totalnerduk

As a show opener, SP3K is incredible. Whilst it probably wouldn't stand up so well if it wasn't the very first episode, it has a look and feel that very much set the tone for the rest of the original 72-episode run. SP3K is essentially part 1 of our introduction to Futurama, TSHL being part 2. SP3K does an admirable job of pulling together the three plot threads, establishing Fry, Bender and Leela (as well as a couple of other incidental characters), and of bringing Matt Groening's dystopic vision of a "utopian" future to life. Voice acting is a little off, but that's to be expected. The voices really don't change TOO much in any case. Bender perhaps sounds drunker as time wears on, and the Professor sounds a little older, but this is again to be expected. There's absolutely nothing I can find wrong with SP3K. It stands as the first episode of the first season (and the only season without a single weak episode, IMO). Love it or just like it a little, you can't hate it.

TSL is a great second episode. As essentially the second part of our two part introduction to Futurama, it does a splendid job. New characters (the PX employees) are introduced, with the most memorable introduction being that of Dr. John Zoidberg. The premise of the episode is simple, but the writers manage to have some fun with it, and make a great episode out of it. There are some quality background gags, and some really nerdy jokes in there - part of the Futurama appeal to a nerd like me.

Character development, the seeds of future plots, and even information that will help make sense of events in later seasons are all packed in, with the very funny opening backed up by an amazingly strong ending for a second episode. One of the best endings of the original run.

Voice acting is superb, the A and B plots dovetail very nicely, and there's a huge "shippy" element there for the Fry/Leela shippers. On top of all this, we get references to The Honeymooners, Disneyland, and even Redneck America that really made me smile.

I've got one complaint with TSHL. "I'll be blastin' all the humans in the world" has now wormed its way into my brain and entirely replaced the words to "She'll be comin' 'round the mountain". Damn you Bender!

Another quality delivery by the PX crew.

IR is one of the episodes that establishes a fundamental of the Futuramaverse: that Bender and Fry share an apartment together. Of course, this being Futurama, they go on a voyage of discovery beforehand, and there's an hilarious twist at the end of the episode.

Solid gags, a well-paced plot, and the inclusion of references to things like The Odd Couple, and classic sci-fi jokes make this a good comedy episode as well as one for the geeks and nerds. At this stage the show is still in its' introductory phase, and still finding its' feet, but it finds them well and truly on firm ground.

The writing is decent, the characters are all well done, and the voice acting is markedly improved. There's a plethora of beautifully drawn and animated backgrounds, and it sets up a part of the show's continuity.

Whilst not mind-blowing, with no alien planets or profound revelations, it's got a high rewatch value, and should be included in anybody's introduction to Futurama.

One of the best episodes of the first season, and one that stands up well against anything from later seasons as well, LLLIS introduces us to more staples of the Futuramaverse, as well as some important characters and ideas.

With a well-paced A and B plot (actually it feels more like two A-plots) and spot-on voice acting by this epsisode, it sets the standard for later outings by the PX crew.

The introduction of the DOOP, Zapp, Kif, and Nibbler widens the cast and the Futurama universe significantly, and Frank Welker does an amazing job of voicing the tiny, fuzzy, bottomlessly-hungry Nibbler.

The opening and ending are both laugh-out-loud funny, although there are minor flaws with a couple of the gags partway through, and there are some truly hilarious lines. "In the game of chess, you can never let your opponent see your pieces."

Backround gags abound, and there are some more nerdy references in there. It's truly an all-star all-rounder.

FOABP is one of the nerdiest of the first season episodes, and introduces more important concepts, although no new recurring characters. Bender is at his funniest here, and also at his most human. Strangely for an episode without a real sideplot, it feels very tightly packed, and manages to squeeze more into its running time than some others from Seasons 2 and 3.

The jokes are hilarious, "No! It is the *bad* kind of puppy!" and the backround gags and nerdy references are spot-on as with almost everything from Season 1. More continuity is established that will be referenced in later seasons, and there is some fantastic voice acting, especially for the robots.

Whilst it's a fantastic episode, the animation quality isn't amazing in parts, and there are a couple of scenes (like with the stacking robots) where there are obvious cut-and-pastes, but that's a minor thing.

The voice acting is mostly top-notch, but there are a couple of sticky moments, and the opener and ending are once again some of the best Futurama moments to date. A very solid episode. The crew really delivers in this one.

Whilst this episode does have some funny moments, AFFOD is not a brilliant one. It's still good, just at the bottom of the pile for Season 1. There's not a lot of futuristic stuff going on (although calling Sir Mixalot "classical music" made me chuckle), and the fact that the episode kinda leaves Leela and Bender on the sidelines for a lot of the time is disappointing.

Characterisations are brilliant though. Mom is awesome in this one, and her sons are the funniest trio since the Three Stooges for me. Jokes are hit and miss, the animation quality is also not the best it's been, but musical cues and sound are brilliant.

Pamela Anderson as a guest star makes little to no sense, but it's great that she was nice enough to lend her name and voice to the show for this episode.

There are some great lines in this episode, but I still think that there could have been more, particularly from anybody who isn't Fry.

This is one of my favourite episodes - a strong contender IMO for the best of the first season. It's funny, bizzare, and involved the PX crew doing what they do best - delivering cargo and making screwups.

With a solid plot, and fantastic artwork and animation, it's a visual treat, and with great voice acting and a strong score, it's an audio treat as well. Very few cartoons have this sort of quality lavished on them.

Once again, this episode delivers background jokes, nerd jokes, and good old fashioned "just plain funny" very well. It does feel a little spartan due to the lack of a sideplot, but makes up for it by being well paced. This stands as one of Futurama's high points for me. The PX crew delivers yet again!

The best joke in ABPoG is the line "With Gusto!", and it's something I try to use in real life occasionally.

If you don't recall it, go back and watch it again. I'll wait.

Anyhow, this is a pretty funny episode but it's got a couple of weak moments. Specifically, the heavy environmentalist overtones (the environment is full of things I hate, like spiders. It can't be wiped out soon enough!), and the idea that the garbageball itself would cause any damage to NNY. I mean, it should burn up harmlessly in the atmosphere. Those things niggled at me.

Other than that, I enjoyed the parodies of Armageddon and Deep Impact, loved the majority of the jokes, and thought that the visuals were pretty good. It's just a shame that we didn't get to see more of Morbo in this episode.

HiOR is one of the best Futurama episodes, easily up there in the top twenty. It's got a little more scope than episodes before it, in terms of the themes explored. Robot religion, addiction, and redemption are pretty big ones to explore, and this does a really good job.

The jokes are nearly all hilarious, the guest stars don't feel shoehorned in, there aren't really any continuity blips that I'm upset with, and there's a wonderful musical number near the end. It's episodes like this that got me hooked on Futurama, rather than leaving me content to be a casual viewer.

It's also the beginning of Bender's "breakout", IMO. It's his first episode carrying more than one big theme/plot element (and they're seamlessly woven together, too). As such it's an early glimpse into the personality and psyche of Bender - back when the character was still being formed, to some extent.

Not to say that there aren't problems. There are minor animation issues, and Katey Sagal puts in a lacklustre performance during the song... which is more than made up for by Dan Castawhatsis's performance as the Robot Devil.

Overall, a solid 9/10

The PX crew's vacation aboard the doomed space liner Titanic is one of the best episodes of Futurama, and has a lot of continuity, nerdy background jokes, shout-outs, and just plain funny moments.

Whilst the A-plot is a parody of the movie Titanic (a cruise liner is doomed), there is a B-plot revolving around Bender's pursuit of the lovely Countess De La Roca (another parody of Titanic), and also a C-plot wherein Fry and Leela must pose as a couple to stop Zapp forcing his unwelcome attentions on the frustrated cyclops. To further complicate matters, he is also posing as Amy's boyfriend in order to appease her parents... and surprisingly, this mishmash of plot threads turns out very well. Musically, there are more Titanic parodies, and visually, the episode is stunning.

There are a couple of things that bugged me slightly, such as Kif being able to seduce Amy with the word "hello" in this episode, yet being too nervous to talk to her several episodes later in KGKUAN, but otherwise this is a solid and well grounded episode. Hah! Well grounded? See what I did there? Because they're in space! Hah!

Anyways, the Fry/Leela relationship is explored a little, the dynamic beteen Zapp and Kif is beautifully brought to life, and there's a truly amazing bit of CG animation when the Countess and Bender are trapped in a room full of rising water. In addition to all of this, the hapless Zoidberg even plays a part in saving the day! This is truly an episode where every cast member gets a chance to shine, and they do not disappoint.

This episode is only as good as it is due to some isolated moments of sheer brilliance, and the little snatches of continuity that become important in later episodes.

Otherwise, it's pretty mediocre. Whilst there's some good sci-fi, some nerdiness, and some decent background gags, it's mainly not brilliantly funny. Visually, the undercity is great, but the gags are mostly a letdown, and the plot is rather thin at best.

Don't get me wrong, I like it, but I find that there's plenty of scope for improvement, and the characterisation of Bender is a little off. Even accounting for the emotional chip.

The ending is probably the funniest moment in the episode, and even though I think the characterisation is off, it's one of my favourite moments.

As US-centric as this episode is, for dealing with the President of Earth, I enjoyed it a lot more than many did.

Nixon makes a wonderful antagonist, and the episode just wouldn't be as funny without him. Not that it has no jokes which don't involve Nixon - overall, this is a very funny episode. But Nixon steals every scene he's in.

With all of that said, there are far stronger second-season episodes than this. WMIBACIL is light-years ahead of it, for example.

Overall, it's good. A solid middle-of-the-deck episode.

Once more, Futurama delivers an outstanding episode. Pretty much any line from this episode is amusing at worst, downright hilarious at best, and every character involved is perfectly played. The voice acting is amazingly good, and the animation is superb.

Jokes for nerds, background jokes, sight gags, and even filthy filthy jokes for filthy filthy nerds. This episode is overflowing with jokes. However, a couple of them fall a bit flat. Still, we're treated to Zoidberg eating his former school bunny, as well as Fry being essentially raped by a gigantic lobster - this is classic and bizzare Futurama humour at its best. If one or two jokes fall short of the mark, they can be forgiven in light of the many that are spot-on.

The music is perhaps one of the best parts of this episode, particularly the Decapodian National Anthem, and the incidental musical cues. That said, the rest of the episode is so good, you might not notice the music. The opening and ending are both strong, and although the plot isn't exactly new, it's superbly timed and paced.

Once more, Futurama manages to boldly go where many shows have been before, and show us something new and exciting. As well as something truly disgusting.

This is a fairly sci-fi episode, what with hovercars and head transplants and picnics on the moons of gas giants. Yet at the same time, it manages to bring characters down to Earth with a bump, being about how office romances never work out, and how romance itself is quite often a massive gamble.

There's quite a bit going on in this episode, and it does a good job of tying it all together. Zoidberg's dialogue is brilliant, Fry's is at worst pretty good, and Amy has some fantastic lines. "We can spit watermelon seeds at Jupiter!" There's not really much to criticise, as everybody's in character and the episode is a visual masterpiece. However, it does follow a predictable plotline, and there are a couple of jokes that aren't that funny. It's not a bad episode, it's just that Futurama is such a good show that PYHOMS tends to fall just a little short of being a perfect episode. That said, it's good television, and has a lot of rewatchability.

It's also got some awesomely funny moments. Zapp in particular is hilarious.

It's a decent episode, with some good background jokes, and some really nerdy stuff in there too. I like it, but there are also episodes that I do like a lot more.

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.

This is a very funny episode, and one of the best of Season 4. Zoidberg's trial, the invasion, and the decapodian Mobile Oppression Palace are in particular a treat to watch.

The animation is gorgeous, the jokes are some of the best, and there are precious few things that a rational viewer would be able to find fault with.

The epitaph for this movie, the thing that they'll carve on its' tombstone will be "Good enough".

It was a good attempt at a Futurama movie, but it wasn't as good as it could have been. It feels more like an extended episode than a movie in four acts, for a start. Watching it as four seperate episodes on TV will confuse and irritate anybody who hasn't already seen it all the way through.

The time travel is fairly easy to work out - it's nowhere near as convoluted as some would have you believe. Continuity doesn't get raped as badly as people would have you think, either. There are really only two minor points that should be thought of as disrupting continuity (and at least three "goofs" from the previous episodes that turn out to have either been planned or were simply fixed by the writers during BBS).

There's science, silliness, a real epic feel visually and score-wise, but no actual greatness. It's just... good enough.

A strong candidate for the best episode ever, and easily one of the top four if it's not quite as good as one of the other contenders.

TLPJF has caused me some annoyance, as people have needed to have the time travel elements laid out and explained to them multiple times before they finally get what's going on. Some, in fact, persist in being wrong. It's like they enjoy it.

But this episode (which is what the review is about, not the stupidity of many of Futurama's fans) is a treat. Visually breathtaking, with voice acting and music to match up to it, it's a tour de force for the production crew. It's touching, hilarious, somewhat scientifically oriented, and absolutely thoroughly well and truly a pleasure to watch.

It's proof that the Futurama writers, animators, and general staff have still got it. Despite having been cancelled and taking a long hiatus from TV.

I can't bring myself to score any aspect of this episode below a "9".

This episode takes continuity, throws it into a bag, and jumps up and down on it. Honestly, there is no excuse for doing that.

It's funny, and it's a visual treat. The highlight of the episode is the brief pan across the "British" version of NNY, with hoverbuses and Tube transport tubes (that'll make little sense if you've not seen it), in a riot of colour and subtle jokes and references to other famous sci-fi franchises.

But as far as the plot goes, I'd rather ignore this being canon. It makes the unified time travel laws for the Futuramaverse go a little screwy.

For that reason, I'd have trouble giving it more than 5/10, even if the British accents hadn't been absolutely horrible (though hilarious in their own way).

Oh, and Benjamin Franklin was one of the best guest historical celebrities that the show has had.

This is arguably the episode in Season 7A with the fewest problems, plot holes, continuity goofs, etc. That's not to say that it doesn't have them... it's a little sloppily done. But it's still a decent episode.

Whilst enjoyable, it's bracketed by two poorer episodes and appears in a lacklustre half-season overall, so that does help it to shine a little more brightly.

It's also one of the few episodes this half-season with an actual science-fiction plot.