The Cryonic Woman

Well, I liked this episode quite alot, since almost everyone hates it but I feel its a very underrated episode. The first two acts of the episode are very good, whilst the 3rd one is weaker but still good. The Cryonic Woman offers quite a good plot, but its ending could be better. After getting fired by Farnsworth, Fry, Bender, and Leela get new jobs. Fry works at the cryogenics lab and bumps into a frozen Michelle, Fry's Ex. Fry shows Michelle the year 3000 to her, but she can't cope with it. She tells Fry that they should go to the year 4000. Things go wrong, and not everything turns out to be what it is.

Overall, the jokes were classic in the first act, focusing on Fry and Bender driving the ship unattended, Bender saying he is steering the ship with his ass. In the cryogenics lab, Bender scares newly awakened people with costumes and delivers very funny moments. Fry intoduces people to the probulator in a rather amusing manner, and so the humour level slighly dips when Michelle is introduced, though its still funny when she sees all the stuff in the future and can't find a vanishing cream that doesn't actually make her vanish. The jokes are almost non-existent in the final act, though Fry delivers one funny line stupidly not realising that deathboarding is actually more dangerous than skateboarding. I personally thought the deathboarding scene was one of the coolest action sequences the show has ever done. The humour picks up again when the Planet Express crew find him, with the episode ending with Farnsworth dropping Fry down a mysterious trap door after Bender reminds him why he was fired in the first place. A score deserving around the 8/10 mark overall, mainly because the final act was quite weak compared to the other two.

The worst episode of the original run by far in my opinion.

The plot actually has a brilliant basic premise. The idea of someone from Fry's past in the present coming to the future (keep up), is fantastic. Unfortunately, it just doesn't make effective use of it. The first act is enjoyable in a comedy caper sort of way, but there's very little storyline and the missed opportunity for touching emotion is rubbed in your face by the inclusion of Pauly Shore for no reason other than somebody on the show's staff must have liked him.

He is terrible in this episode and ranks among the show's worst guest appearances ever. His acting is somewhat subpar but worse, he's not funny and he's crammed into the plot for the sake of it. He doesn't compliment it at all. Sarah Silverman on the other hand is fantastic as Michelle. I'm not a huge fan of hers, and I don't like the character of Michelle, but in terms of casting, she is perfect for the role. She has a very unique voice and suits the character to a T.

Going back to the plot, the ending is awful. It offers no conclusion, something Futurama is usually great with and is thoroughly unsatisfying as a result. This might have all been forgivable if the episode was funny enough, but it isn't. It certainly has its moments, but it's subpar for Futurama.

The worst episode of the original run, and currently my 2nd least favourite episode ever after Attack of the Killer App.

Quite simply the worst episode that Futurama has had, this is packed with fall-flat gags, and fleshes out one of the most unlikeable and least watchable characters in the history of televised animation. The episode plays fast and loose with continuity, with realism (c'mon, people, it might be a cartoon, but we expect a LITTLE realism), and with aspects of Fry's character.

There's no reason for Pauly Shore to be anywhere near this or any other episode of Futurama, and there's hopefully never going to be another character voiced by Sarah Silverman, one of the most annoying women on the telly. Combined, these two second rate "celebrities" do a lot to drag this episode down, but even if they weren't in it, the stilted and awkward dialogue and unamusing jokes would still be a millstone around its' neck.

The premise of Fry, Bender, and Leela being fired for idiocy and incompetence, then mixing up their old career chips and being forced to do jobs they are totally unsuited to could have worked, if only they had played the whole thing just a little straighter. Instead, they play it for laughs (which falls flat), and then bring in Michelle, seemingly for no other reason than to annoy the audience. When she finally departs with Pauly Shore, it's a massive relief to think that she'll probably never appear in the show again. Honestly, I've seen fanfics that were better done than this.

The whole LA sequence is pointless (although there are some cool visuals), and the ending is nothing short of an irritation for continuity nerds like myself. The only positive points I can find for this episode are the animation of the skateboarding sequence, and the show's opening, which although it grossly steps over the "cartoon physics" line (irritating in a cartoon supposedly set in the real world, but forgivable for Rule of Funny) does at least offer a wonderful moment - the PX ship being steered by ass.

If anything dips below the quality of the Cryonic Woman, it could well be the death knell for the show.