Simpsorama is here! The good news is, the Simpsons finally delivered on a crossover with creator Matt Groening’s other notable creation, Futurama. The bad news is, it was so weird, it rendered me speechless by the end. Why, because the crossover, which was more Simpsons than Futurama, didn’t seem to bring out the best in either show, let alone both. Maybe the crossover was too weird for both shows to attempt in the first place.
Too Much Missing
Given that Futurama is more of a sci-fi spoof show, the mash up failed to produce enough of the typical Futurama humor -like “death by snu-snu”- that fans of the cancelled show are used to. At the same time, it also failed to demonstrate The Simpsons humor at its best. Basically, what the crossover episode was more dramatic with straight narratives rather than being comedic; which is made it odd because both shows are known for their comedic zings.
Simpsorama also failed to give air time to a significant portion of both shows’ cast members. I was looking forward to seeing Bart interact with Fry, but that didn’t really happen. We did, however, did to get to see Bender and Homer bond-no surprise there since they’re so similar-, but it also would have been nice to see more supporting characters on both shows interact with each other. After all, it should have been the talk of Evergreen Terrace to see people from the future walking about their town.
Too Short
If you felt a bit perplexed by the end of Simpsorama, trust me, you weren’t the only one. Although the plot was interesting, I couldn’t help but feel like it could have been executed differently or developed further by extending the episode for an additional half hour. This would have given the writers an opportunity to really showcase some of the quirks of both of the shows as well as give Futurama, a cult favorite, a proper send off. Instead, what we got was a crossover that was too short in running time for the writers to really bring out the best in both shows. Ultimately, it felt rushed and not as well thought out as the Family Guy crossover; but maybe there is a good reason for that.
Too Different
The Simpsons is family oriented in nature, while Futurama is more like The Office in the future. And we all know co-worker relationships are a lot different from familial relationships. This lays the foundation for different types of comedy and as imaginative as some of the episodes of The Simpsons can get, the show would never be able to comfortably go where Futurama went with respect to odd story lines and general weirdness. It’s super nerdy, but that’s why fans love it.
True, a crossover between both shows may have been a little too much of an aspiration to begin with- given their vast differences- but, if Simpsorama actually unified those apparent differences it would have made the episode all the more entertaining.
Too Open
With Bender set to snooze for the next 1000 years in The Simpsons basement, it is quite possible that we may see a surprise appearance from him later on in The Simpsons season. Or, even better, The Simpsons may revisit the whole idea of a crossover between the two shows, by adding a part two, since this one was way too short to really enjoy. Either way, one thing is for sure, there is the possibility of a revisit and I, for one, will stay tuned to see how this will turn out.