“Party on contest winners, party on.”
Slurms McKenzie gave everything a giant slug had to offer.
He partied on, and he partied out. He died as he lived, lost in the hedonistic
buzz that can only come from boogying on down.
Slurms McKenzie and his 'party girls' in happier times. |
As the heroic Slurms dismisses his ever-faithful bikini-clad
party girls, we are reminded of Futurama’s
most special qualities. That is, in a matter of nanoseconds, it can twist its
audience’s emotions from laughter, to sadness, and return to hilarity without a
line of script out of place. Indeed, Futurama
is as poignant a comedy as there has ever been on television, film or the theatrical
stage. On occasions, Matt Groening and his team of writers made Checkhov and Mamet
look like happy-go-lucky types. Any fan of the show who says they have not
welled up at least once with tears is a bad liar.
Who could forget the heart-breaking epilogue to Jurassic
Bark (S4 ep7), where we see Fry’s loving pet dog, Seymour, live out his last
years waiting in vain for his master’s return? Or how about the moment Zoidberg
misses his only chance to find a mating partner and witnesses his species
perish on his home planet’s shallow shores? If I wanted to bore you, and depress
your sensitive souls, I would list the plethora of similarly elegaic points in
the animated show’s fifteen years of existence. Yes, you heard that right; it’s
been fifteen years since the world was introduced to Bender and Professor Farnsworth!
They have certainly aged well.
Aside from Slurms McKenzie’s last stand, my most abiding
memory of Futurama’s hidden emotional depths is from The Devil’s Hands are Idle
Playthings (S5 ep15). Fry attempts to impress Leela by playing an instrument
which projects story images into the air. To master the musical device, the buffoonish
everyman steals the hands of the robot devil. But when the devil threatens
Leela, the treachery is revealed and Fry is forced to return the limbs and lose
his rhythmic gift. Our defeated hero is dejected, until Leela insists Fry
finish his romantic song. Without the devil’s skilful hands, the resulting tune
is basic and childish. Nevertheless, Fry’s love for Leela is achingly clear in his
sincere projection, stripped to its basic tenderness, and free of flashy gimmickry (see
below). In the context of the show, the
sentiment is a truly beautiful summary of Fry’s ceaseless goodness. Ross and
Rachel, Sam and Diane: none had a moment in their long flirtations which match
this bittersweet note. It was to be a fitting dampener to end the show’s
original run – the next new episode was not aired for five long years.
For a show that started out as a spin-off to The Simpsons, Matt Groening’s second
child has achieved more than anyone could have expected, even arguably
surpassing its older sibling over the last decade. For a cartoon too, it has
led the field with pathos-driven stories, suffused with broad humour and
relatable characters, even if they are some of the biggest freaks in
science-fiction.
How did Futurama
reach this level of brilliance? Well, it used the same techniques as
Shakespeare, obviously. Inverting the usual genre tropes, their comedies are
stuffed with tragic characteristics. As Jack Lemmon said in his interview with
the Actor’s Studio, it is easier to make audience’s cry than laugh, but the
biggest challenge is to inspire both reactions at the same time. As I hope you
will agree, I believe Futurama found
that magic time and time again.
ST