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I'm currently studying for my first AAT exam this coming Friday. To my delight, I noticed that many of the Kaplan textbook's example questions referred to characters from Futurama, a show that I've loved since I was about 12. Mentions of "Fry Ltd", "Leela Ltd", "Zoidberg" (probably my favourite supporting character in any TV show), "Wong", "Rodriguez", "Hermes", "Brannigan", "Kiff", "Hubert" basically cover the entire central cast. Even Scruffy (very much a tertiary character) and the evil "MomCorp" gets a nod.
In some ways, it is unsurprising that number crunchers and maths afficiandos gravitate towards Futurama. It's a science fiction show with strong academic influences which are discussed in more detail here. My discovery was also a timely one with the last ever episode of the show, "Meanwhile", airing on Sky One last night. It was a fitting farewell to these characters and conclusion to what is ultimately Philip J Fry and Turanga Leela's story.
I can only echo The AV Club's excellent review of the episode here: "It has just about everything you could want from Futurama: There’s a nifty time-travel plot, Fry and Leela get married, Bender is a jackass, Zoidberg loses $10, there’s a nifty time-travel plot, and Fry dies".
In its pomp, Futurama was a joyous combination of science-fiction homage, perfect jokes ("How's Soylent Cola?" "It varies from person to person") silly slapstick, superb storytelling, satire and pathos. Episodes like "Luck Of The Fryish", "Jurassic Bark" and "The Sting" made me cry. Often, it made me howl. Just looking at this image still makes me smile.
The last couple of series have suffered from the same issues as the latterday episodes of The Simpsons (wacky outlandish plots, characters sometimes becoming parodies of themselves). But there were enough strong episodes to forgive the occasional dud. The show has been ended and resurrected nearly as frequently as Fry himself and I wonder whether this will truly be the last we'll see of the Planet Express crew. The show has experienced with longer form storytelling before with mixed results but I'd still like to see a big screen outing for Futurama.
At the conclusion of "Meanwhile", Fry asks Leela "Want to go around again?". It would be a pleasure.
In some ways, it is unsurprising that number crunchers and maths afficiandos gravitate towards Futurama. It's a science fiction show with strong academic influences which are discussed in more detail here. My discovery was also a timely one with the last ever episode of the show, "Meanwhile", airing on Sky One last night. It was a fitting farewell to these characters and conclusion to what is ultimately Philip J Fry and Turanga Leela's story.
I can only echo The AV Club's excellent review of the episode here: "It has just about everything you could want from Futurama: There’s a nifty time-travel plot, Fry and Leela get married, Bender is a jackass, Zoidberg loses $10, there’s a nifty time-travel plot, and Fry dies".
In its pomp, Futurama was a joyous combination of science-fiction homage, perfect jokes ("How's Soylent Cola?" "It varies from person to person") silly slapstick, superb storytelling, satire and pathos. Episodes like "Luck Of The Fryish", "Jurassic Bark" and "The Sting" made me cry. Often, it made me howl. Just looking at this image still makes me smile.
The last couple of series have suffered from the same issues as the latterday episodes of The Simpsons (wacky outlandish plots, characters sometimes becoming parodies of themselves). But there were enough strong episodes to forgive the occasional dud. The show has been ended and resurrected nearly as frequently as Fry himself and I wonder whether this will truly be the last we'll see of the Planet Express crew. The show has experienced with longer form storytelling before with mixed results but I'd still like to see a big screen outing for Futurama.
At the conclusion of "Meanwhile", Fry asks Leela "Want to go around again?". It would be a pleasure.
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