No more good news everybody--this fourth series of Futurama is the show's last. By turns frenetic and far-sighted, Matt Groening's futuristic comedy provided belly-laughs for self-confessed SF nerds, but somehow failed to connect with a broader audience, even though it was often funnier and sharper than stablemate The Simpsons. So now bid farewell to the Planet Express team--Fry, Leela, Zoidberg, Bender, Amy, Hermes, Prof Farnsworth--as well as to kindly Kif, cloned Cubert, megalomaniac Mom, mutants in the sewer, the cast of robo-sitcom All My Circuits, swashbuckling space lothario and William Shatner wannabe Zapp Brannigan, Elzar the four-armed chef, and all the other characters that made Futurama such a unique experience.

This fourth and final year has all the elements that fans enjoyed so much--but also those elements that partially explain its cancellation. Recurring characters are great if you've watched the show before, as are the in-jokes; and the many parodies of classic science fiction are fine for the initiated, but risk leaving other viewers out in the cold. The show's strengths and perceived weaknesses are exemplified in the episode "Where No Fan Has Gone Before", in which the original cast of Star Trek play themselves: hilarious for Trekkers, but not really for anyone else. Elsewhere we find Leela discovering her real parents aren't aliens at all but in fact live in the sewers; Kif getting pregnant; Fry discovering the fossilised remains of his faithful pet dog; and Bender being converted to steam power. Despite some ups and downs, it's still the funniest animated show on TV. Those responsible for cancelling it can bite my shiny metal ???

On the DVD: Futurama, Series 4 DVD box set includes a "Play All" function on each disc. Multifarious extras include cast and crew commentaries, deleted scenes, animatics, galleries and Easter eggs. --Mark Walker

It was a great series and went out with a bang. This season has some comic gems in it such as Bend Her. Luckily Futurama has started again recently so we have some new matierial.

this final season of the sci-fi comedy has some of the best episode ideas to emerge from the brain of Matt Groening ever. from the opening titles of 'Kif gets knocked up a notch' to the credits of 'the devils hands are idle playthings' you will be laughing and crying (the latter for Jurassic Bark in particular) at an animated treat from some of the best minds in the business.

Although, for now, this is the final season of Futurama and if anything it is better than anything that has gone before. I don't think that there is a duff episode among any of them. My favourite has to be the episode "Where no fan has gone before" a total send-up of Star Trek guest staring all the surviving cast from Star Trek: The Original Series with loads of Trek in-jokes. Futurama is definitely one of those shows that was killed off before its time and so I hope the rumours of new episodes are true. Anyone with a half decent sense of humour should watch this show.

Amazing, Fantastic, Class, whatever you want to call it, it's the best show on television (or was for that matter). You cant compare it with Simpsons, but if you did, You can see that Futurama has better episodes, and Hilarious Jokes. 'Better than a Hard Kick in the face' as my Scientist Grandfather used to say....

They stopped at the fourth series just as it was beginning to get interesting. Like a lot of people I came to Futurama properly via DVD having only ever seen a few episodes and regarding it as the Simpsons'lesser siblings. That's my loss and I deserve all the raspberries from Futurama fans I get for ever thinking that. Nothing else to say but everything about this show is great.

Oh, and a hint: The last few minutes of Jurassic Bark are up there with the greatest ever committed to film or video. But have several tissues ready and prepare to weep buckets.