In the tradition of the Flinstones, Matt Groening followed his successful Simpsons show with another loosely similar but set far in the future ala the Jetsons. Futurama debuted in 1999 just as the our real life new millenium was beginning and immediately found a place in my own heart.
While the story of how a young pizza delivery slacker named Fry captured my imagination moreso than the Simspons ever did, the initial success of the show was limited, mostly in part due to the worst time slow available in the Fall schedule, Sunday nights at 6pm. Sundays at 6pm always fell victim to overrun football games thereby causing Futurama to either be delayed and cut or missed completely.
The reason I bring this up is because the show now cancelled, having aired its final original episode last month on Fox, has suddenly seen a huge surge in popularity. I guess it's like those old paintings that aren't worth anything until the artist dies.
SEASON ONE gave us a 13 episode arc into the life of Fry. In the first episode we witness his clumbsiness cause him to fall and get locked into one of those cryogenic coffins. Nearly 1000 years later on the eve of the new 3rd Millenium (2999) Fry is released and wakes up to a world that is full of Robots, Spaceships and One Eyed Aliens (Ahem Mutants we later learn).
Although Season one was trying to find its bearings there are a few very memorable episodes that stick out in my mind. Of course the very first episode Space Pilot 3000 because of its importance in revisiting in later seasons. I also remember fondly the season finale Fry and the Slurm Factory which grosses us out in the tradition of the Simpsons Rat Milking episode.
The complete season offered 13 episode including :
Episode 1 - Space Pilot 3000,
Episode 2 - Episode Two: The Series Has Landed,
Episode 3 - I, Roommate,
Episode 4 - Love's Labors Lost in Space,
Episode 5 - Fear of a Bot Planet,
Episode 6 - A Fishful of Dollars,
Episode 7 - My Three Suns,
Episode 8 - A Big Piece of Garbage,
Episode 9 - Hell is Other Robots,
Episode 10 - A Flight to Remember
Episode 11 - Mars University
Episode 12 - When Aliens Attack
Episode 13 - Fry and the Slurm Factory
The Disc:
Futurama is one of the newer cartoon shows produced for primetime. So it's look is absolutely stunning presented in their original 4:3 broadcast aspect ratios. The artists use such vibrant beautiful colors that make me love the look of this show. The sounds are coming in with English Dolby 2.0 surround only. This is disappointing since much of its scifi theme lends itself well to action sequences that could benefit from total surround sound.
Goodies on this package are light but let me begin by saying I LOVE the packaging that 30th Century Fox(HA!) chose to use. It is one of my favorites as it prominately displays artwork from the cartoon. Next we have the Screen-specific audio commentaries that accompany all 13 episodes. I must admit that my love for the show made listening to these even better but trying to be unbiased I have to say these are hilarious.
Next up are the Deleted scenes. Disc one features cut scenes from "The Series Has Landed," "I, Roommate," and "Love's Labour's Lost in Space"; Disc two features ones from "My Three Suns" and "Hell is Other Robots"; and disc three showcases snips from "When Aliens Attack".
Finally we have a Making-of featurette on the third disc and a substantial Conceptual art gallery with video vignettes and stills from different stages of the show's development.
bottom line:
Volume 1 is a little light on the number of episode but there are some worthwhile ones to be viewed. The packaging is great and the transfer superb. A lack of DD 5.1 is disappointing but can be overlooked. A fairly impressive offering for the Futurama fan!
4 out of 5
By - Brian Gray
