Review of Futurama: Series 4

Introduction

Here lies Futurama and the end of Planet Express.

Episode Summary:

• Episode 1: Kif Gets Knocked Up A Notch
Amy`s romance with Kif Kroker takes a twist when an unexpected pregnancy occurs -- he being the pregnant one. As Amy questions her commitment to the squishy green alien, Kif must return to his ancient, mysterious homeworld to give birth in the same muddy swamp where he was born.

• Episode 2: Leela`s Homeworld
When Leela returns to the orphanarium in which she was raised, she is recognized for her success as a starship captain. Bender and Professor Farnsworth decipher something far more rewarding for Leela, as Fry helps her discover some long-lost secrets about her background, including what happened to her parents.

• Episode 3: Love and Rocket
Love is in the air when Bender finds himself involved in a shipboard romance....with the ship. When the Professor upgrades the Planet Express spaceship`s software with a sexy female voice (guest star Sigourney Weaver), Bender falls hopelessly in love. But when the ship discovers that Bender is unfaithful, she charts a course for self-destruction, and it`s up to Fry and Leela to save the day.

• Episode 4: Less Than Hero
Suffering from aches and pains, Fry and Leela turn to Dr. Zoidberg who gives them a "miracle cream" that he bought long ago from a travelling salesman. Lo and behold, when they try it out, it actually is a miracle cream that gives them superpowers. Fry and Leela decide to become super heroes with Bender as the third member of their team.

• Episode 5: A Taste Of Freedom
Dr. Zoidberg is accused of flag desecration when, at a Washington D.C. celebration, he cannot restrain himself from eating a large flag. After Zoidberg is sentenced to death, his people send an invasion force to enslave the people of Earth and teach them the meaning of freedom.

• Episode 6: Bender Should Not Be Allowed On TV
Everyone`s favourite soap, "All My Circuits", auditions for a new character since the demise of Calculon`s screen son. Bender auditions and gets the part, but his drinking, smoking and bad language prove too influential for the young and trouble ensues to the point where even Bender tries to ban Bender from TV.

• Episode 7: Jurassic Bark
Fry and Bender discover that the exact pizzeria Fry worked at before coming to the 30th century is on display as part of a 20th century exhibit at the Museum of Natural History. Fry is horrified when he sees his dog, Seymour, petrified among the artefacts in the exhibit. Fry reacts with protest and learns that there is a possibility to clone his "best friend" back to life. Bender perceives Seymour as a threat to his friendship with Fry and gets his own Robo-puppy as competition.

• Episode 8: Crimes of the Hot
As Earth is unable to counter its rising temperature through the usual method (the dropping of a giant ice cube into the ocean), Gore leads an emergency conference in Kyoto, Japan, where Professor Farnsworth claims responsibility for the crisis. It seems love detoured him from observing proper emission standards on his prototype robot, and that could necessitate the destruction of all its "descendants." That includes Bender, who resigns himself to having a farewell blowout before being blown up.

• Episode 9: Teenage Mutant Leela`s Hurdles
When Fry and the Planet Express gang realize that at 161 years old, the Professor has become too crotchety to handle, they decide he needs to be "youth-a-sized". Travelling to an asteroid, they register the Professor at a posh resort where their full-body bath in searing hot tar is guaranteed to turn back the clock. Through a series of unfortunate accidents, the bath covers not only the Professor but also everyone else and all are affected by the treatment. Back at Planet Express, a now 53-year-old Professor tries to keep a now 13-year-old Fry and other kids under control while looking for a way to reverse the effects of the tar treatment. Meanwhile, "the kids" all react to their newfound youth, including Leela, who decides she could have a taste of the childhood she never had as an orphan.

• Episode 10: The Why Of Fry
When Leela gets swept off her feet by Chaz, an aide to the Mayor, Fry falls into a deep funk thinking that she could never like a non-important guy. Adding to Fry`s funk, a bizarre genetic abnormality is discovered that qualifies him for a mission to save the universe. While on this mission, we learn what really happened on Dec. 31, 1999, the night Fry was frozen. Meanwhile, Chaz ruins a skating date, and Leela realizes Fry is much more to her than she ever knew.

• Episode 11: Where No Fan Has Gone Before
Fry is put on trial for his life for travelling to the forbidden planet of Omega 3 to retrieve all 79 episodes of "Star Trek", and he must defend the claim that human kind needs "Star Trek" to give them hope for the future. In the 23rd Century, "Star Trek" fans had evolved to such a level that they corrupted the world`s governments and all things "Star Trek" were then banned to Omega 3. Fry sets out on his mission with Leela, Bender and Leonard Nimoy`s head in a jar, only to discover William Shatner, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei and Walter Koening are living on Omega 3 under the watchful eye of Melllvar, an evil energy creature -- and "Star Trek`s" biggest fan.

• Episode 12: The Sting
After arriving at an asteroid field in deep space, Fry, Leela and Bender attempt to collect honey produced by vicious space bees. Leela decides to take a baby queen bee that incidentally kills Fry! While at Fry`s funeral, guilt ridden Leela has a romantic dream that causes her to believe that Fry is still alive. As Leela`s bizarre dreams continue to develop, she sinks into a much stranger sleep.

• Episode 13: Bend Her
Bender faces his greatest challenge when he tricks his way into the 3004 Earth Olympian and wins several events, but he must endure the final and most revealing test to receive his medals. When Bender has a date with a major robot celebrity, Calculon, he sees this as an opportunity to be wined and dined like never before. When Bender realizes there`s an inequity of feelings, he enlists Fry and Leela`s help to stage a "soap opera death".

• Episode 14: Obsoletely Fabulous
When Fry, Bender and the Planet Express gang attend Roboticon 3003 - the world`s largest robot trade show - the Professor purchases the new "Robot 1-X", which threatens to render Bender obsolete. Feeling inadequate, Bender returns to MomCorp for an upgrade, but becomes terrified that the procedure will erase his robo-humanity. In desperation, he escapes from the factory and becomes a castaway on a tropical island that seems uninhabited... or is it? Violence ensues.

• Episode 15: The Farnsworth Parabox
When the Professor conducts an experiment so hideous that he wants his apparatus destroyed in the thermonuclear inferno of the sun, he has Leela guard the two-foot cubic box overnight so that no one opens it and sets it off. Fry and Bender try their best to sneak a peek but it`s Leela who finally gives in and opens the box. Drawn into the power of the box, Leela is thrown into a parallel universe, which has duplicates of the Planet Express gang - including Leela.

• Episode 16: Three Hundred Big Boys
As a result of Zapp Brannigan`s victory over the Arachnid homeworld, Richard Nixon`s head gives everyone a $300 refund from the silk surplus. Leela, the Professor, Bender, and Fry find wacky ways to spend the money. When things get too hot at Zapp`s celebration dinner, Fry saves the day.

• Episode 17: Spanish Fry
When the Planet Express gang goes camping in the woods for their company outing and Fry goes searching for an encounter with his favourite legendary figure, Bigfoot -- he is beamed aboard a spaceship and returned the next day without a nose. Fry learns that humans everywhere have been losing their noses and aliens are profiting for the sale of "human horns." A suggestion from Leela and a surprise visitor aim at keeping the human face safe.

• Episode 18: The Devil`s Hands Are Idle Playthings
Fry, in an effort to win Leela`s love, makes a deal with the Robot Devil to become a gifted musician. He has tried to take Holophoner lessons, but his teacher claimed he had "stupid fingers." Bender realizes that the Robot Devil is the only one to help. Fry makes a deal only to regret it immediately as it comes with a hefty price.

Video

The 4:3 fullframe transfer looks as bright and colourful as always. There`s only what looks like slight edge enhancement but this doesn`t detract. It looks great otherwise.

Audio

The Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack sounds fine and clear without any problems. Dialogue is solid and the sound is spread well across from the front.

Features

Easy to navigate themed menus with quite a few extras:

• Audio commentary - There are audio commentaries on all 18 episodes from the cast and crew and these are nothing short of top notch. Lots of jokes and general silliness almost double the entertainment value of the set.

Disc 1:
• International Clips - One short scene with English, German, Portuguese and Castillian Spanish audio.

• Kif gets knocked up a notch storyboards - IF you`ve not seen any of the Futurama storyboards before then this just shows the pencil artwork of the story with dialogue.

• Deleted Scenes: Kif gets knocked up a notch, Leela`s Homeworld, Love and Rocket, Less Than Hero and A Taste of Freedom.

Disc 2:
• Deleted Scenes: Crimes of the Hot, Teenage Mutant Leela`s Hurdles and The Why Of Fry.

Disc 3:
• Deleted Scenes: Where No Fan Has Gone Before, The Sting, Bend Her and Obsoletely Fabulous

• Animatic from Obsoletely Fabulous - A complete black & white animatic of the episode.

Disc 4:
• 3D Models from Rough Draft - There are 11 separate short clips showing wireframe/rough to fully rendered shots of the city, spaceships and

• How to draw characters - Yes, you too can learn how to draw Bender and The Professor.

• Character pencil tests - short pencil animatics for Bender, Leela, Kif, Zapp, The Professor, Zoidberg, Fry, Amy, Miscellaneous.

• Still Gallery/New Character Artwork - About 50 b&w character pencil drawings.

• Deleted Scenes: The Farnsworth Parabox, Three Hundred Big Boys, Spanish Fry and The Devil`s Hands are idle playthings.

• Futurama Season 1, 2 and 3 DVD trailers.
• Futurama Interactive Game Trailer - A trailer for the game.

The packaging is the usual boxed set of DVD keep cases with a tight fitting plastic sleeve wrap. There are English subtitles along with Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish.

Conclusion

What could I possibly say that hasn`t been said by the other reviewers? When Futurama hits the spot it`s brilliant, otherwise it still manages a few laughs and will always be more enjoyable than that other Matt Groening creation. I`ve always enjoyed this much more than a lot of other animated series out there (perhaps on par with Family Guy) and it`s saddening that there won`t be anymore, yet The Simpsons ran out of steam a long time ago and continues to air.

If you have the previous seasons of this top show, then you don`t need me to tell you that this is worth getting for the sake of completion. May Bender rust in peace...