Futurama: Season 3 (2001)
Created by Matt Groening and David X. Cohen
Starring Billy West, Katey Sagal, and John DiMaggio
22 Episodes on 4 Discs / Fox Home Entertainment / Unrated
Retail: $49.98 / Street: $39
by Alex Mestas 3/7/2004
More info: FoxStore
Futurama Season 3 DVD Cover
The Cover
I need to clear up some confusion about the Futurama, the seasons and the episodes within. Because of Fox’s infinite wisdom, some episodes weren’t shown at all, there were huge gaps between seasons and it gets worse. Some second season episodes were shown during the third, they started the season late and they ended it early. Not exactly the way to support a television show there, Fox. But none of that matters now – the episodes are all becoming available on DVD and you can watch them the right way. Hell, you even get to see some of the episodes that were pulled off in some markets, including the Christmas episode featuring a rampaging, monstrous killer Santa robot. And even better, all the episodes are featured in their production order, rather than the arbitrary Fox order.

As usual, the episodes are fantastically written. Perhaps more than either season before it, the third season of Futurama provides a lot of variety in the show, branching out into weirdness that finds Bender becoming a robot penguin, the team entering Fry’s colon to fight worms and Leela revisiting her past in the Orpahnarium. But the third season also has a few clunkers, a sad reality for a show that’s been on the air so long. Dr. Zoidberg’s entrance in the entertainment industry and Leela attempts to be a baseball player, were a few of the lowlights. It seems that whenever the show got away from it’s core cast and focus, it became a crapfest – a lot like the Simpsons, come to think of it.

But those are minor complaints for a season filled with tons of laughs. The characters are still and the surprising humor is perfect for fans of all things science fiction. Futurama lends itself to more absurdity than most television shows because the boundries are fewer. If the writers want to create a tribe of Amazon women that mate with the male crew (and break their pelvises), then by all means, they can do it. Come to think of it, I could think of worse ways to die.

Movie Grade: A

Video: 5 out of 5
Like all the other seasons, it’s a direct digital transfer. The colors are bright, solid and the only noise is some slight edge enhancements.
Full Screen – 1.33:1

A Tale of Two Santas
Bad Santa

Audio: 4 out of 5
Again, a simple stereo presentation, but loud, well imaged with plenty of sound effects.
English (Dolby 2.0)

Extras: 4 out of 5
Again, the Futurama discs prove to be a winner in terms of extras. Every episode has hilarious commentary with the writers, producers and voice talent and deleted scenes. A few of the more controversial episodes have some additional features including an audio recording of the “table read” of the Christmas episode, where all the actors gather around and read the script. There’s also storyboard sequences, animatics and still galleries for other episodes. All in all, great stuff.

Overall: 4 out of 5
It’s not as strong as the previous seasons, but a weaker season of Futurama is still better than most shows on televisions. In it’s weirdness, it’s a worthy purchase.

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