#Futurama face of mars series

I don’t know what Gunter was supposed to be getting up to with Chrissy during their study date (although I’m sure there are disturbing pictures of it somewhere on the Internet), but Fry’s insecurity brings out the worst in him it’s an edge which, while never becoming actively evil, makes him more than just a lovable doofus.Īs for Gunter himself, his struggle between the call of his former life, and the possibilities of human canoodling and career advancement offered by a magic science hat that makes him a genius, is the closest that “Mars University” gets to having an authentic emotional core. While the storyline eventually shifts over into Algernon territory in the final act, Fry is the central character for the first two-thirds, and his enraged jealousy at getting repeatedly over-shadowed by a monkey provides decent character work and good gags. So smart, in fact, that he puts Fry to shame on a routine basis. Then he meets the contents of the professor’s create: the monkey with the hat that makes him smart. Fry, learning that his status as a college dropout from the 20th century makes him little more than a high school dropout, decides to enroll so he can quit in a few weeks and regain his former glory. The A-plot begins with Farnsworth bringing the whole group to Mars so he can deliver a crate to his office at the university. But it works here, in part because it’s contrasted (to an extent) against Gunter’s storyline. Too much of the show’s final, post-Fox years would rely on this comedic approach when the novelty wears off, the faux-laziness just starts to look like laziness, and that kills the humor. Instead, “Mars University” heads in the opposite direction and gives us villains from Snooty House. snobs is so overdone by now that it takes really sharp writing to make it feel fresh. And it’s funny because, well, who gives a shit? The story of slobs vs. The original Animal House wasn’t exactly rife with tension, but it had at least enough rooting interest to sustain itself for an hour and a half. Much of the humor comes from Bender not really giving a shit he wants to make his frat popular, but not enough to expend any actual effort. The lame robots of the frat are likable enough, but their frustration at being uncool, and the later concern about being expelled, are never anything more than an excuse to let Bender do his thing. There are no real stakes in the ERR story. This embodies a certain style of Futurama comedy that the show would turn to more and more frequently in later years: the joke that’s so obvious that the obviousness becomes, in effect, the punchline. This isn’t a one-to-one remake of the movie, but the debt is hard to ignore, in part because a lot of the humor relies on how obvious the references are.

#Futurama face of mars series

While neither of these storylines shows the series at its best, both throw a clever spin on their source material. There’s also a riff on Flowers For Algernon, what with that monkey in the magic hat. Have I mentioned there’s an Animal House parody storyline? I did? Cool. I don’t know if it’s just end of the year brain freeze or what, but while this is a basically unobjectionable episode, with good script and some great gags, for the life of me I can’t think of what to say about it. I’m not sure what to say, and two abortive attempts at an introduction haven’t made the process any easier. If I seem to be struggling on this one, I am. There’s feces throwing, although it’s implied, and only happens off screen. Professor Farnsworth screams “Nooooo!” at the heavens, and it is a good joke. It has some funny bits, and there’s a talking monkey with a magical science hat that makes him super smart (hence the talking), and Bender reenacts Animal House in an attempt to make his robot fraternity look cool.