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Futurama, Vol. 3

Futurama, Vol. 3

List Price: $49.98
Your Price: $37.49
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: ...and Now for Eons of Futurama
Review: Regardless of whether the Fox network knows it or not - and they probably don't given their scheduling practices - Futurama is one of the most well written, constructed, and designed shows ever to appear on television, rivaled only by its progenitor the Simpsons. As for Futurama's third season, whenever Fox decided to actually air the show in a stable and non-preempted time slot, the show's creators delivered a tremendous set of episodes during the season, as shown in yet another fantastically constructed box set. As usual, there are a few items of interest, at least for obsessive collectors, in the DVD extras. But the actual Futurama episodes carry the day and speak for themselves.

There is not a single sub-par episode in the third season. The main characters were becoming deeper and more defined, as character development remained one of the writing team's most important strategies. (This has always been true for the Simpsons as well, except for the past few seasons.) The character with the most growth this season is Fry, as can be seen in surprisingly emotional episodes like "Parasites Lost," "The Luck of the Fryrish," and the ending scene of the otherwise uproarious "Time Keeps on Slipping." Meanwhile, this season gives us more on Leela's mysterious background, and Bender just gets more and more hysterical with each episode. We also learn that he's really a Mexican by the name of Bender B. Rodriguez.

Futurama continues to present, by far, modern TV's best use of the standard fiction method of lampooning real-life issues through an imaginative society. And the writing continues to be flawless, with complex and detailed hilarity throughout all the episodes, especially all-time winners like "Amazon Women in the Mood," "Insane in the Mainframe," and the aforementioned "Time Keeps on Slipping" (in which Bubblegum Tate of the Globetrotters delivers the most hysterical one-liner in all of human history: "that sucker's shakin' around like some fine imported booty!"). And don't miss the deservedly Emmy-winning masterpiece "Roswell That Ends Well," an absolutely brilliant example of complex comedy craftsmanship. Futurama is a show that is eye-catching and thought-provoking enough to truly make DVD's a beautiful technology. [~doomsdayer520~]

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Whoo!
Review: This season is SO good! The characters and the writing have matured and gained depth; the humor is sometimes tempered by poignancy (e.g. "Parasites Lost", "Luck of the Fryrish"). I'm thankful they finally included a "Play All" option!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Finally!!
Review: Great show. Great box-set. Enough said. However, the one thing that sets this set apart from the previous two is the "Play All" feature. Sweet!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Death by Snu-Snu!
Review: Any DVD set that has commentarry on EVERY SINGLE EPISODE is worth the price of admission, especially when you consider that this 4-disc set is considerably cheaper than a lot of other series out on DVD. But for people who've never bothered to watch Futurama, or those who are mild fans and don't understand why they'd want these box sets, grab disc 1 and listen to "The Luck of the Fryrish" commentary, where Groening & co. playfully romp through the episode, highlighted by a misplaced lame comment that is greeted with a chorus of "NOBODY CARES! NOBODY CARES!" to the tune of Beethoven's 5th.

Since I've seen a lot of the episodes either when they were originally on FOX or now on Cartoon Network, I find myself looking forward to the commentaries more than the episodes with each new box set.

Make sure you look for the ridiculous easter egg on "Tale of Two Santas"......

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Not exactly the GM exhibit...
Review: It's hard not to love a TV series whose first episode posits a future in which Suicide Booths are available on every corner -- for just 25 cents you have your choice of "quick and painless" or "slow and excruciating." But my initial reaction to "Futurama" was cool. It broke a basic story-telling rule well-articulated by Disney's animators -- characters should have "appeal." That doesn't mean they should be likeable -- rather, they should be interesting.

Trouble is, it's difficult to get involved with most of the "Futurama" principals -- they're so dumb, foolish, immoral/amoral, and/or self-centered -- not to mention combative -- you often wish you were somewhere else. That there's only negative chemistry among them and that few seem to serve any story purpose other than as a fount for a particular sort of joke, doesn't help, either. (The evil "Mother" -- whose robot oil dominates the future robot industry the way Windows currently dominates personal computers -- was one of the few appealing characters, and was supposed to be a recurring villain, but was dropped for reasons I'm not aware of.)

Fortunately, "Futurama" grows on you. Like "The Simpsons," it's more about attitude than plot or characterization (a point the Simpsons writers seem to have forgotten). Once you accept the fact the characters aren't worth getting involved with, you can kick back and enjoy the humor. Which, I am pleased to admit, comes closer to Matt Groening's dark, dour view of the human condition than "The Simpsons" gets. Groening is a post-modern Billy Wilder, but without the latter's tendency to slip into mawkish sentimentality.

I've gotten through only the first 12 of these 22 episodes, but there are some great moments, especially for physicists. When a horse race is too close to call and has to be decided by quantum analysis, Farnsworth tears up his betting tickets in a rage -- "They changed the outcome by measuring it!" I won't spoil another physics joke that involves a brand of beer with a dirndl-clad lass on the label. I couldn't stop laughing.

I've listened to the running commentary for only "Amazon Women in the Mood." I was expecting a revelation of all the inside jokes, but a subtle one that referenced a controversial scene in "The Lion King" was ignored.

I don't like Amazon's rating system (horrible, lame, average, very good, great). On an absolute scale, "Futurama" falls somewhere between very good and great. But I've given it a "great" rating because it's terrific satire, funny as hell (Groening reference intended), and assumes the viewer has _some_ intelligence.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: we said 1 more bight couldnt hurt then there gone were sorry
Review: This is a great show, which is way better than the Simpson's. Simpson's was great but I don't need 15 seasons of Simpson's because the new episodes really suck. It really sucks this show is canceled, but I guess it is for the best of they would have probably killed it like they did with Simpson's. Futurama is a really great show, when it first came out I wasn't really fond of this show, but once I kept watching it I couldn't stop laughing. This show is even funnier than king of the hill. This show has way funnier characters. Zoiberg, Bender, Fry, Zap branigan, Kiff, Hermeys, professor dude, and Lila and there's other characters. This season is really funny too, funnier than the other episodes. This is a definite must if you have the first and second season.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Holds up to repeat viewings!
Review: It is a crying shame that Fox opted to cancel Futurama in favor of more insipid reality television. At a time when network TV programming panders to the lowest common denominator, Futurama aims at a more sophisticated audience. On the surface, the show is just downright fun to watch: it's silly, it's colorful, it's fast-paced. On repeated viewings, however, you become aware of a number of subtle, time-release jokes that simply don't hit you on the first viewing. Season 3 is especially noteworthy because of the classic "Roswell that ends well," which I missed on its original airdate. ...When I caught the episode on Cartoon Network last year, I was only able to breathe during the ad breaks. ...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: As funny as TV in the U.S. gets
Review: Futurama is so sharp and so funny at times that it manages to be dark, cynical, funny and uplifting all in the same episode, as in The Luck Of The Fryish. That episode and many other truly clever and funny stories are included in this set. Matt Groening's vision that technology improves with time, but people rarely do is alive and well in the 22 episodes in this set. Many classic as well as grade-B science fiction themes are explored with hilarious results, such as in Godfellas and Amazon Women In The Mood respectively. The show gives great comedic treatment to ideas seen in countless SF movies, TV shows and stories from the past. Episodes in this set range from good to great; there are no bad ones.

Extra features such as commentary by creator Matt Groening and deleted scenes make the set a special treat. With comedy this dense, you can watch these over and over again many times and still find new things to laugh at as with other great comedy shows like Mystery Science Theater 3000 or Monty Python's Flying Circus. I highly recommend this set and I hope to buy it as soon as it is available!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent Season with Hilarious Commentaries.
Review: This is a great collection of the third season of Futurama. Note that this is the Complete Production Season of Futurama of 22 episodes, and is not listed in the same air order as shown of FOX. This set includes commentaries for every episode (IMO the funniest and most entertaining yet!), the Emmy award winning episode "Roswell that Ends Well" with an alternate commentary, deleted scenes from several episodes, a story board for "Parasites Lost", an animatic for "Anthology of Interest II" 3D Model tests for several effects used in the show, a table read for "A Tale of two Santas" (hidden easter egg), still art gallery, and more!

Even if you've seen all of the episodes in this set on the Cartoon Network, I'd still buy it for the commentaries alone which to me, are a lot more fun to listen to that the Simpsons commentaries. I'd also reccomend buying the Season 4 set (which contains the last 18 episodes of the series) even though this set is slightly better.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best season of the best show!
Review: This regards the broadcast, not the DVD content:
This season is a "can't miss". From the best subtle one-liners (Roswell That Ends Well) to some astounding theology-philosophy (Godfellas), this season just blew me away. If everyone had "pop-up video" to explain the references & off-kilter jokes, this show would be bigger than its older sibling. I love this show!


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