Customer Reviews
Possibly the best animated AND sci-fi show so far... and I'm one of TV's harshest critics. - By: Gary Diamond, 24 Aug 2008 
Well, what can you say about a show like Futurama that I haven't already disclosed in the review title? The truth is, this show could not have existed without The Simpsons, which is an excellent show in it's own right, & has more fans than Futurama namely because the family situations - in the early seasons at least - could be related to by millions. And that's fine, but those who prefer more off-kilter & esoteric humour with sharp satire in abundance, set in space with a dysfunctional family yet to be rivallled by any other show of its kind should find at least a couple of handfuls of things to enjoy in this series.
Be warned: it's not as much a 'pick-up-and-go' attempt, as so many of the 21st centuries disposable programs have been. You have to know where you are in terms of recurring story arcs & how the writers evolve the main cast. I personallly saw some episodes out of sequence & without having witnessed the character development I was at a loss to what the point was. Then having been lent the first season by a friend, I knew I had to have the lot. I saw great writing & had a feeling that with the basic tropes & premises down, they could do some wacky but touching episodes. I was right.
As television seasons go, Futurama offers almost everything I could want. There are a couple of clangers in the set, granted. But then, which show doesn't have the odd wobble or moment of misplaced lunacy? All the episodes are memorable & eminently quotable regardless. Shame on Fox for killing the show with executive meddling a few years ago because although the new movies are also superb, this is where it started & this is where alll the elements gel the best. Episodes with 'Bad-Day-Kirk-Buffoon' Zapp Brannigan are worth the price alone. Plus, the commentaries will point out jokes you might have missed even after repeated viewings & give insight onto what makes it work - alll the people involved love the concept & enjoy each other's company.
A rare Quantum Gemerald indeed.
(SIDE NOTE: I ordered at the end of 2007 with free delivery & the box set showed up on New Years Day 2008, which gave me something good to watch while nursing the uncle of alll hangovers. Well done Amazon.)
The future is bright - the future is Futurama - By: D. Hartland, 27 Mar 2008 72 (i think) 25 minute-ish episodes of purely watchable cartoon comedy, top quality even from Episode 1, with humour appealing to many different tastes; Fry's idiotic slapstick, Leela's 'sensitive, different & female in control' line of thought, Bender's felonious sarcasm, the Professor's abrupt mad scientist statements & elderly comments, plus that of the numerous other less prominent characters. Thoroughly enjoyed by yours truly. A great price too & no delivery problems. Thank you Amazon!
Outstanding... - By: Gsp, 08 Mar 2008 Hilarious for any Futurama fan...my girlfriend actuallly doesn't like the Simpsons (yeah I know, I can't understand it either), but still found many of these hilarious!
With regard to the person who said there was no play alll option - the copy I received had a play alll option on each disc...I used it a few times. Who knows, maybe they took notice & resolved that...
THE CREATORS OF THE SIMPSONS MAKE ANOTHER HIT - By: stuart, 05 Dec 2007 This marvelous animation, from the creator of my alll time favourite motion picture, The Simpsons, uses a subtle integration of cgi graphics with a more flashy version of Groenings style of animation to produce half hours of non stop gags (quite intelligent in some cases) & fun adventure. The pop culture references so great in The Simpsons only go farther & wider here in this story of Fry, a pizza delivery boy sent through suspended animation to the year 3000 from the year 1999.
Phillip J. Fry, better known simply as 'Fry', was a pizza delivery boy in the late nineties. The first episode deals with his being frozen in a cryogenic capsule for a thousand years, in the background through the window we see the changing of New York, which has become New New York, & remains the central setting for the series after this episode. Fry soon meets Turanga Leela, a one eyed girl who believes she is an alien, who was raised at an orphanage. (we later find out she is in fact a mutant & her parents live underground) Fry runs from Leela after being assigned work as a delivery boy (for he wished for a fresh start) & meets Bender the robot, who is programmed to bend, & has a selfish & indulgent persona, enjoying cigars & alcohol (incidentallly the fuel of alll robots). Leela then turns to Fry's side & the three find Fry's only living relative, Professor Farnsworth, who employs them in his delivery company, Planet Express. Other members of the crew are Zoidberg, a alien lobster like creature, & Amy Wong, a wealthy martian, as well as Scruffy the janitor (often ignored despite caring for the company deeply) & a Jamaican businessman who is good at financial operations. The series generallly follows adventures on different planets, or Earth, involving a variety of recurring characters like Zapp Brannigan, who admires Leela, & many 'heads', famous personalities in the form of heads inside glass containers filled with fluid, such as Richard Nixon. The series' style shares much with The Simpsons, but is cleaner animated & uses cgi for spacecraft & other objects to some degree. Also of note is the colour of skin, pink rather than Simpsons yellow.
The characters are great, & the humour & dialogue are very worthy of the corner box's schedule. If you only alllowed programs of this quality on the TV guide would be almost empty. This series is very amusing & enjoyable, & is almost as good as The Simpsons for entertainment. The characters have interesting personalities & the plots are, considering it's setting, quite extraordinary. Quite an enjoyable show.
Praise all round - By: J. Dear, 20 Nov 2007 I've thought about buying this programme on DVD for a long time--having tried to catch the occasional episode on VHS & missing many--so very pleased to find it on Amazon, & at such a good price! It arrived very quickly & so well packaged!!--a great idea to suspend the box of DVDs in a plastic envelope within the cardboard box--well done. A great series, to enjoy for many a moon.
