"Simpsons" in Space

Futurama, an animated show set in the year 3000, premiered on March 28, 1999. The premise of the pilot is about a miserable pizza delivery boy named Fry that accidentally locks himself in a cryo tube which preserves him for a thousand years. He wakes up from stasis, stumbles out of the pod and into the year 2999 on New Millennium's Eve. As he realizes he is now in the future, predictably enough, he rejoices in the fact that everything and everyone from his old life is now gone. We can tell from the time he spent in the tube, the view that he later on sees, and the title sequence the ideas and technology that the creators thought would already be in existence in the future. Some examples would be the domestic use of flying vehicles and a tube network for pedestrian transportation.

Fry then finds himself meeting a so-called Fate Assignment Officer named Leela. Leela is a one-eyed alien girl which of course Fry finds amazing. As her job description says, she informs Fry of his permanent career assignment as a delivery boy which he immediately refuses. Leela tries to implant a career chip into Fry’s hand but he runs away and escapes Leela. So apparently, in the future, fate is now a legitimate thing on which society could refer to in order to figure out which careers would suit them best. The downside of a system like that is that it takes away the “finding yourself” part of your career life. And the fact that it’s enforced by the government only makes it worse.

As he is walking around New New York, he decides to call his one living relative from the current time period and lines up for what he thinks is a queue for a telephone booth. While waiting, he meets a robot named Bender who then utters one of the most iconic lines of the series: “Bite my shiny metal ass.” Later, Bender pays for the “telephone booth” which was now revealed as a suicide booth. A very inefficient one if you ask me. I mean, it doesn’t even have sensors inside to scan for life forms after the procedure is done. And it’s that flaw that let’s Fry and Bender leave unscathed. The two head to a bar to drink but are quickly tracked down by Leela and a couple of officers. The chase leads to a Head Museum which displays the preserved heads of some of the most famous people who ever lived. There they meet Leonard Nimoy’s head which was actually voiced by Mr. Nimoy himself which I thought was really cool. What happens next is pretty ridiculous. When they finally get caught, the two officers whip out these hilts that then activate like light sabers from Star Wars but are actually just solid light batons.

Fast forward to when Leela decides to quit her job and be on their side, she, along with Fry and Bender, finally find Fry’s many times nephew, Professor Farnsworth. Fortunately, he owns a delivery space ship which the four of them use to evade the authorities just in time to welcome the new millennium.

Although it’s set in the year 3000, a lot of things still haven’t changed. What I like about Futurama though is that it takes current cultural issues and puts a small futuristic twist to it in order to bring the issue forward to its audiences. I think the pilot did a decent job of introducing the show but I did find some parts of it felt rather forced. Still, the show is watchable every time I catch it on TV.

Franz Ybud

2008-21932