The Series Has Landed

Since I started watching the series, only a few episodes stood above the rest. This is the seminal episode of Luck of the Fryish and episode with the sad dog. Here you find the earliest examples of what the show could acomplish. All the stars, all the praise: this is the origin of one of our favorite shows.

(Ranking every episode of Futurama #2) This one is not super memorable or as funny as the pilot, but it is still so good. It introduces new characters like Amy, Hermes, and Zoidberg, which are all great characters in their own way, and you like them more the longer the series goes. In this episode, Fry and the crew go to the moon for a delivery, which is now home to a bad amusement park. It is an interesting plot and it has a great ending that I think is underrated. This show has so many great endings that ones like this get overshadowed. This is overall another hilarious, entertaining episode of this show!

Such nostalgia for me revisiting these episodes. This second one is actually a lot funnier than I recalled. The jokes come hard and fast and the whole 20 minutes is a pleasure to sit through. Consistently amusing and clever.

Sets up side characters Amy, Hermes but especially Dr Zoidberg who is hilarious in his first meeting with young lady Fry.

This episode establishes the Planet Express as a basis for visiting various locations around the universe. It makes sense to start with the moon as our closest celestial neighbour.

Deals with Fry's expectations of the future versus the reality - something I'm sure the show will do many times.

The Crushinator! You have to romance a woman like that.

The second episode of Futurama, The Series Has Landed, is an outstanding follow-up to the show's pilot and the perfect episode to officially launch the series. Here, we see Fry, Leela, and Bender embark on their first mission together for Planet Express, which takes them to the Moon. It's a brilliant setting for Fry's first off-Earth adventure and creates a hilarious contrast between Fry's wonder at space exploration and the crew's blasé attitude toward their new world.

This episode is packed with humor, from Bender's antics to the absurd "Luna Park" amusement center-a hilarious, kitschy version of what the Moon might look like as a tourist trap. The Series Has Landed strikes a perfect balance between comedy and world-building, fleshing out Futurama's unique universe and giving us a first taste of the series' mix of humor and melancholy. Fry's sense of awe and curiosity in the face of this futuristic world is relatable and endearing, and it's touching to see him get his "real" experience on the Moon.

If there's any minor critique, it's that the episode still feels like it's establishing character dynamics, with Fry and Leela's personalities and Bender's lovable roguishness only beginning to unfold. However, The Series Has Landed is an immensely fun, clever, and heartfelt episode that solidifies Futurama's place as a standout animated series and sets the stage for the adventures to come.