While The Simpsons hums along in the hinterlands of the pop culture landscape, occasionally prompting someone to fruitlessly argue that one or two recent episodes were good, actually, Matt Groening’s other (and better) series is an occasional treat. Very occasional, in fact, because there hasn’t been any new Futurama for a decade. So hold onto your hats: because Futurama season 8 starts streaming on Disney+ in the UK on July 24.
What’s it all about? For those who came in late, Futurama charts the adventures of one Philip J. Fry (Billy West), a pizza delivery guy cryogenically frozen until the year 2999. Thrust into a bizarre world of incredible technology, aliens, mutants, and what have you, he does the only thing he can, getting a gig as a delivery guy for his distant descendant Professor Farnsworth (West again). He works alongside the ship’s captain Leela (Katy Sagal), misanthropic robot Bender (John DiMaggio), cowardly alien Doctor Zoidberg (West yet again), and a host of other weird supporting players. And off we go.
What it means in effect is a far-ranging, scattershot, surreal, science fiction comedy unlike anything else on TV, with the concept allowing Groening and his team to sample every meat in the genre’s cultural stew, playing with outré speculative concepts and lowbrow humour in equal measure, with plenty of brainiac-level Easter eggs for the nerd herd to ferret out. It’s an absolute gas.
And while close attention to continuity has historically been a sometimes food for Futurama, fans will recall that in the previous season finale Professor Farnsworth may or may not have reset the entire timeline, leaving the possibility open for a complete reboot. Or perhaps they’ll ignore that; after all, it was almost 10 years ago. Time’s funny like that. But we’ll be on time for all 20 episodes of this new season!
