With great science fiction The World of Tomorrow should always shed some light on the issues of today.
The story told from the perspective of the future can be humorous and satirical...
...but it can also be uplifting and inspirational and swear to get a perfect blend of everything,
which it what makes a show like Futurama so significant.
Futurama premiered on March 28th 1999.
Created by Matt Groening and written and developed by David X. Cohen,
and it tells the story of Philip J. Fry,
a 20th century pizza delivery boy who is cryogenically frozen and thrust into the
retro futuristic world of the year 3000.
Fry: "God, it's the future
my parents, my coworkers, my girlfriend
I'll never see any of them again
YAHOOU!"
And it took that grand Sci-Fi adventure concept
and weaved it into a heartwarming character-driven sitcom.
Futurama could have very easily been a formulaic workplace comedy set in the future
but with it's incredible world-building
interesting thematic exploration
and all the mean potential you could ask for
Fry:"Shut up and take my money"
It was able to subvert the expectations of being just the 31st century Simpsons club.
Groening: "I love the American family and so what The Simpsons that was my take on the
American family so what I've done to the American family with The Simpsons we're
gonna do the science fiction with Futurama we poked fun at all but,
all the ridiculousness and the trivia science fiction and at the same time we honor it."
Professor: "Hail Science!"
Futurama has a genuine love of science and science fiction and that's
no surprise coming from a creative staff that's been dubbed
"The most over-educated cartoon writers in history"
With three PhDs, seven master's degrees and over 50
collective years at Harvard University.
David: "We had several actual scientists in our writing staff
I was a mere master's degree in Computer Science but we had Ken Keeler PhD in
Applied Math, Bill Odenkirk PhD in Chemistry and Jeff Westbrook PhD in
Computer Science so if those guys couldn't answer it we, then we made something up"
Bringing science and mathematics into the writing adds a
stronger logical structure at the stories being told.
Take the episode "Prisoner of Benda," for example.
When writer Ken Keeler was given a chance to design and
prove his own mathematical theorem to solve a body swapping scenario
in which no two characters could swap minds more than once.
The episode was unanimously acclaimed for its intricate plot and complex writing
and earned Keeler his second WGA award the first as well as the first for any
animated project went to the 2003 episode
"Godfellas",
in which Bender becomes his own microcosmic god,
much like the famous sci-fi novella by Theodore Sturgeon
Bender: " You know, I was God once"
Cosmic Entity: "Yes I saw, you were doing well until everyone died"
Futurama offered so many interesting insights into life and it used more than just
humor to entertain its audience.
I don't laugh as hard watching Futurama as I do when watching something like
South Park which had an episode similar to "Godfellas",
where Cartman is worship by a race of seamen.
I mean aahh people
Cartman: "They think i'm God
YES!
I am God of the Sea People!"
And where South Park use that premise as a catalyst for the humor,
Futurama took a more philosophical approach exploring theology and the
relationships between men and whatever we considered gods.
Fry: "Wow, that's pretty deep"
Futurama has always been the master of hiding
brilliance in plain sight, bridging the gap between comedy and arithmetic
while bringing humanity into the science.
David: "There's not a lot of things in that
category comedy science or comedy science fiction so there weren't a lot
of role models and I think it took us, took us a little while to figure out how
to do that but I think what ultimately happens is the more seriously we took the
math and the science and at the end the science fiction element the better the
comedy worked too because we had sort of this serious set up side and then the
characters petty concerns play very well as comedy against you know the fate of
the universe and billions of years of history and that kind of stuff so
so really what we found to our surprise is take the science seriously, take the
science fiction seriously and the whole show works better that way"
It's got a broad toolbox at its disposal when constructing a narrative and that
allows it to tackle meaningful issues like global warming,
multiculturalism and racial prejudice.
And explored through the lens of a cartoon
it doesn't have to sacrifice its comedic identity.
Futurama understood that the future shapes a lesson for the present
and satire doesn't always need to be steeped and pessimist.
Underneath that zany space adventures,
there's an incredibly intimate story about love, friendship
and the significance of one person's role in the universe.
Bender:"You're a pimple on society's ass and you'll never amount to anything"
Futurama had a hell of a ride and after 14 years and 7 seasons,
it's gonna be dearly missed.
It's a show that touched millions of people
by respecting the intelligence of its audience and somehow found humor in academia
It may be gone for now
but after four different cancellations,
you never know what the future may hold
for this legendary piece of animation.
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