Ronit J

The New Futurama Seasons Synopsis:

Philip J. Fry, a pizza delivery boy, is accidentally frozen in 1999 and thawed out on New Year’s Eve 2999. Season 11-12 pick up where the last series finale left off, with Fry & Leela lived in a universe frozen in time, Professor Farnsworth reboots the universe, setting in motion a whole new series of misadventures and futuristic work-place comedy antics.

The New Futurama Seasons Review:

I was one of those people who actually were in favour of the cancellation. It’s better that a series gets cancelled at a high, than it slowly degrading in quality only to become a cringe-worthy husk of its glory days. Seeing all those many pointless reboots that are trying to capitalise on nostalgia, I was skeptical.

What did I think of the new seasons?

The New Futurama: Season 8 & 9 or Season 11 & 12? Futurama Seasons explained.

Futurama originally aired for 4 seasons on Fox before getting cancelled. Adult Swim acquired syndication rights after the cancellation, and also produced 4 direct-to-TV movies, then re-edited and released them as Season 5 of Futurama. The success of the movies eventually led to 2 more seasons of Futurama (seasons 6 & 7), each of which was split into 2 parts. Finally in 2012, Comedy Central cancelled Futurama.

In 2023, when I saw Futurama on Disney+ Hotstar, it said Season 11, which really confused me. After some research, I realised that all this confusion is just a very elaborate corporate mess. Basically, Fox and Comedy Central had different listings (remember how I said Comedy Central got syndication rights). Both Fox and Comedy Central numbered the episodes differently, both in broadcast and in the DVD Box Sets (which for some reason split the parts of Seasons 6 & 7 into two separate seasons by themselves).

I’ve listed these as Seasons 11 & 12 because that’s how they appear on Hotstar, where I live. For more clarity, check out this screenshot from a Reddit discussion that lays it down clearly:

Season 11/Season 8 Review

To be honest, the first episode (The Impossible Stream) made me not want to continue. Something just felt off about the humour. Maybe it was my bias against pointless renewals, or maybe the showrunners had failed to capture what made Futurama so good. But, episode 2 quickly pivoted towards familiar territory. All the Way Down was a brilliant ending to an otherwise hit-or-miss season, making me hopeful that the show might still have some great stories to tell.

Children of the Lesser Bog, How the West Was 1010001, and Related to Items You’ve Viewed were some of my favourites of this season. I feel they really captured the zeitgeist brilliantly, staying true to the original Futurama’s humour and treatment. The other episodes were fun too, but some like I Know What You Did Next Xmas and Rage Against the Vaccine felt like they were trying too hard. The season was mediocre at its worst, and brilliant at its best.

In conclusion, Season 11 (Season 8) was entertaining enough for me to want to keep watching.

Season 12/Season 9 Review

To be fair, I did not enjoy Season 12 as much as Season 11. If this had been the first renewed season, I might not have continued watching. While the first two episodes (The One Amigo & Quids Game) were funny, they felt very mediocre. Exactly the kind of mediocre stories you’d expect from pointless reboots that care only to capitalise on nostalgia.

I particularly hated The Futurama Mystery Liberry. None of the stories made sense, neither were they funny. The other episodes in the season also played out in a rather uninteresting way. Good enough for me to keep them running in the background, but not so good that they held my attention like many of Season 11.

However, Season 12 had some gems of its own. I really loved how Attack of the Clothes explored fast fashion with a ridiculous premise that ended up commenting on pertinent environmental issues. Cuteness Overload was an all-too-real exploration of collection fads and how they can consume people. The finale, “Otherwise”, was a very nice bookend to this otherwise wonky season.

Are The New Futurama Seasons Worth Watching?

This one really depends on you. If you’re a die-hard Futurama fan who feels they got the perfect ending with “Meanwhile”, I’d skip these seasons. They haven’t yet added anything exceptionally worthy to the overall Futurama experience.

However, if you’re a die-hard Futurama fan who wants more stories in this absurd future, then go for it! Sometimes it’s hit or miss, but when it’s good, it is genuinely good. None match the quality of peak Futurama, but they’re also not as bad as some other renewals/reboots. I did feel like some of the characters didn’t work like they used to before. Bender wasn’t as interesting a character in this new run. The same felt true for Leela and Professor Farnsworth. Amy and Kif were surprisingly great in their focus episodes. I was going to complain about not getting enough Zoidberg, but turns out the new season has an episode planned with him as the focus.

Personally, I see these new seasons as really well written fan fiction. The show ended with “Meanwhile” in my head-canon, and these are just fun stand-alone episodes that keep the universe alive.

In Conclusion:

The New Futurama Seasons were a comforting watch. I didn’t know I missed this world until I started watching these episodes. And honestly, I’d rather watch this over some half-baked, mediocre and incomplete franchise starters.

Plus, now’s the perfect time to catch up given how the next two seasons have already been greenlit!

Also check out:

• Severance Season 2 Review | Apple TV+
• Your Letter | Manwha Review
• Adolescence | Netflix Series Review
• Deli Boys | Hulu Series Review
• How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies | Film Review
• Island of the Dying Goddess

What other show/movie/book would you like me to review? Let me know in the comments below!

Until next time.