Futurama Volume 6 Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

[Timothy E]

Futurama has much in common with Family Guy. Both series premiered on the Fox Network and were frequently pre-empted and moved around on the schedule before cancellation, and subsequent revival. Futurama aired originally on Sunday evenings on Fox adjacent to the Simpsons and was often pre-empted by NFL Football. Following its cancellation by Fox, a series of 4 direct to DVD films kept interest alive in the series until new episodes were commissioned by Comedy Central. Futurama Volume 6 is essentially the second half of the 6^th season overall of Futurama to air on Comedy Central.

FUTURAMA Volume 6 BLU-RAY

Studio: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

Year: 2011

Rated: G

Film Length: Approximately 4 hours, 46 minutes

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

Release Date: December 20, 2011

The Series

Philip J. Fry (Billy West) is a modern day pizza delivery guy who finds himself transported, like Buck Rogers, into the distant future of 1,000 years from now thanks to his accidental freezing in cryogenic suspension. Fry awakens to a world that is much more like the world he left behind than one might expect, which allows the series writers to satirize the failings of society and human nature and parody conventions of the science fiction and fantasy genres.

Fry’s cohorts in the future include the cyclopean mutant Turanga Leela (Katey Sagal), Fry’s best friend Bender the robot (John DiMaggio), Dr. Zoidberg (Billy West), Amy (Lauren Tom), Fry’s descendant Professor Farnsworth (Billy West), and Hermes the accountant (Phil LaMarr). These principals run and operate Planet Express, an interplanetary delivery firm that gives the writers opportunities to place the characters in different settings to comedic effect. Bender may be the most popular character on Futurama, an uncouth robot who breaks the rules in a manner not unlike Bart Simpson.

Futurama was created by Matt Groening(The Simpsons) and David X. Cohen, also a writer and producer of The Simpsons. Futurama has won 5 Emmy Awards to date, 2 Writer’s Guild of America Awards, and even been nominated in the science fiction arena for a Nebula Award. The misadventures of the Planet Express crew in these 13 episodes include Fry becoming a police officer in the Future Crimes Division and infecting the future world with the common cold, Leela obsessively hunting an intergalactic whale, and Bender going into hiding in a witness relocation program, and all of them inadvertently, and deliberately, altering the time continuum after their travels into the past.

Video

Futurama appears on Blu-Ray in 1080p in the AVC codec in its original 1.78:1 aspect ratio as originally aired on Comedy Central. This set presents an excellent video presentation of the series with few if any compression artifacts. Colors are as vibrant as they appeared when aired on Comedy Central and the series is a feast for the eyes, especially for those of us accustomed to the low-res appearance of the first 5 seasons that aired on Fox. (Although 4 seasons worth of episodes were produced for Fox, those episodes were spread out over 5 seasons.) All 13 episodes from the second half of the 6th season are included in this 2-disc set. The first seven episodes are on disc 1 with the remaining 6 episodes and most of the special features on disc 2.

Audio

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks make excellent use of directional audio. Most of the audio emanates from front and center but sound effects are employed well for a surprising immersive experience for an animated TV program.

Special Features

There is a wealth of special features in 1080p which include all of the following:

Deleted Scenes(Disc 1)(6:30): These are deleted scenes from the first seven episodes in this set.

Deleted Scenes(Disc 2)(8:26): These are deleted scenes from the remaining 6 episodes in this set.

Audio Commentaries: Commentaries are included for all 13 episodes. These commentaries are not simply filler as such features can be on other series; these are actually very interesting and entertaining as the participants convey the impression that they are having a great time watching and commenting on the episodes, and that sense of fun is contagious to the viewer. As such, the commentaries are actually highly recommended for fans. The episode titles and participants in each commentary are as follows:

The Silence of the Clamps: Executive producers Matt Groening and David X. Cohen, co-executive producers Michael Rowe and Josh Weinstein, actors Billy West and Maurice LaMarche, writer Eric Rogers, director Frank Marino, supervising director Peter Avanzino and producer Claudia Katz.

Mobius Dick: Executive producers Matt Groening and David X. Cohen, co-executive producers Michael Rowe and Josh Weinstein, actor Billy West, supervising director Peter Avanzino, producers Claudia Katz and Lee Supercinski.

Law & Oracle: Executive producers Matt Groening and David X. Cohen, co-executive producers Michael Rowe and Josh Weinstein, actors Billy West and Tress MacNeille, director Stephen Sandoval, producers Claudia Katz and Lee Supercinski.

Benderama: Executive producers Matt Groening and David X. Cohen, co-executive producers Michael Rowe and Patric M. Verrone, actors Billy West and John DiMaggio, director Crystal Chesney-Thompson, supervising director Peter Avanzino and producers Claudia Katz and Lee Supercinski.

The Tip of the Zoidberg: Executive producers Matt Groening and David X. Cohen, co-executive producers Michael Rowe and Patric M. Verrone, actors Billy West and John DiMaggio, director Raymie Muzquiz, supervising director Peter Avanzino and producers Claudia Katz and Lee Supercinski.

Ghost In The Machines: Executive producers Matt Groening and David X. Cohen, writer Patric M. Verrone, co-executive producer Michael Rowe, actors Billy West, John DiMaggio, and Phil LaMarr, director Ray Claffey, supervising director Peter Avanzino and producer Claudia Katz.

Neutopia: Executive producers Matt Groening and David X. Cohen, co-executive producer Eric Horsted, actors Billy West, John DiMaggio, and Dawnn Lewis, writer J. Stewart Burns, director Edmund Fong, and producers Claudia Katz and Lee Supercinski.

Yo Leela Leela: Executive producers Matt Groening and David X. Cohen, co-executive producers Eric Horsted and Josh Weinstein, actors Billy West, John DiMaggio, Dawnn Lewis, and Lauren Tom, director Frank Marino, and producer Claudia Katz.

Fry Am The Egg Man: Executive producers Matt Groening and David X. Cohen, co-executive producers Eric Horsted and Josh Weinstein, actors Billy West, John DiMaggio, and Maurice LaMarche, director Dwayne Carey-Hill, and producers Claudia Katz and Lee Supercinski.

All the Presidents’ Heads: Executive producers Matt Groening and David X. Cohen, executive producer Ken Keeler, co-executive producers Patric M. Verrrone and Eric Horsted, actors Billy West and John DiMaggio, director Stephen Sandoval, supervising director Peter Avanzino and producer Claudia Katz.

Cold Warriors: Executive producers Matt Groening and David X. Cohen, executive producer Ken Keeler, co-executive producer/writer Dan Vebber, actors Billy West and John DiMaggio, director Crystal Chesney-Thompson, supervising director Peter Avanzino and producer Claudia Katz.

Overclockwise: Executive producers Matt Groening and David X. Cohen, executive producer Ken Keeler, co-executive producers Patric M. Verrrone and Eric Horsted, actors Billy West and John DiMaggio, supervising director Peter Avanzino and producers Claudia Katz and Lee Supercinski.

Reincarnation: Executive producers Matt Groening and David X. Cohen, executive producer Ken Keeler, co-executive producers Patric M. Verrrone and Eric Horsted, actors Billy West and John DiMaggio, supervising director Peter Avanzino and producers Claudia Katz and Lee Supercinski.

Professor Farnsworth’s "Science of a Scene"(17:11): Professor Farnsworth(Billy West) narrates a behind the scenes look at how an episode of Futurama is produced.

Reincarnation Explained! With Director Peter Avanzino(6:47): This featurette goes behind the scenes of the final episode of the season which had 3 different stories told in very different animation styles.

Futurama F.A.Q.(Frequently Axed Questions)(11:27): Viewer questions are asked by Bender (John DiMaggio) of executive producers Matt Groening and David X. Cohen.

Internet enabled Blu-ray players can also access "Live Extras" which are subject to change. At the time of this review, the extras include the following:

Futurama: The Bot and the Bees(1:55): Deleted scene shown in animatic storyboard format with audio.

Blu-ray Highlight: Futurama F.A.Q.(Frequently Axed Questions)(1:42): A very abbreviated version of the same feature already on the disc. Consumers of other Fox Blu-rays may access this feature with their internet enabled Blu-ray players even if they do not own Futurama Volume 6.  Users of this disc can also access certain content of this and other Fox shows like Archer.

Search: This function enables bookmarks or timelines. Timelines consist of episodes or season, with episode selections allowing quick access to sections of an episode, while season timeline allows the viewer to watch the episodes continuously back to back and pick up where the viewer last left off viewing the disc.

Conclusion

Futurama Volume 6 is an excellent collection of the final 13 episodes of the series’ sixth season. The video and audio presentation are excellent and the set has a multitude of special features, all in high definition, for fans of the series. The special features may be considered mandatory viewing even for casual fans and not recommended only for the devout. Futurama Volume 6 on Blu-ray comes highly recommended to fans of the series and recommended to anyone else who enjoys smart and irreverent comedy with a satiric edge.