Written by: David X Cohen and Ken KeelerDirected by: Dwayne Carey-HillDN’s Ranking: Bad / Nonessential / ESSENTIAL I expect this essay series will get fewer comments from this point forward. I remember when it was announced that there would be … Continue reading Futurama, “Bender’s Big Score”

Written by: Ken Keeler Directed by: Brett Haaland DN’s Ranking: Bad / Nonessential / ESSENTIAL Amazing that this is the first of many great series finales this show ever did. This is a lot of people’s favourite episode, and one … Continue reading Futurama, Season Four, Episode Sixteen, “The Devil’s Hands Are Idle Playthings”

Written by: Ron WeinerDirected by: Peter AvanzinoDN’s Ranking: Bad / NONESSENTIAL / Essential While this one is merely very funny rather than transcendently so, I still like it a lot and feel it represents how Futurama was at the top … Continue reading Futurama, Season Four, Episode Seventeen, “Spanish Fry”

Written by: Eric KaplanDirected by: Swinton O Scott IIIDN’s Ranking: Bad / Nonessential / ESSENTIAL This is neither the most philosophical nor the most emotionally intense episode of Futurama, but it reveals that these traits are nice but unnecessary, because … Continue reading Futurama, Season Four, Episode Sixteen, “Three Hundred Big Boys”

Written by: Bill OdenkirkDirected by: Ron HughartDN’s Ranking: Bad / Nonessential / ESSENTIAL It’s funny that this has always been one of my favourites for its wildly creative energy, and yet when I sit down to analyse it, I see … Continue reading Futurama, Season Four, Episode Fifteen, “The Farnsworth Parabox”

Written by: Dan VebberDirected by: Dwayne Carrey-HillDN’s Ranking: Bad / NONESSENTIAL / Essential Within a string of magnificent feats of creativity and one absolute tire fire, we have this okay little number. It’s reminiscent of “Godfellas” both in that it … Continue reading Futurama, Season Four, Episode Fourteen, “Obsoletely Fabulous”

Written by: Michael RoweDirected By: James PurdumDN’s Ranking: BAD / Nonessential / Essential Ugh, let’s get through this. Futurama is frequently sexist and there’s no way around or justifying that; if you’re a fan of the show, it’s because you … Continue reading Futurama, Season Four, Episode Thirteen, “Bend Her”

Written by: Patric M VerroneDirected by: Brain SheesleyDN’s Ranking: Bad / Nonessential / ESSENTIAL I described “Roswell That Ends Well” as Futurama doing what it normally tries to do at the highest level of skill and inspiration, and I mentioned … Continue reading Futurama, Season Four, Episode Twelve, “The Sting”

Written by: David A GoodmanDirected by: Pat ShinigawaDN’s Ranking: Bad / Nonessential / ESSENTIAL Ralph Waldo Emerson said that when one talks about the world, one is really talking about oneself; in this episode, Futurama ends up revealing so much … Continue reading Futurama, Season Four, Episode Eleven, “Where No Fan Has Gone Before”

Written by: David X CohenDirected by: Wes ArcherDN’s Ranking: Bad / Nonessential / ESSENTIAL Of all the episodes of Futurama we’ve covered and all the episodes of Futurama we ever will cover, this is the one I had to take … Continue reading Futurama, Season Four, Episode Ten, “The Why of Fry”

Written by: Jeff WestbrookDirected by: Bret HaalandDN’s Ranking: Bad / Nonessential / ESSENTIAL We’ve seen a lot of episodes that have really interesting points or emotions alongside the fact that they’re funny as hell. It’s not that they, ya know, … Continue reading Futurama, Season Four, Episode Nine, “Teenage Mutant Leela’s Hurdles”

Written by: Aaron EhaszDirected by: Peter AvancinoDN’s Ranking: Bad / Nonessential / ESSENTIAL This is an episode I’ve seen a lot because I kept intending to watch “A Big Piece Of Garbage” and kept getting it mixed up with this … Continue reading Futurama, Season Four, Episode Eight, “Crimes Of The Hot”

Written by: Eric KaplanDirected by: Swinton O Scott IIIDN’s Ranking: Bad / Nonessential / ESSENTIAL So, one of my most major moments of heretical Futurama fan opinions has always been that this episode is wildly overrated. I felt that the … Continue reading Futurama, Season Four, Episode Seven, “Jurassic Bark”

Written by: Lewis MortonDirected by: Brian SheeselyDN’s Ranking: Bad / NONESSENTIAL / Essential When I wrote about “Godfellas”, I remarked that it was a great example of that typical Futurama thinking-out-loud vibe leading to somewhere really profound. This episode, conversely, … Continue reading Futurama, Season Four, Episode Six, “Bender Should Not Be Allowed On Television”

Written by: Eric HorstedDirected by: James PurdemDN’s Ranking: BAD / Nonessential / Essential When I talk about how Zoidberg-centric episodes don’t do much for me, I’m usually thinking of this one. I’d hoped that revisiting it for this series would … Continue reading Futurama, Season Four, Episode Five, “A Taste Of Freedom”

Written by: Ron WeinerDirected by: Susie DietterDN’s Ranking: Bad / Nonessential / ESSENTIAL There are Futurama episodes that are essential because they’re emotionally vivid, there are Futurama episodes that are essential because they explore a really interesting concept, and there … Continue reading Futurama, Season Four, Episode Four, “Less Than Hero”

Written by: Dan VebberDirected by: Brian SheesleyDN’s Ranking: Bad / NONESSENTIAL / Essential This feels like a spiritual twin to “Put Your Head On My Shoulders”, because it follows another male member of the crew as he embarks on a … Continue reading Futurama, Season Four, Episode Three, “Love And Rocket”

Written by: Kristen GoreDirected by: Mark ErvinDN’s Ranking: Bad / Nonessential / ESSENTIAL Previously, in discussing the overall plot of the show, I have stupidly forgotten about Leela’s mysterious past and how she discovers it. If anything, it’s even simpler … Continue reading Futurama, Season Four, Episode Two, “Leela’s Homeworld”

Written by: Bill OdenkirkDirected by: Wes ArcherDN’s Ranking: Bad / NONESSENTIAL / Essential This is my favourite of the Amy-focused episodes, which is pretty reflective of how the show treated her in general because it has so many crucial things … Continue reading Futurama, Season Four, Episode One, “Kif Gets Knocked Up A Notch”

Written by: Jeff WestbrookDirected by: Ron HughartDN’s Ranking: Bad / NONESSENTIAL / Essential Man, the high we’ve been riding for so long feels like it went forever! This is a step down – it’s another one of those episodes where … Continue reading Futurama, Season Three, Episode Twenty-Two, “The 30% Iron Chef”

Written by: Aaron EhazsDirected by: Brian SheesleyDN’s Ranking: Bad / NONESSENTIAL / Essential One of my opening grand unified theories for Futurama is that it’s as much a Gen X show as The Simpsons was a Boomer show, and one … Continue reading Futurama, Season Three, Episode Twenty-One, “Future Stock”