Futurama takes a dive

I've always found the show Futurama to be one of the wittiest, savviest and most dynamic shows on television, and certainly the top contender among cartoons in general. However Comedy Central, the MTV of our time, has resurrected the show for a much-anticipated 6th season; one which seems to be fraught with all of the usual issues that plague the average modern adult-oriented cartoon series. Namely, that it has become a sometimes-mildly-amusing soapbox from which the series writers regurgitate the opinions of their base demographic in what turns out to be a weekly canonical self-affirmation rivaling a church service. The show continually belabors points such as "Aren't conservatives stupid?", "Don't old people suck?" and "Isn't our generation so well-read, discerning and cosmopolitan?" To which, presumably, a vast number of viewers shout "amen!" and continue to tune in week after week.

In the past, Futurama built a reputation as a show that applied a sharp wit and an impressive intellect to a whip-smart script that was as thought provoking as it was groundbreaking. The concept, a vision of today as seen from 1000 years in the future, allowed the writers to satirize modern society brilliantly. But unlike most other satirical comedies, it did so with a sense of perspective that made it unique. Nobody in the world of Futurama cared about the minutiae of life, politics and religion in 2000. It allowed the show to satirize things such as organized religion, without the necessity of insulting any current religious institutions; to satirize politics without having to date itself by insulting any one political entity (besides Nixon). Rather than 32 episodes about how horrible of a president George W. was, the viewer was entertained by a deconstruction of American politics as a whole. This perspective gave the show a detached, "outside looking in" feeling that made it as safe and inoffensive as a British newspaper's coverage of President Obama's domestic policy, while also giving it license to push the envelope of what was viewable. Effectively, being so removed from modern times, it was able to question human behavior in a funny way without having to resort to name-calling and mudslinging. While stretching the limits, the show was still tasteful enough to show to your Southern Baptist Republican grandmother. For the most part.

Comedy Central, mostly known for being inappropriate viewing for children, regardless of the time of day you tune in, seems hardly the network to find the dynamic and thought provoking deconstructions of modern society that maintain the detached perspective that made Futurama so universal. As it turns out, this remains true after the launch of the much anticipated 6th Season. After a promising opener, the third and fourth episodes degenerate into satire of the iPhone and the religious right. Gone was the detached perspective that might have led earlier episodes to deconstruct consumerism and intolerance, now you had painfully specific issues such as cellphone technology and proposition 8. Gone were the sophisticated arguments, where even the strawmen had more depth than, say, Brian Griffin (see the episode "A Taste of Freedom" to see this in action), here were the sophisticated, and savvy observations such as, "Fox News isn't fair and balanced!" or "The Bible is full of lies!" Here are strawmen who, far from challenging your assumptions about their ideals, literally have no voice and are reduced to simple sight gags at best, or at worst turn out to be sheer hypocrites who just feel like being nasty.

Series Executive Producer David X. Cohen reputedly feels quite proud of the new season. My question is: when did the bar for Futurama sink to the point where resembling American Dad became criteria for success?

Perhaps I'm looking at old Futurama episodes with rose-colored glasses, but it seems that something has been lost in the new season. The premier episode felt good, like reading a Phillip K. Dick story. Perhaps there will be more of this type in Futurama's future, and less of the inept, tired, garden variety, liberal soundbyte satire of episodes three and four. Here's hoping.