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Dom Robinson reviews 
- Cert:
- Cat.no: 22093 DVD
- Running time: 308 minutes
- Year: 1999
- Pressing: 2002
- Region(s): 2, 4, PAL
- Chapters: 65 plus extras
- Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Dolby Surround)
- Languages: English, French, Italian
- Subtitles: English, French, Italian, Dutch
- Fullscreen: 4:3
- 16:9-Enhanced: No
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: 3 * DVD 9
- Price: £39.99
- Extras: Deleted scenes, Season 1 trailer, Interactive gallery of stills/concept art, Animatics, Script and storyboard for “Space Pilot 3000”, Audio commentary for each episode
Directors:
- Rich Moore, Gregg Vanzo, Peter Avanzino, Bret Haaland, Carlos Baeza, Ashley Lenz, Chris Suave, Ron Hughart, Jeffrey Lynch, Kevin O’Brien, Susie Dietter and Brian Sheesley
Creator:
- Matt Groening
Developed by:
- Matt Groening & David X. Cohen
Cast:
- Philip J. Fry/Prof Hubert Farnsworth/Dr Zoidberg/Capt. Zapp Brannigan: Billy West
Bender: John Di Maggio
Captain Leela: Katey Segal
Amy Wong: Lauren Tom
Hermes Conrad: Phil LaMarr
Kif Kroker: Maurice LaMarche
The Simpsons was always going to be a tough act to follow, but creator Matt Groening managed it a second time with Futurama and the first episode brilliantly sets the tone and the game-plan for the basic story.
There are thirteen episodes on this DVD boxset, which, according to Epguides.com, is actually all nine from season one, plus the first four from season two, despite the “Season One” tag on this boxset. Four of the best are listed below:
- Space Pilot 3000: Here we are introduced to Fry, an unhappy pizza delivery boy, even more so because it’s New Year’s Eve, 1999 and he’s the only one who has to work. Also, his girlfriend’s cheating on him and his bike’s been stolen. A crank call delivery leads to him falling into a cryogenic chamber and waking up 1000 years later… in the future!
He’s tracked down by Leela, who’s job it is to assign jobs by the use of career chips, but Fry isn’t interested because she wants to make him a delivery boy in the future too. While atttempting to make a phone call, the booth is not what he expects – it’s a Suicide Booth – and that’s where he meets Bender the robot, a robot who bends metal for a living, hence the name.
Fry does learn, however, that he’s related to Professor Hubert Farnsworth, an inventor and owner of a large spacecraft, looking for a new crew to deliver interplanetary cargo to. Surprisingly, Fry is keen to take up the position and Leela and Bender join him alongside the other misfits who work there, a Chinese girl called Amy, a lobster, Doctor Zoidberg and Hermes Conrad.
- Love’s Labours Lost in Space: Due to a freak intentional accident of hollowing out the planet of Vegron 6, all the planet’s animals will be endangered, which requires the crew to attempt a rescue of “Noah’s Ark” proportions, saving two of every animal.
They just about manage it, except for rescuing a cute small character that Leela calls Nibbler, who promptly eats all of them. The episode also introduces self-proclaimed ladies man Zapp Brannigan, who imprisons Fry and Bender in jail but Leela in his “Lovenasium”.
Note that Billy West does Zapp’s voice, but it was originally to be done by Phil Hartman, who had just before been shot dead by his wife. Phil Hartman also voiced several Simpsons characters including lawyer Lionel Hutz.
Looking forward to the future – the easy way.
- A Flight To Remember: A parody of the Titanic movie in which the crew go on a space cruise vacation. Fry becomes the centre of attention when Leela tells Zapp that Fry’s her boyfriend, while Amy tells her parents exactly the same thing.
Meanwhile, just like the romance in the film, Bender falls in love with a rich female and the ship’s destiny is doomed. Unlike the film, the female is a robot and the ship’s doomed because it falls into a black hole!
- Fry and the Slurm Factory: Slurm is the most addictive drink in the year 3000 and Fry can’t get enough, but – paying homage to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory – Fry gets a golden cap in one of the cans so he can get a free tour of the place.
Once there, Fry, Leela and Bender fall into the Slurm river whilst on the tour and after being sucked into a drain and coming out the other end, they find that Slurm is actually produced out the backside of a giant queen slug. Should they tell the world, though?
All 13 episodes are as follows :
- Space Pilot 3000
- Episode Two: The Series Has Landed
- I, Roomate
- Love’s Labours Lost in Space
- Fear of a Bot Planet
- A Fishfull of Dollars
- My Three Suns
- A Big Piece of Garbage
- Hell is Other Robots
- A Flight to Remember
- Mars University
- When Aliens Attack
- Fry and the Slurm Factory
All the episodes feature the same quick-witted approach to the Simpsons and scores of one-liners that you’d rarely find in other TV series, all of which hit home perfectly. What’s also of primary importance is that every episode is presented uncut, unlike when they get shown on Sky or Channel 4, where selected ones are censored depending on the timeslot used.
The NHS in the 31st Century. The programme has always been made and presented in 4:3 fullscreen and looks perfectly crisp, clear and colourful. Not a single artifact or blemish on view.
The programme was filmed in Dolby Surround and is presented here as such. It’s a shame, though, that we haven’t been treated to a Dolby Digital remix as we were delivered with the Simpsons Season One boxset. The stereo separation isn’t used to any massive degree but it benefits the scenes in which it’s used.
The extras can be simply summed up but they are welcome. All episodes come complete with an Audio commentary and there are also Deleted scenes for selected episodes. A trailer for Season 1 is also included.
Disc one also adds some extras specific to the first show, Space Pilot 3000. As well as an interactive gallery of stills and concept art plus the script and storyboards, the “Animatics” section shows the entire episode in rough sketch form. A shame we couldn’t have seen the same treatment done for the whole series as that would’ve been quite something.
Each episode has five chapters subtitles come in 4 flavours: English for the hearing-impaired, French, Italian and Dutch. The menus are all static and some contain looped pieces of music.
No, Fry, that’s not a phone booth. PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALL 
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.