"Futurama" (1999) TV series 1999-????

Creator:

Matt Groening

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Release Date:

28 March 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy | Drama | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

The future is here!

Plot:

Fry, a pizza guy is accidentally frozen in 1999 and thawed out New Year's Eve 2999.

Plot Keywords:

Alien | Delivery Boy | Robot | Doctor | New York City

Awards:

Won 3 Primetime Emmys. Another 6 wins & 16 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Wed. Dec. 2	1:00 AM	COMEDY
Wed. Dec. 2	9:00 PM	COMEDY	Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles	#5.7

Cast

Billy West	...	Philip J. Fry / ... (72 episodes, 1999-2003)
Katey Sagal	...	Turanga Leela / ... (72 episodes, 1999-2003)
John Di Maggio	...	Bender / ... (72 episodes, 1999-2003)
Tress MacNeille	...	Additional Voices / ... (70 episodes, 1999-2003)
Phil LaMarr	...	Hermes Conrad / ... (65 episodes, 1999-2003)
Maurice LaMarche	...	Additional Voices / ... (65 episodes, 1999-2003)
Lauren Tom	...	Amy Wong / ... (63 episodes, 1999-2003)
David Herman	...	Additional Voices / ... (58 episodes, 1999-2003)
Frank Welker	...	Nibbler / ... (30 episodes, 1999-2003)

Also Known As:

Aloha Mars! (USA) (working title)
Doomsville (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

30 min (72 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

UK:12 (video rating) (some episodes) | UK:PG (video rating) | USA:TV-14 (some episodes) (original TV rating) | USA:TV-PG (original TV rating) | UK:U (video rating) (one episode) | Australia:G (some episodes) | Canada:14+ | Ireland:12 (some episodes) | Ireland:PG (some episodes) | Argentina:Atp (original rating) | Argentina:M (DVD rating) | Australia:PG (some episodes) | Brazil:Livre | Canada:G (Quebec) (DVD rating) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) (DVD rating) | Finland:K-7 | Germany:12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Trivia:

Other titles thought of for the show were ‘Aloha Mars!’ and ‘Doomsville’.

Goofs:

Continuity: The elements Bender claims to be constructed out of change throughout the series (though given Bender's nature, it's possible he's lying). This became an in-joke amongst the writers in later episodes.

Quotes:

Leela: You can't go to Omega 3. It's forbidden. I forbid you.
Fry: But we have to. The world needs Star Trek to give people hope for the future.
Leela: But it's set 800 years in the past.
Bender: Yeah, why is it so important to you?
Fry: Because it... it taught me so much. Like, how you should accept people, whether they be black, white, Klingon or even female...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Supermarket (2009)

Soundtrack:

Convoy

FUTURAMA is a great show that might come back...and should!

I am a huge fan of THE SIMPSONS, the funniest show to ever be on television. When I heard Matt Groening was behind FUTURAMA I was excited...but not TOO excited because I didn't think it would be as good as THE SIMPSONS (I mean...what COULD be?) The first episode of FUTURAMA I was not all that impressed. But by the fourth episode (LOVES LABOURS LOST IN SPACE where Leela sleeps with Zap Brannigan) they had me: I was hooked.

This show may not be as laugh-out-loud funny as THE SIMPSONS but it is funny, clever, well-written and well "acted". The cast does a great job, especially those who have to do multiple voices (I will make special mention of Billy West here who does the voice of main character Fry. I was surprised to find out he does a lot of other characters too: Zoidberg and Farnsworth to mention just a few).

If your not familiar the story goes like this: Philip Fry is a pizza delivery boy (or should I say "pizza delivery Man"...he's in his 20's although at times acts more like a teen than a grown-up) who is sort of a Born Loser type. He's working on New Years Eve (he runs into his girlfriend Michelle going to a New Years Eve party with another guy and "begins to suspect she's cheating") and ends up making a delivery to a cryogenic freezing lab. He accidentally freezes himself and when he's found and thawed out its New Years Eve 3000. In a way this sucks because everyone he knows is long dead. But in a way its good because its a second chance for him to start life new and maybe be not such a loser this time around. Apparently after they thaw you out and probe you they insert a chip in your hand that helps place you in your field of expertise for a job. His chip is "Delivery Boy" and he doesn't want it so he is trying to avoid the sexy one-eyed alien woman Leela whose job it is to make sure he gets his chip put in. When he's notified he has a great-great-great-great (keep going) nephew named Professor Farnsworth he goes to seek him out. He goes to what he thinks is a pay phone booth and its actually a suicide machine...thats where he meets Bender a wise-ass,drinking,smoking robot who wants to kill himself because his main purpose is to aid in the making of suicide machines. The two of them try to escape Leela and when she finally catches up to them she admits she doesn't like her job either so now the three of them seek out Professor Farnsworth to see if they can work for him.He runs an intergalactic delivery service and works with once-limbo champion Hermes, a rich girl intern named Amy,and a lobster-man doctor named Zoidberg. I feel funny pointing this out, but I will anyway: There's always a big to do about shows today not having interracial characters as friends working together and FUTURAMA definitely goes beyond the call of duty in that area. We have single white male Fry, white Cyclops alien/mutant female Leela, Asian female Amy, Senior citizen white male Farnsworth, African American male Hermes, male robot Bender as well as male crustacean Zoideberg! And they all work together wonderfully (and although they make a lot of rude jokes at each others expense you can tell they all really love each other! And this is a cartoon, folks!)A lesson to be learned: if these people can get along, cant we?)

This show isn't on FOX Sundays anymore although there is rumor that it might come back. A cable station shows re-runs and they have Seasons One, Two, Three and Four on DVD box sets. I bought myself the first season and my six year old daughter stole it from me! I quickly bought her the other three seasons and she's a real devotee now: watches an hour of FUTURAMA every night before she goes to sleep. We watch it together...which is a nice summary...FUTURAMA is a show both adults and children can enjoy. Here's hoping it makes a return.

Out of 5 stars: ***** 5 stars