Futurama

I realized the reason that Futurama is my favorite show, or rather- why it's so good. Matt Groening and David Cohen are two of the most hilarious people to ever grace the television writing population. They are talented and have written a works that literally was so good that it became a defining and pivottal moment in our culture. The Simpsons is so big that it is still growing and evolving beyond the grasp of its original creators.

Keep in mind that this was done through the limited scope of a family living in an unspecified town living in a real world that they had concocted. Based on his own experiences as a boy, Groening probably had most of The Simpson's written for him as he lived it. Imagining the people in his life exaggerated to their most hilarious extent, Groening is able to personify his beliefs and values as they were originally developed.

However, Futurama, is what I believe to be Groening's true magnum opus. Unconstrained, Cohen and Groening work in a world that is unlimited. The characters are infinite in a world where everyone and anyone can be immortal. The future allows for any setting, and ridiculous science fiction thought experiment, and any satire that they wish to exemplify through an extreme.

But of course what makes Futurama, which David X. Cohen and Groening are so aware, are the characters. Each one is developed so well. The punchlines and the jokes only improve with the character humor. There can be a meaningful episode that can make you cry, and it can also be the funniest. What makes Futurama funny is their commitment to the characters and the fans' commitment to the show.

This punchline is perfect. Who would say it? This is the order in which a good writer often thinks. They come up with a good idea and find a way to make it happen. To make fiction into reality. And that's what Futurama best exemplifies. The show that is so good it becomes the fiction which it tells. Like Jules Verne, bro. Someone still needs to go to the center of the earth though. I mean, seriously? Submarines took like less than 50 years for the submarine. Come on, guys.