ORBzine - 2004 UK Television Review: "Futurama"

ORBzine - Futurama TV Review June 2005

[Season 1 !Season 2 !Season 3 !Season 4 !Season 5 ]

futurama

Season 1

futurama Futurama [Season 1, Episode 1] Space Pilot 3000
Shown 28 Mar 99

Pizza delivery-boy Philip Fry gets cryogenically frozen, and wakes up in the year 3000.

Fry is meant to get a career-chip, to tell him what job he should do. But he wants free will, so he runs away. Leela, the purple-haired one-eyed career counsellor gives chase.

Fry befriends a robot, Bender. Together they try to find Fry's only surviving relative, The Professor. He runs an interstellar delivery firm, and offers them jobs ...

futurama Futurama [Season 1, Episode 2] The Series Has Landed
Shown 7th January 2006 [Saturday]

Fry meets the rest of the company - Hermes the rasta accountant, Amy the intern, and Zoidberg the doctor lobster. Then the team go for their first delivery mission. Their destination? The Moon!

Fry is unhappy with the was the Moon has been turned into a theme park, so he takes Leela on a joyride to see the real moon. As a result they end up on a redneck's farm.

Bender gets thrown out of the theme park for being a thieving bastard. Can Amy save the day?

futurama Futurama [Season 1, Episode 3] I, Roommate
Shown 6 Apr 99

Fry has been sleeping at the Planet Express office. The others kick him out, so he crashes with Bender.

Bender and Fry both love the robo-soap opera, All My Circuits. But their co-tenancy has problems, so Fry has to hunt for a new place.

futurama Futurama [Season 1, Episode 4] Love's Labors Lost In Space
Shown 13 Apr 99

Leela can't find herself a boyfriend.

The crew are sent to rescue animals from a planet that's about to implode. En route they are stopped by the space patrol, led by Zap Brannigan.

Leela gets herself some action. And a pet, Nibbler.

futurama Futurama [Season 1, Episode 5] Fear Of A Bot Planet
Shown 9th January 2006 [Monday]

In y3k, baseball has been replaced with Blurnsball. Played in Madison Cube gardens. But at least hot-dogs are the same.

The team take a package to a planet of human-hating robots. Fry and Leela are hunted down, but Bender fits right in.

futurama Futurama [Season 1, Episode 6] A Fishful of Dollars
Shown 27 Apr 99

Fry has a thousand years of interst in his bank account. This means he is a billionaire. He tries to live the Y2k lifestyle again.

Fry buys the only anchovies in existance. Mom wants Fry's anchovies, and will do anything to get them.

Guest-Starring Pam Anderson .

futurama Futurama [Season 1, Episode 7] My Three Suns
Shown 4 May 99

Bender's cooking. Well, everyone needs a hobby. Unlike Reese in Malcolm in the Middle, he doesn't have any natural talent at it!

Fry becomes Emperor of the liquid people.

futurama Futurama [Season 1, Episode 8] A Big Piece Of Garbage
Shown 11 May 99

The Prof's smell-o-scope detects an asteroid about to crash into New New York.

It's made of 20th century garbage, including Bart Simpson dolls! Fry, Leela and Bender are sent to blow it up.

futurama Futurama [Season 1, Episode 9] Hell Is Other Robots
Shown 18 May 99

Bender gets addicted to electricity.

To become reformed, be becomes uber-religious.

The religious Bender is worse than the evil one! The others try to corrupt him, making him vulnerable to the Robot Devil!

This is the first appearance of the Robot Devil, who becomes a central character in the final ep.

Futurama Futurama [Season 2, Episode 1] A Flight To Remember
Shown 23rd July 2005 - Saturday

The team get a trip on the Starship Titanic, captained by Zap Brannigan. In the inevitable parody of Titanic, Bender has a fling with an aristocratic lady-bot.

Fry has to pretend to be boyfriend to both Amy and Leela. This foreshadows future events ...

futurama Futurama [Season 2, Episode 2] Mars University
Shown 3 Oct 99

Fry wants to update his education as a college drop-out, so he entrolls at Mars Uni. His room-mate is a monkey with a special hat that makes him super-intelligent. Naturally, the 2 fight.

Bender visits his old robot frat, and discovers it's full of robo-nerds. He makes it his mission to get themn to par-tay!

Amy's still at Uni, too. Since her parents financed most of the facility, it's hardly a surprise.

futurama Futurama [Season 2, Episode 3] When Aliens Attack
Shown 28th August 2001 - Tuesday

It's a holiday, so the gang all go to the beach.

The Earth is attacked by Alien couch-potatoes who want to watch a show called Single Female Lawyer [a nice parody of Ally McBeal].

It's Fry's fault. And he's the only one alive who watched the show. So he has to organise the gang into re-enacting the show!

futurama Futurama [Season 2, Episode 4] Fry & The Slurm Factory
Shown 14 Nov 99

Fry is addicted to Slurm, the ultimate Y3k soft drink. He manages to win a competition, and the team get a tour of the Slurm factory.

This is the Futurama take on Willie Wonka , naturally. With giant green slugs instead of people.

The team discover the disgusting secret of how Slurm is made. Not so surprising, really. Problem is, it's highly addictive ...

futurama Futurama [Season 2, Episode 5] I Second That Emotion
Shown 21 Nov 99
Shown 4th January 2002 - Friday

Bender is jealous of all the attention everyone gives to Leela's pet, Nibbler. He flushes the damn thing, so the others fit him with an empathy chip that makes him share whatever emotion Leela is feeling.

Bender goes down the sewers to find Nibbler, so Leela and Fry go to look for Bender.

Watch out for Calculon the acting robot.

futurama Futurama [Season 2, Episode 6] Brannigan Begin Again
Shown 28 Nov 99

Zap is court martialled, so he joins Planet Express.

Leela finds Zap's machismo annoying. But Kif's ass-kissing is even funnier!

Zap leads the crew in a mutiny. His plan - to carry on his vendetta against the Neutral people.

futurama Futurama [Season 2, Episode 7] A Head In The Polls
Shown 12 Dec 99

When titanium prices go up in value, Bender hocks his body.

Nixon buys Bender's body, and enters himself into the Presidential elections. The body guarantees him the Robot vote, and since the 2 other candidates are clones with identical policies, he looks like a shoo-in.

This is a great satire on US politics. A bit heavy-handed, perhaps, but this show isn't renowned for subtlety.

futurama Futurama [Season 2, Episode 8] Xmas Story
Shown 19 Dec 99

It's Xmas time. Fry tries to cheer Leela up by getting her a present. Either one 500-dollar parrot, or 500 one-dollar stink-lizards.

Santa Claus is coming to town. Only he's an indestructable killer robot on a rampage.

Zoidberg gets a surprising mention. Interesting foreshadowing of his part in the final ep.

futurama Futurama [Season 2, Episode 9] Why Must I Be A Crustacean in Love
Shown 7th August 2001 - Tuesday

The crew take Doctor Zoidberg to his homeworld so he can fulfil his role in the breeding cycle.

futurama Futurama [Season 2, Episode 10] Put Your Head On My Shoulder
Shown 7th August 2001 - Tuesday

Valentine Day again, and Fry still hasn't got a girlfriend. He and the Chinese girl find they have a lot in common, but he soon realises that hanging out and doing stuff is too close too commitment!

Then they're in a crash, and end up with their heads on the same body.

futurama Futurama [Season 2, Episode 11] The Lesser Of Two Evils
Shown 14th August 2001 - Tuesday

The crew visit a 20th Century theme park and meet Bender's twin, Flexo. The twin has a goatee beard, TV shorthand for eeeevil ...

They are tasked with taking a valuable atom to the Miss Universe Beauty pageant, where a wide selection of alien species compete against each other. Including the Crushinator and an Amazon Woman!

futurama Futurama [Season 2, Episode 12] Raging Bender
Shown 25th January 2002 - Friday

Bender accidentally KOs a robo-wrestler, and becomes an Ultimate Robot Fighter.

Then he has to throw a fight ...

Leela's a kick-ass babe because she learned Arcturan Kung-Fu as a kid. Her teacher was a sexist asshole, and she bears a grudge against him. Now she gets a chance to even the score!

futurama Futurama [Season 2, Episode 13] A Bicyclops Built For Two
Shown 21st August 2001 - Tuesday

Leela meets another Cyclops. She plans to marry him ...

futurama Futurama [Season 2, Episode 14] How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back
Shown 21st August 2001 - Tuesday

The company gets audited by a female bureaucrat.

Hermes loses his job. But Fry, being a total slob, arouses the female bureaucrat's fetish ...

futurama Futurama [Season 2, Episode 15] A Clone of My Own
Shown 28th August 2001 - Tuesday

Fry's nephew, the Professor, turns 160 and is shipped off to the Near-Death Star.

The replacement is Hubert, a clone of the old man. An annoying wee git who points out all the illogical and unscientific things about Futurama.

futurama Futurama [Season 2, Episode 16] The Deep South
Shown 16 Apr 00

The guys go on a fishing vacation. Fry thinks he sees a mermaid.

The crew discover the lost city of Atlanta.

futurama Futurama [Season 2, Episode 17] Bender Gets Made (a.k.a. Bendfellas)
Shown 4th September 2001 - Tuesday

The guys have dinner at Elzar's.

Bender joins the Robot Mafia, where he really belongs. He is send on a big mission, space piracy - but their target is Fry and Leela's ship!

Futurama Futurama [Season 2, Episode 18] The Problem With Popplers (a.k.a. My Problems With Popplers)
Shown 1st February 2002 - Friday

Leela discovers a new species that turns out to be very tasty. But after the fast-food corporations move in and mass-market the new species, Leela discovers that the creatures are actually sentient.

 28.   2-19     2ACV14     14 May 00   Mother's Day
futurama Futurama [Season 2, Episode 20] Anthology of Interest: 1
Shown 5th January 2002 - Saturday

The old scientist dude develops a what-if-atron. The team use it to see what would have been if:

  • Bender were giant
  • Leela were more impulsive
  • Fry had never come to the future.

    This allows cameos by Al Gore, Stephen Hawking, Gary Gyrax and Nichelle Nichols.

  • futurama Futurama [Season 3, Episode 1] The Honking
    Shown 3rd November 2001 - Saturday

    Bender gets knocked over by a were-car, so every night at midnight he turns into a were-car himself and seeks out unwary victims.

    This episode gives a great parody of the film The Car , and also has humorous references to David Duchovny and Knight Rider

    futurama Futurama [Season 3, Episode 2] War is the H-Word
    Shown 6th December 2001 - Thursday

    Fry and Bender join the military in order to get 5% discount on all their purchases. However, war is declared and they are sent off to invade a remote and worthless planet. Odd how a parody of Starship Troopers can mirror current events so well.

    Leela isn't allowed to join, because the army no longer accepts female recruits. However, the crew are joined by a blue-haired fellow with sunglasses that conceal his eye[s].

    futurama Futurama [Season 3, Episode 3] The Cryonic Woman
    Shown 24th December 2001 - Monday - Xmas Eve

    Fry and Bender manage to get fired from their jobs. They wind up getting Leela's old job, as a cryogenics counsellor. Pauly Shore [ Biodome ] gets a cameo as himself.

    Fry defrosts his old girlfriend, and she can't adapt to the year 3000. Instead they step into a cryogenics pod and set the timer for Y3K!

    futurama Futurama [Season 4 Episode 4] Parasites Lost
    Shown 15th November 2001 - Thursday

    Fry eats a dodgy sandwich and becomes infested with parasitic worms. The guys create miniature robot duplicates of themselves, then send the robots on an Incredible Journey through Fry's body.

    However, these worms are super-intelligent. Also, when Leela distracts Fry by taking him on a Date she learns that the new Fry is her perfect man.

    Futurama Futurama [Season 3, Episode 5] Amazon Women In The Mood
    Shown 29th December 2005 - Thursday

    Kif and Zap double-date Amy and Leela. Thanks to Zap's spoken-word filksong of Lola they crash-land on a planet. Fry and Bender come to rescue them. Everyone knews where to go, without any specific destination being mentioned.

    They are captured by Amazonian women ruled by fem-puter [Bea Arthur - Star Wars Holiday Special ]. The men are sentanced to death by snoo-snoo! Can Bender save the day?

    futurama Futurama [Season 3, Episode 6] Bendless Love
    Shown 11 Feb 01

    Bender has bending urges, and starts sleep-bending. To calm them he applies to work in a bending factory. It's subject to a stike run by the robot Mafia, so scab labour is earning ten times normal pay!

    Other scabs working at the factory include Flexo [no longer in prison] and a fembot named Angleena, who Bender falls in love with.

    Bender's relationship with Angeleena gets complicated, and the Robot Mafia hatch an evil plot.

    futurama Futurama [Season 3, Episode 7] The Day The Earth Stood Stupid
    Shown 18 Feb 01

    Earth is invaded by giant floating brains. They make everyone stupid, so they can absorb all Earth's knowledge.

    Leela discovers the truth about Nibbler.

    Only Fry can save the world! Yes, he seems so stupid the brains can't affect him.

    futurama Futurama [Season 3, Episode 8] That's Lobstertainment!
    Shown 25 Feb 01

    Zoidberg wants to get into showbusiness. Since he lacks talent, he heads to Hollywood. His Uncle, former movie star Harold Zoid, has an opportunity for them ...

    Bender cons Calculon into helping them. As ever, the deal goes bad on them.

    Fry and Leela sit most of this ep out. After watching Zoidberg's stand-up comedy, they get stuck in the La Brea tar pit and miss the Academy Awards ceremony!

    futurama Futurama [Season 3, Episode 9] The Bird-Bot of Ice-Catraz
    Shown 20th December 2001 - Thursday

    The team are hired to tow a supertanker of starship fuel [dark matter ore - nibbler's poop!] past a penguin colony on Pluto. Leela resigns in protest and joins the environmentalists, so Bender is made Captain in her place.

    Bender ends up in the penguin colony, thinking he is a penguin.

    The spill causes the penguins to over-multiply. The hippies must go on a killing spree to prevent overpopulation.

    Meanwhile, Fry and Zoidberg are left to do all the work on the delivery ship.

    Futurama Futurama [Season 3, Episode 10] Luck of the Fryrish
    Shown 10th December 2005 - Saturday

    Fry has terrible luck. Cue flashbacks to his childhood, when he found a 7-leaf clover that brought him luck. And introduce Fry's jealous elder brother, Yancy.

    This is one of the most touching eps of the show.

    futurama Futurama [Season 3, Episode 11] The Cyber House Rules
    Shown 1 Apr 01

    Leela meets a surgeon who gives her a second eye, and decides to settle down with him. Fry tries to make her see that she's made the wrong decision.

    Bender adopts a bunch of brats from Leela's Orphanarium.

    futurama Futurama [Season 3, Episode 12] Insane In The Mainframe
    Shown 8 Apr 01

    Fry and Bender are wrongly arrested for bank robbery. They plead insanity, and get sent to a home for insane robots.

    Fry is cured - he is released as a perfectly sane ... robot!

    futurama Futurama [Season 4 Episode 13] Bending in the Wind
    Shown 22nd November 2001 - Thursday

    Bender gets crippled in an accident, and decides to follow his lifelong dream of being a musician. He organises a concert to raise funds for Broken Robots.

    Guest starring Beck.

    futurama Futurama [Season 3, Episode 14] Time Keeps On Slippin'
    Shown 29th November 2001 - Thursday

    The old scientist guy creates a time-warp to gather mutant basket-ball players for a match against the Harlem Globetrotters. However, this causes a rip in the space-time continuum.

    Fry manages to get Leela to fall in love with him. But due to the time-slips he doesn't know how, and when he finds out it's too late to do it again!

    futurama Futurama [Season 3, Episode 15] I Dated A Robot
    Shown 29th December 2001 - Saturday

    Fry buys an illegal copy of Lucy Liu from Nappster.

    Futurama Futurama [Season 4, Episode 1] Roswell That Ends Well
    Shown 24th March 2002 - Sunday

    The crew manage to crash-land at Roswell in 1947. Bender's limbs get scattered around the crash site and recovered by the US military. Zoidberg gets captured ...

    Fry meets his own grandfather. Things take a turn for the worse, and Fry turns out to be more in-bred than we suspected.

    futurama Futurama [Season 4, Episode 2] A Tale Of Two Santas
    Shown 23 Dec 01

    The crew make a delivery to Santa's lair. One thing leads to another, and Bender replaces Santa.

    However, since Santa is wanted for murderous crimes, Bender gets punished instead.

    Futurama Futurama [Season 4, Episode 3] Anthology of Interest 2
    Shown 7th April 2002 - Sunday

    We get another trilogy of what-if stories.

    I, Meatbag - What if Bender became human?

    What if Earth was invaded by aliens from video games, and only Fry can save the world?

    Wizzin' - What if Leela found her homeworld? Unfortunately she gets concussed, and hallucinates a Wizard of Oz parody instead.

     48.   4- 4     4ACV03     10 Feb 02   Love And Rocket
    
    Futurama Futurama [Season 4, Episode 5] Leela's Homeworld
    Shown 14th April 2002 - Sunday

    Bender sets himself up as a toxic waste disposal engineer. He flushes it all down the sewers, which enrages the Sewer Mutants.

    Meanwhile, Leela tries to discover who her parents are.

    Futurama Futurama [Season 4, Episode 6] Where the Buggalo Roam
    Shown 21st April 2002 - Sunday

    Amy the Chinese girl takes the team to meet her parents. The parents own half of Mars, but the buggalo on their ranch get rustled. Amy's BF Kiff must save the day.

    futurama Futurama [Season 4, Episode 7] A Pharaoh To Remember
    Shown 10 Mar 02
    Shown 7th May 2006 [Sunday]

    Bender is unhappy because he wants to be remembered after his death. But all his attempts to grab peoples' attention are ignored.

    The team deliver a sandstone block to planet Osiris IV, where they are enslaved and forced to build monuments to the pharoh.

    Naturally, Bender ends up pharoh. He has the slaves build him a mile-high statue in his likeness. But it's intended as his tomb!

    futurama Futurama [Season 4, Episode 8] Godfellas
    Shown 17 Mar 02
    Shown th May 2006 [Wednesday]

    The ship is attacked by space pirates. Unfortunately, Bender's taking a nap in the torpedo tube. He gets fired, and ends up in the middle of nowhere.

    Bender-world has a liliputian society evolve on him. He is their God, and issues the One Commandment ... God Needs Booze!

    Fry is lonely without Bender. Unfortunately, the smell-o-scope can't detect him. Only some Monks have a telescope powerful enough.

    futurama Futurama [Season 4, Episode 9] Futurestock
    Shown 31 Mar 02
    Shown th May 2006 [Wednesday]

    Futurama Futurama [Season 4, Episode 10] A Leela Of Her Own
    Shown on 19th May 2002 - Sunday

    Fry teaches aliens how to make good pizzas, and Leela becomes a famous player of futuristic baseball.

    Leela struggles to become NOT the worst player ever!

     55.   4-11     3ACV22     14 Apr 02   30% Iron Chef
    
    Futurama Futurama [Season 4, Episode 12] Where No Fan Has Gone Before
    Shown 23rd June 2002 - Sunday

    Fry and the crew end up on a bleak planet ruled by an energy cloud named Melllvar. The energy cloud is an uber-Trekkie, and has captured the cast of Star Trek: The Original Series . Yes, they are voiced by the real actors!

    This must be the ultimate episode of the show, parodying not only TOS itself but also the actors and the fans. Melllvar holds Trek Con 3002, which has some marvelous events - Shatner performs a spoken-word version of Slim Shady, and Fry competes with Melllvar in a quiz to find out which one is the Ultimate Trekkie!

    Finally, there is the final battle ...

    futurama Futurama [Season 5, Episode 1] Crimes Of The Hot
    Shown 13th February 2006 [Monday]

    Earth is suffering from extreme Global Warming. Prez Nixon holds a scientific conference in Kyoto.

    The Prof confesses that he designed robots to be inefficient alkies [like Bender]. He was having an affair with Mom at the time, so it's no surprise.

    Nixon and Wurnstrom want to destroy all robots, with the aid of a giant space-mirror. Bender, meanwhile, pities a poor defenceless tortoise.

    futurama Futurama [Season 5, Episode 2] Jurassic Bark
    Shown 17 Nov 02

    Fry tries to clone his fossil dog. Bender gets jealous, and tries to stop him.

    Leela and Amy practise their hand-to-hand combat. Wrestling in skimpy costumes ...

    Hilarious as ever, this is also an ep with a very touching ending.

    Turns out that Bender's 40% Dolomite, which comes in useful.

    futurama Futurama [Season 5, Episode 3] The Route Of All Evil
    Shown 15th February 2006 [Wednesday]

    The Prof's clone and the Rasta's son are in trouble at school. Their punishment - they must start their own company and earn their own living.

    The kids choose the delivery company business. They start on a newspaper round, and soon expand.

    Meanwhile, Leela and Fry help Bender brew his own beer.

     60.   5- 4     4ACV05     22 Dec 02   A Taste Of Freedom
    
    futurama Futurama [Season 5, Episode 5] Kif Gets Knocked Up A Notch
    Shown 12 Jan 03

    Amy takes the ship to see her alien BF, Kif. Unfortunately Kif gets pregnant.

    Amy can't handle the stress of parenthood at such an early age.

    futurama Futurama [Season 5, Episode 6] Less Than Hero
    Shown 2 Mar 03

    Leela, Fry and Bender become Superheroes - Captain Yesterday, Clobberella and Super-King!

    The local Supervillain, The Zookeeper, tries to steal a gem.

    Leela's parents visit, and she wants to impress them.

    futurama Futurama [Season 5, Episode 7] Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles
    Shown 30 Mar 03

    The Prof's pet gargoyle runs away from home. He tries to catch it, but is too old, so he is taken to be Youth-enised.

    The others accidentally reduced to teenagers, only Leela adjusts well [she lives with her Parents].

    The Prof tries to re-age them, via the fountain of aging.

     64.   5- 8     4ACV10      6 Apr 03   The Why Of Fry
     65.   5- 9     4ACV12      1 Jun 03   The Sting
    
    futurama Futurama [Season 5, Episode 10] The Farnsworth Parabox
    Shown 30th December 2005 [Friday]

    The Prof orders the crew to destroy a cardboard box that contains a mysterious experiment. He refuses to allow them to look ...

    Everyone ends up in a parallel universe. With not a goatee in sight!

    Futurama Futurama [Season 5, Episode 11] 300 Big Boys
    Shown 10th December 2005 - Saturday

    Zap Brannigan defeats the peaceful spider-people, so President Nixon's head gives all Earthoids a 300 dollar tax rebate. Everyone wastes theirs on something trivial, except Zoidberg who can't make up his mind.

    Fry, meanwhile, becomes addicted to Coffee.

    futurama Futurama [Season 5, Episode 12] Spanish Fry
    Shown 13 Jul 03

    The team go on a camping holiday, to see Bigfoot. Unfortunately Fry gets abducted by aliens, who steal his nose!

    Turns out, Human Horn is a much sought-after aphrodisiac.

    Futurama Futurama [Season 5, Episode 13] Bend Her
    Shown 2nd July 2005 - Saturday

    The crew go to the Olympics to cheer Hermes on his limbo-dancing. Bender enters the Fembot bending event, and has a gender reassignment.

    The gender-Bender ends up about to marry Calculon. The others must fake Bender's death during the wedding!

    futurama Futurama [Season 5, Episode 14] Obsoletely Fabulous
    Shown 27 Jul 03

    Planet Express gets a new Robot. Bender gets jealous, but the only way he can compete with the new rival is by getting an upgrade. Problem is, the upgrade will alter his personality!

    Bender runs away, and ends up on the Island of Lost Robots.

    futurama Futurama [Season 5, Episode 15] Bender Should Not Be Allowed On TV
    Shown 3 Aug 03

    Bender cons his way into an acting role on Calculon's TV show, All My Circuits.

    Unfortunately, Bender's not a good role-model. His glamourisation of drinking, swearing and violence means that impressionable youngsters copy him.

    futurama Futurama [Season 5, Episode 16] The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings
    Shown 7th January 2006 [Saturday]

    Fry tries to play a holographic flute. Naturally, he's terrible at it. He wants to get good without practising, so he makes a deal with the Robot Devil.

    Fry ends up getting the Robot Devil's hands, musically gifted from all the fiddling contests. He writes the best Opera ever, about Leela.

    The Robot Devil wants his hands back, and pulls a nasty trick. Fry must choose between his new musical skills and his love for Leela.

    futurama Futurama [Season 1 , Episode 1 ]
    Shown th June 2006 [Wednesday]

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