comedy central
Futurama on DVD: Bender’s Big Score
Dec 12th
The term “geek” used to refer to a discernible group of characters, and they clung to each other under that word like it was one giant Enterprise-shaped umbrella. But things changed, and time, the Internet and the growth of niche fandom drove them apart – the pop culture equivalent to Darwin’s finches. Now the geek’s tastes widely vary and often conflict with those of other geeks. Authenticity belongs to nobody and everybody. As a Buffy geek, my monthly trip to Midtown Comics is met with scoffs when I approach the register with nothing but the latest issue of the show’s comic continuation. I, in turn, scowl at the unattractive, middle-aged men pawing at sexually explicit copies of manga. It’s hard to believe we have any common ground, but the 21st century brought a cultural flypaper that seemed to appeal to those from all walks of geekdom: Futurama.
Though it was canceled a few years back, their reward for an estimated $100+ million in DVD sales and nailing key demographics on Cartoon Network is four films to be released on DVD and then broken up into 16 episodes that will air on Comedy Central. The initial fruits of their labor, Bender’s Big Score, came out two weeks ago, and though I’ve always been more of a passive fan, the idea of new Futurama was enough to make me shell out $24.99.
So here’s the thing that I didn’t actually know about Futurama: the people who write it are smart – crazy smart. They have PhDs in Chemistry and Math and MAs in Computer Science and Philosophy. What they’ve created in the past, and in this film in particular, is a comedic look at science and the future – but with correctly placed four dollar words and legitimate scientific principals. This was one of their biggest successes in developing a cult following, but for me, it is the biggest problem with this new offering. The time travel theme that the story hinges on gets so repetitive, convoluted and confusing it made me not want to pay attention. I probably missed a lot of funny in the process. Bender’s Big Score isn’t bad. As a stand-alone episode of the series, it might actually be great, but as a long-anticipated 88-minute film, it’s just kind of a disappointment. So if you’re considering picking up a copy or making it a last minute addition to your Christmas list, I have to advise against it. Futurama is best enjoyed on the medium it’s most familiar with.
This is a Poop Post
Mar 8th
There are too few half hour “comedies” on TV to look forward to. HBO offers the occasional season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, and, by the grace of god, FX is giving us a third run of It’s Always Funny in Philadelphia (easily the funniest thing on television – ever). But none of them last long enough – six or eight episode runs that we get for two months out of the year, if we’re lucky. The only sitcom I have to look forward to on a weekly basis is How I Met Your Mother*, and despite the fact that it gets better almost every week, CBS doesn’t really allow the brazen offensiveness that I need. Instead of mocking minorities, cripples or the dying, I have to settle for jokes at the expense of Canadians. As much fun as that is, I still crave the inappropriate.
That’s why The Sarah Silverman Program came as such a pleasant surprise, and why last night’s sudden season finale was so frustrating. Despite being renewed for a second season almost the day after the premiere of the first, the general absence of funny comedies on television made the last couple of weeks with Sarah that much sweeter. And now she’s left me until god knows when.
People with no moral compass are fascinating, and Sarah’s ability to constantly play someone so blinded by her own self-centeredness, you have to wonder if she’s really just a big creep. Regardless, exploiting homeless people, blacks, Jews, her abandoned daughter, shop-clerks, cops, gays, children with cancer and people with AIDS while frequently cutting away to sing songs about pooping at the mall or pooping when you’re trying to fart – this is what I like to see.
The first season of TSSP gives you the opportunity to laugh at someone else’s ignorance when it’s too hard to laugh at your own. And for those who get too squeamish from watching overly awkward situations, the sporadic potty humor musical breaks will see you through to the end.
An encore of the season finale airs tonight at 10:30 on Comedy Central; second season and a DVD release of the first to come.
*Oops, ignoring Scrubs, 30 Rock and The Office was lame. But that’s more like one 90-minute comedy extravaganza anyways.