Fun in the year 3000! (Futurama - Season 1 (DVD))

Member Name: Retron

Product:	Futurama - Season 1 (DVD)
Date:	08/07/02 (250 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Superb quality transfer, Plenty of extras, Superb commentary

Disadvantages: Slightly flimsy packaging, Only available in region 2

Futurama is an often overlooked cartoon masterminded by the creator of the Simpsons, Matt Groening. It tells the story of a pizza delivery boy thrust into the 30th century, where he joins a package delivery company run by his distant relative - who's slightly insane.

These 3 DVDs carry 13 episodes, 3 of which were shown in the second series, as well as animatics and concept artwork. The transfer is excellent, with sharp lines and good, vibrant colours. The discs sound good, too, with a surround sound option in addition to plain stereo.

As requested, here's a rundown of the episodes on the DVDs:

Space Pilot 3000: In these episodes, we meet Fry, an unhappy pizza delivery boy. He gets cryogenically frozen and ends up in the year 3000. He then meets a kleptomaniac robot (Bender) while trying to avoid being assigned a job by a one eyed "alien", Leela. He ends up getting a job at his great great great (etc) nephews's company (Planet Express) - as a delivery boy.

I, Roommate: Fry is told he can't live in the office, so he and Bender try and find a place to live - most of which are terrible.

Love's Labours Lost in Space: Fry and the rest of the crew get to make a delivery to the Moon - and end up losing the keys to the Planet Express ship.

Fear of a Bot Planet: Fry, Leela and Bender are sent to a planet inhabited by robots where humans are killed on sight - and eventually they're caught.

A Fishfull of Dollars: After dreaming of expensive underwear, courtesy of an advert beamed into the brain, Fry finds out his few cents in his bank account have matured into a sizeable fortune over the 1000 years he was frozen. He then blows a fortune on a can of anchovies, incurring the wrath of Mom, the cranky owner of an oil company.

My Three Suns: Fry stupidly drinks the Emperor of a desert planet - and to his surprise, he's made the new Emperor.

A Big Piece of Garbage:
20th century rubbish causes a big problem for 30th century New New York, as a huge ball of burning rubbish that was once fired into space returns. Only Fry can save the day with hos 20th century knowledge....

Hell is Other Robots: Bender joins a religion after abusing electricity, only to be tempted back to his life of sin by Fry and Leela. A trip to Robot Hell ensues....

A Flight to Remember: In a spoof of Titanic, the crew go on the luxurious space crusier of the same name. Bender falls in love, while Fry ends up with two simultaneous dates - until disaster befalls the ship, due to one Zapp Brannigan (the captain) being rather too adventurous.

Mars University: The Professor (Fry's relative and owner of the delivery company) gets the crew to ship a super-intelligent monkey to his office at Mars University.

When Aliens Attack: Back in the year 2000, Fry knocks Fox off the air by spilling beer onto a control panel. 1000 years later, the Omicronians (an agressive alien race) watch the season finale of a popular show fall off air - and eventually the Planet Express gang have to improvise an ending to prevent certain death.

Fry and the Slurm Factory: In a take off of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fry wins a trip to Planet Wormulon, where the popular soft drink Slurm is made. After finding out exactly how slurm is made, against the wishes of their hosts, Fry and the gang are nearly killed....

The additions are where these DVDs shine, though, as they include material that's not been available until now. These extras include the scipt and storyboard of the first episode, deleted scenes as well as the aforementioned concept art - some of the characters have changed drastically since the idea of Futurama was first mooted. The most valuable extra in my opinion is the commentary track available on each episode - usually with Matt Groening as well as the writers for the episode. The explain a lot of hidden jok
es inserted into the episodes, as well as discussing why things are as they are in Futurama.

Overall, the set represents a superb collection of Futurama episodes and trivia, which should please many a Futurama fan. The only downside is that the set is only available in Europe - so American fans will have to import a set if they want to see Futurama as it was meant to be.

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