Futurama: The End?

So, for whatever reason, FOX lost faith in Futurama; after a few years of changing timeslots and poor promotion, the show got canceled. But then, after it became one of the most popular shows on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, FOX commissioned four new Futurama direct-to-DVD movies (isn't it weird how this and two other FOX shows were somehow revived [Firefly and Family Guy], and it is likely that another canceled-before-its-time FOX show, Arrested Development, is getting a second chance). So far, two have been released, and while they haven't been as good as the show was at its best, they have certainly been worthwhile.

The first, Bender's Big Score, told the complicated story of the crew discovering the secret of time travel. After discovering a tattoo on Fry's ass that holds the code for opening a time sphere, a group of greedy aliens exploit it to force Bender to go back in time and steal priceless artifacts. However, as usually happens with time travel, an elaborate time loop story is created, as Fry and Bender repeatedly go back in time, creating rather insane circumstances (some of which negate the carefully plotted backstory that was established in the series, but I'm nitpicking).

The other, The Beast With A Billion Backs, deals with the final twist of Big Score. After a rift in the space-time continuum is created due to the overuse of time travel, the world is confronted with an enormous monster who offers a kind of bizarre paradise.

Big Score was very much about reintroducing us to the world of Futurama; the writers tried to squeeze in nearly every recurring character into the two-hour span, which ultimately worked against the story. It was certainly nice to see everyone again, but many of the characters seemed out of place. Beast was much more of a normal episode of the show, in the sense that the story was tighter. However, both felt like a loosely told collection of four episodes as opposed to one story (the movies will eventually be broken down into four episodes each and broadcast on Comedy Central). This isn't the worst flaw ever, but subplots seem to come and go somewhat abruptly.

Still, these movies have been fun so far, and based on the trailer for the upcoming Bender's Game, the fun will keep on coming. Based on the events of Big Score, we will get a little closure on some of the overarching plot elements (though the events of Beast somewhat ignored the Fry/Leela development in Big Score). The final movie, Into the Wild Green Yonder, is supposed to tie up all the loose ends, and based on a few things I've heard about it, it should be pretty great.

Hopefully, if everything works out, we may get a little more Futurama, but the producers have said that if Green Yonder is the last thing they do with the Futurama universe, they will be happy with the ending, and I'm guessing we will too.

Up next: Nostalgia...