The first season of ''
Futurama
''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years a ...
'' began airing on March 28, 1999 and concluded on November 14, 1999 after 13 episodes.
The original 72-episode run of ''Futurama'' was ''produced'' as four seasons; Fox ''broadcast'' the episodes out of the intended order, resulting in five aired seasons.
As a consequence, the show's canon is disrupted by the ''broadcast order'', and more, different regions and networks use different ordering for the episodes.
The list below features the episodes in original ''production order'', as featured on the DVD box sets.
The entire season is included within the Volume One DVD box set, which was released on March 25, 2003. The last four episodes were pre-empted by sporting events and pushed into the second broadcast season.
The full thirteen episodes of the season have been released on a box set called ''Futurama: Volume One'', on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
and
VHS. It was released in the United Kingdom, on January 28, 2002, in Australia on November 27, 2002 and in the United States and Canada on March 25, 2003. The season was re-released as ''Futurama: Volume 1'', with entirely different packaging to match the newer season releases on July 17, 2012.
Production
![David X](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/David_X._Cohen_%26_Matt_Groening_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg)
Matt Groening initially conceived of ''Futurama'' in the mid-1990s. In 1996, he enlisted
David X. Cohen, then a ''Simpsons'' writer and producer, to assist in developing the series;
the two then spent time researching science fiction books, television shows, and films of the past. By the time they pitched the series to Fox in April 1998, Groening and Cohen had composed many characters and story lines. During that first meeting, Fox ordered thirteen episodes. Shortly after, however, Groening and Fox executives argued over whether the network would have any creative input into the show.
With ''The Simpsons'' the network has no input.
Groening explains, "When they tried to give me notes on ''Futurama'', I just said: 'No, we're going to do this just the way we did ''Simpsons''.' And they said, 'Well, we don't do business that way anymore.' And I said, 'Oh, well, that's the only way I do business.'"
After negotiations, he received the same independence with ''Futurama''. The name "Futurama" comes from a pavilion at the
1939 New York World's Fair
The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchas ...
. Designed by
Norman Bel Geddes
Norman Bel Geddes (born Norman Melancton Geddes; April 27, 1893 – May 8, 1958) was an American theatrical and industrial designer.
Early life
Bel Geddes was born Norman Melancton Geddes in Adrian, Michigan and was raised in New Philadelp ...
, the
Futurama pavilion depicted how he imagined the world would look in 1959.
Reception
The first season of ''Futurama'' received positive reviews from critics. Patrick Lee of ''
Science Fiction Weekly
Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...
'' commented, based on a viewing of "Space Pilot 3000" alone, that ''Futurama'' was not as funny as ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...
'', particularly as "the satire is leavened with treacly sentimental bits about free will and loneliness". The episode was rated as an "A- pick" and found to "warrant further viewing" despite these concerns.
Rob Owen of the ''
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...
'' noted that although the series' premiere contained the same skewed humor as ''The Simpsons'', it was not as smart and funny, and he attributed this to the large amount of exposition and character introduction required of a television series pilot, noting that the show was "off to a good start."
Andrew Billen of ''
New Statesman
The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...
'' found the premise of "Space Pilot 3000" to be unoriginal, but remained somewhat enthusiastic about the future of the series. While he praised the humorous details of the episode, such as the background scenes while Fry was frozen, he also criticized the show's dependence on in-jokes such as Groening's head being present in the head museum.
The episode was ranked in 2006 by
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
as number 14 in their list of the top 25 ''Futurama'' episodes.
In the 2013/2019 reranking, the episode dropped to number 17. Tal Blevins of IGN had positive review on the season and said "You really can't go wrong wherever you look in Futurama Volume One, and there are no stinkers in this collection."
The season tied for 89th in the seasonal ratings tied with
Profiler with an average viewership of 8.9 million viewers.
Final ratings for the 1998–1999 TV season
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The series' premiere "Space Pilot 3000" garnered "unprecedented strong numbers" with a Nielsen rating
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...
of 11.2/17 in homes and 9.6/23 in adults 18–49. The ''Futurama'' premiere was watched by more people than either its lead-in show (''The Simpsons'') or the show following it (''The X-Files
''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...
''), and it was the number one show among men aged 18–49 and teenagers for the week.
Episodes
Home releases
References
{{Futurama episodes, 1
Futurama lists
1999 American television seasons
Futurama seasons