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2ACV04: Xmas Story
First UK airing: Sky One, 8:00pm, 4-4-00
"Xmas Eve. Another pointless
day where I accomplished nothing. Aaaahhhh..."
Ah, bliss. For the first time in ages my cable TV
is delivering clear, sharp, non-futzing pictures (turns out my
cable box was a reconditioned 10 year old model in serious need
of replacement), and to celebrate, from now on I'm taping Futurama in better quality short-play
mode. So I only get 11 episodes per tape. Big deal -- it's not
like I'm going to wind up having to beg for booze at a centre
for homeless robots because I spent all my money on E240s. (Watch
that statement come back and bite me in the ass some day...)
Anyway, just wait until I get my DVD-RW player. That's
where all my money will get spent!
One of the quirks of living in the UK but only watching
American TV shows is that Christmas gets celebrated over a period
of several months. Like this week -- it's Christmas in April.
Or Xmas, rather. 'Xmas Story' continues the run of strong, funny
episodes from the 2ACV production block, combining bang-on one-liners,
slapstick, character comedy, cruelty to animals and children,
movie references (Hitchcock and Harold Lloyd in the same
sequence -- yowza!), another near-romantic moment for Fry and
Leela and plenty of Amy into the bargain. I could have done without
seeing the Professor's and Hermes's arses, though...
In fact, now that the parody episodes seem to be out
of the way, Futurama is just getting
better and better. All the regular characters are developing
nicely, with Leela's photo album being both blackly funny and
quite touching. And it's good to see that while Fry is still
an insensitive jerk, he's got just enough self-awareness and
conscience to know and feel guilty about it. Hell, he even misses
his family now, which is quite a change from the pilot episode.
Thankfully, though, without an empathy chip Bender is still his
good old evil self. ("Get her purse!")
The Planet Express crew really are a dysfunctional
family now -- Amy would rather spend Xmas with her workmates
than with her parents (though her reasoning is quite understandable)
and Hermes actually brings his wife to the staff Xmas dinner
rather than the two of them spending it together at home. In
fact, don't these people have homes to go to? The Professor
certainly seems to live in the office, Leela has a pet who resides
permanently there... no wonder everyone was so keen to chuck
Fry and Bender out!
Just one query: Amy's parents are clearly in the ranks
of the super-rich... yet their daughter has to sell her hair
to buy Xmas presents? Must be one of those trust fund things
-- with a 'grandchild clause'...
Rating: 
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