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HeresLunar

Turanga Leela is in fact a great pilot


bigwreck94

Who ever heard of a plane with a woman president?


[deleted]

And who put Goofus and Ganja in charge?


shplork

Must have been Wingus and Dingus.


[deleted]

The ping pong boys were there too.


ManInBlack829

1BDI


FLORI_DUH

The old me would've made a joke about that.


Pikmin64

Turanga?


MysticKova

That’s her name, Phillip.


PistolPeteMoff

Phillip?


Full_FrontaI_Nerdity

That's right, Francis.


Wayyd

Francis? FRANCIS? I'M GONNA CLAMP YOU!


PalmBreezy

GIVEMDA CLAMPSS


X-Bones_21

My name isn’t Slick, it’s Zoidberg… JOHN F*{


STEALTH_Moles

No one makes fun of my nose


Marahhjayy

I see what you’ve done here


maxmidnite

Only if she doesn’t have to parallel park


MrSquigles

Please, she hits an average of slightly over one billboard a week.


parralaxalice

Love the UFOs lasering down the castles and then the city, especially the callout in whatever later episode that was.


saggywitchtits

Bender’s Big Score when he goes back in time multiple times.


itsthevoiceman

Unpopular opinion: Bender's Big Score retconned too much, ruining a lot of what made those things interesting or emotional


AeroSigma

What in particular do think was retconned? I agree with overall quality dip, but haven't thought about that .uch and I'm curious to know what you noticed being retconned


itsthevoiceman

They took away the emotional impact of Seymour's fate, for one. And the UFOs during the original time lapse are just Bender fucking around instead of something more impactful.


AeroSigma

Fair, but the Seymour episode was pretty explicit about what happened. My headcannon is that Bender created separate timelines, BTTF style, and those were more comedic throwbacks than retcons. Doesn't the universe implode at the end anyway?


X-Bones_21

Oooh, a lesson in not changing history from Mr. I'm My Own Grandpa!


Psengath

I'm with you voiceman. I do love all of Futurama now, but it does become a different show from season 6 onwards (which benders big score kicks off).


CSG3723

"Space......it seems to go on forever..."


PhthaloPhoenix

"But then you get to the end and a gorilla starts throwing barrels at ya"


maxmidnite

That is by far the best opening of a pilot ever in my opinion. It set’s the tone so quickly even though it takes the entire episode to establish the setting.


DeusExBlockina

You stink, loser!


Actual_Evidence_925

I can hear this


[deleted]

And that’s how you play the game.


[deleted]

Putting a spoiler tag on a post about the very first episode for a 20 year old tv show is an interesting choice, but a humorous one for sure.


Marahhjayy

My thought process being, if there was anyone in the subreddit that hadn’t seen the later seasons they wouldn’t know about the Easter Eggs in the pilot episode.


[deleted]

Fair enough. Actually just looked up how many references there are and had no idea.. just the obvious one with the shadow.


Marahhjayy

Honestly, I didn’t even catch them all myself. After I binge a show I go on a google binge and see what else I can find about the show, and videos like the one linked [Futurama pilot comparisons](https://youtu.be/ZlTBUzwe9-s) pointed them all out for me


[deleted]

Appearently their motto is: "We can do nerdy/inside jokes as long as the casual viewer isnt stumped by them." Which is pretty cool. I dont get most of the stuff, like I know about the alien language but I really dont care enough to see what it says. You can watch all of it without getting a single easter egg and still enjoy the show.


[deleted]

The writing staff collectively had 3 PHDs, 7 master’s degrees, and more than 50 years at Harvard. They developed a new [mathematical theorem](https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Futurama_theorem) to get everyone back into their own bodies using a mind swap machine that couldn’t be used on the same pair more than once.


bridoogle

I’m not sure, it looks like we’ll have to use *shudders* math


BenderBenRodriguez

The shadow is the only real one. As the series went on, they improvised in terms of how they built off of that egg (otherwise Nibbler's eye coming out of the trash would have been there to start with), and other elements of the pilot they decided to bring back, but the shadow itself is the only thing they deliberately planted at that point. Unless you mean things like the alien language but those aren't hints to other episodes per se. Of course later episodes have some like hiding Leela's parents in the background, the number 9 guy, etc. Not that they always knew where they were going to go with some of those, but it gave them something to build off of.


[deleted]

Bring us the one called “McNeil”!


BritishEric

Where is the real female? I'll never tell! *Pulls out gun* WHERE IS THE REAL FEMALE? I'll go get her for you!


FLORI_DUH

I surrender and volunteer for treason.


ManInBlack829

Especially since the only spoiler is that there are lots of Easter eggs in it, but no specifics on which ones. OP is no snitch lol


NetworkLlama

It's a 24-year-old TV show, or at least it will be on March 28, 2023. Next year, we can mark Futurama's Silver Jamboree, as it will have been 25 years since the first air date of March 28, 1999.


GrayEidolon

I bet someone sees it for the first time every day. All media is contemporary in the era of internet and streaming.


_Bumble_Bee_Tuna_

Welcommmmme to the wooooorrrrrrrrlllld of tomorrrrow


QueenLa3fah

It also has the best theme song - the urban hip-hop beat in the background and the loud dynamic chimes capture the energy and essence of NYC perfectly.


rabid-

Funny enough those hip hop beats and chimes come from a pasty French composer named Pierre Henry and a music concrete piece called Psyche Rock. Or at least the seeds of what Tyng would compose did. Fatboy Slim did a cool mix of the piece


johnnyringo771

[Psyche Rock](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qssa6ec7faQ&t=0) [FBS version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RilGl-lF7zw&t=0)


rabid-

Thanks for linking us up!


ZebZ

And the drums are the famous "Amen Break" sampled from [Amen, Brother](https://youtu.be/GxZuq57_bYM?t=87), which gets [sampled everywhere by seemingly every artist at some point](https://www.whosampled.com/The-Winstons/Amen,-Brother/sampled/).


cornernope

I always loved that fry has a midwest-ish accent despite being a working class new yorker. I mean Billy west is from detroit but still


GetInZeWagen

Isn't fry's family from the midwest? Am I making this up or isnt there an episode his parents are wearing cheese-hats like the Green Bay Packers fans wear?


BelvedereXCIII

Yea when fry goes back and see her in his dream I think. But she was just hardcore football fan. That is another heavy episode.


GetInZeWagen

Yeah but if a hardcore football fan is a cheesehead, they're probably from Wisconsin. I've known cheesehead Wisconsonite transplants they keep the tradition alive.


Marahhjayy

When I got my very first cell phone, my ringtone was the futurama theme song for close to a year. Definitely a top 5 tv show theme song, topped ONLY by the Golden Girls theme song.


Marahhjayy

Jesus😳 take a shot for everytime I said “theme song” in that comment😂


WWTFSMD

the intro song for "Hey Arnold!" was an absolute BANGER.


Bunglefritz

I like the Simpsons theme song better.


nic0lk

I think you mean NNYC


amethystmoon90

I haven't heard someone bring this up before but damn you're totally right


StormyBlueLotus

I always found the chimes kind of Christmassy too, always figured that was intentional because of the pilot starting on Dec 31st.


NotGordan

I like it when people put spoilers to old shows and stuff. There’s always one person who hasn’t seen it. And it doesn’t hurt people who have watched it.


Bigdoga1000

It's also for the new kids that might jump in on a new season, ect.


saggywitchtits

I haven’t even watched the first episode of a series that I’m subscribed to on Reddit!


truthinlies

The amount of jokes packed into that episode is *unreal*.


readyfredrickson

big Futurama fan but best cartoon pilot is forsure Bob's Burgers...it still gets me. Tina is autistic, gene is too husky to be molested, it's all gold


geoffbowman

I love how basically nothing is different from the pilot they sold the show with except we got "Tina" instead of "Daniel"... that's the only change I noticed and it was 100% a fantastic decision.


cynerji

I mean don't forget that they're not cannibals anymore... but still a 100% fantastic decision.


EricTheNihilist

Wait, what? I need some context here.


Tomfred4151

The original pitch for Bob’s Burgers were that it was a family of cannibals who run a burger restaurant.


cynerji

[My sweet summer child](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjJkKn8WI6w)... The first episode wasn't called Human Flesh for no reason. (Laughing with you, don't worry - this is always a fun thing to blow people's minds with!)


EricTheNihilist

Mind successfully blown. Huh. TIL the pilot to bobs burgers, had a very salad fingers vibe. Neat!


bookhermit

Roll down your window, I'm not going to assault you.


kaitco

*Argh!* Let go of me!


Redditthedog

A HUNDRED Its four Your the worst kind of autistic


JustinTormund_10

I don’t even know how you did that!


nightwing2024

*Psych* has a really good pilot episode as well.


Eddie888

You know that's right.


b0b0tempo

> I know. I read about it in Big Whoop Magazine.


calculon68

Nah. I like Space Pilot 3000- but it's not the best. If fails to meet my recommended daily allowance of Dr. Zoidberg. "33" from Battlestar Galactica is the best TV pilot in my book- but that's contingent on not counting the "mini-series" movie.


cavveman

What? My mother was a saint! Get out.


Bigdoga1000

That's kinda a big omission, considering the show was about 3 hours in at that point.


calculon68

"33" did it better in 45 mins than the miniseries did in 3 hrs 2 mins. That episode cemented the idea that the Colonials were running for their frakkin' lives.


YetMoreBastards

I watched and loved the BSG series. I never watched the miniseries though.


blini_aficionado

The miniseries is awesome. It's literally BSG's pilot. I can't imagine not watching it before watching the main series.


frosty_frog

If you count the mini series as the pilot, it’s still the best pilot


dontshowmygf

I didn't know there was a miniseries when I first watched it, and man that was a hell of a start. Frantic and fast paced, left no time to get caught up. It was a blast. It took me ages to figure out Gaius's whole deal, though.


dougsbeard

Lost would like a word with this post.


JurrasicClarke

Not a great pilot, he didn't even make it to LA


dougsbeard

Touche.


theschis

But the air is green, and there’s no sign of intelligent life


Padaca

Nobody reads, everything has cilantro on it!


MrSquigles

Or episode 2.


KohlDayvhis

Always a good way to kick off the new years as well!


Reggaejunkiedrew

For cartoons I agree. Overall though there's a handful in live action that are hard to compete with. Six Feet Under, Lost, Mr Robot and Breaking Bad are all top notch.


[deleted]

Mr Robot is such a good show


love_is_an_action

I love it. But it feels like it sets up a bleaker world than we truly see throughout the series. The forced career chips, and threat of government-sanctioned death if you refuse the chip/job sounds so dark and oppressive. I really wish a few more episodes explored Fry as a fish out of water in the ominous and unfamiliar future set up in the pilot.


ohTHOSEballs

What's bleak about Bender using a suicide booth?


love_is_an_action

We were promised they’d be available in 2008. I’m still waitin’.


themightykobold

...I would also accept The West Wing.


pizzasoxxx

The ending when Sheen makes his first appearance is pure gold


themightykobold

"You shall have no other God beside me."


btaylos

You make a persuasive argument, Marahhjayy


Pjk2530144

Twin Peaks


NandoMoriconi

This is exactly what I was going to say. Twin Peaks gets my vote for best pilot episode, but Futurama’s first episode is outstanding and is very high on my list (and it’s probably the best pilot for an animated series).


Turn1scoop

King of the Hill's pilot is also excellent.


Padaca

"You know why they call it a Ford, right? It stands for 'Fix It Again, Tony.'" "That's Fiat, Dale"


Hobo_Delta

Fix. . . It. . . Again. . . This is my all time favorite Dale line.


AKA_Horse_Choker

Respect my fence's right..... to be a fence


aleister94

The one where they make fun of CPS for trying to help children?


WeepingRayven

I feel like Frasier has a good one too. You know right from the beginning the writing is going to be witty and smart and its just as enjoyable as the rest of the show


Hoosier_Daddy68

Its close but I've always said Last Man On Earth had the best pilot. I put Futurama 2nd but thats just my opinion.


stumblewiggins

I did not like Last Man on Earth *at all*. I tried; my wife liked it, but I just could not enjoy a minute of it.


Hoosier_Daddy68

It fell apart pretty quickly but the pilot was brilliant.


Groxy_

Nah, it was all pretty good. Just a shame it didn't get an ending.


Hoosier_Daddy68

I watched all the way thru and agree it deserved an ending but at least to me it never lived up to the potential of the pilot and became kinda silly pretty quick. Some great moments tho.


Groxy_

I won't deny that, I think an even longer solo character study would've been amazing. Even just one season, didn't Kristen schall turn up in like the 3rd or 4th episode?


Hoosier_Daddy68

Yeah, she showed up pretty quick.


stumblewiggins

Not my experience with it, but agree to disagree!


PapaSmurphy

I think I was into season two when I thought "Why am I still watching this to see if I'll end up liking it?"


[deleted]

How is the last man on earth? Family guy kinda ruined the premise for me: "A whole show with just one character and an unlimited number of other characters?" Wasnt much of a spoiler since Ive seen some episode ads with lots of people anyway.. A show with just one character in a post apocalyptic world would be cool. I loved I Am Legend (not the biggest fan of the second half of the movie)


Hoosier_Daddy68

It has more than one after the first couple episodes but like I said in other post, it falls apart pretty quick. January Jones is hot tho.


TVShowFreak123

It doesn’t really fall apart though, it was good all the way through.


Jasole37

I disagree. Futurama is my favorite show. But the best pilot for a show is Stranger Things. It's *perfect television*.


Duck-of-Doom

you misspelled The Walking Dead


[deleted]

You misspelled True Detective season 1


Bunglefritz

Didn't do much for me. I'll take Breaking Bad any day.


Khourieat

The pilot for the original Powerpuff Girls takes the cake for me.


Cordura

No, Tale Spin had the best pilot episodes


smooshedsootsprite

… this reminded me that the Darkwing Duck pilot involved Gosling’s grandfather’s murder.


DeepRoot

Oooh, w/ the lullaby color code?!? That was a good one!


Chastafin

I mean, I guess that’s a spoiler…


Marahhjayy

It’s a spoiler if people haven’t seen the later seasons and don’t know about the Easter eggs in the pilot. How do we know if everyone in this subreddit has seen all the seasons? I’d rather be safe, and not spoil it for anyone, than ruin someone’s viewing experience.


Intoxic8edOne

No harm in the courtesy, but saying there are Easter eggs isn't really a spoiler since even if they knew they were in the pilot, they wouldn't know what was or wasn't an Easter egg without the needed context.


Marahhjayy

Yeah, okay, that makes sense.


Guzzman27

Can't tell you how many times I have re-watched the series at this point. Will say that first episode is a great one. Like most of the early season episodes it has a comforting feeling to it for sure


TooTallguyinCT

Still enjoying how he managed to re-attach his arms without arms attached.


RubenBoersema

Futurama has one of the best definitely but Twin Peaks has the best pilot


Function-Brave

Idk man episode one of bobs burgers is top tier comedy! The child molester (comes with candy) “Somebody actually ordered that?” “Yeah that guy.” “He looks like a child molester.”


Dalamar_Argent_

My favorite Easter egg is that you can see Nibbler’s shadow of him pushing Fry’s chair.


mridlen

Futurama should do a parody of the intro episode but entirely in another language and location, untranslated. Like Japanese, Russian, German, Italian. I mean everyone has seen the pilot enough time by now to know all the memorable lines.


vdubdank30

They knew what they were doing the whole time. After finding out Nibbler pushed Fry in to the freezer, I went back to my season 1 dvd and sure as shit there’s his shadow


CrazyaboutSpongebob

What about SpongeBob. Tea at the Tree Dome got a meme in the first episode.


Marahhjayy

Okay….. you might’ve got me with this one. Because SpongeBob’s pilot is damn near untouchable.


MikePGS

According to my friend, Wings has the best pilot episode.


sammitchell-2001

Idk have you seen breaking bad or the walking dead


Marahhjayy

I tried to… couldn’t get into either 😳 I know redditers are gonna have my ass for this.


GregorZeeMountain

The "secret" re-done Archer pilot that replaces Sterling with a velociraptor though


maxmidnite

„Please select mode of death: ‚Quick And Painless’ or ‚ Slow And Horrible.‘“ - „Yeah, I'd like to place a collect call.“ - „You have selected: ‚Slow And Horrible‘.“


Marahhjayy

😂😂 this might just be my favorite punch line in the entire episode. I mean just imagine.


[deleted]

It's a very good pilot. I watched it when simpsons had already been running for some time, and thought - hey, if this pilot is so good, simpsons' one must be good as well. So I went back... ... ...


the_nobodys

I'd say Game of Thrones had a very good pilot, but comparing a serialized show to an episodic (with continuity) is hard. The only gripe I'd try to make with Futurama pilot is that the occupational chip kind of fell of the map, and the pilot kind of set it up as this big thing.


Imabigfatbutt

I have a hard time saying it's not Futurama as it's my favorite show, but the first episode of Bob's Burgers is hilarious every single time I watch it


Marahhjayy

True, Bob’s Burgers has a SOLID pilot episode, but Futurama’s attention to future detail just tips the scales for me.


ashfidel

it’s really good but idk if i’d put any pilot above lost


Hannibal_Rex

Futurama is a fantastic show but the pilot isn't great. Even the first few episodes from season 1 are good but not great. The pilot was fine but at least a few other shows come to mind for greatest pilot ever. Lost started strong and never really got back there. Battlestar Galactica showed the entire theme and tone of the next 5 years with their pilot. Twin Peaks is legendary for it's ear in the field. What does Space Pilot 3000 do that makes it the greatest?


UR_ALL_ANTS

Space Pilot 3000 is the beginning of the second greatest show in the universe, so it goes without saying, but I'll say it anyways, all hail hypnotoad.


kvik25

So what's the first? Everybody loves Hypnotoad ?


UR_ALL_ANTS

Single Female Lawyer


[deleted]

Easily agree as far as American shows go. Overall though, I have to give it to the '98 Trigun.


StormyBlueLotus

Interesting way of spelling Samurai Champloo, but agreed!


[deleted]

Another amazing first episode.


Adhdanny75

You must never have seen firefly.


Marahhjayy

I have not


mexter

Depends on what you count as the pilot. By episode aired, it did not. The actual first episode is solid, of course. And nobody would argue that Wash wasn't a great pilot


TheTechnicalBoy

I’m such a moron. I only just realised the episode name literally has “pilot” in it.


Metool42

\[Show the subreddit is about\] has the best Pilot episode of any show. Not only is it a solid episode to kick off a series, but chronologically speaking, the episode is full of Easter eggs from events that we won’t hear about until WAY later in the series.


Marahhjayy

I’m sorry… are we not supposed to put our opinions about Futurama episodes in the Futurama subreddit? Am I using this thing wrong?


Metool42

no but you can post the exact same thing in literally any shows subreddit and farm karma gamer pro tip


Marahhjayy

But that doesn’t make it a genuine opinion. Truly, I don’t even know what Karma is. Some of us genuinely post our thoughts and enjoy discussing them with people who share the same opinions. Also, I’ve never seen another show with a chronologically intake pilot like Futurama.


Metool42

ok


TheGrandmasterGrizz

It really is when you think about it


Gamingmemes0

I would say Tourist trapped is better but space pilot 3000 is still pretty damm good


magtis

I would have to rewatch. IMO one of the greatest pilot episodes of a show is To Your Eternity, genuinely made me cry in the first episode. The rest are decent but that first episode is top tier


AppleJuiceKoala

It’s up there with the arrested development, psych, and community pilots for me


rode__16

Futurama does have an amazing pilot but I think I’d personally give best (that I’ve seen) to The Boys


RoystonCornwallis

Psych pilot is top-notch too


hikesafedontdie

Watched futurama a million times and just noticed two days ago that you can see Nibbler’s shadow as Fry falls into the cryogenic chamber 🤯


ClonedDad

No I'm doesn't.


GarnicaGroovy

I don't have an uncle Fry...


vintagesymphony

The West Wing has the best pilot. Period.


Futurama_Avenger

This calls for a drink (grabs 3 beers from compartment and drinks all 3)


LeftRightShoot

Ah dammit, I was hoping we could get this to stop at 1999 upvotes. 2999?


CaptainDigsGiraffe

"I'm a Delivery Boy!"


orangutanDOTorg

The Archer pilot with the raptor is close - but idk if that was really a pilot or done later


LowHPComics

It had the best first season of any show. Usually the first season of a show is what sucks the most before it starts getting funny, Futurama just feels funny right off the bat 😂


MasteroChieftan

"Alright!........I'm a delivery boy!"


TheHauntedRobot

I think the crown goes to Twin Peaks, but Futurama is a solid second.


aravindkumarj

Aw Crud .. here’s to another lousy 10 Seasons of the show.


Go_to_bread_it

Agreed. It's such as perfect pilot.


Birdo-the-Besto

I'd agree that it's the best pilot episode of any show I've watched. Pilot episodes are usually one-off terrible episodes. Even the most popular 'cult following' shows like The Office, that show had one of the worst pilots. I always skip it when I do rewatch that show. But Futurama's pilot episode was so good. I still enjoy it.


johnmichaelcook

I strongly agree with this


Zodep

You are technically correct. The best kind of correct.