Rent Futurama: Series 7 (2012)

Futurama: Series 7 review by Mark McPherson - Cinema Paradiso

Series 7 of Futurama really does remind one of how dated this show can become when it strives to be topical, despite these episodes taking months to produce. Here is a season that wants to incorporate many elements of the moment, ranging from the Mayan prediction that the world will end in 2012 (or 3012 in the Futurama timeline) to a presidential election involving the questioning of birth certificates (relating to the Obama birther controversy cooked up by loony conservatives). If the show wasn’t beginning to feel more like The Simpsons in its trend-chasing with the previous season, it certainly feels as such here.

The first episode "The Bots and the Bees", does at least feel in character for someone like Bender. After getting into a heated tiff with a female robot, they have angry sex and produce a child, forcing Bender to question whether or not he wants to pursue fatherhood. Not a bad episode but then comes "A Farewell to Arms", a 2012 apocalypse episode that uses the Martian race as a stand-in for the Mayans (even though they were originally a stand-in for Native Americans but I guess the series just uses this for any tribal stories).

Then there’s the election episode, "Decision 3012", where Richard Nixon runs for re-re-election and we get a whole bunch of birtherism gags about Nixon being an illegal alien. In the more standalone episodes that are not hopping on trends, "The Thief of Baghead" finds Bender trying to snap a photo of an elusive actor, and "Zapp Dingbat" finds Leela’s mother sleeping with Zapp for more sex gags which is all Zapp seems to be used for now.

We get somebody altercation episodes as well. "The Butterjunk Effect" finds Leela and Amy taking drugs to becomes butterflies in a redneck sport and "The Six Million Dollar Mon" finds Hermes altering his body to become more powerful, two episodes that essentially share the same premise, back to back no less. "Fun on a Bun" is a faked death episode that seems more in line with a Simpsons bit because, well, they’ve done a similar story.

"Free Will Hunting" does at least have a more intriguing premise of Bender trying to comprehend himself as a being of free will set against a mafia story. "Near-Death Wish" is just a look-whos-coming-to-dinner episode where we meet Farnsworth’s parents. "31st Century Fox" finds Bender taking an interest in saving robot foxes from robot hunts in an issue that perhaps just a tad dated even for the time it aired. "Viva Mars Vegas" is a ho-hum heist episode. Finally, "Naturama" is the obligatory anthology episode but one of the darker ones considering it takes the form of a nature documentary where nearly every character, portrayed as wildlife, dies in graphic ways. It’s a darkly comedic episode but also a rather cruel one that made me almost as sick to my stomach as The Simpson’s dark Thanksgiving anthology.

Overall, this is one of the weaker seasons of Futurama. It’s not the worst considering the episodes are much easier to digest than the trainwreck that was Series 6, but that’s not saying much. It’s clear to see that the show was coming to a close as this was part of the final production for the show.