Futurama Season 12 Is Avoiding A Revival Mistake That Could Make It Better Than Season 11

As Futurama As the season 12 release date approaches, the animated comedy promises to avoid a problem that marred the 2023 season 11 revival. Futurama It has gone through more iterations than most television shows since the series debuted in 1999. FuturamaThe Planet Express crew was first introduced in seasons 1 through 4, which aired from 1999 to 2003. Futurama It was then cancelled and then revived for a quartet of direct-to-DVD films that subsequently spawned a fifth season in 2008. In 2010 and 2011, more seasons were produced before Futurama It was cancelled again and, in 2023, renewed once again.

Now, in July 2024 it will arrive Futurama Season 12. This final season promises more adventures for Fry, Leela, Bender, Hermes, Amy, and Professor Farnsworth, as well as the return of many supporting stars. Futurama The Season 12 trailer has offered viewers glimpses of Zapp Brannigan, Kif, and returning villain Mom. However, the trailer is noticeably lacking something that promotional materials for the Season 11 revival highlighted. Thankfully, this is a welcome absence. This element that Futurama Season 11 focused heavily on a theme that the show has historically struggled to pull off successfully.

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Futurama Season 12 Relies Less on Thematic Satire

Futurama Season 11 Revival Included Episodes About NFTs and COVID-19

Many of Futurama The best episodes of Season 11, including Episode 2, “Children of a Lesser Bog,” and Episode 4, “Parasites Regained,” were sequels to previous installments of the show’s classic seasons. These nostalgic references might have seemed like condescension, but instead, they were surprisingly fresh and fun updates to plots viewers already loved. In contrast, many of Futurama The weakest episodes of Season 11 were self-consciously thematic satirical episodes.Episode 7, “Anti-Vaccine Rage,” and Episode 3, “How the West Was 1010001,” both focused their entire plots on current issues that had been largely forgotten before the outlets arrived.

“Rage Against the Vaccine” poked fun at the COVID-19 pandemic in 2023, more than three years after it began. Meanwhile, “How the West Was 1010001” focused on NFTs more than a year later. South Park dedicated a long special to this short-lived fad. Futurama‘s Season 11 episodes weren’t disastrous, but these minor departures were reminiscent of Season 6, Episode 3, “Attack of the Killer App.” That episode focused on a parody of the viral Brittany’s Got Talent Contestant Susan Boyle. Like many of the themed episodes in Season 11, the theme aged poorly because its protagonist didn’t have much cultural staying power.

Why Futurama’s Timely Satire May Age Particularly Badly

Futurama’s setting makes jokes about current affairs harder to pull off

From Futurama It’s ostensibly set in the future, but it’s always embarrassing when the show touches on topics that are already old news by the time they air. The Simpsons, Family manand South Park It also parodies current events, and only South ParkThe production process is fast enough that the show pokes fun at these issues as they develop. However, while The Simpsons and Futurama have a lot in common, it’s harder to excuse the latter show’s dated references since it takes place a thousand years in the future. So, Futurama The lack of thematic gags in Season 12 is good news.

Futurama

Cast

Katey Sagal, Billy West, Lauren Tom, Maurice LaMarche, David Herman, Tress MacNeille, John DiMaggio and Phil LaMarr

Release date

March 28, 1999

Seasons

8