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 TWO showed that the intial success of the first season meant a bigger budget and more grand plots. With Fry, Leela, Professor Farnsworth, Bender, Amy, Dr. Zoidberg and Hermes now firmly in each of their own personas, the writing team was able to expand the universe of Futurama. Who can forget the incredibly stupid Captain Zap Brannigan?
The show also took a turn that I absolutely loved by taking a bigger aim at Scifi culture with references to Star Trek ("The Problem with Popplers,") for instance. We also got a look at how Santa Clause had evolved with John Goodman's portrayal in the episode Xmas Story. Probably the best episode of the season mimiced Star Trek Next Generation's own Data when Bender gets an Emotion Chip to give him "feelings". I can't tell you how awesome this season is even though it's not the best of the 5 that aired.
The complete season offered 19 episodes including :
Episode 1 - I Second That Emotion
Episode 2 - Brannigan, Begin Again
Episode 3 - A Head in the Polls
Episode 4 - Xmas Story
Episode 5 - Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love
Episode 6 - Put Your Head on My Shoulder
Episode 7 - Lesser of Two Evils
Episode 8 - Raging Bender
Episode 9 - A Bicyclops Built for Two
Episode 10 - How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back
Episode 11 - A Clone of My Own
Episode 12 - The Deep South
Episode 13 - Bender Gets Made
Episode 14 - The Problem With Popplers
Episode 15 - Mother's Day
Episode 16 - Anthology of Interest (Part 1 of 2)
Episode 17 - The Honking
Episode 18 - War is the H-Word
Episode 19 - The Cryonic Woman
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. Like Volume 1, the sounds are still 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. The second season is even better than the firsts! 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 19 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 15 Deleted scenes. Like Volume 1 these are spread out among the four discs on various episodes. There's also a Animatics for the episode "Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?". I always love these kind of behind the scenes stuff. Also we will review soon the Futurama game and there's a trailer for it on the disc.
bottom line:
Volume 2 is more of a real season with some of the best the series has to offer. Although the disc still retains disappointing sounds, the packaging is even better than Volume 1 and the look continues to be awesome on DVD. Definitely for the Futurama fan!
4.5 out of 5
By - Brian Gray
1/2
