The acclaimed adult cartoon has been brought back from the dead – and not for the first time. It’s never going to recapture the brilliance of the original run, writes Louis Chilton, but the series’ stop-start history has made it a compelling record of changing cultural obsessions

I’ve just found this article about Futurama on The Independent, a UK newspaper. It comments on the changes in Futurama reflecting the changes in society in general.

  • jet@hackertalks.comEnglish
    102·
    11 months ago

    The satirical show has to change with the times. It’s true. Some of the jokes do get dated. It’s hard to write ageless satire. Satire only exists inside of a context. Which is time-bound.

    I’m hopeful they’re going to find a nice stride this season. The first episode seemed like a rehash of previous ideas. I’m looking forward to some deep satire and thinking coming forward

    • hoodatninja@kbin.social
      411·
      11 months ago

      So I understand what you are saying, but as somebody who has watched way too much Futurama then he would ever care to admit, I feel the need to make an important distinction about it that I think might help frame the objective of the article better.

      Futurama is generally not a pop-culture/current events show. Any references they make to pop-culture are generally dated (intentionally)/or semi-timeless. Some episodes are the exception, like Proposition Infinity and Eye-Phone (whatever the ep is called), but these are not the norm and definitely don’t happen with as much frequency as you’d see in shows like The Simpsons or South Park. It’s part of what makes Futurama so damn good. What I find the show reflects over time is values changing. The way they stop making being gay a joke over time. The way they stop using masculinity as a joke (unless there’s a particular intent with it/commentary), things like that. The relationships between characters evolve and morph and show how society has changed. The things that bother them, even.

      I’m on a plane about to take off so I need to stop there. But I think if you decouple the idea that Futurama is a current events/current pop culture show, which if you look at all of the episodes you will see is rarely the case, I think it will make the article seem less lazy and more thoughtful than it originally seemed. That being said I admit it emphasizes the current events episodes too much. But their observation about “The Gender Bender” for instance is more in line with what I’m saying.

        • thorbot@lemmy.worldEnglish
          31·
          11 months ago

          South Park was not created to be “intentionally shitty” so that it can have “rapid turnaround”. That’s just patently false. It was like that because it was created by hand by Matt and Trey. And the aesthetic stuck. The fast turnaround was a result of the easy-to-make animation style.

      • some_guy@kbin.social
        19·
        11 months ago

        Before it was revived it was not a pop culture show at all.

        There’s nothing fascinating about it since the first revival.

        • hoodatninja@kbin.social
          3·
          11 months ago

          Meh I thought they found their sea legs pretty well after a few swings and misses in the first revived season (7?) and I liked where it landed. Some strong episodes I really enjoyed. But I get it’s not for everyone!

  • Rekonok@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    32·
    11 months ago

    Everytime I see headlines about documenting periods with TV productions the Simpson kick in.

    A single blue collar income capable of buying a house, two cars and food for a family of 6.

    Did not realize it was a fantasy show.

    • ShittyBeatlesFCPres@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      11 months ago

      Homer has a union job — he was literally head of the union — and Marge got to keep all that Pretzel Wagon money after the Investorettes hired the Yakuza to take out her mafia protectors.

    • Buddahriffic@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      11 months ago

      Tbf, blue collar jobs at nuke plants can pay very well. I knew a tradesman who worked at a plant near me that was paid very well to essentially just always be on call on site in case something in his area of expertise needed fixing, which really does remind me of Homer sleeping on the job because most of the time nuke plants just run themselves.

  • FormlessMartian@lemmy.worldEnglish
    13·
    11 months ago

    I just recently started rewatching and I was amused by the “gender neutral pac-person” arcade cabinet in the first season, a gag that became even more topical over time.

  • Hyperreality@kbin.social
    10·
    11 months ago

    Zeitgeist / Hegel.

    He argued that art reflects the culture of the time in which it was created.

    Suspect this is especially true for larger productions, where you have numerous people influencing the production, writers, producers, actors, the studio, director, etc.

    • Jaxia@toast.oooEnglish
      3·
      11 months ago

      Star Trek is the same way. Look at the newer series and how many of them reflect contemporary issues.

        • oldGregg@lemm.eeEnglish
          9·
          11 months ago

          “I’m conservative but I will fight tooth and nail for his freedom of speech” is definitely not how american conservatives today are.

          That’s the same today.

          They say ‘I’m conservative BUT I respect free speech.’

          Not ‘I’m conservative SO I respect free speech.’

        • snooggums@kbin.social
          2·
          11 months ago

          It still works as a contrast to authoritarian regimes like Russia clamping down on dissent, and would require minimal rework if any.

  • thorbot@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    11 months ago

    The first episode was very meh. No moments where I actually really laughed. Not a great start to the reboot.

      • beefcat@lemmy.worldEnglish
        16·
        11 months ago

        The early seasons were full of jokes that were “of their time”. I don’t think this is inherently bad. The whole schtick of the show has been to satirize modern life by presenting a wackier futuristic cartoon version of it.

    • CaptPretentious@lemmy.worldEnglish
      8·
      11 months ago

      It wasn’t strong, but I felt like it was to rebase the whole thing. Because it retcons part of the previous end and sort of set expectations for going forward. Like drawing a line in the sand. This is Futurama and this is Hulu’s Futurama

      • scbasteve7@lemm.eeEnglish
        41·
        11 months ago

        This is a VERY good way to put it. I imagine its hard to start where they left off with so much time in between. Writing styles and comedy have changed within the last 10 years. We’re in the age of attention on top of that.

        Im not saying that it wont be Futurama. It will be. It just wont taking off running with the steam they left off at.

        And i think thats exactly what the first episode encapsulated. It wasnt bad. But it didnt really have any juice to it. To me it felt like it was because they were more focused on shoving the ‘idea’ of futurama down your throat more than anything else.

        With that said, I really do hope the next couple of episodes are better.

  • nostradiel@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    11 months ago

    So far only one joke made me laugh in every episode. Hopefully it will get better. We need some crazy bender episode. 😇

  • some_guy@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
    52·
    11 months ago

    Aha! Thank you for reminding me that the new season had started. I just downloaded the first ep (fuck hulu).