Milky Way galaxy now operates under the Earth government's sphere of influence, similar to America's influence on world politics today. Apparently, Earth is in the process of embarking on a long-term campaign to conquer and/or eliminate all other worlds/races not allied with it. This campaign is spearheaded by 25-star general Zapp Brannigan, a conceited, self-absorbed individual who makes regular appearances throughout the series.
Earth has a unified government under a single President of Earth. It seems that various sub-states may have prime ministers and similar leaders, much like the current American system of governors. This world government seems to be quite US-centric as Earth's capital is Washington, DC and the flag of Earth looks like the Flag of the United States, but with an image of the Earth (with the US visible) where the stars are today. Citizens of Earth are called Earthicans.
The organization of political parties in Futurama is similar to the American two-party system with a number of third parties. The two main parties are the Tastycrats and the Fingerlicans, whose names sound similar to the current American parties, the Democrats and Republicans.
Despite having been elected President of the United States of America twice, the head of Richard Nixon is elected President of Earth by exploiting the fact that his old body is not being elected, and Earthican law only stipulates that no body can be elected more than twice. Nixon buys Bender's robotic body from a pawnshop to serve as his new body. After the Planet Express crew manages to retrieve it, Nixon's head is mounted on a gargantuan, weaponized cyborg body, helping to sway the robot vote. At times, Nixon's head is carried by the Secretary of Transportation or the headless body of Spiro T. Agnew. At the end of Futurama's last episode, however, the Robot Devil drags Nixon's head back to Hell, so the status of his presidency is now in question.
Earth's national holiday appears to be "Freedom Day", which is traditionally celebrated by doing whatever one wants without regard to the consequences, as well as by dancing and chanting, "Freedom, freedom, freedom, oy!"
Mars has been terraformed to a great degree (it is now the home of many wealthy socialites), and is home to Mars University. The Western Hemisphere of the planet is currently owned by the Wongs, parents of Planet Express intern Amy Wong.
Earth's moon is still mostly unsettled, but houses an amusement park (heavily parodying Disney theme parks even to the motto: "The Happiest Place Orbiting Earth"), and is the sole tourist attraction. The rest of the moon is mostly uninhabited, with the exception of some farms. Citizens of the 31st century have lost all knowledge of the lunar landing, mistaking Ralph Kramden of The Honeymooners for a typical 20th century astronaut due to his common phrase, "One of these days, Alice. Bang! Zoom! Straight to the moon!".
- See also List of planets in Futurama
DOOP and intergalactic relations
The Democratic Order of Planets (DOOP) was founded in 2945 after the Second Galactic War. This organization, described by Hermes as being "similar to the United Nations... or like the 'Federation' from your Star Trek program", includes Earth and many other worlds. Earth sometimes acts unilaterally without the aid of other DOOP members. The inhabitants of Omicron Persei 8 are frequently engaged in conflicts with DOOP.
Despite the existence of DOOP, interplanetary relations are poor, with constant wars and invasions, often poorly planned and fought for foolish and unnecessary reasons.
The series featured a bitter conflict between Earth and Spheron 1, a planet inhabited by giant, bouncing balls. A victorious war with the Arachnid homeworld of Tarantulon VI resulted in a silk surplus, which in turn led to a $300 tax refund from the head of Richard Nixon, the ruling President of Earth.
There is also at least one rogue colony of robots that kills humans on sight (this being Chapek 9, a reference to Karel Čapek who coined the term robot). A planet named Arrakis exists, a tip-of-the-hat to Frank Herbert's Dune novels.
Since a matter of years after the Big Bang, an eternal war has been waged across space between the Nibblonians (Nibbler's race) and the Brainspawn (evil floating giant brains with telekinetic and telepathic powers). The war recently made its final end when the Nibblonians used Fry to sneak a bomb into the Brainspawn's main base that would seal them into a pocket dimension prison.
Religion
Religion has changed quite a bit since the year 2000. Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism have all merged into one Amalgamated Church. There is some form of Space Catholicism, led by the reptilian Space Pope (Crocodylus pontifex) and based upon a platform of discouraging love between robots and humans. Oprahism and Voodoo are now mainstream religions. Waltermercadismo is also mentioned in the Latin American version.
Some of today's holidays still exist, but with slightly different mascots. Christmas, now X-mas, is no longer celebrated, but feared due to a giant robotic Santa Claus, who is located on Neptune. He was originally created and programmed by Mom's Friendly Robot Co. to judge people naughty or nice and distribute presents accordingly, but his standards were set so high that he invariably deems everybody naughty (except for Dr. Zoidberg), and attempts to punish them on Christmas Eve. Hanukkah is now represented by the Hanukkah Zombie and Kwanzaa by Kwanzaa-bot.
Robot religions exist as well, with the most popular being the quasi-Christian religion of Robotology, which has its Hell located in an abandoned New Jersey amusement park, presided over by the crafty Robot Devil. Robot Jews exist as well, although all we know about them is that they hold functions to celebrate a robot becoming a "Bot Mitzvah" and do not believe that Robot Jesus was their messiah.
Over the years, as life began to imitate Star Trek more and more, the sci-fi series evolved into an enormous mainstream religious cult that swept the world. This caused the "Star Trek Wars" (not to be confused with the "Star Wars Trek", the mass migration of Star Wars fans). The destruction because of the "Wars" ultimately led to its banning by the Earth Government and the execution of its followers "in the manner most befitting virgins", i.e., by being thrown into a volcano. By the year 3000 even discussing the show is a serious legal offense. (It is mentioned with no penalties, however, once by Hermes Conrad while describing the Democratic Order Of Planets, and again in the episode where the Planet Express crew uses the Internet.) There is little mention of what happened to The Next Generation and the other spinoffs, but the heads of Jonathan Frakes and Leonard Nimoy live on in glass jars. "Star Trek: The Pepsi Generation" does, however, get an Oscar nomination for best soft-drink product placement.
Production
Futurama takes its name from a General Motors exhibit at the 1939 New York World's Fair which depicted future technologies. Also demonstrated at that World's Fair was Philo Farnsworth's vacuum tube television; Professor Farnsworth is named after him.
Actors lending their voices to the series include Billy West, Katey Sagal, John DiMaggio, Maurice LaMarche, Lauren Tom, Phil LaMarr, and Tress MacNeille. Phil Hartman was cast as a voice actor on the series, but died before production began. Some believe Billy West performs the character of Zapp Brannigan in a Hartman-ish voice as a tribute to him (hence why Zapp looks so much like Hartman's Simpsons character, Troy McClure), but the DVD commentary reveals that West's version of Zapp's voice is actually unchanged from the way he did it originally in auditions. The character Philip J. Fry's first name was originally going to be Curtis. It was changed to Philip as a way to remember Hartman.
Celebrities who have lent their voices to the show include Dick Clark, Beck, Donovan, Al Gore, Stephen Hawking, Sigourney Weaver, Lucy Liu, Pamela Anderson, and the cast of Star Trek. (The episode featuring the Star Trek cast, "Where No Fan Has Gone Before", does not include DeForest Kelley, by that time deceased, or James Doohan, whose character was replaced by 'Welshy' in a parody of the Brady Bunch Variety Hour, where Jan was played by a different actress.)
The theme and incidental music for the show were composed by Christopher Tyng. The original theme song for the show was to be the 1960s electronic music recording "Psyche Rock" by Pierre Henry, but the inability to license the track for the show led Tyng to compose a theme strongly reminiscent of it. Three remixes of the theme song were produced and used as the main theme in three different episodes. This show is also one of the few animated series to use fully orchestrated original music in almost every episode.
Many of the spacecraft and backgrounds appearing in Futurama were made using 3D computer graphics. The scenes were first painted by hand and then implemented in 3D. This way, camera movements provided a perfect geometry of the environment and characters (for example, at the beginning of the series when the camera flies around the Planet Express building).
In response to the events of the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States, the Fox Television Network and Futurama creator Matt Groening for a short time removed the scene in the show's opening in which the Planet Express ship crashes into a giant television screen. It was felt that this scene would be upsetting and disturbing to many viewers who had witnessed the head-on collision of an airplane into the World Trade Center in New York on live television. Within a month or so after the attacks, the scene was reinserted back into the opening.
In 2001, during the show's third season, it was quietly announced that Fox Television was cancelling production of the series. Writing for The Onion A.V. Club, Keith Phipps observes that
- Futurama premiered in 1999 to hype and anticipation that seemed fitting for the first new series created by Matt Groening since The Simpsons. But even before the show reached the air, Groening was describing his Futurama-related dealings with the Fox network as the worst experience of his adult life. What happened next couldn't have made him feel much better. While Futurama struggled to connect to its audience, Fox first moved it to a new time slot, then constantly preempted it for sports broadcasts [...] In other words, Futurama contains something for everyone—except, it seems, grumpy Fox executives. [1]
While Futurama ended after its fifth broadcast season, there were actually only four production seasons. Due to numerous preemptions and other schedule shuffles, Fox had enough new episodes backlogged for another full year of shows. These delays account for the difference in Fox's broadcast season number and production season number. (Note: the production season forms the basis for the DVD and video sets.) The 72nd and final episode, called "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings", aired in the USA on August 10, 2003. With this episode, the fifth television season (fourth production season) and the whole series ended. The episode was not a true series finale however, and though many plot issues were resolved in the last season, the final episode was in no way a clear "conclusion" to the series—the last line of dialogue, aptly enough, was "Don't stop playing, Fry... I want to see how it ends". At the title screen of this episode, though, the words "See You On Some Other Channel" were shown.
Several television stations are currently airing the series in syndication. In the United States, Futurama can be seen on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, usually playing adjacent to another (once) cancelled series, Family Guy. In Britain, the series was picked up by Sky One shortly after its US premiere, and Channel 4 later acquired terrestrial broadcast rights.
Also, since Futurama's cancellation, Matt Groening's The Simpsons series has been making an increasing number of references to it. In the show, Matt Groening appears as himself (animated) and was introduced at a convention as the creator of the hit show Futurama. He then signs Bender dolls and draws a sketch of Fry for Milhouse. Also, in another episode of The Simpsons, a person jumps off a cliff, screaming "Why did they cancel Futurama?". In the episode "Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade", Bender appears in a dream of Bart's. And, in the episode "Future-Drama", Bart and Lisa explore their teenage years with the help of Professor Frink. During this sequence, Homer and Bart drive through a "tunnel" where they shift dimensions temporarily. When they exit, Bender is in the car with them, and he says, "All right! You guys are my new best friends!" Homer then says, "You wish, loser!" and throws him out of the back of the hover-car, breaking him. Also, in a different episode, Bender can be seen as a person answering telethon calls on PBS (About the fake cancellation of The Simpsons).
Similarly, Futurama references The Simpsons. In an early episode of Futurama, the crew are sent to destroy a huge ball of garbage in space by placing a bomb on it. Bender finds a Bart Simpson doll which says "Eat my shorts" when its string is pulled. Bender eats the shorts, then says "mmmm... shorts".
Even though there were no official words on the revival of the show, there have been rumors of it since the news broke that Family Guy was being revived. On May 22 2005, the Can't Get Enough Futurama web site carried the following unofficial post, attributed to Billy West's discussion board:
- Well, I spoke to David X. Cohen [...] and he said that they did have talks with the top guys at FOX and they were extremely impressed with the sales of the Futurama DVDs. The idea was to make a Futurama movie right to DVD and then a 2nd and a 3rd [...]
As of July 18 2005, Billy West seems to have confirmed a 'straight to DVD' Futurama movie on a video blog, however this is yet to be officially confirmed by either Matt Groening or Fox.
Non-broadcast production
In the USA (DVD Region 1), the first season of Futurama was released on DVD on March 25, 2003; the second season on August 12, 2003; the third season on March 9, 2004; and the fourth (and final) on August 24, 2004.
In Europe (DVD Region 2), the first and second seasons were both released in 2002; the third season was released on June 2, 2003; and the fourth on November 24th, 2003. The DVDs were released in Europe first as a test to see if they would sell, and sales were very good on both sides of the Atlantic. Despite the different release dates, the content of the DVDs are identical for both Regions.
Unique Development Studios released a video game titled Futurama for the Xbox and PlayStation 2 consoles in August 2003. Critical reviews indicate poor play control and graphic quality, but an excellent story and voice acting. Due to an extremely low run, the video game is scarce and generally sells for more than most games that are just being released.
Matt Groening's Bongo Comics group is still producing a spin-off series of Futurama Comics. These are now the only new stories featuring the Futurama characters. There are two sets of comics available, the US series and UK series.
The US series was first published in 2000 and so far consists of 20 issues plus 2 2-parter crossovers with The Simpsons. The comics are A5-size and now published 4 times a year. The next issue is due in September 2005.
The UK series was first published in 2002 and so far consists of 17 issues, incorporating the Simpsons crossovers. The comics are of a larger size in the UK and although the stories are exactly the same as the US comics, they are published in a different order. See Futurama Comics for more details.
Season details and references
- Futurama season 1 details
- Futurama season 2 details
- Futurama season 3 details
- Futurama season 4 details
- Futurama season 5 details
Note: Originally, there were four production seasons (the DVD releases are based on this original sequence of episodes), but the FOX network broadcast most episodes out of order, and split them into five seasons.
Credits gags
Opening credits
At the start of each episode, just as the "Futurama" logo appears on the screen, a caption appears on the bottom of the screen, different in every episode. Some captions include "Coming Soon to an Illegal DVD", "Dancing Space Potatoes? You Bet!", and "Crafted With Wuv (By Monsters)". Occasionally, an advert is displayed instead.
A Planet Express Ship then flies through the text, and around a futuristic city. During the final shot of the opening credits, a billboard screen appears in view, upon which the executive producer credits appear. Just before they do, a clip from a classic public domain cartoon is shown on the screen. A number of classic cartoon stars have been featured on the billboard, including Koko the Clown, Betty Boop, Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Little Lulu, Felix the Cat, and Bosko [2]. During the last episode, "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings", the billboard shows the Futurama opening credits, implying a visual infinite regression.
Closing credits: "30th Century Fox"
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"30th Century Fox" is a variation of the "20th Century Fox" closing logo listed in the end credits. Fox initially rejected the idea of show creator Matt Groening, who sponsored the design of the logo by himself. Later, it became popular, with Fox embracing and taking some credit for it.
The episode "That's Lobstertainment!" reveals that 30th Century Fox is a television and film studio within the Futurama universe. The studio building is shaped like the logo. The floodlights surrounding it are used to blind pilots so they crash, producing exciting documentary footage.
See also
External links
- Futurama at IMDb
- IGN DVD Exclusive - Futurama Direct-to-Video Greenlit
- TV.com's Futurama page.
- Review of the first DVD release from The Onion A.V. Club.
- Futurama at the Big Cartoon DataBase.
- Scripts of Episodes for Futurama
Fan sites
- Can't get enough Futurama fansite. Probably the most extensive coverage of any new Futurama information, as well as the home of fan-contributed semi-open source episode capsules and guides.
- Soylent Forums, messageboard which also provides Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Sealab 2021 discussion.
- PEEL - The Planet Express Employee Lounge. A popular Futurama messageboard.
- Simpsons Cards - Futurama greeting cards.
- Episode List, sortable and with episode rankings.
- Futurama Madhouse, oldest active fansite (formerly The Leela Zone).
- The Futurama Point, the second-oldest Futurama fansite.
- The Fry Hole, A Fry fansite, with a large amount of Futurama content as well.
- The Neutral Planet: Futurama In Words, with transcripts for most episodes.
- Demonstration of the Hypnotoad's powers.
- Futurama πk – Mathematics in the Year 3000.
- Futurama title cards: Every Futurama title card ever to be shown.
- Bring Back Futurama Website with a petition to bring Futurama back.
- Anime style Futurama picture at deviantART