Ah, the awful work day is over. Let’s talk about something a bit more uplifting, shall we? How about television?<\/p>\n
The late, lamented Futurama<\/i><\/a> has always been something of a conundrum for me. It’s a show I really wanted<\/i> to like: an animated science fiction\/comedy series created by the guy who brought us The Simpsons<\/i>, a spoof of and loving homage to all the futuristicky space crap I’ve always loved, a niche thing that appeals only to a particular elite (read: cult) who actually recognize all the subtle nods to the big SF films and TV of the last 40 years. Oh, and it features the voice talents of the lovely Katey Sagal<\/a>, a.k.a. Peggy Bundy from Married with Children<\/i>, one of my guilty pleasures for years. How could I not love Futurama<\/i>?<\/p>\n I don’t know, but somehow I don’t. The overall design of the show — the look of the environment, the Galaxy Express spaceship, the characters — amuses me, and I occasionally snicker at the sociopathic robot Bender<\/a> or the frankly bizarre Dr. Zoidberg<\/a>, but I don’t very often laugh deeply, not the way I do at The Simpsons<\/i> or some other sitcoms. Hell, I find Two and a Half Men<\/i> a lot<\/i> funnier than Futurama<\/i>. (I don’t know if that says more about Futurama<\/i> or me, though, and I don’t know that it’s something I ought to be admitting, either…).<\/p>\n I do, however, love Futurama<\/i>‘s opening credits. Like the title sequence for The Simpsons<\/i>, this sequence is a tour of the world in which the show takes place, set to a catchy, somewhat goofy theme song. Also like The Simpsons<\/i>, the opening credits for Futurama<\/i> feature a gag that changes every episode, in this case the text under the main title itself. Here’s a typical example:<\/p>\n ***VIDEO MISSING***<\/strong><\/p>\n But’s here’s an interesting bit of trivia for you: that theme song is apparently based on a much older piece of music. Naturally, somebody out there on the InterWebs has tracked down that piece of music and made it available to the entire world… click through for more!<\/p>\n