"Welcome to the world of tomorrow!"
"Why do you always have to say it that way?"
Welcome to I Am Your Target Demographic and today we’re looking at the show Futurama.
What is it and why do people like it?
This is meant for people with 0 knowledge but hopefully people that are already fans
can appreciate this as well.
You probably have a basic knowledge of the television show The Simpsons.
As of this writing, it’s been on for 28 seasons.
Because of its massive success, Simpsons creator Matt Groening was asked to create a second
series, something like the Simpsons but different enough to potentially draw in new people.
"The great thing about Futurama, I think, is that if you love science fiction, this
going to be heaven because this has a lot of science fiction elements in it."
The tricky thing is that with The Simpsons, the network had little to no input.
The show was started so long ago that the writers really had the ability to cover anything
they want, as long as the show is successful.
As Futurama was being developed, this wasn’t the case with this show, so the network wanted
more input into what sort of content the show delivered.
Groening knew the key to success though, so fought adamantly to keep the controversial bits.
To tackle science fiction but make it relatable, the main character was a pizza delivery guy
named Philip J. Fry, who is accidentally frozen on New Year’s Eve when it comes the year
2000 but he remains frozen until the year 3000, with everyone he knows now dead.
He finds his only relative, his nephew Professor Farnsworth, who owns a delivery company of
his own, so Fry fits right in.
He makes friends with the crew, most notably his on again off again romance, the cyclops Leela.
There’s also a rude and boisterous robot named Bender, a doctor named Zoidberg, a spoiled
rich intern named Amy, and the Jamaican accountant Hermes.
Together, this crew engages in all sorts of shenanigans involving different planets, time
travel, cloning, all sorts of science fiction tropes.
Each episode tends to be fairly standalone, intended to be watched out of order, but there
are a few larger arcs that occasionally become relevant.
Most of these major characters have individual voice actors, except for the voice actor Billy
West who does Philip, Professor Farnsworth, and Doctor Zoidberg, as well as plenty of
other extras.
"Man, all this constant exposure to radiation is making me thirsty."
"Good news everyone, it's bad news."
"I don't want to live on this planet anymore."
"Young lady, bring me a sandwich from the dumpster and leave the maggots on it." *Sounds*
Most of the voice actors do side and supporting
characters’ voices, except for Katey Sagal, who only voices Leela.
In terms of topics, the show was sometimes a little edgy, hence why Fox was a little
concerned.
Bender the robot was constantly smoking and drinking, there were sometimes malformed mutants
that were fairly disgusting, and plenty of promiscuity and sex jokes.
These things aren’t that over the top, but it was a concern for a cartoon on a primetime
network.
If you’re thinking that the show is crude or meant to be offensive, something like Family
Guy or South Park, it’s not the same at all.
Futurama has likely one of the most educated team of writing staffs ever assembled.
At one point, their writing team had a combined three PhDs, seven Master’s, and had spent
over 50 years attending Harvard.
It’s smart writing, every episode a satire of some facet of science fiction, amplifying
and predicting where our world is headed.
Some folks have the two extremes in their minds, that a cartoon for adults will either
be silly and stupid, or offensive and gross.
This one is at the sweet spot of witty and smart.
"An alien saucer has been detected on route to Earth."
"We now go live to the White House lawn, where such things usually land."
Futurama ran for four seasons but was cancelled by Fox.
Groening has said on multiple occasions that the Fox executives weren’t fans of the show,
combined with somewhat low ratings.
Cartoon Network got the rights to re-run episodes, which helped to spread the show to new fans.
Eventually Comedy Central got the rights to the show and created four “straight to DVD”
movies, which reinvigorated interest and got Comedy Central to create a few more seasons
of new episodes, with all of the voice talent returning.
This turbulent series of continuations and cancellations has been rough on the writers,
with four episodes throughout the series being written under the pretense that it was a series finale.
Even now, the current series finale is only the series finale until the show finds new
life somewhere else.
If you spend much time on the internet, you've likely seen that Futurama has been the starting
point for many popular memes, including Fry’s “Not sure if…” meme and his “Shup
up and take my money” meme.
Professor Farnworth’s “I don’t want to live on the planet anymore” is a perfect
response for something idiotic or embarrassing.
If you’re a fan of Futurama, I want you to sound off in the comments about why you
like it.
If you’re not a fan yet, hopefully this video convinced you to check out at least
an episode or two, it’s currently streaming in most countries on Netflix.
Thanks for watching!
"Alright, so the machine produces a few toxic byproducts,
you don't have to make a federal case out of it!"