Futurama's Return on Hulu
I’m writing this article from the distant future, years after Futurama has finally recovered from a long and troubled hiatus. Futurama, now back on Hulu (or Disney Plus), has changed, but some old problems remain.
That’s not to say Futurama isn’t enjoyable anymore. The show’s premise has shifted from being a wacky picture of the future to a strained satire of our specific era. Futurama has always been referential, but now it’s lost some of its timeless magic in favour of more jokes that will only make sense to people who understand the nuances of YouTube’s Partner Program.
The latest comeback episode, “The Impossible Stream,” focuses heavily on streaming commentaries. The plot kicks off when the Planet Express crew discovers that, thanks to the invention of “B-Goggles,” they can watch every show ever made, in real time. The rest of the episode covers the various ways that people can watch things, from “live TV” to “digital downloads.”
Right off the bat, the episode abandons the “watch every show” premise in favour of jokes about streaming services. It’s a missed opportunity to explore the nuances of a world where literally everyone is watching everything all the time. Instead, the episode references Black Mirror and makes a joke about NFTs, which feels both timely and outdated.
There are some funny jokes in the episode, including a robot’s scripted joke about non-binary robots, which works because it’s clever and timely. The episode also engages with the fact that Futurama is back on the air by referencing its own post-cancellation streaming deals. But as a whole, it feels like the writers are targeting TV writers specifically with jokes about how hard it is to write dialogue for shows about streaming. The whole thing lacks a strong central gimmick, and it ends up feeling like a missed opportunity.
I’m hopeful that Futurama will succeed this time around and avoid falling into old traps. I want Futurama to continue to be the show that tackles controversial topics and pushes the boundaries of what a cartoon can be. But the fact that the original run of Futurama had episodes tackling things like gun control, abortion, and Donald Trump feels like a much bigger deal to me now than it did when I was a kid, when every new episode was a surprise.
The episode I’m watching now, “The Scamming of the Scammer,” references current events by making a joke about a politician whose entire platform is to “make America great again.” But where the original run of Futurama tackled these things head-on, the return of Futurama has been more like Season 6 rather than the earlier seasons. I’m hopeful that the show will continue to handle this sort of thing well and avoid the problems that plagued its brief revival in the early 2010s.
As I say in my tweet, I want Futurama to succeed because I want it to be better than it already is. The original run of Futurama had episodes tackling controversial topics, while I fear that modern episodes may handle them poorly. So while the article you’re reading now is more critical than most other Futurama coverage you’ll see this week, my overall tone is optimistic.
The Futurama return is promising, but it’s not quite as good as it was in the old days. I’m excited for more, but I hope the show can avoid the pitfalls that marred its previous returns.
