[The Futurama Mystery Liberry] + Pre “Otherwise” Talk

 With yesteryear’s anthology show, all the other episodes sucked so bad that I gave “The Prince And The Product” fake extra points.

The quality was so horrendous, I gave a pity freebie to an episode where the main characters were toy cars stuck in a parody of The Ring.



One thing about anthology/non-canon episodes in Groening shows is how they’re supposed to have some passable grace to them even when they’re terrible.

• Abe’s mutated into a dinosaur for a retirement home version of Jurassic Park.

• Homer’s farting on Lisa for four minutes after a poisonous spider bite.

^ I can at least cut my losses there and go “well, Simpsons was unfunny on Halloween again. Whataya gonna do?”

(Bear in mind that Treehouse of Horror has typically been my one ticket to checking out recent Simpsons in over a decade. Just for tradition sake.)



No one would bat an eye if Futurama stopped doing anthology shows because there was no real incentive for Futurama to do those in the first place.

“Anthology of Interest” lucked out two times because they put the humor and vibe of the actual show itself over them just wanting to do a Treehouse of Horror counterpart.

Centralama & Hulurama’s done it wrong to where they think making the characters a thing (and only a thing) is the only joke to be had.

Sometimes they’ll give you a premise and then omit entirely what makes a worthwhile execution.

 

You could say right now that I’m about to do the pity thing again, but no. I do believe this episode’s an exception.

 

Even if the jokes didn’t hit well, I can’t deny the art department stepping up this week. The FryFry segment’s the clear as bell winner. Again, not a laugh riot by a stretch, but I’m not gonna deny enjoying that bit even a little.

This is only disappointing if you really stop to think what Futurama would’ve done with this episode when they still had the proper steam. I say the anthology stuff holds no incentive, but them wanting to riff Nancy Drew sounds like the most Futurama thing on paper when you think about it. They would’ve nerded this the fuck out.

I’m not gonna praise Neil deGrasse Tyson because it’s not 2013 anymore and fuck that guy. But his delivery in the episode shows me again that this was one they surely had in the chamber.


- - - - - - - - - -

Next week is... you know.

“Meanwhile” was the VERY FIRST THING that immediately sprung to mind the millisecond I saw Futurama was announced for Hulu.

”Meanwhile” was an episode I remember by the televised bug crawl timer, the meaningful closing of a chapter, and the poetic transition to a Space Pilot 3000 rerun afterward. 

Of all else, that TV finale has lived on as the gargantuan elephant in the room for fail, after fail... after fail that this revival wound up producing.

Futurama in just one year became the strongest candidate for why shows should be allowed to die. Before that, Futurama was still immensely paraded around in the 2010s as the adult animated comedy that’s smart! And also knows math! :D

Is it melodramatic to say this order’s done quite a bit to ruin the overall series’ reputation? Possibly, but it’s kind of true. Not even just to be shitty. I think many are much less eager now to praise the show as they had before.
 

“Quids Game” broke me in such a way where I forgot about this being just around the corner.

I’m not gonna play up hoping and begging for any cancellation, but I also feel like they’re just gonna ride on the ratings for awhile longer anyway. When there’s nothing else really going on, I can’t say it’s in that much danger of anything yet. Everything indicates that they’re proud of Futurama this time around, so I really don’t know.

I just never thought I’d see a day where I’d be neutral/careless on new Futurama existing or not. That’s the irreparable damage.


That being said, I’m gonna be as patient as can be with this upcoming finale. I’m gonna hope that it goes well.

But I can tell it’s not gonna make or break anything.