Ugh. This final season of Futurama (hopefully this is the final season) is easily the worst of the lot. An episode like Saturday Morning Fun Pit, done right, could be brilliant. As it is, it looks like another long-running sitcom running out of ideas, similar to another animated series created by Matt Groening. The idea is that modified versions of Futurama characters can be used to tell three short stories, not unlike Naturama. This time they spoof old cartoons. That might seem like a good idea- Futurama has had some respect for the cartoons that came before it, as clips of the classics have appeared in the title sequence.
First off, the concept of the episode is a bit inexplicable- Nixon and the once-again revived Agnew watch Saturday morning cartoons, which for some reason feature the Planet Express crew. How did this happen? How did our heroes end up in cartoons? This is something that at best should have been an Anthology of Interest episode, but for some reason the writers never saw fit to make an Anthology of Interest III. And why is it Nixon watching the cartoons? Is it just supposed to be funny that Nixon would watch cartoons?
The best segment is the Scooby-Doo parody, probably. There are some funny moments in the beginning of the segment, but Leela's remark that the laugh track doesn't correspond to anything funny, a stab at Scooby-Doo, is big talk from a cartoon that hasn't been funny in some time. Most jokes fall flat- Bendee Boo saying "Ri'm ran ralcoholic!" is supposed to be funny because it's said in a funny voice, and the villain saying he's mentally ill is supposed to be funny for some reason.
The other segments depend on the viewer being familiar with The Smurfs and GI Joe, which I imagine are too old for a good number of Futurama fans to remember. Someone points out how much they repeat the word purple, and that's supposed to be funny. The GI Joe cracks its one joke about cartoon censorship and keeps repeating it. Every act of this episode overstays its welcome, and coming to the end is a relief.
First off, the concept of the episode is a bit inexplicable- Nixon and the once-again revived Agnew watch Saturday morning cartoons, which for some reason feature the Planet Express crew. How did this happen? How did our heroes end up in cartoons? This is something that at best should have been an Anthology of Interest episode, but for some reason the writers never saw fit to make an Anthology of Interest III. And why is it Nixon watching the cartoons? Is it just supposed to be funny that Nixon would watch cartoons?
The best segment is the Scooby-Doo parody, probably. There are some funny moments in the beginning of the segment, but Leela's remark that the laugh track doesn't correspond to anything funny, a stab at Scooby-Doo, is big talk from a cartoon that hasn't been funny in some time. Most jokes fall flat- Bendee Boo saying "Ri'm ran ralcoholic!" is supposed to be funny because it's said in a funny voice, and the villain saying he's mentally ill is supposed to be funny for some reason.
The other segments depend on the viewer being familiar with The Smurfs and GI Joe, which I imagine are too old for a good number of Futurama fans to remember. Someone points out how much they repeat the word purple, and that's supposed to be funny. The GI Joe cracks its one joke about cartoon censorship and keeps repeating it. Every act of this episode overstays its welcome, and coming to the end is a relief.