#Leela is mom-friend

[presidentdisastraofgallifrey]

Some of the wildest things about every episode of Gallifrey based purely mainly on my recollections, series 4 edition:

Reborn

Brax is whimsical enough to think he loves Romana but realistic enough that she rejects him even in his own daydream

The best plan they can come up with is roadtripping across rejected realities to find one to settle in

Alternate Romana i who never left home is a depressed wine mom. And married Andred

Leela becomes President and names K-9 Castellan over Narvin

She then has to fire K-9 because the power goes to his head

Narvin gets all his regenerations sucked out and then doesn’t tell his friends about it

Disassembled

Leela tortures herself

The Doctor is a presidential assassin

So is Brax

Romana is angry that no one told her she had a presidential assassin

The two brothers kill each other

Annihilation

~SUDDENLY VAMPIRES~

Brax was literally turned into a dog

Romana lets a vampire bite her on the off chance her lineage makes her immune

Leela wants to drink blood, is told no

Forever

Romana finally gets to be assassinated! Unfortunately, it’s an alternate Romana. Fortunately, it means our Romana can step into her place as President

Narvin is mad at having to have the second most power on the planet. He doesn’t want more power; he wants less responsibility

Leela becomes a local folk hero and leads a slave revolt

The eye of harmony is haunted and they have to get stuck here about it if they don’t want the rest of the universe to be haunted

[tortureofthedamned]

Seen this brought up before; that in Universe 1, Igner would be absent.

My headcanon is that MOM-1 dumped Igner at Cookieville Minimum-Security Orphanarium as a baby.

While there, Leela ended up becoming like a big sister to him, protecting him from the other kids. In turn, Igner didn’t mind at all that she’s a cyclops and was her one true friend during childhood.

They���re still close as adults too! Depending on if Leela-1 had found her real parents by the time she and Fry wed in their universe, maybe Igner gave her away instead.

[thescullyphile]

not the original tgw anon but would love to read your whole spiel on the kalicia dynamic

TWO of you? oh this just makes my day. now that I have an excuse, I will /definitely/ spiel.

I think an understanding of Alicia and Kalinda separately is the best place to start when thinking about their dynamic, whether you read it as friendship or otherwise. (Personally, I think it's pretty much canon that Kalinda at least was like, horrendously in love in a way she didn't expect.) Putting the rest under the cut because I don't want to overwhelm anyone hahaha.

Let's start with Alicia, because it's so easy to. She's the Good Wife™. In the show we get to see her break that mold, express herself and her opinions and develop her mind as she pursues a legal career with great success. All of this positive evolution has to come from somewhere though, the change has to result from an unchanged state. The Alicia Florrick at L/G is not the same person as the mom at Highland Park talking about pilates. The show answers the question of how she grows from there, but it never talks about how she gets there. Saint Alicia, good at school. Incredibly bright, driven, and still sweet. She graduates with honors, top of her class at one of the best law schools in the nation, followed by a year of smashing success right out of the gate. And then...she throws it all away. Because for all of her drive, and intelligence, she's not quite firm. She gets pregnant and Peter wants her to stay home, and so she compromises. The next 13 years are a series of compromises that take her further and further away from the person that she was. Like I've already said, Alicia is a listener. And the idea of such an incredibly bright, responsive mind essentially wasting away in her attempts to fit in to the catty and social extension of suburbia is just galling. The fact that none of her friends stick around, not one, is evidence enough to me that she was completely bereft of true connection. The fact that this was Peter's preference for her...well, it says a lot to me.

Essentially, she has been hiding herself for years, perhaps without consciously thinking about it. She's pressed further and further into this model what other people think is perfection. She doesn't get to explore herself, and she puts this moral attribution on things that truly are neutral characteristics. Alicia is not just a flower waiting to bloom, she is someone who represses the richness and intelligence and complexity of herself, usually unconsciously, in her attempts to strive for other people's ideals.

MEET: Kalinda Sharma.

You want to know the only person on the show MORE repressed and emotionally reluctant than Alicia? It's Kalinda. We never see what she was like as Leela, but as Kalinda, she is a force to be reckoned with. I know a lot of people put stock into the idea that Kalinda is all morally grey and shady or whatever but if you look at the series that is not at all the case. She is fiercely, breathtakingly loyal to Will and Diane, and somehow, inexplicably, she extends this to Alicia as well. The woman that holds everyone at arms length and denies all connection except where she professionally expresses herself (but come on, she would die for Diane or Will without a second thought and that extends way beyond professionalism) meets Alicia Florrick and cannot help but be drawn by her into the most meaningful friendship and connection to someone else that she's ever experienced. And this is CANONICAL.

Because for all of their individual difficulties in you know, those things like expressing their emotions and being genuinely themselves and whatnot, Alicia and Kalinda understand one another and are really drawn to one another intuitively. Insert three paragraph long digression on their first drinking scene together that I can provide if asked lol.

What do they get out of their friendship with each other? Like I said, they're both listeners, but Alicia is at this pivotal point where she is becoming something new and she is so alone and it is so difficult but she's being brave and doing hard things. There is NO ONE that she can talk to. And Kalinda just...listens. And there's something about Kalinda that draws Alicia to honesty, and there is a relief in feeling like she doesn't have to be anything in particular because, as I said, there's this image of Kalinda not being someone that you have to be morally responsible to. Alicia doesn't have to care about impressing her. And so she talks. And unbelievably, she finds herself connecting to someone who is so different from her and it is genuine and it is real and it is everything that she didn't have in her old life. It is without expectations of a 'certain her.' And it's just what she needed.

(They're so different but they're so the same. Alicia may have remade herself for others, but Kalinda remade herself for herself. Really they're two sides of the same coin with desperation leading to invention as Alicia starts on the same path at the beginning of the series that led Kalinda from Leela to Kalinda but I can talk abt that another time).

As for Kalinda, she gets someone who is struggling to find the difference between nice and kind and how to navigate a world that has become unfamiliar. Someone who is earnest and (mostly) honest (because for all of her obfuscations, she never really lies to Kalinda. She's always honest with Kalinda). All of Kalinda's connections are premeditated, balanced by the transaction of what each party can do for one another. And Alicia...doesn't want anything. She doesn't want to know about Kalinda because she's looking for leverage to manipulate her or for more information about xyz job-related-things. She's just curious. She wants to know about Kalinda for the sake of being interested in her as a person, no ulterior motive. Granted, Kalinda doesn't often indulge even Alicia's curiosity, but she gets much closer than she does with anyone else.

At the end of the day, two people who are unlikely friends find not just what they were looking for, but what they needed, in one another. And sure, it gets endlessly more complicated and I could talk about that too, but at the start, it is just two women who are more or less adrift. And by chance they work together and defy expectations of everyone by their unlikely pairing. And their friendship blossoms with humor and honesty and this unrecognized 'this is important to me' aspect that makes every scene with them so unique and captivating to watch.

Honestly that's not even my whole spiel but this is getting pretty long so sorry about that. But if you want more, you know where to find me! I'm just getting started! (and if you've read this far you should check out ao3 for fic because there are some great ones out there. I'm riling up TGW engagement whereever I can hahaha).

I'll be here if anyone would like more questions or commentary or meta or whatever you would call this! But I am truly so delighted to talk about this show (and especially alicia and kalinda)

[thesoftboiledegg]

I had reservations about "Related to Items You've Viewed" because the plot sounded like an "Attack of the Killer App" rehash: a thinly veiled parody of a major corporation with Mom in charge, ready to take over the world again. However, instead of cracking unfunny Apple jokes for twenty minutes, this episode made "Momazon" the backdrop for Fry, Bender and Leela's emotional conflicts.

I was also dreading this episode because I thought "Oh boy, Fry's going to 'mature' and move into Leela's place, leaving Bender alone." Instead, I was thrilled to see Leela moving in with them. When Bender had a meltdown, the Frender shipper in me thought "Wow, Bender's not taking this well, huh?" Fry might've told Bender to screw off, but he worried about his feelings instead.

Most media portrays friendships as a diversion that you abandon when you enter a serious relationship. This happens in real life, too--how many people from older generations ditched all their friends after their weddings?

I always appreciated how Futurama never downplayed Fry and Bender's relationship. They date other people, but they're still each other's rocks. Instead of ditching their friendship, this episode strengthened it by having Bender overcome his jealousy.

Fry had several sweet moments where he worried about Bender: "Read it and weep, like I did" was so heartfelt. The Comedy Central run could be a little too mean-spirited, so I'm glad this season backed off on that. How can I care about the characters if they don't care about each other?

I also enjoyed watching the crew go on a delivery--haven't seen that in a while--and the jokes could've easily appeared in classic Fox episodes. Mom was also great. She was evil but still lovable in her weird way.

Anyway, some have criticized season eight for relying on nostalgia, but I mean--if the writing is good, I don't see anything wrong with bringing back fan favorites. Maybe I'd change my mind if we started seeing garbage episodes that relied entirely on callbacks, but right now, I just see them as loving tributes to the show.

People DO enjoy seeing old characters again. Why is that a bad thing? And some of these callbacks are "deep cuts," implying that the writers love the show as much as we do.

[freelafan4life545]

Did you know from the first episode that there was something special between those two? Even from the moment they met. Like sure he was a bit taken back by her eye but you could see the connection there and then right? Especially when they hold hands in Old New York. Then Bender just "had to be part of the moment" lol xD

I'm curious because the writers had even said they originally had no intention of Fry and Leela getting together, but it seems the story itself brought their characters that close naturally, which I find so beautiful. And I know that at one point Billy West did actually have a crush on Katey Sagal during the making of the FOX era seasons. I remember reading it when I was in high school doing one of my deep Freela dives bored in class lol. I was so happy I screamed and my teacher was like "wtf" lol

Also I did meet Billy West twice, and the first time I spoke to him, I had my Fry figure with me and he took it from me to dance and sing "Walking On Sunshine" 🥹 I asked him, how he feels about the relationship between Fry and Leela. This was like... Many years ago, around when the movies came out or maybe just before when they were first announced. Anyways, he literally blushed on stage and mentioned Katey straight away and said "she is truly something else. I have so much respect and admiration for her." And like was fangirling like a little school girl and it was the most wholesome thing to see. Pretty sure he also said "and I get Fry's feelings towards Leela completely."

Anyways sorry that was a random side rant but I just wanted to know your thoughts on the relationship of Freela and how it started and how beautifully it's progressed. Do you believe it was fate too? Was it something built from the story itself combined with the chemistry of Billy and Katey? That's what I believe. I know the show isn't "real", but if two characters could ever come into their own like that - it would be Fry and Leela. 🧡💜

Of course it was fate!

Why else are they together?

Don't worry about your side rant. I actually met Billy West and Katey Sagel at a convention in Orlando last year. I had VIP passes with my mom and friend who I'm gonna call Beck (not his real name) and I saw them walking out and gifted them with bracelets. (K so not actually a meet, but they did said thank you and shook my hand which I still refuse to wash!)

I do plan on going to San Diego Comic Con if Futurama has a panel this year and hopefully ask Matt if he like having Fry and Leela as a couple now that the fanbase on Futurama is large.

Again, Fry and Leela getting together was entirely fate and anyone who said otherwise is a fake! (Just kidding you ship anyone you like, just respect mine)

💜🧡

[jennifahsims]

The following day, Asha set out on a shopping adventure for the ideal dress, accompanied by Ria, Leela, and Sharvi. Since this was a spur-of-the-moment decision, it was crucial for her to find a dress that very day.

Ria: Are you ready to try on some dresses? I thought you wanted to stay home at prom ?

Asha: That was the plan originally, but a friend asked me, and I want to go.

It was the first time Ria heard that her daughter had a friend, and she didn't want to make a big deal about it.

Sharvi interrupted their conversation,

Sharvi: Do you even know what you're looking for ?

Asha: No, I guess I'll know when I see it. I'm not really picky. I just want to look nice.

Sharvi knew that look on her granddaughter's face, she wanted to impress somebody.

Asha stepped out, showcasing her first choice: a stunning long blush dress that perfectly embodied the essence of a classic prom look.

She liked it but she wasn't in love with it either.

Sharvi is trying to stay upbeat,

Sharvi: It looks nice, darling.

Though Ria & Leela were much more judgemental,

Ria: It's okay... you do look nice.

Leela: Mom, why are you lying? It doesn't look good.

Asha grew exasperated with all their critiques.

Asha: Okay, I get it. It's ugly. It's only the first dress I try on, there's other options. I didn't like it anyways, let me just go try on the other dress.

[ofgrenvde]

Name: Sahana Leela Rai

Age: 35

Pronouns: she/her

Face Claim: Pooja Hedge

Occupation: Public Relations for the Castaneda family

Neighborhood: Dynasty Hills

2 Positive Traits: Adaptable & Diplomatic

2 Negative Traits: Mouthy & Secretive

TL;DR

Sahana's life changed at thirteen when her dad was paralyzed and her mom abandoned them. Her dad's best friend, crime boss Dante Castaneda, took her in at Devil's Junction. She grew up to become the Castaneda family's PR expert, managing their public image and legitimate businesses. In late 2022, she met and fell for Sterling Phillips, not knowing he was one of the founding members of the Onyx Circuit. Despite learning the truth, they secretly married in December 2024. Now she walks a dangerous line between loyalty to the Castanedas, who gave her everything, and the man she loved, whose organization threatens to destroy them.

biography

Sahana Leela Rai grew up in Chicago, where her dad’s best friend happened to be Dante Castaneda, the head of Devil's Junction's powerful Castaneda crime family. Her childhood was normal enough until she turned thirteen, when everything changed. Her dad got into an accident that left him paralyzed, and her mother walked out on them shortly after. Dante stepped in to help, bringing Sahana to Devil's Junction. It wasn't a conventional setup, but he kept his promise to look after his best friend's daughter. He made sure she finished school and had everything she needed, even if that everything came from his family's gun-trading business. Sahana turned out to have a knack for handling people and sticky situations. She worked her way up to handling public relations for the Castaneda family, putting a polished face on their operations and keeping their legitimate businesses running smoothly. She was good at it - knowing when to charm, when to stay quiet, and when to push back. Late 2022 brought Sterling Phillips into her life. They clicked right away, but there was a catch she didn't see coming: Sterling worked for the Onyx Circuit, a rival organization that had been systematically trying to tear down Devil's Junction's old guard, including the Castanedas. By the time Sahana found out about Sterling's real work, they were already in deep. She tried to end things, but neither of them could walk away. In December 2024, they got married in secret, knowing full well what they were risking. These days, Sahana's life is a balancing act. She owes everything to the Castanedas, who took her in when she had nowhere else to go. But she's also married to a man whose organization wants to destroy everything they stand for. As the fight between the old families and the Onyx Circuit heats up, Sahana finds herself caught in the middle, trying to protect both the family that saved her and the man she loves.

Connections

Husband: Sterling Phillips

Friends:

Best friend: Nazli Elmas

Enemies:

Running Buddies:

Someone who knows her secret of being married and is nice enough to keep it a secret

[losergendered]

ID: a set of 60 images in 30 pairs. each has one image of the listed character from futurama with a white outline in front of their corresponding flags, and a second image which is a blank flag splice. END ID

Philip J. Fry from Futurama is a bipan nonbinary man with autism, ADHD, and PTSD that uses he/they!

His girlfriend is Leela, a transgender, intersex, aceflux woman that uses she/her and xe/xem! She has autism, ADHD, anxiety and PTSD!

Philip's nephew, Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth, is a bisexual man with synthesia who is neurodivergent! Philip is his 30-times great uncle!

Philip's best friend is Bender, a bisexual robot with autism, NPD, HPD, and depression that is okay with being addressed with he/him!

Amy Wong is a straight demigirl who is autistic, has an eating disorder, and is hypersexual! She goes by zi/her!

Her boyfriend is Kif, a genderfae, paraboy, aliengender, asexual, bi straight, ply straight alien with anxiety, PTSD, and autism! Kif goes by any neutral-based masculine pronouns!

Hermes Conrad is an omni straight, omniflux man with OCD and anxiety!

He is married to LaBarbara, an intersex, nonbinary woman who is a straight sex-favorable asexual! She is also polyamorous!

Their son is Dwight Conrad, who is a trans boy that is gay and questioning his romantic orientation!

He is best friends with Hubert's son, Cubert, who is a pansexual boy!

Hubert is close friends with John F. Zoidberg, an abrosexual, omnipan, straight, AMAB, transmasc decapodian that is autistic and has OCD, depression and ADHD!

Calculon is a heteroflexible, quoiflux, bifluid manbot that is neurodivergent!

Linda van Schoonhoven is a butch-femme, trans lesboy that uses she/xi/he, is autistic and has depression!

Xi is friends with Morbo, an aroace, bi turian, aplatonic alien with bipolar disorder!

Randy Munchnik is a femme, trans gay man with autism!

Hubert's rival, Professor Ogden Wernstrom, is a polysexual man with synthesia!

Hurbert ex-lover, Carol Miller, who also goes by "Mom," is a frayromantic, asexual woman with NPD and bipolar disorder!

Her eldest son, Walt, is trans and gay!

Walt's young brother, Larry, is agender and uranic!

Their younger maternal half-brother, Igner, is xenogender and marsic!

All three brothers are autistic!

Leela's parents, Turanga Morris and Munda, are both intersex, genderless, T4T mutants!

Yivo is an agender, genderless, abrosexual, polyamorous being! Shklee's sexuality is fluid between omnipan, omnisexual, pansexual, omniflux, panflux, pan gaybian, omni gaybian, mesque, and violenatian! Yivo's pronouns are shklee/shkler!

Roberto is a demiboy, masculine, demisexual, trans manbot who is gay and uses he/it! Roberto has psychosis, is schizospec, has PTSD, is autistic and has ADHD!

The Donbot is a mafiacoric, libramasculine straight manbot! The

Donbot's wife, Fanny, is a sex-ambivalent, high femme, asexual heteroromantic fembot!

Their daughter, Bella, is a nonbinary, femme, dyke, straightbian, lesboy who uses feminine and neutral pronouns!

Joey Mousepad is a demisexual, genderqueer, fag, gay manbot who is dyslexic, has ADHD and uses he/xe/they!

His colleague/friend is Francis X. "Clamps" Clampazzo, who is nonbinary, an azurenby, butch, masculine, toric, and gay! He is auDHD, dyslexic, bipolar, has PTSD, and uses they/he/xe/she pronouns!

The Robot Devil is a transmascfem, trans/FTM, transsexual, GNC, genderfluid, aroacespec, frayromantic, greyromantic, nebaeromantic, demisexual, demiT4T, ambiamorous, femme, masculine, turigirl, gay man! He is pronounfluid depending on what his gender is and goes by the name "Bee" which is short for Beelzebot! He uses he/him for when masc presenting, she/her for fem presenting, they/them for neutral presenting, no pronouns for no gender presenting, they/he for masc/neu presenting, they/she for fem/neu presenting, he/she for masc/fem presenting, and all pronouns for masc/fem/neu/non-gender presentation! He has autism, BPD, anxiety, PTSD and hypersexuality!

For @transsexual-jackskellington !

[fryandleelasbigfling]

ive already freaked out a lot in private over the futurama teaser and press release so let me just throw out some updated Thoughts

ive been calling it hulurama for months so im vindicated that its canon

the fulu office space sight gag is so classic but i’ll be a little disappointed if the streaming satire is literal. i still hope it’s a weird sci-fi allegory about timestreams or something. or some weird planex business mumbo jumbo.

“the epic love story of fry and leela” is giving me so much energy. Let Them Move In Together Please. Let Them Get Married. Also Maybe Talk About Kids But They Don’t Need To Have Them Necessarily I’m Just Really Invested In Their Feelings On It

also if calculon is alive please let my joke about calculon end up being true

loving the leela and bender interactions we see lol

talked about it with friends and we now theorize that nibbler is the one getting worms, and that desert scene could be the result of a worm mixing with dark matter ad going full dune sandworm.

we are gonna get some on point mom satire this season i just know it

[sweetandglovelyart]

Instead of making another voice headcanon video for canon Kirby characters I decided that I would try and make one for some of my Kirby OCs. These are my voice headcanons for Lady Thera (Taranza’s mother), Trixie (Susie’s mother), and Gem (Daroach’s former girlfriend). My explanations for the voices I chose are under the cut.

Katey Sagal as Lady Thera: You might recognize Katey Sagal as the voice of Leela from Futurama, but the clips I used here are of her voicing Mordecai’s mom in Regular Show. I felt like her voice was fitting for a character like Thera who’s a very sweet and involved mother to her son but who also gets a little too involved at times and sometimes unintentionally embarrasses her son in front of his friends and girlfriend.

Blair Brown as Trixie: I recently finished watching this show Fringe (very good sci fi show by the way, highly recommend it) and in the show Blair Brown plays a businesswoman named Nina Sharp. Nina’s very cunning and mysterious; she has her own agenda but also helps out the main protagonists of the show and develops an almost motherly relationship with the main character Olivia. I thought her voice would be good for a character like Trixie who’s both a calculating businesswoman/wants to push the boundaries of science and technology yet also has a very motherly side and cares deeply for Susie and her friends. I also enjoy inside jokes with my voice casting, and while I haven’t made a voice headcanon video featuring my voice pick for him yet my voice headcanon for Susie’s father is also an actor from Fringe, so I thought it’d be a fun inside joke to have her mother voiced by a Fringe actor.

Sarah Stiles as Gem: If you’ve watched Steven Universe you’ll recognize Sarah Stiles as the voice of Spinel/the singer of Other Friends. Gem is a mob boss and some of my lore for her is that she runs a restaurant/club as a front for money laundering and her other mob activities, and she often performs as a singer at her own club, so I wanted to pick a voice actress for her who’s also a singer. I also envision Gem as having a little bit of a Brooklyn/New York accent since in my AU her and Daroach’s homeworld is somewhat based off of New York City.

[andrewmoocow]

The byproduct of rewatching Star Wars Rebels because of Ahsoka while also binging Futurama.

Leela and Hera bonding over being pilots and the respective mom friends of their bizarro found families.

Bender getting into an argument with Chopper that quickly escalates into a barfight. In the process, Hermes somehow loses his manwich.

Fry geeking out over Ezra letting him hold his lightsaber only to accidentally nearly lose an eye. Thankfully, Kanan was there to save Fry before he got fully blinded.

Amy & Sabine prank a sleeping Farnsworth by spray-painting his glasses red and blue like those old 3D glasses. When the Professor wakes up, he thinks he's come down with three-dimensional syndrome.

Zeb forges an unexpected friendship with Zoidberg.

Kallus resists the urge to choke the life out of Zapp Brannigan and bonding with Kif over how Zapp is even this highly ranked for someone this stupid.

Hermes offering some comfort to Rex after hearing about the Clone Wars and Order 66.

It turns out that Nibbler is old friends with Ahsoka back when she was Anakin's Padawan. In addition, at least one Nibblonian served on the Jedi Order and even ascended to the High Council during the High Republic Era.

[presidentdisastraofgallifrey]

Ranking Gallifrey Episodes

(Up through Time War 1 because that’s as far as I’ve gotten so far)

My Actual Favs

Extermination—I’m a sucker for Romana struggling with trauma in an emergency, and just as much of a sucker for her turning scary and torturing a dalek to death

Appropriation—I love Romana suffering, and I love that this is the start of Narvin’s loyalty to her personally

Emancipation—TWO assassination attempts, Leela thinking Romana died before they could make up (because she doesn’t communicate), Leela getting to be a leader in her own right

Desperate Measures—the daleks still call Romana unit 117, she uses her own worst trauma in her password, she is talked into trying to take power she doesn’t want to deal with AGAIN, her political opponent uses both her worst trauma and her attempts at diplomacy against her, and she’s left so very alone

Still Really Awesome

Weapon of Choice—I mean, Romana starts off the series by trying to stop terrorism by blowing herself up

Square One—time loops are always fun, and I appreciate Leela’s b-plot murder mystery

A Blind Eye—it’s on a TRAIN. Plus Romana is wildly reckless, and the Andred reveal is fun

Spirit—basically Gallifrey’s beach episode, love Romana and Leela bonding, that scene where she just breaks a window for the hell of it is SO funny

Pandora—timey-wimey body horror mystery, what’s not to love?

Imperatrix—K-9 gets blown up and it’s so, so sad :(

Fractures—the war is fun, and I do occasionally like to see Leela hurt

Warfare—war is still fun, K-9 as a double agent, and of course Romana’s latest grand plan involves dying

Mindbomb—the election drama took some interesting turns, further tormenting of Romans via arresting her, and K-9 is a qualified lawyer now

Disassembled—Brax the assassin is SO funny, and being betrayed by the Doctor, even another version of him, was so sad

Forever—the way Romana gets them stuck feels very self-sacrificey, just with her friends involved this time too, and Leela’s anger is so good

Arbitration—I liked the legal drama and courtroom reveal, plus there were surprise daleks

Ascension—the ONE time Romana has a clever place that works without killing herself, Narvin thinks she did a sacrifice and starts a war about it (because she doesn’t communicate). Also he’s responsible for Genesis of the Daleks. Also also, Romana programmed her future self to be hot and flirt with her. Plus—nonconsensual presidency

Enemy Lines—Romana finally gets to successfully sacrifice herself. Leela is abandoned to rebuild her life (again), and it’s so tragic. And then they get to die together, and I picture them in each other’s arms in that scene

Soldier Obscura—Ace is awesome and Brax is a mess

The Devil You Know—I really like this version of the Master, and he and Leela play well off each other as a reluctant team (until, you know, he betrays her)

Eh, It Was Ok

The Inquiry—I just wasn’t that into the mystery around the secret device or the bomb in the matrix

Lies—I found the intrigue a little dull

Insurgency—again, it wasn’t bad but I got kind of bored

Reborn—I liked the futures aspect of this messed up planet, but wine mom Romana was kind of boring

Evolution—didn’t love the ex-experimented on cult plot, and despite the time travel science fair being fun the main plot about it was only sort of interesting. Narvin spying on Leela was sweet, though

Celestial Intervention—maybe I just need to listen to it again but most of the story seemed kind of confusing and vague

Didn’t Really Like It:

Panacea—after so many exciting plots, Romana returning to her house and what’s his name being creepy about it did not hold my attention

Annihilation—I accept the vampires in my sci fi, but I don’t LIKE the vampires in my sci fi. Also they undid Leela being disabled in this one

Renaissance—it was confusing the first time. Obviously not once I listened to the next episode, but it made it hard to enjoy. I did, however, really love the scene where Romana has to watch to a diplomat she liked die because of her exhausted mistakes. She PROGRAMMED this scenario, you are torturing yourself here

Intervention Earth—I just don’t enjoy Romana III’s character as much as Romana II’s. I agree she’s hot, but chill Romana isn’t really my vibe

[blazehedgehog]

Ever watch Futurama?

Not much, no. I've seen some episodes, but my prime TV watchin' ages were when I was young enough to sit and watch whatever my Mom was watching.

So I saw a lot of Cheers. Friends. Seinfeld. Frasier. The Nanny. Rosanne. Murphy Brown. 3rd Rock from the Sun. Home Improvement. Mad About You. Drew Carey...

Sorry. Was going down a list of "the best 90's sitcoms" and ended up typing out whatever grabbed a memory. There's more, but you get the point.

She also loved shows like the X-Files, and its lesser known spiritual spinoff, Millennium (with Lance Hendrikson). Sometimes I'd beg her and get lucky enough for us to watch something like Family Matters or the odd episode of The Simpsons.

Futurama's hayday was when I was willing to spend more time with video games or more often on the internet talking to my friends. That was the era of dial-up internet still, and my Mom loved to call her sister up on the phone and chat -- but she'd hang up to focus on TV. So while she had her TV time, the phone line was open for me to go online.

By the time Futurama entered syndication, I didn't really have access to a TV, and I especially didn't have cable on any screen where I could see Futurama about the time it got added to Adult Swim.

I've seen a few episodes, but I can probably count them on one hand.

Skimming an episode guide: I've seen the pilot, Robot Hell, the Slurm factory episode, the Snu Snu episode, the video games episode, and the episode where they (first?) visit Leela's parents in the sewer.

Oh, and the episode where Leela basically gets reduced to reprising her role as Peg Bundy.

And that's it. And most of those I saw going on 15 or 20 years ago.

[historyhermann]

Futurama Season 8 Part One Spoiler-Filled Review

Futurama is a mature animated sitcom with elements from the sci-fi and comedy drama genres. The original series aired from 1999 to 2003, then 2008 to 2013. Matt Groening created this series, like The Simpsons and Disenchantment. He developed it with David X. Cohen. Both were executive producers along with Ken Keeler and Claudia Katz.

Reprinted from Pop Culture Maniacs and Wayback Machine. This was the fifty-fifth article I wrote for Pop Culture Maniacs. This post was originally published on November 9, 2023. By this article, I've surpassed how many reviews I wrote for The Geekiary (52 posts), meaning I have written more for PCM than The Geekiary!

Part One of Futurama's eighth production season (and eleventh broadcast season) is a Hulu revival. It focuses on a crew of six misfits who work for Planet Express, a package delivery company. Turanga Leela (voiced by Katey Segal) pilots the Planet Express Ship. In a continuation from the Season 7 finale, she is the girlfriend of Philip J. Fry (voiced by Billy West), a man cryogenically frozen for 1,000 years before arriving in January 2999. They are joined by a foul, impertinent, alcoholic, smoking, and egocentric robot named Bender Bending Rodriguez (voiced by John DiMaggio), or Bender for short, the staff physician and lobster-like extraterrestrial John A. Zoidberg (voiced by West), and long-term accident-prone and ditzy intern Amy Wong (voiced by Lauren Tom). Other protagonists include company founder Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth (voiced by West) and company accountant/bureaucrat Hermes Conrad (voiced by Phil LaMarr).

Some characters play supporting roles. This includes Amy's partner, Kif Kroker (voiced by Maurice LaMarche), a lieutenant and assistant of Captain Zapp Brannigan on the Nimbus, a Democratic Order of Planets (DOOP) starship. Brannigan, like Fry and the Professor, is voiced by Billy West. He is a general with 25 stars, part of DOOP, and has feelings for Leela. There's also a highly intelligent animal, who often acts cute and innocent, named Lord Nibbler (voiced by Frank Welker), the rough janitor Scruffy (voiced by David Herman), and an aggressive corporate CEO named Carol "Mom" Miller (voiced by Tress MacNeille). She heads a mega-conglomerate known as MomCorp, which monopolizes robot production. She has three sons (Walt, Larry and Igner), and previous romantic relationships with the Professor and his nemesis, Dr. Ogden Wernstrom (voiced by Herman).

The first episode begins by re-introducing viewers to Futurama's characters. Bender cheers return of Leela, Fry, and their friends. The series takes place in 3023. Fry believes he has "achieved nothing" for his 23 years in the future. After taking Leela's advice, he pledges to watch every show ever made. He does this even after Bender warns him about the terrible TV content out there. There are also jokes on actual show names in blink-and-you-miss-it moments. Fry subscribes to the fourth-biggest streaming service in the world, known as Fulu, a play off Hulu.

The episode has social commentary about the binge model: Fry wears goggles which drill directly into your brain. Such devices allow a user to watch all the episodes in one continuous stretch but you must sit perfectly still in an all-encompassing metal suit. In the real world, binging a series can lead to regret, depending on whether viewers plan binging ahead of time. It can contribute to people feeling like they are "bored" unless they binge shows. In the case of this episode, Fry stays in a chair, sitting perfectly still for months without any breaks. His mind is soon overpowered by binging. He loses touch with reality.

In a plot line which echoes the goals of the recently concluded WGA strike, and ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, Fry's friends convince the robot bosses of Fulu to reboot All My Circuits. They produce episodes as fast as they can, so that Fry doesn't die. To make matters worse, Fry watches the episodes at double-speed. The writers can't keep up with the fast script production. Bender declares that "any idiot can be a TV writer," beginning to write scripts himself. This episode makes clear how writers are so stressed/crunched in the current entertainment industry. The writers collapse from exhaustion during the episode.

The episode ends with the reality of the entertainment industry: executives give constructive notes, say the show isn't working, cancel it, and declare "you will always been an important part of the Fulu family." The episode undoubtedly comments on how TV shows work and ravenous corporate executives. I the past year, Ridley Jones, Inside Job, Dead End: Paranormal Park, and Human Resources were cancelled by Netflix, while The Owl House and Archer ended. For Fry, his friends attempt to shift his focus from the streaming world back to the real world. This plan is unsuccessful, as there is a huge explosion, and they believe he is dead. In reality, he had left the suit two days before, so he could catch up on reading.

Fry admits he stopped watching All My Circuits because the show quality decreased in the last couple of episodes (because Bender wrote them). In another timely moment, there is a mock presidential summit on the dangers of streaming television. Fry declares that shows should not be rebooted without quality. He states that viewers must binge responsibly, streaming no more than 10 episodes in a row. He adds that a TV show must be cancelled every few years if it cares about its audience. This episode is an effective way to begin the series. Even so, it is more dramatic than funny, with some comedic moments.

The next two episodes focus on entirely different subjects. One talks about definition of motherhood, noting that Amy is the smizmar of Kif Kroker and mother of their child even though she contributed no DNA, unlike Scruffy, Kiff, and Leela. Another is on the nose when it comes to social commentary about the cryptocurrency boom and Bitcoin. In that episode, Leela calls the latter a "pyramid scheme for rubes," after the Professor reveals that Planet Express went bankrupt because he invested in it. What follows is an episode spoofing the Gold Rush. The characters go out West, hoping to strike it rich, traveling to a town where all the electricity goes to Bitcoin mining computers, with everything else resembling the Old West.

If that isn't enough, everyone has a Wild West-flair. Roberto has a knife-shooter gun. Leela becomes a barmaid/sex worker. Fry meets a man made of borax (Borax Kid). Zoidberg becomes the town doctor. Dwight tries to team up with Roberto to rob a stagecoach (and take a USB stick). Bender kills a donkey by accident. In one of episode's, best jokes, they use Bender's "shiny metal ass" to sift through river stones. Amy complains there is very little Thalium and just "worthless gold."

The episode ends with their confrontation at the Bitcoin mine. The saloonkeeper, Delilah (voiced by MacNeille), is using robot heads to calculate numbers. She defends her action, says that all the money earned is donated to an orphanage. In the end, she gets away with it, even putting three heads of the robot mafia into "the mine." Even so, the Borax Kid is punished for copying public domain stories almost word-for-word and changing a few words himself, so he could get the glory. This story ends with a classic so-called "Mexican standoff": everyone fired guns at each other, and the characters shown from multiple angles. The episode closes with everyone walking off into the sunset together, a good ending for the main cast.

The fourth episode is one of the best in this series revival. The beginning, which centers on worms attacking Nibbler's brain, seems to be on par with usual shenanigans in other episodes. This changes when the crew are transported in a toy tank, inside of Nibbler's litter box. They come across dung beetles and magic psychedelic dust. In a clear parody of Dune, the beetles lead them through the sand to find the worms, setting off a pounder (like a thumper) to attract the sandworm. In a callback to the original series, these worms are the same ones that once made Fry smarter. This goes even further: Nibbler claims to be "the messiah." He declares that everything is interconnected and should stay as it is, undisturbed.

As a result, Leela becomes despondent. She even surrounds herself in pure uncut magical sand. It helps her see how everything is interconnected. It is revealed that smaller parasites are weakening the worms. They put aside the whole "everything is connected" mantra to stomp out the smaller parasites, saying a line must be drawn somewhere. This is akin to characters discussing eating good "meat" in a 2000 Futurama episode, entitled "The Problem with Popplers." Later, Nibbler talks to his fellow intelligent beings about how Leela's bravery and loyalty allowed his previous consciousness to be restored.

More than other episodes, this is the most inventive, even featuring a character chewing on a Bart Simpson doll. As Jean wrote in a review on this very website, Dune, based on the well-known novel by Frank Herbert, can have a twisted timeline, dense plot, and have a wide scope and scale. It is, more than anything, a sci-fi epic, centering on the desert planet of Arrakis, with the resource of spice sought after by all. Even with its sweeping visuals, make-up, and CGI, there is exposition over the top. Characters are often referenced by their full names rather than abbreviations. The film is relatively long. Some of this energy comes through in this Futurama spoof, which is a sci-fi series quite different from Dune or Release the Spyce.

The fifth episode has extreme relevance when it comes to corporate conglomerates which dominate the economic landscape. Mom is the epitome of this, with her Momazon service, a play off Amazon, which runs a "fulfillment center" on the Moon. Some people resist these efforts, saying that her warehouse is polluting the Moon. She buys everyone off with speech recognition software known as Invasa, her version of Alexa. The way that the warehouse functions echoes criticism of Amazon for avoiding taxes, toxic work culture, and mass data collection from consumers. These workplaces take the conditions of the real-life equivalent a step further. They are fully automated by non-union robot workers who endure the conditions 24 hours, 7 days a week. When Mom is challenged by Leela, saying the robots are engaged in forced labor, she says the workers enjoy the work.

Not everything is happy: Bender, after quitting Planet Express, is forced to work at the plant. He even sends a package with a warning so his friends will save him. To make matters worse, the "wonderful" artificial intelligence (A.I)., turns against Mom, going rogue, and it ends up taking over the entire universe. As such, they can order what they want from Momazon with quick deliveries, which is supported by abysmal labor conditions. There are many Futurama callbacks, like the destruction of the Apollo lander, the man with a hat declaring "The Moon Will Rise Again," and the return of Al Gore's floating head. Bender ends up back in the same apartment with Fry and Leela, and is fine being the third wheel, rather than working in a warehouse.

This episode is not unique in criticizing A.I. Take Light Hope in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, who tries to activate a planet-destroying weapon to annihilate the universe, and attempts to exploit Adora (as She-Ra) to accomplish that end, or Lunella's A.I., Skipster, in Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, which skips important parts of her life that she found "boring." Also consider Cyrano in Cleopatra in Space, an A.I. created by series villain Octavian who tries to control a protagonist, and a paranoid A.I. scared of ghosts, the godlike A.I. depicted in The Orbital Children, or malevolent A.I. in Star Trek: Lower Decks.

Moon Girl has a living/A.I. supercomputer named LOS-307. An A.I. named T.O.M.I. (Technical Operations Management Interface) is in Supa Team 4. A ship navigator named KRS is in My Dad the Bounty Hunter. The worst example of A.I. is in the first, and second (to a lesser extent) of idolish music series Kizuna no Allele. That series had a pro-NFT segment and almost encourages creation of anime by A.I. This Futurama episode leans toward criticism in Cleopatra in Space, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Moon Girl, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and The Orbital Children, and away from other depictions. The episode acknowledges prevalence of A.I., as Carole & Tuesday does, with a music producer named Tao using advanced A.I. to ensure performers are profitable. It hints at danger of relying on A.I., which relies upon models trained by extremely low-paid workers.

Other episodes are callbacks or more relevant now than they would be even five years from now. One is an X-Mas themed episode featuring efforts to stop murderous Robot Santa with a time travel machine. Another parodies the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This involves quarantines, masks worn on ears, people working remotely, and conspiracy theories on Facebag (the version of Facebook in this world). The latter is enhanced by competition between the Professor and his sworn nemesis, Wornstrom. The Professor gives people a flimsy paper card (a dig at COVID-19 paper cards) and 3D chips inside of a vaccine to track it. The episode ends when everyone gets a vaccine using voodoo practices, likely a reference to Louisiana Voodoo rather than Trinidadian Vodunu or similar syncretic religious practices in the African diaspora. The episode ends with the statement that any sufficiently advanced magic is distinguishable from science.

This Futurama episode was one of the more hilarious ones. It echoed a "missing" Cleopatra in Space episode about protagonist Cleo facing the consequences of avoiding quarantine, and the August 2011 Futurama episode "Cold Warriors." The former includes Cleo realizing, after she infects the entire campus (but is a carrier), the importance of quarantine. At the episode's end, she enters quarantine as she presumably has common cold, and declares “quarantine stinks!” The Futurama episode is different because it parodies the oft remote work and hints at delays from the virus.

The eighth episode is just as strong. Zapp is brought before a DOOP disciplinary hearing after an egregious incident with Kiff. It is declared that he is "cancelled." DOOP strips him of his title and states that he must undergo mandatory sensitivity training. The episode centers on "cancel culture," known as consequence culture. It has been covered poorly in some media and better elsewhere. In this episode, Leela becomes captain of the Nimbus. Fry and Bender join her as first officers. The sensitive training class teacher, Dr. Kind (voiced by DiMaggio), is abusive, and DOOP's worse groper.

While Zapp apologizes to those he harmed and Leela gets a medal of valor, there's a lot more going on. There are sequences which resemble Star Trek films, part of an all-around parody of Star Trek itself, including about the Prime Directive. Leela, Fry, Bender, and others come down to the planet in a bucket, making the residents of Tacila believe they are not advanced. Their society has sophisticated machinery running on pneumatic technology. This aligns with the original Futurama series where DOOP engaged in intensive mining operations and worry of Beckett Mariner in Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3 that Starfleet has become a fighting force involved in armed conflict. DOOP only wants a treaty with Tacila to acquire air rights.

This episode ends with Dr. Kind, almost ruining the air with a Durian. At the last second, Bender (likely) orders the Nimbus to fire upon Dr. Kind, killing him. Later, Leela gets the aforementioned medal. She is discharged for not wanting to fire on innocent civilians. Everything returns to the status quo. Leela, Fry, and Bender return to Planet Express. Zapp goes back to DOOP. He doesn't care about civilian casualties if it "gets the job done." At the episode's end, the idea of consent is emphasized. Zoidberg sucks on Leela because of the Durian smell, and she thanks him for asking first.

Futurama's penultimate episode is a mixed bag. It includes some good moments poking fun at toy commercials, but is also dark with death, dismemberment (of cars), horrors of war, and the like. There is a strange plotline about a Space Prince (voiced by LaMarr), who Leela only loves because of a spell. Even so, there are good points about absurdity of religion (to an extent) and respecting ability of women to voice their opinions (although Bender doesn't support that view).

The final episode, for now, goes further, touching on the meaning of "life." The Professor creates a simulated universe, with copies in three-bit form. He declares that the simulation's beings are "nothing more than ones and zeroes" and aren't real. After he promises to Bender that the simulation won't be terminated, he changes his mind. He even finds an alternate power source to keep the universe functioning. Bender goes into this simulated world, wanting to tell them the truth (that the Professor made the world). He decides to not do so after that world's Fry, declares that it doesn't matter.

The episode closes with Bender returning to the real world. A solution to preserving the simulated world is presented: underclocking the processor. Although these beings realize the world is simulated, they care little about it. In many ways, this episode echoes the computer programs, known as "programs" in Tron: Uprising, but those depicted here are more basic.

Moving on, a largely-circulated spreadsheet in which people anonymously described their conditions in animation studios, does not mention The ULULU Company, previously known as The Curiosity Company, an animation studio and production company, that produced this series and Disenchantment. The company previously worked on the five Futurama films. Sadly, it isn't listed on Glassdoor. So, the company's conditions cannot be determined. Hopefully, people are being treated fairly and the work environment is productive.

The same spreadsheet had eight entries for Rough Draft Studios offices in Glendale and Burbank. These reviews were overwhelmingly negative, with anonymous entries saying there was overwork, disorganization, harsh treatment, and inflexible hours. These revealed an anti-union environment with unionbusting in Burbank. The same studio previously reached an agreement with Local 839 of the Animation Guild, which covered animated TV series and features at their studio in Glendale.

It is hard to know where the series will go from here. This is only part one of the eighth season. It has ten more episodes of its Hulu run, as part of the revival. Watching this revival is nostalgic. It was one of the first animated series I ever watched. I fondly remember episodes parodying Napster and homophobes opposing same-sex marriage, and visual jokes. Some episodes coined terms such as robosexuality, meaning love/sexuality between a robot and humanoid. The strong sci-fi themes stuck with me: the series premiere had the protagonist (Fry) time travel from 1999 to 2999. More than that, there was dimensional travel, voice actors such as Dawnn Lewis and Frank Welker, commentary on worker exploitation, heartfelt moments, advertising parodies, and storylines focusing on family history, roots, and connections.

Overall, the Futurama revival is different feel than the original. Even so, it differs from Final Space, and others like Disenchantment, and Steven Universe. The series is not fundamentally different than the original show. It is improved without few changes. For instance, there are no episodes about queer identity of main cast members or anything along those lines. In this way, it is like The Proud Family revival. Hopefully, the series continues to improve as it moves forward into Season 8 Part 2, and beyond. Futurama is currently streaming on Hulu, Apple TV+, and Disney+ (in some jurisdictions).

© 2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

[frontierpsychoanalyst]

Finished the new Futurama season -- except for the fourth episode, which I can't find -- and overall it's an improvement from the previous Hulu season, especially in the latter half. There were some interesting and amusing locations and scenarios, which Futurama excels at yet had kind of turned away from over time: the 2001 parody alien species spreading coffee to civilizations, the spaceship graveyard, the giant replica of Fry's childhood house -- I'm glad to see the writers exploring new locations like this; my favorite thing about the show has always been its science fiction setting. Similarly, there are lots of visual gags about robots and machinery which I'm a sucker for for whatever reason. There's good gags all around in general, and it's overall funnier than the Comedy Central seasons.

The character writing felt like a return to order, leaning in on the character's particular eccentricities and neuroses rather than having them be passive subjects of disparate gags, which, I think, is possibly where the CC seasons failed the most. In particular, I think Leela and Bender were more well-written than they tended to be by that point. I got sick of the show just kind of writing Leela as a sexy mom friend -- between her and Amy, the show could felt downright misogynistic with how aimless they were with their female characters, so it's nice to see that being reigned in a little. And Bender's writing sees an improvement: there was a tendency for the showrunners to force him into stories (he gets the numbers up, it seems) and yet he always felt half-baked and vague as a character. Here, he has a better place in each episodes' story. All around better writing: Farnsworth and Hermes also are standouts.

The new season is not so egregious with callbacks and in-jokes (most of the time), and they come off as cute instead of forced like in the last Hulu season. Hard to pinpoint why, but they made me roll my eyes less. I even liked the final episode which (without spoiling anything) is a sort of sequel to "Elsewhere", the previous series finale. I honestly groaned when I realized that's what they were doing -- it seemed cynical to me because of just how beloved that episode is -- but they actually did something nice with it, and it ended in a way that's forms a nice parallel with the earlier episode.

I've mentioned this before, but this show suffers when it tries to do satire. To be clear, this isn't some kind of "keep politics out of my cartoons" tract -- I think they're just not good at satirizing contemporary culture, because it tends to feel aimless and lacking in any sort of point or unique perspective. There's an episode that satirizes fast fashion but does so in a very half-hearted way, probing it at the surface and just kind of pointing out it exists, but like, it's all being sent to a planet through a wormhole now. The end tries to tie things together more, but the point it makes is an obvious, played-out one that doesn't offer anything new to the discourse. The coffee episode contained clear references to the Starbucks unionization efforts, and to Starbucks' economics more generally, but these are just kind of tacked onto the middle and end of the episode (though I will say it's easier to forgive here, because it isn't the primary focus in the first place).

More generally, the stories at times felt oddly condensed and even directionless. Oftentimes, I had the feeling they were setting something up, or preparing some kind of tonal shift, but nothing became of it. There was definitely a pacing issue, though it was tighter in certain episodes than others (possibly corresponding to different episode writers). I think that the kinds of stories they were trying to tell in this season don't work very well when told in the format of a ~20 minute episode; in fact, one ended in such a way that I was convinced it was a cliffhanger to a second part! If they had more time to explore their ideas, I think this problem would be less immediate.

So, in general, decent season. I enjoyed it. Of course it's a goddamn Matt Groening show, so 25% of the jokes are just kind of SNL tier. But I'm not a bean counter when it comes to gags-a-second; I'm more interested in the places the stories go and what they do with their characters. And, more often than not, they did a good job.

Let's stop making Fox animated shows, now, okay? I know this wasn't actually produced by Fox anymore but still. It's a good death knell. Pleeeeaaaase stop making them.

[jennifahsims]

Even though Ravi just aged up to a teenager, he apparently knew more than Asha.

Ravi: Have you heard the latest gossip about Steven on Social Bunny ?

Asha: I'm sorry, social what ?

Ravi: Social bunny ? The social media ?

Asha: I have no idea what that is.

Leela, obviously listening to the conversation, interjected.

Leela: Asha, even I know social bunny.

Asha: How do you know about that?

Leela: I wasn't born yesterday ?

Asha couldn't believe that even her younger sister knew about a trend before her.

Trying to change the subject she turns back to Ravi.

Asha: What's the gossip ?

Ravi: Apparently his mom just married a college student, the guy is only 4 years older than Steven and now he has to call that guy Daddy.

Ravi was going on and on about how he now has to move and leave Copperdale High.

While Ravi was showing the thread about Steven, Asha couldn't help but feel a little bad.

Yes, Steven used to tease her, but nobody deserves having their family life outed like that.

While she did feel bad, she also joined Social Bunny to add her new friends and her brother obviously.

She didn't want to be late in the trends again 🤭