Somara gave me an early birthday present last week, an iTunes season pass for Futurama‘s 26 episode return on Comedy Central. Certainly easier than having a friend hunt down torrent-based files the following day because iTunes automatically downloads it on Friday morning in HD and SD formats. It’s pretty sad that a half-hour sitcom is now a mere 21 minutes long (really 20 since the opening/closing credits don’t count as original material). I would say it explains why people are more prone to “steal” content since I also grew tired of paying almost $60/month with satellite TV only to be bombarded by advertising.
Editorial aside, how have the first four episodes been? Pretty good. David X. Cohen and Matt Groening were able to retain many of the great writers who made the show hilarious and too intelligent for the average Fox viewer (many staffers had at least MS degrees in Science, Math or Computer Science). Thanks to Comedy Central having less-restrictive standards and practices, the jokes involving bear butts are back as well; Al Jean of The Simpsons joked about Fox clamping down on this saying it was responsible for the 9-11 attacks.
The CC launch of Rebirth picks up shortly after Wild Green Yonder ends and continues to play on Fry’s unrequited love of Leela while Bender has to keep partying or he’ll detonate. It’s not quite the re-introduction or reboot Cohen claimed on The Onion, more of a goofy way to resolve the last DVD’s cliffhanger.
Sadly In-a-Gadda-Da-Leela has been the throwaway. It would explain why CC aired it immediately after Rebirth to claim a one-hour debut (40 minutes actually) when it was really just two episodes shown back-to-back. Although it’s always funny to see Captain Branigan try to woe Leela, this one drags on and doesn’t establish any new territory.
Attack of the Killer App skewers Apple, Twitter, eWaste recycling in India and Internet memes so thoroughly I would have to say it’s my personal favorite this season. Now if I could only find a good desktop image of Mom Corp. Craig Ferguson appears at the guest voice.
Proposition Infinity is a metaphor about legalizing gay marriage through the proxy of robosexuals (humans and robots who love each other). How fitting that CA’s eight (from the recent prop battle) turned 90 degrees resembles the symbol for infinity. Obviously, getting George Takei as the guest voice was mandatory.
I’m pretty excited to see what the next 22 will reveal. Too bad I don’t have an iPad to watch them on when our vacation comes up. However, a new episode (lucky number seven) will appear while we’re out there and I can watch it ASAP on my iPhone (or is it eyePhone?).
Scorecard thus far as per The Onion’s AV Club:
- Rebirth: A-
- In-a-Gadda-Da-Leela: C
- Attack of the Killer App: A+
- Proposition Infinity: A