Bite my shiny, metal… (Picture: Hulu)
It’s mind-boggling to think that it’s been 10 years since a new episode of Futurama was released.
How has it been a decade since we caught up with Fry, Leela, Bender, Professor Farnsworth, Zoidberg and the rest of the Planet Express gang on their other-worldly hijinks across the universe?
The world has been pretty busy since then. An ongoing pandemic, streaming platforms boosting beyond belief, social media transforming into an entirely new beast…
So basically, there’s 10 years of material for Matt Groening and the other brainiacs behind the animated sitcom to use to their full advantage for the newly-launched reboot… which they absolutely do to brilliant effect.
The minute you watch the new episodes of Futurama, which are launching on Disney Plus, it feels like the show never left.
Everything that made it the beloved series that it was is still there – absurd humour, bonkers storylines that always go in unexpected directions and a self-awareness that joyfully and wittily pokes fun at the world we live in.
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If you’re a complete newcomer to Futurama, you might find yourself asking what the hell is going on.
After all, the original series aired from 1999 to 2013, so there are 14 years of inside jokes to catch up on and characters to familiarise yourself with.
To those of us who grew up watching Bender chainsmoke his cigars and belch flames after chugging beer, who cried over Fry’s dog waiting for him for eons when he disappeared from the year 1999, and who desperately hoped that Fry and Leela would finally get together, it’s a hugely welcome return.
Just like how it was in the past, whenever you think you know the direction that a Futurama episode is going to go in, you’d better think again.
The same old formula largely goes as follows – the Planet Express delivery team embark on a mission, usually on the orders of Professor Farnsworth, before a huge spanner is thrown in the works and chaos ensues.
References to the 2000s have now been replaced by almighty nods to some of the biggest cultural moments of the past decade, with season 11 making references to a new pandemic in town (sound familiar?), a TV show that sounds eerily similar to Black Mirror, an exploration of bitcoin and a meta focus on the impact of streaming TV.
What’s more, fans will also have the chance to uncover mysteries that have remained secret under lock and key on Futurama for years, including the secret history of the menacing evil Robot Santa, and whether Fry and Leela’s romance will endure after the universe was frozen in time.
Of course, the show’s humour is often on the nose, a bit ridiculous and immature to boot. But that’s why we love it.
The original voice cast has returned (Picture: Hulu)
To those of us who began watching Futurama when we were five years old, the series sticks to its guns doing what it does best, utilising the talents of the original voice cast to create a revival that feels both nostalgic and fresh at the same time.
Who knows how long Futurama will go on for after this? But thanks to the future in which its set, the show’s creators literally have the universe at their fingertips, and it appears – as ever – that no idea is ever too big or bizarre for them to conquer.
Welcome back Futurama! Now bite my shiny, metal…
Futurama is available to watch on Disney Plus.
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Bite my shiny, metal…
