Too many live-action TV comedies these days aren’t even comedies (cough, “The Bear,” among others) but don’t tell that to the Television Academy or its list of Emmy nominees this year. Joke writing may be a diminishing art on television, but animated TV comedies happily and staunchly remain the place to find screwball humor that’s just gags upon gags.
That was always one of the key pleasures of “Futurama,” which premiered nearly a quarter century ago. A show delighted by the comedic possibilities of incompetence, it also has one of the funkier histories of cancellations and rebirths. Originally premiering on Fox in 1999, it then had a couple of straight-to-DVD movies (later carved into episode-length chunks), only for the series to be revived (and then canceled yet again) by Comedy Central, only to be revived one more time now in its 11th season on Hulu.
The title credits are a jaunty tip of the hat to the show’s new home — the word “Hulurama” morphs into “Futurama” — but otherwise we’re in familiar territory. Fry, the 20th century ding-dong who was cryogenically frozen and then unfrozen a thousand years later (voiced by Billy West) and his lady love Leela (Katey Sagal), the one-eyed, purple-haired mutant who is out of his league, are back with the old gang and we’re off to the races.
The original cast is present and accounted for. That wasn’t a sure thing. John DiMaggio, who voices the fouled-mouthed drunken sailor of a robot named Bender — truly the heart and demented soul of “Futurama” — tried holding out for a pay bump, to no avail, and decided to do the show anyway. Considering just how essential DiMaggio’s incarnation of Bender has been to the show’s success, it’s hard not to see his experience as emblematic of many issues at the forefront of the Hollywood actors and writers strikes: The suits are winning with bonuses and stock options, while the talent who make TV shows a hit are asked to make do with relative scraps.
With its return, “Futurama” remains as joyously absurd and full of double-talk as ever. The decrepit Professor Farnsworth (Fry’s distant relative/mad scientist, also voiced by West) tells the group: “We seem to have survived a massive disruption in the flow of time. Did we get older? Younger? Science holds no answers.”
Fry: “Does science know what year it is?”
Professor: “Science knows everything!”
Who better than the writers of “Futurama” to satirize our current TV era? The year is 3023 and streaming shows have titles that riff on 21st century hits: “Blob’s Burgers,” “Head Lasso” and “The Real Housecats of Thuban 9.”
Fry intends to watch them all. “If you’re going to binge, you’ll need a Still Suit,” the professor tells him. Why is it called Still Suit? “Because you’ll be sitting perfectly still and I can’t have you soiling my binge-o-lounger!”
The crustacean known as Zoidberg (yet again, voiced by West) holds up two hoses he’s supposed to connect to the suit: “I’m not entirely sure which is the air hose and which is the waste hose but (shrugs) live and learn!”
There’s also a robot soap opera called “All My Circuits” featuring a robot having an affair with a human — “a filthy, filthy human, so squishy and gooey, you’re like a sexy water balloon!” The show is sponsored by a breakfast cereal called Honey Bunches of Springs (“Everybody loves Honey Bunches of Springs!” says the announcer. “Except humans — fatal for humans”).
Pop culture is plenty skewered in “Futurama.” Other episodes parody the dusty sci-fi epic “Dune” (which takes place in a litter box, with everyone shrunken down to miniature), bitcoin mining (envisioned as a Western) and the rapacious nature of the corporate mandate for growth at all costs. But there’s also an episode that centers on something just as important if more prosaic: The taxing drain of new parenthood.
Do these new episodes feel essential? Not really. I don’t know that I ever felt that way about the show to begin with, but I have such admiration for its love of zingers, its bouncy-cynical depiction of the future, and a cast of characters who are plainly ridiculous and yet committed to one another. It’s fun.
And I’ll always be a sucker for the style of silly humor that is “Futurama’s” raison d’être.
Professor: “Can I have a taste?”
Bender: “Sure, you seem like the kind of guy who has a mouth.”
“Futurama” Season 11 — 2.5 stars (out of 4)
Where to watch: Hulu
Nina Metz is a Tribune critic
nmetz@chicagotribune.com
