For those who may not know, Futurama is an animated sitcom that aired from 1999 to 2013. It tells the story of Philip J. Fry, a pizza delivery boy, who becomes cryogenically frozen, and wakes up in the 30th century. Lost in the retro-futuristic New New York, he is eventually given a job as a delivery boy by his distant descendant, Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth. Farnsworth is a mad scientist who runs an intergalactic delivery company to finance his experiments. Fry is soon joined by a team of goofy co-workers: Leela the cyclop, Bender the robot, Zoidberg the decapodian (an alien crab), Amy, Hermes, and Scruffy (the other three humans). Over the course of seven seasons, the crew goes on either dangerous or absurd adventures, making them stumble into the most improbable situations. A pet project of Matt Groening’s invention, Futurama had a tough time hitting the mainstream, Fox executive deeming it too strange and complicated for a cartoon. The show was cancelled from 2003 to 2010 (!), because it failed to gather the hype The Simpsons had. Of course, the show can seem a bit off-putting at first (I know I didn’t love it right away), but re-watching it after a few years, I realize few cartoons could have got away with such a high brow concept, and still be so entertaining. Today, I think Futurama has since been accepted in the very select club constituted by The Simpsons, Family Guy, and South Park. This is why I am giving you a shiny new list of 10 favorite episodes of mine.
(And here is another list by Maxime Kah! Nathalie)
Let’s not kid ourselves here: there is no way a ten entries list will do justice to the most iconic TV show of all time. The Simpsons, by the way it blended animation, social commentary, and brilliant humour, quickly became one of the most watched and beloved cartoons of the nineties. That being said, there has been criticism as to how the show’s quality has been dwindling, especially during the 21st century. And today, as the Simpsons are onto an impressive, but somewhat formulaic 28th season, one might want to be reminded why this show used to be so great.
I first discovered Jane the Virgin earlier this year, although I can’t quite remember how! It is a TV series based on a telenovela that premiered in October 2014 and began its second season a year later.
Maxime is back with a new list after his Top 10 Family Guy episodes! Don’t hesitate to tell us in the comments if you liked the same South Park episodes as he did!