The Exact Moment Futurama Lost Us
1. It Was Just The Beginning
As rare as it is for a show to stay relevant enough for long enough to produce a spectacular perfect ending, it is even rarer to maintain such a high level of quality from start to finish. Even the best shows dip, but the very best will recover and bounce back better than ever.
Unfortunately, this wasn't the case with Futurama. Looking back over the entire run now, with the smart money saying that this will still be the case after its latest revival in 2023, there is a very clear and obvious point where the show changed and was never the same again. This is the movies.
For all the reasons already listed these four straight to DVD features saw a dramatic dip in quality from the original run. Had things gone back to the way they were once the series was properly revived on Comedy Central this may have been seen as little more than a bump in the road. However, as this never happened, instead of a blip these movies are now seen as simply the beginning of Futurama's fall from grace.
There is nothing on the other side of 'Into The Wild Green Yonder' that even comes close to how Futurama used to be, perhaps with the one exception of ‘Meanwhile’, which was just that – exceptional. Things have never been the same since the movies, and its impossible not to resent them for it.