I went in pretty skeptical, but I have to say, it’s good enough for me to feel comfortable saying it’s actually more Futurama. There’s a small hump to get over with the voice actors having aged, but unless you’re an existing hardcore fan who’s listening for it, I think Hermes is the only that sounds noticeably different, but I can get used to it.
I also feel like it’s strangely anachronistic in referencing modern day trends and technology. Futurama began in a time before streaming and all of that existed, so hearing it reference these things sticks out like a sore thumb, but it’s not like Futurama didn’t already reference real life subjects outside of Sci Fi, it’s just something I’ll get used to as the novelty wears off and it settles in with the rest of the show in my mind.
Overall, not earth shatteringly good, but I enjoyed it, and I’ll absolutely be on the hook to keep going as more episodes are released.
I genuinely laughed at the episode a handful of times… I’ve got no complaints so far.
Except for the fact that Fry told me to binge no less than 10 episodes, and they only released one.
I’m with you on your analysis. It wasn’t mindblowingly good, but it was certainly good enough to not feel like a band past its prime trying to cash in on one last payday. I do think that Billy West (Fry)‘s voice has aged some as well, but I got used to it after a minute or two and it was fine.
I think when you’re coming back from cancelation…AGAIN, and especially after so long, it’s not like a pilot, but it requires more exposition than a regular season opener. So it was good enough on its own merit, and I’m grading it on a curve as it’s the first episode in a decade and has to do a bit more storytelling drudgery than your average show.
Fry’s voice sounds the same but just slower. Feel like they could fix it by just asking Billy West to talk faster.
Yeah, I thought the same about West’s voice. But DiMaggio is noticeably older sounding. Yet, I thought Katey Sagal sounded surprisingly youthful.
Damn really? I didn’t notice any difference in DiMaggio’s voice but maybe I need to binge the old seasons as I haven’t watched them in a while.
It could also be that I’ve watched other shows with him in it recently. Been watching a lot of Adventure Time and Chowder with my little one.
Make sure to get your binge suit and a tank of Slurm
I kinda appreciated that the whole episode seemed a bit slower. I remember the last reboot feeling much quicker paced than the originals.
The pacing was fantastic. Outside of pacing, it’s all a bit lower energy though, kind has some season 1 vibes, but with season 11 writing.
They’re catering to the fact that their core audience is getting older and harder to understand fast-paced speech lolol (said by one of those people who is starting to get old)
It was like your loved but never seen extended family coming to visit. You are a little uncomfortable that they’re aging so quickly, but you forget about it and have a good time anyway after a few.
Fry definitely sounds different, Hermes I didn’t notice.
Honestly though, it’s not something that matters or bothers me especially with the actual context of the episode. The same timejoke for Benders beer being flat is why Fry’s voice aged, for reasons! lol
I kind of took it like time progressed during the pause in the final episode, so even though Professor reset it there was still some advancement based on the atomic calendar.
The Humor bot bit about non-binary computers really for me. It was fast, odd and kind of strange. It was the best joke of the episode
Hard agree
The PC crowd follow up really got me
I liked the episode!
But I was going into it with expectations that it was going to be kind of mid like the first season of Disenchanted. I was very pleasantly surprised that there was like a legitimate plot line, even though it was kind of silly. It seem like the same level of incredulous shenanigans that Futurama has always gotten itself into.
Ok interesting, I noticed Fry’s voice first! It smacked me in the face how familiar but aged he sounded! I’ll have to pay attention to Hermes in the next episode.
Overall, I liked the episode! I thought the topical references toward the beginning were funny.
It felt very fast to me though. Maybe just because it was something new, idk, but it felt like it went by so quick.
Fry was a little more gravely and a little more of a relaxed cadence.
Leela actually had a single line with a bit of a grandma waiver.
They’re like 70 and 69 years old. there’s no way i would that consistent when i’m that old :)
Bender was on point though.
Jesus christ I had no idea they were that old. That is seriously impressive
I liked a joke about Black Mirror being repetitive and unoriginal. I love Black Mirror.
I know I’m in the minority here, but this is one of my least favorite episodes (be gentle). I thought the events were moving too fast and they had a quota to fit a certain amount of jokes per scene.
This is of course a cartoon and so I don’t expect every character’s reaction to make sense, but a lot of the decision-making was so silly even for Futurama. Leela’s decision to make episodes of that show indefinitely was so stupid that it felt like another character should have been the one making driving that decision. Bender is a character I could see coming up with that plan, but Leela should be better than that.
I don’t know. I guess it just wasn’t my thing
I think Leela’s decision tracks. She’s always been the level headed, analytical captain… until an emotional nerve is stuck.
We see similar behaviours frequently in earlier seasons, and she has always had a soft spot for Fry, even before she loved him.
I liked it! A bit too on the nose with the meta commentary for me though. Hopefully its just this first episode.
It probably is just this episode. They did the same thing although just at the start instead a whole episode with the Comedy Central Channel bit in Rebirth.
Overall it wasn’t the strongest but had some great jokes. I’m super excited for the rest of the season and I’m glad they are releasing weekly. I keep visiting the page to see when the next episode is released and end up watching more old episodes.
I liked it. Zoidberg sounded a bit different out of all of them personally.
I really liked it! Now I should probably find a place to watch it
I enjoyed it. They had a lot of the silly moments that earlier futurama had. Like bender accidentally hitting zoidberg, or just random things happening.
Those didn’t happen the last few seasons of futurama.
Automatic win for Zero Sugar Slurm alone!
I have to disagree with your point about the references to modern technology sticking out like a sore thumb. I binge the whole show at least once a year and there are countless jokes throughout the series poking fun at technology that was relevant at air date. The first one that comes to mind is Amy’s comically small cell phone (which was a flip phone) that she couldn’t carry around because the wireless charger was the size of a toaster.
Another that I can quickly think of is the way they portray the internet, and the direct references to websites like Napster. They even resorted to making jokes based off of internet memes that have LONG since died off. For example, the entire conflict between Fry and Leela in the episode with the MomCorp eyePhone is based on the popularity of Susan Boyle’s performance on Britain’s Got Talent from who knows what year.
If references to modern tech are off-putting to you, you haven’t payed any attention in older episodes.
Isn’t Slurms MacKenzie dead?
I haven’t seen the new episode yet but it’s at least heavily implied that he dies by partying a roof down himself to stop the Wormulons.
There’s a Slurm Zero commercial in the middle of the episode and he’s old in it, hence the comment/question. 😅
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Slurm company dragged his mangled corpse from under the rubble and prevented him from escaping his partying even in death
Fry’s been decapitated before and he’s fine. 🤷🏻♂️
