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3ACV04: The Luck Of The Fryrish
First UK airing: Sky One, 8:30pm, 25-3-01
"Here lies Philip J Fry, named
for his uncle, to carry on his spirit."
When can a great episode be a bad thing? When it points
out just easy it is for comedy writers to take the lazy way out.
'The Luck Of The Fryrish' was something that doesn't appear often
in sitcoms (which at the most basic level is what Futurama
is), a funny show that also has a genuine emotional impact. Fry's
discovery at the end of the episode -- and the flashback that
led to it -- were truly affecting, and go to prove (not that
I was in any doubt) that Fry, unlike the overweight male lead
of another Matt Groening animated sitcom, really does have the
potential to evolve as a character.
Which brings me back to my original point, because
taking the easy way out when writing a Futurama
script just leads to one "Isn't Fry a moron!" joke
after another. 'A Fishful Of Dollars', 'Mars University', 'Fry
And The Slurm Factory' and (ugh) 'The Cryonic Woman' are all
examples of this kind of story. It's a lot easier to take the
piss out of a caricature than it is to devise a way to put a
character through the wringer about something that actually matters
to them, after all.
But then, some people like Adam Sandler movies, so
what do I know?
Enough of this rampant pseudo-intellectual analysis.
'Fryrish' filled in a lot of Fry's backstory, introduced his
family (and explained just why he was so delighted they'd been
dead for a millennium in 1ACV01) and kept up continuity with
what we already knew about him. And what could be a more human
angle to a story than sibling rivalry? Sure, we all like robots
and mutants and floating space brains, but it's refreshing to
see such a down-to-earth plot given a unique twist.
This episode actually had a lot in common with an
episode of Voyager, '11:59'. Both shows revolved heavily around
flashbacks to our recent past, both concerned the family of the
central character and both ended with that character discovering
something previously unknown about their family history. The
weird thing is, that despite Voyager ostensibly being a drama
(although I disagree -- DS9 was drama, while Voyager is action-adventure,
as far as I'm concerned) and Futurama
obviously a comedy, the latter produced a far more personal and
effective story. Come on, you'd have to have the cold and logical
heart of a robot not to have had at least a little lump
in your throat at the end. This episode definitely joins the
greats.
It was slightly odd that Amy wouldn't think the name
'Philip J Fry' seemed a bit familiar, seeing as she's from Mars
herself and does seem quite proud of the fact. On the other hand,
she is only a C-student -- maybe history's not her thing.
(One whole line for Amy this week! Good job Lauren voices
Inez too, which let her double her involvement in the
episode!) You would also think that the Professor might have
known he was a distant descendant of the legendary Philip J Fry,
though on his part good ol' senility can account for that.
Maybe some people might think I'm being overly sentimental
in giving 'Fryrish' five blobs, since it could be argued that
the rate at which jokes were delivered was slightly lower than
usual. I disagree. After all, the show did end with our heroes
having just desecrated a grave -- not normally something associated
with mushiness!
Rating: 
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