Why Futurama is (In my opinion) the best cartoon comedy show
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Futurama and South Park are definitely the best cartoon shows on TV, The Simpsons has it's moments, but there is a lot of crap as well, and Family Guy is just terrible, people complain about The Simpsons after 20 odd years, but the first 5 or so seasons of Family Guy was more than enough.
South Park is just awesome because of how they can keep up with current events (the Obama jewel thief episode was aired within the day of him winning apparently). But Futurama is just constantly funny, even when they are doing the same old stuff that's already been done, it manages to be funny. Bender, Zapp and Zoidberg alone just make the show unbeatable. Characters like Hermes, Donbot and Scruffy make an awesome show near perfect.
South Park is just awesome because of how they can keep up with current events (the Obama jewel thief episode was aired within the day of him winning apparently). But Futurama is just constantly funny, even when they are doing the same old stuff that's already been done, it manages to be funny. Bender, Zapp and Zoidberg alone just make the show unbeatable. Characters like Hermes, Donbot and Scruffy make an awesome show near perfect.
i dont know man, some of south parks recent episodes have been terrible. it seems like trey parker and co. are about to run out of good ideas. i actully think the show should take a break, or even cease to be produced, you know, preserve the good times before they're soiled. the o long johnson episode was awesome, though.Esotera said:
OT: i agree. family guy is stale, but it's still got some gas in the engine, south park is special, even if its been a little below average lately, simpsons has been dead for about a decade, and american dad is like family guy: slowly becoming stale, but still has enough life to be extremely entertaining. i actually think futurama being canceled in the early 2000s is what saved the show, preventing it from wearing itself out.
Futurama is personally my favorite show of all time, way up there with M*A*S*H and The Simpsons. The show is honestly brilliant. An easy example of how brilliant it is, is in the very first episode. I'm sure anyone who watches the show knows that Nibbler was the one who pushed Fry into the cryotank. Now go back to the very first episode and rewatch that part. Look on the ground next to the chair. Who's shadow do you see? Incase you're too daft or too lazy to figure it out/go look at the episode, it's Nibbler's shadow. Now that may not say much since they clearly planned it out, but when you consider that it was revealed that Nibbler was the one who had pushed Fry into the cryotank in the 4th or 5th season, it's really quite impressive with how thought out it was.
Additionally I agree about the characters. I think the characters all have their own little quirks about them that let's people really latch onto their favorite character. My personal favorite is Prof. Farnsworth and a close second is Bender of course. I also like how the characters really never change, Fry is always the idiot, Hermes is always the Jamaican hard-ass, Farnsworth is always a bit out of his mind, etc. However this doesn't get dull after a few seasons. They really put all different kinds of characters in the show so you never really get bored of one character in a certain situation, because they all are present and provide their own input to the episode.
The show itself is also absolutely ridden with references to other shows. Most all of them are poking fun at other shows but you can still see that they are homages to a lot of them. Ex. In the episode "War is the H-Word" (Yes I've watched all of the episodes so extensively that I can tell you the title, episode number, and plot line of pretty much all of them. Not sure if thats a good thing or not, probably not.), Bender "sacrifices" himself by throwing himself on a grenade. The next scene shows him being operated on by a clear spoof of Cpt. Hawkeye Pierce, Maj. Frank Burns, and Maj. Margaret Hoolihan from M*A*S*H. These kinds of references really make my heart warm lol.
Additionally I agree about the characters. I think the characters all have their own little quirks about them that let's people really latch onto their favorite character. My personal favorite is Prof. Farnsworth and a close second is Bender of course. I also like how the characters really never change, Fry is always the idiot, Hermes is always the Jamaican hard-ass, Farnsworth is always a bit out of his mind, etc. However this doesn't get dull after a few seasons. They really put all different kinds of characters in the show so you never really get bored of one character in a certain situation, because they all are present and provide their own input to the episode.
The show itself is also absolutely ridden with references to other shows. Most all of them are poking fun at other shows but you can still see that they are homages to a lot of them. Ex. In the episode "War is the H-Word" (Yes I've watched all of the episodes so extensively that I can tell you the title, episode number, and plot line of pretty much all of them. Not sure if thats a good thing or not, probably not.), Bender "sacrifices" himself by throwing himself on a grenade. The next scene shows him being operated on by a clear spoof of Cpt. Hawkeye Pierce, Maj. Frank Burns, and Maj. Margaret Hoolihan from M*A*S*H. These kinds of references really make my heart warm lol.
And I do agree with you about all of what you said. The Simpsons is getting stale because it's a 25 year old show or something, everyone knows the characters and they can only do so much with the show. Family Guy while being pretty funny, is stupid. It makes really no social commentary and it's usually just stupidity that keeps it funny. South Park however I think is the best social commentary on TV. I think it trumps Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. South Park is really vulgar and inappropriate at times but thats what makes it so brilliant. Every single episode comments on some aspect of the modern world and social life for people.lukey94 said:
To be honest, South Park is only "relevant" because it A) has a very cheap and quick and quick animation style and B) is really formulaic with its humor at this stage. Take modern trend, and if possible combine it with another trend or piece from media, I.E. Tron + Facebook. If that doesn't work, insert shit/fart/sex jokes as much as possible.Esotera said:
It's entertaining, but hardly grade A stuff at this point. To me, at least.
This does get brought up a lot. I love it because it shows exactly what having a damn good pet is like. The companionship is such another level.Dr Jones said:
And now I'm getting depressed about my dog dying... silly time for that as I'm getting a puppy in a couple of weeks and I've got all that to look forward to again.
I was skeptical when the series was restarted on Comedy Central, but enjoyed the season that aired once it did. I noticed they started doing odd-couple pairings (Bender and Hermes, Amy and Nibbler) while good, that'll only work for so long. I really hope the show picks up steam and doesn't resort to being around just for the sake of squeezing every last dollar it can and risk alienating it's own fanbase with bad episodes, like certain other animated shows still on the air..
Futurama is great, but it suffers from the same issues a lot of comedy shows encounter. When your biggest plot devices are jokes, there's not a whole lot of directions a story can take. Most episodes are "The man from the past encounters something strange in the future." If it's not that it's a classic story with a futuristic setting. It's humorous, but you can see what's coming in an episode from a mile away.
