A comical look at the future (Futurama)

Member Name: Donf18

Product:	Futurama
Date:	09/10/09 (91 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great fun and characters

Disadvantages: None really

Imagine being accidentally frozen and then being wakened some 1000 years later and then being introduced to a flurry of weird and wonderful characters. Well this is the unfortunate story of Philip Fry the Pizza delivery guy with more bad luck than the unluckiest person who just won another thousand years of bad luck. Nothing goes right for Fry and when he meets up with Leela, Dr Zoidberg, Bender and the rest of the crew.

Futurama first appeared on our screens in 1999 and is made by Matt Groening and some of the same group of lunatics that create the fantastic Simpsons, so from this you can logically assume it is both funny and inventive. Some of the funnies are very similar to those of the Simpsons but perhaps the most noticeable difference is that more of the content seems adult orientated. By this I mean some of the jokes are of a more adult nature with the odd reference to sex, well I say odd reference it's pretty much in Fry's mind all of the time, although how he can fancy a one eyes alien named Leela is beyond me...........but hey each to their own.

The series is set in the year 3000 where as you'd imagine Fry comes into contact with an abundance of articles and inventions that he could never have dreamed of. He becomes part of a group of misfits from all genres of society and they have their adventures through the medium of Leela the mutant's space craft. Bender is a cigar-smoking kleptomaniac who is rather partial to a good shot of booze. He has become Fry's best friend and roommate. They are guided of mis-guided as the case may be by Professor Hubert Farnsworth who at 160 years plus is Frys distant nephew. He creates and invents so many weird and wonderful contraptions and it is the misfit's duty to try them out. There are many incidental characters but it is perhaps Dr Zoidberg a lobster type alien from a planet called Decapod 10 (who is delusional about his ability to interpret the human race) who misguides the misfits the most.

I call them misfits which is a little harsh since they a mix of down and outs who all believe they should be somebody and aren't. There adventures however are SOMETHING, they are both amusing and witty and the show in general can certainly be compared to The Simpsons in terms of quality of script. The characters are definitely varied and interesting, each with their own quirks and ideas. I like it a lot because it does amuse me especially Bender who is like a Robot version of Homer Simpson. It is hard not to compare the two quality shows especially with the fact that they are created by the same person for the same Netwrok TV in America. Sadly the show was axed in August 2003 although there are certainly a lot of re-runs out there on various TV stations. A class show and probably as the American viewer has chosen with it's demise inferior to The Simpson in their eyes. I'm not so convinced both have strong merits and both have few demerits I guess we all just have to make up our own minds, but it is worth bearing in mind that it is still possible to see some really funny and quality animation in the form of Futurama.

Summary: A quality animated series which will definately give you a laugh