Futurama UK Premiere - Rebirth

'Futurama' is back and I for one am very happy about it. Long after the season 6 premiere in the US the Planet Express crew has finally come back to UK on channel Sky 1. In a strange way I preferred 'Futurama' to the other Fox show it was cancelled for 'The Simpsons' because it seemed more consistently funny and smarter in a time where Homer and co just weren't. That's not to say I don't love 'The Simpsons' because I do, but I always liked that there was an endless amount of stories that could be created in a world like 'Futurama' rather than Homer and Marge joining a curling team.

The new season premiere suitably titled 'Rebirth' is a very promising start, with the writers quickly scrapping everything that happened in the mostly terrible straight to DVD movies. This is a smart move. The main priority with this episode seems to be getting rid of the all the strange and stupid plot points created in those mini movies and return everything to the norm - but have some laughs along the way. 

The plot picks up straight after 'Into The Wild Green Yonder' with the Planet Express crew dying in a crash. Professor Farnsworth survives the crash and revives the crew using a birthing machine, but after a complication with Leela's rebirthing leaves her in a coma Fry recreates her in robot form. Bender meanwhile has a doomsday device placed in his chest to keep him alive causing the robot to have to party constantly or it will explode.



This episode is a pretty successful return to form for 'Futurama' as the writers do a great job of setting up a season free of the problems made in the DVD movies and still making me laugh in the process. The jokes from Leela and Fry's storyline is what works best and is the core of the episode, with Bender's predicament being nothing more than a filler and to give the fan favourite something to do. Bender's constant dancing becomes quite tiresome fairly quickly and the writers make no attempt to expand the joke beyond shots of him dancing where he shouldn't be i.e. a funeral. Add in the fact that a gaff about 'Futurama' being on a new channel will be lost on UK viewers and not all the jokes land. 

With a clean slate and endless possibilities 'Futurama' will hopefully match the brilliance of the seasons from the early 2000's. While this is by no means a classic episode it is certainly a step in the right direction and a promising start for Matt Groening's other animated show.  Plus Zapp Brannigan, Lrrrr, Morbo and Nibbler are all still yet to come.

'Futurama' is on Sky 1, Fridays at 8pm.