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Futurama season 1

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Futurama (season 1)
Season 1
DVD cover for the 2012 re-release of Volume One
No. of episodes13
Release
Original networkFox
Original releaseMarch 28 –
November 14, 1999
Season chronology
Next →
Season 2
List of episodes

Futurama's first season began airing on March 28, 1999 and concluded after 13 episodes on November 14, 1999. The entire season is included within the Volume One DVD box set, which was released on March 25, 2003. There is a total of 13 episodes contained in the production season, although the last four episodes were pre-empted by sporting events and pushed into the second broadcast season.[1]

The full thirteen episodes of the season have been released on a box set called Futurama: Volume One, on DVD and VHS. It was released in the United Kingdom, on January 28, 2002, in Australia on November 27, 2002 and in the United States and Canada on March 25, 2003. The season was re-released as Futurama: Volume 1, with entirely different packaging to match the newer season releases on July 17, 2012.[2]

Production

David X. Cohen and Matt Groening at the Futurama panel of Comic-Con 2009.

Matt Groening initially conceived of Futurama in the mid-1990s. In 1996, he enlisted David X. Cohen, then a Simpsons writer and producer, to assist in developing the series;[3] the two then spent time researching science fiction books, television shows, and films of the past. By the time they pitched the series to Fox in April 1998, Groening and Cohen had composed many characters and story lines. During that first meeting, Fox ordered thirteen episodes. Shortly after, however, Groening and Fox executives argued over whether the network would have any creative input into the show.[4] With The Simpsons the network has no input.[5] Groening explains, "When they tried to give me notes on Futurama, I just said: 'No, we're going to do this just the way we did Simpsons.' And they said, 'Well, we don't do business that way anymore.' And I said, 'Oh, well, that's the only way I do business.'"[6] After negotiations, he received the same independence with Futurama. The name "Futurama" comes from a pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair. Designed by Norman Bel Geddes, the Futurama pavilion depicted how he imagined the world would look in 1959.[7]

Reception

The first season of Futurama received positive reviews from critics. Patrick Lee of Science Fiction Weekly commented, based on a viewing of "Space Pilot 3000" alone, that Futurama was deemed not as funny as The Simpsons, particularly as "the satire is leavened with treacly sentimental bits about free will and loneliness". The episode was rated as an "A- pick" and found to "warrant further viewing" despite these concerns.[8] Rob Owen of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted that although the series' premiere contained the same skewed humor as The Simpsons, it was not as smart and funny, and he attributed this to the large amount of exposition and character introduction required of a television series pilot, noting that the show was "off to a good start."[9] Andrew Billen of New Statesman found the premise of "Space Pilot 3000" to be unoriginal, but remained somewhat enthusiastic about the future of the series. While he praised the humorous details of the episode, such as the background scenes while Fry was frozen, he also criticized the show's dependence on in-jokes such as Groening's head being present in the head museum.[10] The episode was ranked in 2006 by IGN as number 14 in their list of the top 25 Futurama episodes.[1] Tal Blevins of IGN had positive review on the season and said "You really can't go wrong wherever you look in Futurama Volume One, and there are no stinkers in this collection." [11] The season tied for 89th in the seasonal ratings tied with Profiler with an average viewership of 8.9 million viewers.[12]

The series' premiere "Space Pilot 3000" garnered "unprecedented strong numbers" with a Nielsen rating of 11.2/17 in homes and 9.6/23 in adults 18–49.[13] The Futurama premiere was watched by more people than either its lead-in show (The Simpsons) or the show following it (The X-Files), and it was the number one show among men aged 18–49 and teenagers for the week.[14][15]

Episodes

See also: List of Futurama episodes
No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateProd.
code		Television
order
11"Space Pilot 3000"Rich Moore & Gregg VanzoDavid X. Cohen & Matt GroeningMarch 28, 1999 (1999-03-28)1ACV01S01E01
22"The Series Has Landed"Peter AvanzinoKen KeelerApril 4, 1999 (1999-04-04)1ACV02S01E02
33"I, Roommate"Bret HaalandEric HorstedApril 6, 1999 (1999-04-06)1ACV03S01E03
44"Love's Labours Lost in Space"Brian SheesleyBrian KelleyApril 13, 1999 (1999-04-13)1ACV04S01E04
55"Fear of a Bot Planet"Peter Avanzino & Carlos BaezaEvan Gore & Heather LombardApril 20, 1999 (1999-04-20)1ACV05S01E05
66"A Fishful of Dollars"Ron Hughart & Gregg VanzoPatric M. VerroneApril 27, 1999 (1999-04-27)1ACV06S01E06
77"My Three Suns"Jeffrey Lynch & Kevin O'BrienJ. Stewart BurnsMay 4, 1999 (1999-05-04)1ACV07S01E07
88"A Big Piece of Garbage"Susan DietterLewis MortonMay 11, 1999 (1999-05-11)1ACV08S01E08
99"Hell Is Other Robots"Rich MooreEric KaplanMay 18, 1999 (1999-05-18)1ACV09S01E09
1010"A Flight to Remember"Peter AvanzinoEric HorstedSeptember 26, 1999 (1999-09-26)1ACV10S02E01
1111"Mars University"Bret HaalandJ. Stewart BurnsOctober 3, 1999 (1999-10-03)1ACV11S02E02
1212"When Aliens Attack"Brian SheesleyKen KeelerNovember 7, 1999 (1999-11-07)1ACV12S02E03
1313"Fry and the Slurm Factory"Ron HughartLewis MortonNovember 14, 1999 (1999-11-14)1ACV13S02E04

Home releases

The original 2002 Volume One home release.
Futurama: Volume One
Set details Special features
  • Optional commentaries for all 13 episodes
  • Script for "Space Pilot 3000" with notes by David X. Cohen
  • Animatic for "Space Pilot 3000"
  • Storyboard
  • Deleted scenes
  • Season One featurette
  • Image gallery
  • Hidden movie poster easter eggs
DVD/VHS release dates
Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
March 25, 2003 January 28, 2002 November 27, 2002
Futurama: Volume 1
Set details Special features
  • 13 episodes
  • 3-cassette set (VHS)
  • 3-disc set (DVD)
  • 1.78:1 aspect ratio menu
  • 1.33:1 aspect ratio episodes
  • Languages:
  • Subtitles:
    • English SDH
    • French
    • Spanish

Features different packaging to previous release of season, to match newer season releases.

  • Optional commentaries for all 13 episodes
  • Script for "Space Pilot 3000" with notes by David X. Cohen
  • Animatic for "Space Pilot 3000"
  • Storyboard
  • Deleted scenes
  • Season One featurette
  • Image gallery
  • Hidden movie poster easter eggs
DVD release dates
Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
July 17, 2012[2] TBA March 13, 2013[16]

References

Template:Wikipedia books

  1. ^ a b Tal Blevins. "Futurama Volume One". IGN. Retrieved 2009-12-10. Cite error: The named reference "IGN" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Kyle Nolan (2012-08-06). "Cool new cover art on Futurama Vol. 1-4 DVD re-releases". Retrieved 2012-06-08.
  3. ^ Cohen, David S (2007). DVD commentary for the episode "Bart the Mother". The Simpsons The Complete Tenth Season (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  4. ^ Needham, Alex (October 1999). "Nice Planet...We'll Take It!". Archived from the original on 2000-08-24. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
  5. ^ Snierson, Dan (1999-03-26). "Space Case". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 2000-08-24. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
  6. ^ "Groening Bites the Hand that Feeds". Mr. Showbiz. 1999-04-08. Archived from the original on 2000-08-24. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
  7. ^ Taylor, Timothy Dean (2001). Strange Sounds: Music, Technology & Culture. pp. 104–105. ISBN 0-415-93684-5.
  8. ^ Lee, Patrick (March 22, 1999). "Futurama: The future's not what it used to be". Sci Fi Weekly. Archived from the original on 2007-06-12. Retrieved 2007-06-25.
  9. ^ Owen, Rob (1999-03-26). "Simpsons meet the Jetsons; 'The Devil's Arithmetic'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2007-08-08. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ Billen, Andrew (1999-09-27). "Laughing matters". New Statesman. Retrieved 2008-06-13. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ http://dvd.ign.com/articles/388/388581p1.html
  12. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20091029011819/http://geocities.com/Hollywood/4616/ew0604.html
  13. ^ Bierbaum, Tom (1999-03-30). "Fox sees 'Futurama' and it works". Variety. Retrieved 2008-06-15. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  14. ^ de Moraes, Lisa (1999-03-31). "`Futurama' Draws Them In". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-06-15. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ ""Futurama" has popular premiere". Animation World Network. 1999-04-04. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  16. ^ "Futurama; S1". Sanity. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
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