[7.4/10] Definitely a fun episode. It’s funny, I must have seen this episode a dozen times, and I’m not sure it dawned on me until now how quickly the show makes this one about Fry’s obsession with television. Having seen it more clearly, I like the loony premise that after being shamed for spending his life watching television, it’s Fry’s elemental T.V. knowledge that saves the whole planet. It’s just the sort of cynical but goofy perspective that I enjoy from Futurama.
Plus, there’s a lot of bits and characters from the show that would become classics. I think this is our first introduction to Lrrr and the Omicronians, and seeing their own T.V.-focused warmongering is still a laugh and a half. Zapp Brannigan is in rare form here, with his mixed metaphors and lines about “every mission [being] a suicide mission” when he’s in a charge are an absolute hoot. As if that weren’t enough, we get some outstanding capering from Bender and Zoidberg at the beach.
There’s also lots of fun jabs at the television medium, which makes Futurama feel more of a piece with its yellow-skinned forbears than usual. The bits about Fry liking TV better than reality is on the nose but funny, and his “clever things make people feel stupid, and unexpected things make them feel scared” is a nice succinct way to damn the standard T.V. audience. Hell, while the whole Ally McBeal parody is fairly dated today, it still works in a vacuum as a spoof of steamy but drivel-filled TV dramas.
Overall, the television theme for this one, mixed with some of the show’s usual silly humor, makes for a winning and all-around enjoyable episode.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2019-03-18T05:54:09Z
[7.4/10] Definitely a fun episode. It’s funny, I must have seen this episode a dozen times, and I’m not sure it dawned on me until now how quickly the show makes this one about Fry’s obsession with television. Having seen it more clearly, I like the loony premise that after being shamed for spending his life watching television, it’s Fry’s elemental T.V. knowledge that saves the whole planet. It’s just the sort of cynical but goofy perspective that I enjoy from Futurama.
Plus, there’s a lot of bits and characters from the show that would become classics. I think this is our first introduction to Lrrr and the Omicronians, and seeing their own T.V.-focused warmongering is still a laugh and a half. Zapp Brannigan is in rare form here, with his mixed metaphors and lines about “every mission [being] a suicide mission” when he’s in a charge are an absolute hoot. As if that weren’t enough, we get some outstanding capering from Bender and Zoidberg at the beach.
There’s also lots of fun jabs at the television medium, which makes Futurama feel more of a piece with its yellow-skinned forbears than usual. The bits about Fry liking TV better than reality is on the nose but funny, and his “clever things make people feel stupid, and unexpected things make them feel scared” is a nice succinct way to damn the standard T.V. audience. Hell, while the whole Ally McBeal parody is fairly dated today, it still works in a vacuum as a spoof of steamy but drivel-filled TV dramas.
Overall, the television theme for this one, mixed with some of the show’s usual silly humor, makes for a winning and all-around enjoyable episode.