4th May 2009, 3:38 PM
The advantage that Futurama has over The Simpsons is that the characters are older and so they don't have to stay the same age for twenty years. This opens new opportunities for multitudes in their character depth. Bart will never move beyond the 4th grade, Lisa will always have dreams of college that she'll never achieve except in occasional future-set episodes (all of which have been hypothetical anyway), and Maggie will always be sucking on that pacifier. How many times has that family celebrated birthdays, Halloween, Christmas, and other holidays without aging even a year? Granted, in situation comedies, things rarely change other than maybe an addition of a character (i.e. someone has a baby) or the killing off of a character, sometimes a change of occupation for a character (Peter Griffin was on his third major job the last time I watched Family Guy).
Some shows will add more of a "story arc" feel so that there's some continuity in the show and characters can actually grow and develop. Although, when compared to the old theatrical shorts by Warner Bros., MGM, Disney, and Hanna-Barbara, there's actually a lot of continuity in shows like The Simpsons and Futurama, albeit their many continuity errors. How often does one Looney Tunes short refer back to the events of another? I can recall one such instance, when Bugs Bunny and Cecil Turtle had a rematch race.
But anyway, I certainly love the old theatrical cartoons, especially Looney Tunes. As such, I have always been a fan of early 90's WB cartoons such as Tiny Toons and Animaniacs as they kept the spirit of Looney Tunes alive for a new generation. The current generation is lacking in this sort of entertainment. (I'm sure Spongebob does just fine keeping the kiddos amused, but... the dynamic is very different. It's still slapstick, but... different nonetheless.)
Cartoons seem to be leaning more in the direction of "weird" if you watch Cartoon Network lately. Ever seen Chowder or Flapjack? The animation, the jokes, the very concepts... they're odd, to say the least, though not necessarily bad.
But as for my all-time favorite western cartoon, I would probably say Futurama. The Simpsons comes close, and if it had died ten years ago, it probably would be about equal to Futurama, at least in terms of humor. I still like the concept of Futurama better. It's more original and has more room for over-the-top humor without carelessly inserting it like Family Guy (that's not to criticize Family Guy as it obviously does this on purpose). I see more storyline possibilities with Futurama than I do with The Simpsons, though the yellow people have kept me entertained for years, so I'll give them the #2 spot.
Some shows will add more of a "story arc" feel so that there's some continuity in the show and characters can actually grow and develop. Although, when compared to the old theatrical shorts by Warner Bros., MGM, Disney, and Hanna-Barbara, there's actually a lot of continuity in shows like The Simpsons and Futurama, albeit their many continuity errors. How often does one Looney Tunes short refer back to the events of another? I can recall one such instance, when Bugs Bunny and Cecil Turtle had a rematch race.
But anyway, I certainly love the old theatrical cartoons, especially Looney Tunes. As such, I have always been a fan of early 90's WB cartoons such as Tiny Toons and Animaniacs as they kept the spirit of Looney Tunes alive for a new generation. The current generation is lacking in this sort of entertainment. (I'm sure Spongebob does just fine keeping the kiddos amused, but... the dynamic is very different. It's still slapstick, but... different nonetheless.)
Cartoons seem to be leaning more in the direction of "weird" if you watch Cartoon Network lately. Ever seen Chowder or Flapjack? The animation, the jokes, the very concepts... they're odd, to say the least, though not necessarily bad.
But as for my all-time favorite western cartoon, I would probably say Futurama. The Simpsons comes close, and if it had died ten years ago, it probably would be about equal to Futurama, at least in terms of humor. I still like the concept of Futurama better. It's more original and has more room for over-the-top humor without carelessly inserting it like Family Guy (that's not to criticize Family Guy as it obviously does this on purpose). I see more storyline possibilities with Futurama than I do with The Simpsons, though the yellow people have kept me entertained for years, so I'll give them the #2 spot.