Mythology: Futurama
By Martin Felipe
June 17, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
At first glance, it may look like an odd subject for a piece dedicated to television mythology shows. After all, such programs are usually hour long, arc heavy, genre projects. Then again, animation is a genre unto itself, and, in a broader sense, a part of the fantasy genre. For that matter, Futurama, in particular, while mocking sci-fi tropes, is a sci-fi show in its own right. As a brand, the adult animation boom of the past two decades has developed its own constructs and general rules that have pretty much become the expectations of the form.
It's hard to believe that The Simpsons is 20 years old. Well, maybe not for those who grew up with it always present in their lives, but I remember a pre-Simpsons America. Before Groening's now legendary family hit the airwaves, the longest running, and for that matter, most cutting edge, prime time animation was called the Flintstones, and that show had been off the air for over 20 years. I remember clearly how big of a phenomenon the Simpsons was when it started. I remember the controversy over Bart's underachiever pride. I remember the product saturation. When The Simpsons hit, it was like a cultural nuclear explosion.
Such phenomena, as we know, can often be fairly shallow and short-lived. Where The Simpsons went right is by delivering a consistent quality product. In the wake of the Simpson tsunami, it's easy to find its style rote, and perhaps it now is, but in the early '90s there had never been anything like it. The comedy was fast, with no laugh track, the characters were equal parts dysfunctional and relatable, the comedy undercut the emotion, and the emotion undercut the comedy, and the social satire was both biting and affectionate. Much of the humor rewarded the pop culture savvy Generation X who treated the show like one big in-joke. It was the poster child for the post-modern movement, the master of meta-commentary. Traditional sitcoms just didn't seem too relevant any more.
Where the mythology connection comes in is with the world of Springfield. Though certainly not a consistent fantasy world like Sunnydale or the Lost Island, Springfield is a universe unto itself. Located in a state bordering Nevada and Maine, Springfield contains pretty much any kind of climate or terrain found in the United States. It is considered one of the worst cities to live in America, yet has pretty much every conceivable industry. It has its own brands and celebrities and, even though it must be huge to house all it claims as its own, it remains a small town where everyone knows each other (though Moe never seems to get Marge's name right). The character base extends well beyond the family, a cast so huge, and a city so sprawling, only animation could contain it.
Well, never content with mere success, the show biz overlords decided that the Simpsons must be recreated. Other animated shows started popping up. I wont say they copied Groening's formula; most of them seemed to have pretty distinct voices. Nevertheless, they seemed to all exist in their own fictional USA cities, with their own extended cast of thousands. Even more amazing, some of them were critical successes in their own right. King of the Hill and South Park, for example, enjoyed glowing reviews. Groening himself created a new show, which at first seemed like a pretty successful follow up to his Simpson empire, and that's where Futurama comes in.
I think, though still fluid in its continuity, Futurama has probably the closest sensibility to what we think of as mythology shows within the animation genre. Make no mistake, it's still pretty episodic, nothing like the televised novel that Lost seems to be. What it does have is a fairly consistent back-story for its characters. Groening claims that many of these reveals -Leela's parentage, Nibbler's motives, Farnsworth's offspring-were all part of the initial concept of the show from its inception. And I, for one, believe him. He plants seeds, hints in early episodes, which evidence this pre-planning. I'm not talking big Lost style mysteries, but rather little forshadowy Easter eggs, which later bear fruit. For that matter, many character bits which seem like throwaway jokes at the time, become part of the character's continuity, such as Bender's reveal that he was made in Mexico, so his last name is Rodriguez.
Though Groening and crew make a valiant effort at developing character and relationship in a farcical world, the episodic nature of the show occasionally betrays it. Not often, but occasionally. While The Simpsons make the reset button a point of mockery, Futurama gets its laughs more from poking fun at sci-fi convention and can occasionally take a reset step backward. The most glaring example that comes to mind is in the recent DVD movies. After Bender's Big Score, it seems as if Fry and Leela's relationship has evolved, yet at the start of the next installment, Beast With A Billion Backs, Fry's got a new lady, and neither of them act as if there's anything odd about that. Anyone who's read my views knows I'm not fond of the reset convention, but I'm more forgiving in animation's exaggerated point of view. True, I'd prefer a more Simpsonian acknowledgement of it, but Futurama's not as much about self-awareness as is The Simpsons. Futurama's comedy satirizes sci-fi, not sitcoms.
Again, I come across as negative. I'm thrilled at Futurama's rebirth. Though more intellectual than The Simpsons, it still finds emotion through the characters. In some ways, it's more brilliant than The Simpsons, even in The Simpsons' heyday. Coming from me, that's no faint praise. For that matter, unlike many fans, I don't see any depreciation of quality in the DVD movies (Fry's girlfriend reboot notwithstanding). In fact, I think some of it's funnier, cleverer, and more moving than what we'd seen on the show. If the new season follows in this tradition, I think we're in for some of the best adult animation we've yet seen. I'm not a Family Guy hater like many, but I've often thought that the wrong animated show got resurrected. Well, now both are back, and justice rules the animated television landscape once more.