The List: #16 Futurama

#16
Number of Seasons: 4
Years Active: 1999 - 2003; 2007 - Present
Network: FOX; Cartoon Network

Matt Groening's second series never got as much credit from the network or viewers as his juggernaut The Simpsons, which is truly sad, since Futurama is every bit as clever as its predecessor. The show begins at the conclusion of 1999; Philip J. Fry is upset with his unsatisfactory life and is pessimistic that the new millennium will bring any changes. However, things change when he delivers a pizza to a prank location (is it really a prank?) and falls into a cryogenic tube, only to be frozen for 1000 years.

Fry wakes up to find a world that looks different, but has all of the same problems as the world of today. Space travel is mundane, robots are cynical citizens and aliens try to conquer Earth every now and then, but there is still a lower class, political corruption runs rampant (due to a technicality, Richard Nixon's preserved head becomes president again) and global warming remains an issue. Fry goes to work as an interplanetary delivery boy, where his boss is his 100+ year-old great-great-great...great-nephew, a senile wannabe mad scientist. The series follows the exploits of Fry, his nephew Prof. Farnsworth, one-eyed alien (?) Leela, alcoholic robot Bender, hilariously inept Dr. Zoidberg, valley girl intern Amy and bureaucrat (that's his official title) Hermes.

Futurama mixes low-brow comedy with high-brow themes and concepts (there are more math jokes than you can shake a stick at). This allows for the show to appeal to nearly everyone; people who watch the show for the slapstick will get just as much enjoyment as people who watch it for the undertones.

Up next: #15...