This review includes spoilers for all 10 episodes of Futurama season 11, currently available for streaming on Hulu. For a spoiler-free review of the first six episodes of the season, click here.
All ten episodes of Futurama season 11 are now available for streaming. Featuring the return of the cast (and many of those behind the scenes), Futurama season 11 succeeds as a showcase of the many different types of episodes at which the show excels. All 10 of the episodes had a very distinct flavor, falling at different places along Futurama’s pop culture parody, societal commentary and science fiction continuum.
Futurama Season 11
This season kept a pretty close focus on the seven core characters: Hubert Farnsworth (Billy West), John Zoidberg (West), Philip J. Fry (West), Bender B. Rodriguez (John DiMaggio), Turanga Leela (Katey Sagal), Amy Wong (Lauren Tom) and Hermes Conrad (Phil LaMarr). Meanwhile, Futurama mainstay David Herman appears in a variety of recurring roles, as do fellow mainstays Maurice LaMarche and Tress MacNeille (with especially frequent expository roles for Morbo and Linda). Also returning was the indispensable Christopher Tyng, providing additional sonic continuity.
And there were certainly some fantastic guest stars, including the return of Dawnn Lewis (LaBarbara Conrad) and Al Gore, along with a satisfying final appearance by the late Coolio as the seasonally underrated Kwanzaabot. I also enjoyed the series debut of Bill Nye the Science Head (even funnier when you know DiMaggio’s anecdote from the “Naturama” commentary). Plus, after being canceled by both the left and the right, Kathy Griffin made for an especially appropriate addition to the cast in “Zapp Gets Canceled.”
Plus, there was the appearance of animation voice-over all-star Dee Bradley Baker as Rusty the donkey in the exceptionally hilarious episode “How the West was 1010001” (which was written by Nona di Spargement… oh, now I get it). And speaking of voice-over all-stars, Kevin Michael Richardson (URL, Barbados Slim) and Feodor Chin (Leo Wong) were both welcome additions, each appearing in multiple episodes (and, taking a page from more recent seasons of The Simpsons, they played some of the few returning Futurama characters to be recast).
“All The Way Down”
And with “All The Way Down,” ends the already solid set of stories on a high note. Visually and philosophically reminiscent of “Future Challenge 3000,” the middle segment of the anthology episode “Reincarnation,” this all-time-great episode sees the crew confronting the simulation hypothesis.
As with much of the season, this episode was truly an ensemble story, leaving behind the idea of Fry or even the “core trio” being the main characters in favor of focusing on the crew as a whole. This is an excellent evolution for the series and one that serves it very well throughout the season. And, in another evolutionary step forward for the series, there’s a welcome acceptance of the sentimentality the show has for its characters, not just in “All The Way Down” but throughout the season.
Hulurama
I also have to applaud Hulu’s decision to release Futurama season 11 on a weekly basis. This allowed me to catch up with friends near and far about each episode, especially the latter episodes (it turns out everyone has an opinion about “The Prince and the Product”).
In fact, that was one of the joys of this season for me: connecting with friends who share an interest in the series. It turns out I’ve bonded with a fair few people over Futurama in the two-and-a-half decades since it first premiered, and it was especially fun to share this (frankly unexpected) revival with them.
However, I am hopeful that Futurama season 11 will eventually receive a home video release. As most fans know, the cast and crew have recorded incredibly informative and entertaining commentaries for every single Futurama episode (and straight-to-DVD movie) so far. I’m very curious what insights commentary mainstays like David X. Cohen, Matt Groening and Claudia Katz (not to mention newcomers like Cody Ziglar) might have to share about this incarnation of Futurama.
Although it isn’t exactly standard practice for Hulu cartoons to be released on video, I hopeful that an exception will be made for Futurama. It took years for the original Fox run to be released on DVD, too, but judging by the continual updates to that run’s packaging over the intervening decades, the sets have consistently sold well enough to justify such refurbishments.
Futurama Season 12
Futurama is already confirmed to return for season 12, another ten episodes. Those attending the Futurama panel at New York Comic Con 2023 will even have the opportunity to get a sneak peek. This seems to follow the model established by the Comedy Central era of Futurama, in which a single production season was split in half for airing.
It follows that the next ten episodes will be akin in quality to these ten episodes, and that’s good news, everyone. Plus, several plotlines have already been teased. I’m curious where the obsession Mandy Wong-Kroker has with The Humplings will lead, and whether or not we’ll see that future glimpse of what appears to be giant Bender punching into the PlanEx building’s control tower building from “I Know What You Did Next Xmas” come to pass.
What comes next after that? In the season premiere, “The Impossible Stream,” Leela and Bender offer the Fulu execubots the option of “another 20 episodes. Maybe a movie.” I’ve always thought Futurama has the aesthetics and potential narrative scale to jump to the big screen. But so long as it continues at this quality, any additional Futurama we get is welcome.
Futurama seasons 1 through 11 are now available for streaming on Hulu.
