Season 1, Episode 3: I, Roommate
This is an interesting episode. I mentioned that "The Series Has Landed" felt much more like a Futurama episode than the pilot did, despite basically repeating the plot of several episodes of The Simpsons. "I, Roommate," though, doesn't repeat anything from The Simpsons (or at least isn't as obvious in its repetition) and introduces a bunch of Futurama elements, and yet it still feels less like an episode of Futurama than "The Series Has Landed" does. Got that? I think the problem lies in the extended pastiche of The Odd Couple that serves as the episode's conceit. Futurama would try these episode long pastiches a lot in this first season--I would say about 1/3 of the episodes in this season could be classified as such--but whereas at its peak The Simpsons managed almost to become the definitive version of some classic films and stories, "I, Roommate" isn't quite at that level. As it stands, this isn't really a sharp parody, and it obscures some of the strides the show is making in this episode.
The focus of the episode is Bender and Fry's relationship. In a clever bit of writing, Bender's dependence on his friendship with Fry doesn't undercut his many negative qualities, and Fry's callousness in the episode (combined with the introduction of his wholly unfounded vanity) gives his character a bit of an edge that might otherwise be lacking. In short, they make a lot more sense together than apart after this episode, a point that will be exploited for the rest of the series. There's not really a B-story in the episode, but the show within a show of All My Circuits makes its debut--a moment that should be treasured by all--and its story arc kind of works in place of one. The star of All My Circuits is Calculon (who, we later find out, has been all of history's greatest acting robots, including David Duchovny), and Maurice Lamarche's voicing of him phenomenal, taking Orson Welles as his starting point and making him even more pretentious and narcissistic. Like The Simpsons, Futurama has an extended cast that trumps most shows' primary casts, and that means that some great creations (like Boxy Robot), show up only in rare glimpses. This is a relatively Boxy heavy episode, though, so lap it up!
Plotwise, the story is fairly straightforward. Fry is annoying everyone by living at Planet Express (his unsanitary habits are attracting owls, ushering in one of the most infrequently referenced aspects of the future) and so he's forced to move out. While he first moves in with Bender, the robot's apartment proves inadequate (no bathroom, a roommate who dreams out loud about killing all humans and sexy female robots) despite being a spacious two cubic feet, and Leela tries to help them find an apartment. When Fry and Bender finally get a place, Bender's antenna interferes with the TV, and he must either move out or remove his antenna. After an extended stretch of sobriety (whose effects loosely correspond to getting really, really drunk for humans) covered by a sequence that inverts the late night neon lights passing by a character montage already done by The Simpsons, Bender cuts off his antenna. Fry, after some prompting from Leela, feels bad about what he's forced his friend to do, and they move back into Bender's original apartment, only to discover that his comically oversize closet serves as an effective living space for Fry (and his miniature fruit salad tree). There are some nice sight gags sprinkled throughout (like an M. C. Escher-esque apartment that Fry decides against because he's not sure about paying for a dimension they're not going to use), but most of the laughs come from All My Circuits, to be honest.
I have to admit that this isn't one of my favourite episodes. I don't even have much to say about the animation. It's usual Futurama quality, but nothing really stands out as being exceptional (minus the above mentioned Escher scene). There's a lot of nice character development stuff in the episode--Fry and Bender are really fleshed out here--but it just feels kind of dull as a whole. Re-watching these first few episodes I've been struck by just how much smaller the show was at this point. Everything feels a little timid, as if the writers are worried about being too outlandish at this point. Thankfully, everything is going to start getting a whole lot crazier soon, and by the end of the season, the show's parodic abilities and its ambitions will have grown impressively.
Next week, on a very special Futurama: The Planet Express crew meets a Space Legend!