Matt Groening's second series of the 31st century sci-fi sitcom Futurama maintained the high scripting standards of the first as well bringing improved digital animation. Couch potato Fry now seems thoroughly reconciled to his new existence, transported 10 centuries hence to "New New York" and working for Professor Farnsworth's delivery service. He's surrounded by a cast of freaks, including the bitchily cute Amy (with whom he has a romantic brush) and Hermes, the West Indian bureaucrat. Most sympathetic is the one-eyed Leela (voiced by Katey Sagal). Like Lisa Simpson, she is brilliant but unappreciated; she finds solace in her pet Nibbler, a tiny creature with a voracious, carnivorous appetite. By contrast, Bender, the robot, is programmed with every human vice, a sort of metal Homer Simpson with a malevolent streak.

In one of the best episodes, Bender is given a "feelings" chip in order to empathise with Leela after he flushes Nibbler down the toilet. Elsewhere, Fry falls in love with a Mermaid when the team discover the lost city of Atlanta, Fry and Bender end up going to war after they join the army to get a discount on gum, and John Goodman guest stars as Santa Claus, an eight-foot gun-toting robot. Brimful with blink-and-you'll-miss-them hip jokes (such as the sign for the Taco Bellevue hospital) and political and pop satire, Futurama isn't a stern warning of things to come but rather, as the programme-makers put it, "a brilliant, hilarious reflection of our own materially (ridiculously) over-developed but morally under-developed society."

On the DVD: Futurama's four-disc package presents the show in 4:3 with a Dolby Digital soundtrack. Among the many extras here are audio commentaries, storyboards, trailers, mock ads for "Soylent Chow" and "Human Rinds" and deleted scenes, including one from "Bender Gets Made" in which he seeks to evade the Robot Mafia by changing his identity. --David Stubbs

A programme featuring lines like the above - what more needs to be said..?

Genius.

Season four of Futurama maintains the quality of the first season, while futher exploring the universe it is set in. All the sci-fi cliques are mocked, especially the dark and dystopian elements of the genre. For example, in the episode "Mother's Day" the world's robots stage a violent rebellion and it turns out that the cluddly industrialist, Mom, keeps the robot remote control in her bra.
The mixture of dark sci-fi, weird aliens, very human robots and sharp gags make for a unusual but strangely believeable cartoon.

As a fan of Terry Gilliam, a highlight of this season was the episode "How Hermes Requistioned his Groove Back", a tale of ridiculous bureaucracy that is a reference to the flim "Brazil". Only the writers of Futurama would end a homage to such a disturbing dystopian sci-fi with the charcters braking into a catchy Jamaican tune...

In my opinion this second season of Futurama is not as good as the previous season or the two following seasons with a few episodes that aren't that good but the season is still better than anything produced by the Simpsons. I feel the main problem with this season is that it is still trying to find its feet and the very few bad bits are far outweighed by the animation gold that is the rest of the season. The season has everything, from robot rebellions, the rediscovery of the lost city of Atlanta, the return of Nixon, Warecars and a murderous Santa among other things. As always the animation is brilliant throughout and the scripting is just great satirizing everything from politics to M.A.S.H. to Starship Troopers. Even with its few flaws this season still disserves nothing less than five stars.

Just brilliant as are all of this series, can't fault it, maybe even better than the Simpsons, which is still good in its own right.

Futurama is the most under-rated comedy in the world.Funnier than the simpsons, slicker than family guy and with more replay value than any other animated show. Unlike the above-mentioned comedies,it never fails to consistently hit the funny bone yet it also does sensitive moments extremely well(showcased in episodes like the cryonic woman-which makes you want to cry sometimes, yet still amuses).

If you have loved the simpsons or family guy, yet never experienced the joys of futurama- you will love this.i promise you give it a go, and you will be hooked. All in all, its a shame fox cancelled it- it had so much potential.

As the professor would say 'BRISK'(you may think we're lunatics, but watch Xmas Story- a classic episode-, and all will be explained.