FIREFLY AND SERENITY RATING: 9.1/10 GENRE: sci-fi Firefly begins with a war scene, a snapshot of the life of Captain Malcolm Reynolds as he fought for the Independents. As the viewer, we watch while the imperialist Alliance defeat him in the bloodiest battle of the war. In this moment, they create a broken man- an ex-soldier turned petty thief who just wants to keep flying with his ship and his crew. Personally, I’ve always preferred another introductory scene of the series. Sitting in his trademark pilot’s chair, the camera pans over the control panel to show our fearless pilot, Wash... playing with toy dinosaurs. Firefly, cancelled tragically after 14 episodes, managed to fight past its networks fumbling to nerd fame, and this kept it going for a movie and comic sequels. There is a reason it inspires such fanatacism; it’s a true work of art, dinosaurs, spaceships, and all.
TODDLERS AND TIARAS
FUTURAMA
RATING: 1.8/10 GENRE: reality
RATING: 8.6/10 GENRE: comedy
Deep down, we all wish we were the kind of people who could sit back, see a strange and often horrifying reality TV show on television, and simply change the channel in disdain. Unfortunately, I’m not quite sure that those people exist. Toddlers and Tiaras is a show detailing the lives of children on the beauty pageant circuit. We see their extensive practices, the disgusting makeup, and the overbearing mothers. As we watch, we shake our heads and disapprove... however, that doesn’t mean we stop watching. We all gain a little bit of pleasure from watching something as mindlessly entertaining as T&T. Sometime past midnight, you may even be able to admit it.
Futurama is the hilarious brainchild of Matt Groening, creator of the wildly famous cartoon “The Simpsons.” While both shows are packed with humor, Futurama tends to be the more adult and, as the Simpsons grows older and begins to drag on, debatedly the better show. Set in the year 3000, the show revolves around Phillip J. Fry and the other employees of the Planet Express Delivery Service. Fry is a human from our time accidentally frozen and sent into the far future. The show remains consistently hilarious and witty, largely relying on sci-fi tropes, dirty jokes, and societal commentaries to sustain itself. All of these are done well, and they make for a show that’s absolutely worth watching.
45