Family Guy Licensed for Videogames!

[Thief Silver]

Oh, she gave.

[Sqoon]

For every two good Futurama episode, there was a really awful one (I'm talking like an old Simpsons/new Simpsons contrast), like the Lucy Liubot, Blernsball, and the Human Horn one - Bender ruins it (yeah, he's supposed to be annoying sometimes, but he really crosses the line with the repetition of retarded comments until it's 'funny'...something Family Guy would try but I'd expect more from Futurama). And the episode about Fry's dog was a shameless treacly strip mine of Luck of the Fryish.

[AstroBlue]

You're 21. Simpsons was at its best in 93-94 (give or take). You were 10. Or 11.

Your point? I watched Simpsons then, liked it and got a lot of the pop culture references. Not to mention that if you have cable in Australia you can watch Simpsons three to eight times a day; and with just normal TV, you only can watch it once a day.

I've seen every episode like 20 times each, easily.

[The_Meach]

My point, as the rest of my post addressed, was that there seems to be a difference in taste b/w those of us who caught the Simpsons in their prime (and lionized it as young adults) and those who caught Futurama as young adults.

Classic Simpsons haven't been on TV very much the last 4 yrs (where I'm at). It's mostly been newer episodes in reruns.

I just watched an ep of Futurama (the one-eyed chick has to sleep with an arrogant, fat, Kirk ripoff; there's this tiny creature that looks like a black-and-white Pikmin and eats other creatures) tonight with some other ppl my own age (that agree with me that classic Simpsons can't be topped).

We laughed. Once.

I'm still going to try and track down Diff's eps but tonight's ep was the epitome of Deep Hurting.

[Do You Like Erotic?]

Age doesn't mean shit as most of us have not only seen every episode of the simpsons, but we've also seen every episode several times at different intervals in our lives.

I'm 23 and I've been watching the Simpsons since day one. I don't deny that it's one of the greatest shows in Television history, but I'm just saying that it, while a masterpiece in its own right, laid the groundwork for golden television like Futurama.

Personally, the best of both series' I can watch over and over again. I just prefer Futurama when it all comes down to it. It's like everyone else said, not only is it possibly the most cohesive cartoon ever, but it's also the most intelligently written cartoon comedy that has ever aired on TV.

I can't say for sure if, had Futurama continued, its legacy would be so strong, but considering that their main gimmick is 'the future' it just grants them the freedom to do pretty much anything with their characters and situations that their imagination dictates. It was a show with literally limitless possibilities. It just had extremely high production values, and that's part of why it got canned.

Groening said he wants to bring it back though. So who knows.

[Drewbacca]

You're 21. Simpsons was at its best in 93-94 (give or take). You were 10. Or 11.

One thing the Simpsons has on Futurama is being the first show of its kind. Before Simpsons there really wasn't anything (certainly nothing animated in primetime) that took a sarcastic look at pop culture (and the family) in the way it did. Married w/Children sort of did, but it was still a classic sit-com situated around a couch. Simpsons brought in an entire town's worth of supporting characters and, being animated, a ton of locales/scenes.

This ability to touch on any theme/idea found in American culture was revolutionary (see: all the shows today that riff on pop culture in much the same way Simpsons used to do so brilliantly). And, having grown up w/classic Simpsons, I've always found Futurama to be...unoriginal. This is different from being unfunny.

Ehhh, sort of. You can't rate something better just because it was first, that's ignorant. If something comes along and does a better job of it, you say so. And that's all diff is doing. Your whole arguement here is that Simpsons pioneered it, which again, seems ignorant.

Simpsons are awesome, but they're different animals.

Simpsons stands above Futurama b/c it was (and remains) so fresh. True, worthwhile originality (discovering something of importance) is an indicator of great art.

And yes, early Simpsons is a great piece of modern American pop art.

Hey, I'll still check out Diff's recommendations but every time I watch Futurama I think, "Yeah, but Simpsons has already touched on this and done a better job."

But that's idiotic, because the two hardly ever cross boundaries with one another.

For every two good Futurama episode, there was a really awful one (I'm talking like an old Simpsons/new Simpsons contrast), like the Lucy Liubot, Blernsball, and the Human Horn one - Bender ruins it (yeah, he's supposed to be annoying sometimes, but he really crosses the line with the repetition of retarded comments until it's 'funny'...something Family Guy would try but I'd expect more from Futurama). And the episode about Fry's dog was a shameless treacly strip mine of Luck of the Fryish.

It's exploring his history. I'll give you the Blernsball episode but Lucy Liubot was funny and the Human Horn was hilarious. Even the blernsball one had that funny pizza parlor that cooked bees in their crust. I don't think I've ever seen an episode of Futurama that resorted to shocking humour just to get a laugh. If they did something half assed they always did it self aware.

My point, as the rest of my post addressed, was that there seems to be a difference in taste b/w those of us who caught the Simpsons in their prime (and lionized it as young adults) and those who caught Futurama as young adults.

Classic Simpsons haven't been on TV very much the last 4 yrs (where I'm at). It's mostly been newer episodes in reruns.

I just watched an ep of Futurama (the one-eyed chick has to sleep with an arrogant, fat, Kirk ripoff; there's this tiny creature that looks like a black-and-white Pikmin and eats other creatures) tonight with some other ppl my own age (that agree with me that classic Simpsons can't be topped).

We laughed. Once.

I'm still going to try and track down Diff's eps but tonight's ep was the epitome of Deep Hurting.

If you didn't laugh at the steam pipe joke then it's you, not the show.

[Rumpy]

I just watched an ep of Futurama (the one-eyed chick has to sleep with an arrogant, fat, Kirk ripoff; there's this tiny creature that looks like a black-and-white Pikmin and eats other creatures) tonight with some other ppl my own age (that agree with me that classic Simpsons can't be topped).

I love that episode. Zap Brannigan has some of the greatest lines in the series. Another good example is the Amazon women episode. I didn't like the Lucy Lu bot episode much though. It has its up and downs, but I think I like FR more than simpsons. The past few seasons of Simpsons has completely turned me off to the series. And I've seen the classic episodes so many times now I'm burned out on them.

[jonas]

Age has nothing to do with how TV affects me. It's called DVD. Look into it.

I have every DVD Simpson release and have watched them all.
Futurama requires a more intelligent viewer to fully understand itself. I don't think you could watch Futurama with a group because generally people act stupider in a group setting.
That one episode you said was freaking hilarious.
'Lets check this steampipe'
'No good, it's full of steam!'

It seems to me you haven't seen hardly ANY Futurama and thus suffer from the same ignorance that was around before. People just somehow started bashing Futurama before giving it a chance.
I have had 3 people like this and I gave them my Futurama DVDs to watch and I told them to watch it in order from season to season. A week later they ALL came back and told me how great a show it was. Some of them are even the type to watch a show with a bias just to prove me wrong but they ALL loved it. They all said the same thing though and that's Futurama is a very clever show and thus needs to be watched with a brain.

Also in the episode you described, didn't Zap hide on the chair when Leela and crew came on his ship? A CHAIR?

I think the show is hilarious and you have absolutely no sense of humor. Just a hunch though.

By the way, Simpsons current season and last season have actually been ok. I haven't caught a lot of them but the ones I have watched are pretty funny and have some emotion back into them. Simpsons to me were great to about season 11 or so then they got worse until last season where they seem to be getting better writing again. We still got 4 more years of Simpsons too, who knows what could happen.
I still love the Simpsons more than anything but that's only because I have invested so much more time (and money) into them. I have pretty much all the World of Springfield figures and every game... I even enjoy watching the 'bad' seasons people don't like. With that said, I STILL don't put down other cartoons just because I love the Simpsons. Futurama is a much more clever show and everytime I watch it I pick up new jokes, it's a great show. Family Guy is a great show to but is a more of a shock humor type ordeal.

Don't knock Futurama because you don't 'get' it. Maybe when you're older you'll get it.

[Joust Williams]

"Futurama requires a more intelligent viewer to fully understand itself"

Since when does intelligent comedy = better by default and everyone that doesn't like it doesn't get it? That argument is so lame.

[Sqoon]

It's exploring his history. I'll give you the Blernsball episode but Lucy Liubot was funny and the Human Horn was hilarious. Even the blernsball one had that funny pizza parlor that cooked bees in their crust. I don't think I've ever seen an episode of Futurama that resorted to shocking humour just to get a laugh. If they did something half assed they always did it self aware.

Practically every comedy episode in TV history has one moment that's good for a chuckle, but for something like Futurama to only have one or a few good moments, it's pathetic. I didn't even mention shocking humor.

Self-awareness doesn't automatically make things funny. It's pandering the viewer into braindead submission. "Not only are we not trying, but we're going to run this unfunny joke into the ground until it's 'great'!" (e.g. Bender's stupid human horn comments, or Family Guy's Peter breathing heavily for a minute after he gets hurt on the sidewalk)

Luck of the Fryish is one of the best TV episodes ever - surprising and heartbreaking. Using the same exact structure again shows total arrogance and laziness on the writer's part and using a dog is a cheap device, grossly sentimental pathos.