It only took a few minutes before futuramaA new season begins explaining non-fungible tokens (NFTs), a concept that most people probably haven’t thought about in over a year.
Although the story is set in the distant future, futurama Always comfortable commenting on modern life. There have been a few shows about smartphones and 3D printers that used sci-fi nonsense to complicate the concepts to make them interesting. That’s basically been the case for years (and cancellations). But in last year’s Hulu reruns, the show really started to tip the balance, with its topical jokes starting to overshadow the sci-fi ones. The upcoming 12th season will be even harder to find one futurama– Ridiculous news storyline with a stylistic twist on NFTs and AI. This resulted in an uneven season that often felt like it missed out on what made the show so special in the first place.
NFTs are the most egregious example, and they also happen to be featured in the premiere episode, which makes for a terrible first impression. The convoluted plot involves Bender selling cypherpunk-style collectibles to make quick money, which in part leads him to search for his origins in Mexico. Meanwhile, other members of Planet Express attempted to retrieve Bend’s NFT collection from the art museum, but were frustrated by the complexities of blockchain and digital ledgers.
The problem is that these are not surprising futurama Take NFTs – they’re just regular NFTs as we know them now, scary art related to digital receipts. The episode spends a good chunk of its time explaining the concept – which, to be fair, is hardly concise – without offering too many jokes or commentary. It just assumes that NFTs themselves are enough to make people laugh.
More than ten years ago, when we all thought futurama The show is truly over for good, and executive producer and head writer David X. Cohen explained to me how the show manages to translate modern issues into a retro future world. “We always like the real world to provide us with episode ideas,” he said. “Set the show 1,000 years in the future doesn’t mean you won’t comment on today’s society, it just takes it a step back.” As the NFT incident proves, “one step away” Parts are so important. Without it, the episode is just a bunch of boring jokes that are also dated.
I’ve watched the first six episodes of the season (out of 10), and things get better later on. There is one squid game The spoof explores Frye’s childhood through a bizarre time-travel and fast-fashion drama, with Cara Delevingne transformed into Frankenstein’s monster and the professor transformed into a fashion icon. I wouldn’t say these are examples futurama At their best – the jokes are either hit or miss, and most lack the heart that makes the show grounded. But at least they understand futuramaThe original premise: Use this weird future as a lens to exaggerate modern problems.
That’s less true in one of the series’ most unoriginal episodes, when the show turns an artificially intelligent chatbot into Lila’s jealous friend. Almost every trope of an AI movie is packed into a 20-minute animation. It’s also strange to treat artificial intelligence as a new thing futurama There are sentient robots everywhere.
Perhaps there will be more heart and wit in later episodes, as Hulu promises that this season will explore “the next chapter of Fry and Lila’s ill-fated, time-warping romance.” But from what I’ve seen, the balance is too tilted. Too much focus on topicality and not enough on the quirky humor, long-form characters and warmth that made this so good before. Like the rest of the world, futurama You should leave NFT in the past.
futurama Season 12 will air on Hulu on July 29.
