Written by: Dan VebberDirected by: Brian SheesleyDN’s Ranking: Bad / NONESSENTIAL / Essential Now here’s another episode I love for its lowkey competence! It’s worth comparing and contrasting to “Where The Buggalo Roam”, in that this too has a cliche … Continue reading Futurama, Season Three, Episode Twelve, “The Route Of All Evil”

Written by: Bill OdenkirkDirected by: Peter AvanzinoDN’s Ranking: Bad / NONESSENTIAL / Essential This is one I haven’t seen in a while simply because its subject matter bothers me. The sexism of the show only rarely actually bothers me; I’m … Continue reading Futurama, Season Three, Episode Eleven, “Insane In The Mainframe”

Written by: J Stewart BurnsDirected by: Pat ShinagawaDN’s Ranking: Bad / NONESSENTIAL / Essential This is a pretty good episode in spite of the fact that it’s a perfect example of why the Amy/Kiff romance doesn’t work at all for … Continue reading Futurama, Season Three, Episode Ten, “Where The Buggalo Roam”

Written by: Lewis MortonDirected by: Susie DietterDN’s Ranking: Bad / Nonessential / ESSENTIAL Now here’s a great episode! I suspect people will find it a bit cheeky to call this one essential because I don’t generally see people talk about … Continue reading Futurama, Season Three, Episode Eleven, “The Cyber House Rules”

Written by:  Patric M VerroneDirected by: Bret HaalandDN’s Ranking: Bad / NONESSENTIAL / Essential I’ve said before that I absolutely love Zoidberg but have always found episodes that put him as a protagonist to be weak. I wondered, watching this … Continue reading Futurama, Season Three, Episode Eight, “That’s Lobstertainment!”

Written by: Jeff Westbrook (teleplay) Westbrook and David X Cohen (story)Directed by: Mark ErvinDN’s Ranking: Bad / Nonessential / ESSENTIAL Even if I didn’t like this episode, it would still be essential. This is one of the big parts of … Continue reading Futurama, Season Three, Episode Seven, “The Day The Earth Stood Stupid”

Written by: Eric HorstedDirected by: Swinton O Scott IIIDN’s Ranking: Bad / NONESSENTIAL / Essential This is practically the definition of a minor Futurama episode – I fundamentally do not care about the plot except as a vehicle for jokes, … Continue reading Futurama, Season Three, Episode Six, “Bendless Love”

Written by: Dan VebberDirected by: James PurdumDN’s Ranking: Bad / NONESSENTIAL / Essential This is another one of my favourites – there’s something almost comforting about a solid, reliably entertaining episode that doesn’t reach any spectacular highs but also doesn’t … Continue reading Futurama, Season Three, Episode Five, “The Birdbot Of Ice-Catraz”

Written by: Ron WeinerDirected by: Chris LoudenDN’s Ranking: Bad / Nonessential / ESSENTIAL Everyone has their own bit of what TV Tropes calls ‘fandom heresy’ – a reaction to a particular episode from a work that’s diametrically opposed to the … Continue reading Futurama, Season Three, Episode Four, “The Luck Of The Fryrish”

Written by: Bill OdenkirkDirected by: Ron HughartDN’s Ranking: Bad / Nonessential / ESSENTIAL This is the show’s second attempt to do an ironic Christmas episode, and I find it far more successful than the first. It’s very much in the … Continue reading Futurama, Season Three, Episode Three, “A Tale Of Two Santas”

Written by: Eric KaplanDirected by: Peter AvanzinoDN’s Ranking: Bad / Nonessential / ESSENTIAL I genuinely don’t know what to make of this one. The premise is that Fry has been infected with parasites that have given him an enhanced body … Continue reading Futurama, Season Three, Episode Two, “Parasites Lost”

Written by: Lewis MortonDirected by: Brian SheesleyDN’s Ranking: BAD / Nonessential / Essential This episode seems to have become a focal point for all the criticism of Futurama’s gender politics, and there is a lot going on in it. This … Continue reading Futurama, Season Three, Episode One, “Amazon Women In The Mood”

Written by: J Stewart BurnsDirected by: Mark ErvinDN’s Ranking: Bad / NONESSENTIAL / Essential This is often remembered as one of the worst original-run Futurama episodes, especially by me; this is the earliest that I’ve not revisited often specifically because … Continue reading Futurama, Season Two, Episode Nineteen, “The Cryonic Woman”

Written by: Ken KeelerDirected by: Susie DietterDN’s Ranking: Bad / NONESSENTIAL / Essential This is definitely on the lower end of the NONESSENTIAL category. I refuse to get too pedantic with the categories because that’s boring to me, but admittedly … Continue reading Futurama, Season Two, Episode Eighteen, “The Honking”

Written by: Ron HughartDirected by: Eric HorstedDN’s Ranking: Bad / NONESSENTIAL / Essential This is another all-time favourite that I would comfortably slip into NONESSENTIAL status without that being an insult to the episode. This is definitely in the top … Continue reading Futurama, Season Two, Episode Seventeen, “War Is The H-Word”

Written by: Eric Rogers, Ken Keeler, and David X Cohen.Directed by: Chris Louden and Rich Moore.DN’s Ranking: Bad / NONESSENTIAL / Essential So, this is our first of the “Anthology” episodes – the Futurama equivalent to the “Treehouse Of Horror” … Continue reading Futurama, Season Two, Episode Sixteen, “Anthology Of Interest I”

Written by: Patrick M Verrone, Darin Henry (story)Directed by: Chris Suave, Greg VanzoDN’s Ranking: Bad / Nonessential / ESSENTIAL Last week, there was discussion of a possible violent uprising if I didn’t give this episode ESSENTIAL status. Luckily for me, … Continue reading Futurama, Season Two, Episode Fifteen, “The Problem With Popplers”

Written by: Lewis MortonDirected by: Brian SheesleyDN’s Ranking: Bad / Nonessential / ESSENTIAL This is another one I actually haven’t seen in a while and I can’t remember why – maybe it’s another one that was scratched on my DVD? … Continue reading Futurama, Season Two, Episode Fourteen, “Mother’s Day”

Written By: Eric HorstedDirected By: Peter AvanzinoDN’s Ranking: Bad / NONESSENTIAL / Essential Fun story: this is an episode I haven’t revisited much, not because there’s not much to it but because my season two DVD got scratched and that … Continue reading Futurama, Season Two, Episode Thirteen, “Bender Gets Made”

Written by: J Stewart BurnsDirected By: Bret HaalandDN’s Ranking: Bad / NONESSENTIAL / Essential This is actually one of my favourite episodes and one that I’ve revisited a lot, and it’s useful as a further refining of the ‘bad/nonessential/essential’ scale … Continue reading Futurama, Season Two, Episode Twelve, “The Deep South”