The Brilliant Success of South Park's Pandemic Parody Overshadows Futurama Season 11

Summary

"Futurama's 'Rage Against the Vaccine' falls short compared to South Park's COVID-19 parody episode, lacking the magic and timely humor."

The episode is outdated, recycling tired jokes and themes that were amusing three years ago.

Futurama perplexingly indulges in COVID-19 conspiracy theories, conveying a contradictory message and confusing the overall satire.

Futurama's long-awaited eleventh season has finally arrived, but its pandemic parody episode falls short compared to South Park's memorable success. Like South Park, Futurama is a witty animated comedy for adults that addresses contemporary politics, news, and pop culture through its eccentric perspective. With the COVID-19 pandemic being a prominent theme in recent years, TV comedies have explored various aspects of this event. However, Futurama's "Rage Against the Vaccine" fails to capture the same brilliance as South Park's "The Pandemic Special," lacking the qualities that made the latter episode so exceptional.

Returning after a significant hiatus, Futurama has been revived by Hulu, bringing back the beloved sci-fi show created by Matt Groening for an eleventh season. With over a decade since the series last aired, many developments have occurred, leading Futurama to address the COVID-19 pandemic. In its seventh episode, titled "Rage Against the Vaccine," the focus is on the Explovid-23 pandemic of 3023, which provokes widespread anger and violence among the infected individuals. Regrettably, "Rage Against the Vaccine" disappoints as it falls short in several significant ways where South Park's pandemic episodes succeeded.

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Futurama's "Rage Against The Vaccine" Is Already Dated By 3 Years

The "Rage Against the Vaccine" episode from season 11 of Futurama presents a rather clichéd COVID-19 parody story, recycling many jokes and themes that have become overused in the three years since the pandemic began. Initially amusing, jokes about quarantine, mishandled masks, and vaccine hesitancy lack a fresh perspective in this episode, giving it a dated feel as if it should have been released years ago. Considering the lengthy production process of animated shows like Futurama, it is likely that the episode was written years ago, further contributing to its lack of relevancy today.

Futurama Season 11 Weirdly Plays Into COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories

: Futurama's pandemic parody falls short compared to South Park's version, which was not only executed three years earlier but also with superior humor. South Park has built a reputation for its timely satire, evident from the release of its first COVID-19 episode "The Pandemic Special" in September 2020. In contrast, it took Futurama considerably longer to produce "Rage Against the Vaccine" while South Park had already unveiled two hour-long specials – "South Park: Post Covid" and "South ParQ Vaccination Special." The jokes featured in Futurama's episode are simply overdone, only eliciting laughter if they had been released years ago when South Park employed its rapid turnaround time.

The seventh episode of Futurama season eleven takes a peculiar turn with its inclusion of COVID-19 conspiracy theories. Quite oddly, many of the jokes in this episode revolve around these theories. One such instance is the extensive coverage of the vaccine topic, where both Professor Farnsworth and Professor Wernstrom develop their own competing cures for Explovid-23. Farnsworth's experimental vaccine includes microchips, while Wernstrom's vaccine surprisingly induces magnetism. These elements align with the claims made by real-life anti-vax conspiracy theorists. This perplexing tendency of the episode to indulge in these theories delivers a conflicting message. It lacks humor, yet it also fails to make any discernible political statement.

Now, it seems highly unlikely that the team behind Futurama subscribes to these conspiracy theories. However, given the prevalence of conspiracy theories surrounding COVID-19 and the vaccine, it may not be the wisest choice for many of these theories to hold true within the Futurama universe. Moreover, the cure for Explovid-23 does not come from Farnsworth or Wernstrom, but rather from a voodoo remedy. Although the voodoo cure is produced in a laboratory, it still feels peculiar to imply that magical remedies are more effective than those endorsed by scientists. All of these factors contribute to the confusing messaging of Futurama's pandemic parody, even though it does not venture into direct irresponsibility.

Futurama Doesn't Use Trademark Sci-Fi For COVID-19 Parody

However, what hinders Futurama's COVID-19 parody is the absence of its trademark sci-fi essence. While aliens and voodoo are present, the episode fails to anchor its pandemic storyline within a high-concept sci-fi narrative - a characteristic that distinguishes the finest Futurama episodes. Given Futurama's distinctive setting and premise, the pandemic special had the potential to offer a truly unique perspective on COVID-19. Regrettably, "Rage Against the Vaccine" falls short in comparison to South Park's success.