Futurama's Resurrection Ruins The Perfect Ending (& Shows Must Stop Doing This)
"Futurama" is perhaps the world's luckiest animated series. "The Simpsons" may be a multi-decade hit, and "South Park" might be so culturally important that two different streaming platforms consider it a vital part of their ecosystems, but only "Futurama" has risen from its grave three times after being canceled.
"Futurama" has had its up and downs, like any long-lived series, with some seasons being better than others. But never let it be said that "Futurama" doesn't know how to stick a strong landing. Somehow, it's managed to create four wholly satisfying conclusions, the last of which serves as a commentary on the eternal continuity of the rerun, and also stands as a tender tribute to the show's central relationship. That episode, "Meanwhile," should reign over the series and pop culture at large as one of television's most poignant and best-crafted series finales.
Instead, it looks like we're getting the "Scrubs" treatment, where the perfect finale is being undone by a potentially shark-jumping continuation. To be fair, maybe the new season is great, but it's hard not to feel worried. It's also hard not to see the show's producers returning to their old stomping ground and be concerned that they'll come up with weaker results. It also inevitably leaves the show's crew with one major problem — how to top the series finales they've already done in the past.
This is a situation that's emblematic of Hollywood's never-ending thirst for squeezing capital out of established IP. That's just one reason why some series ought to stay dead and buried when their time is up.
Futurama has already had four great endings and 'Meanwhile' was the best of them all
Fans have long debated which "Futurama" series finale is ultimately the best. Each one leaves a memorable impression behind, and each provides an evolutionary step in the relationship of erstwhile delivery boy from the past Phillip J. Fry (Billy West) and fearless mutant space pilot Turanga Leela (Katey Sagal). "The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings" closes out the show's Fox run by showing Leela as receptive to Fry's possible romantic overtures; he plays his holophoner for her, and paints her a picture of them kissing and walking off into the sunset. A string of direct to DVD movies leads to "Into the Wild Green Yonder," where the entire Planet Express gang find themselves on the run. Before they can rush into a wormhole which might be the only thing standing between themselves and annihilation, Fry and Leela kiss and hold hands, professing their love for one another.
From there, the revival by Comedy Central meant that the whole crew survives their trip through the wormhole — or most their DNA does, forcing Professor Farnsworth (also West) to rebirth them via their stem cells. The show's producers crafted "Overclockwise" at the midpoint of the Comedy Central run because they didn't know if they'd get another year, and it features an overclocked Bender showing a conflicted (and ultimately moved) Fry and Leela their possible futures.
But it's "Meanwhile" which stands as the apogee when it comes to "Futurama" finales — so say IMDb users, and so say critics. So how can a new series of episodes possibly provide a satisfying conclusion to the stories of Fry, Leela and their friends that could ever top that?
Returning to the show endangers Futurama's track record
"Meanwhile" sees Fry and Leela embark on married life while the rest of the universe is frozen in stasis, thanks to Fry's awkward deployment of one of Farnsworth's inventions. Intended to simply reboot the time stream to a specific spot, Fry nervously overuses it as he prepares to propose to Leela. Left alone with one another and moving at normal speed, Fry and Leela spend a lifetime exploring the world together. When Farnsworth comes to retrieve them and reset the device, they're both elderly and satisfied, their heads filled with wonderful memories. Leela asks Fry if he wants to go around one more time. He does. They head into Farnsworth's time portal. Cue a rewind to Season 1.
Any revival of "Futurama" is naturally bound to undo this lovely, and apropos ending, which may or may not prove to be a worthwhile notion. Since "Meanwhile" provides a worthy commentary on the nature of television and the repeat itself, the choice ends up feeling like a poor one. While "Futurama" keeps managing to avoid the Cancellation Bear by any means necessarily, that doesn't mean that everything it's produced during its various resurrections has been flawless. The less said about awkward outings like "Neutopia," the better.
For a brilliant show like Futurama, there might be nowhere to go but downhill
Bringing a show back to life decades (or just years) after it left the airwaves can definitely be a difficult prospect. For every long-term success like "iCarly" or "The Conners," there's a bomb that refuses to gel, like "Murphy Brown" or "Mad About You." Some revivals even weaken their mothership show's earlier endings, like "Will & Grace."
However, once you've logged in a truly magnificent series finale, rebooting a show doesn't feel like a worthwhile investment. Can you imagine meeting up with the "Friends" gang after they say goodbye to their apartment building? Finding out how Bob (Bob Newhart) and Emily (Suzanne Pleshette) cope with Bob's weird dream at the end of "Newhart?" No, because that would feel like trampling the Mona Lisa. Some things ought not to be adulterated, and some characters ought to be left where we left them. That was what made the "Will & Grace" reboot disappointing, in particular; it undid a lovely flash-forward ending that married the titular character's families together for a bunch of unnecessary, and mainly unfunny, shenanigans. That's also why "...And Just Like That" suffers compared to "Sex & The City," which at least managed to leave its main four heroines in the same city as ride-or-die best friends for each other.
No matter how good a show has it in the beginning, it can sometimes go sour with too much overthought. People who adore "Futurama" definitely don't want to see it join those inauspicious ranks. And that's just a handful of reasons why this revival shouldn't have happened. Not all hope is lost, however.
How Futurama can beat the curse of the return
How can "Futurama" avoid falling afoul of the bad luck other shows have faced?
The key would be to take the next series finale where no other series finale has gone before. Maybe it's time to focus not on Fry or Leela, but another character. What about the future of Bender (John DiMaggio), or Kif (Maurice LaMarche) and Amy (Lauren Tom)? While we find out glancingly what happens to the others in all of the various endings "Futurama" has put together so far, it would be lovely to hear more about the show's supporting players and what sort of realities and futures they might inhabit.
But if the end of the show continues to draw focus on Fry and Leela's future, perhaps Leela could somehow manage to meet Fry's parents, or go back in time to the New York City he once knew. Or we could flash forward and see if they give parenting a try during this go-round. While topping something like "Meanwhile" is quite a tall order, if any show can pull such a feat off, it's "Futurama." If this revival after a great finale goes poorly once again, though, it'll just be another example of how IP obsession hurts great IPs.