The brainchild of Simpson’s creator Matt Groenig, Futurama is the story of the adventures of the crew of the Planet Express Delivery Ship in the 31^st century. The show revolves around Phillip J. Fry, a pizza delivery boy from our time frozen for a thousand years, his cycloptic love interest, Leela, and his hard drinking, hard smoking robotic roommate Bender. Supported by zany cast of superbly written characters from the crazed Professor Farnsworth to the loveably pathetic lobster Dr. Zoidberg, the world of Futurama represents a rich mosaic for Groenig and his writers to examine modern life and mock it mercilessly.

Indeed, Futurama’s satiric bite remains among the best on television and can stand up against the best episodes of South Park or the Simpsons. In the latest season, our heroes are confronted with a giant battle station that censors entire planets, nefarious plots involving the latest “eyePhone” and a fierce debate over whether humans and robots should be allowed to marry. Despite being timely, the show’s punch lines never feel forced and story and characters are never sacrificed for a cheap laugh. While the show is a work of science fiction and derives much of its humor from classics of that genre, its situations are familiar enough that casual viewers will love it.

It is not often that a television show gets a second chance to shine, and as another adult cartoon recently proved, after being resurrected it can bear little resemblance to the original gem. However, despite being off the air for years save for a series of direct to DVD movies, Groenig’s show continues to be fresh. Any television enthusiast tired of summer reruns will find themselves welcome in the world of tomorrow.

Futurama airs on Comedy Central Thursdays at 10:00PM

This criticism was rebuked with last night’s episode. The meeting between David Wallace (Andy Buckley) and Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) signaled a return to workplace-based stories. This is unfortunate for Michael Scott (Steve Carrell) who was driven crazy by not being included in the meeting. He didn’t understand what was happening and being the hypersensitive and paranoid man that he is, tried to figure it out. Michael walked into the meeting, questioned Pam (Jenna Fischer) and even hid under a makeshift cheese cart in order to hear the conversation.

Alas, none of his antics worked. Afraid for his own job, Michael negated all of Jim’s strengths when speaking to David. Disappointed, David tells him that the plan was to promote both of them to higher positions. Michael has screwed himself out of a promotion once again. Jim and Michael speak about the messy situation and convince David to “promote both of them” to co-managers of the Scranton branch.

The episode included a lot of funny moments, most of them coming from the Michael’s attempts to listen-in on the meeting. Andy’s (Ed Helms) speech about the finer points about the processed cheeses taken from the break room was the real highlight:

“Oui oui monsieur. From the Wisconsin region, a nice, firm cheddar. Also from the great state of Wisconsin, an aged Parmesan. Here you will find a cheddar-style spread, which has reacted nicely with the air to form a light rind, which I believe you will find both challenging and delicious. At that point, I would recommend you take a quick trip south of the border to the great state of Illinois where you will find this fine blue cheese dressing. If I may be so bold, it’s a lot of fun to let the goldfish take a little swim in the blue cheese. Bon appetite.” –Andy Bernard

In addition to the main story line there were two other story arcs although they were far less captivating.  Pam began handing out invitations to the wedding that will happen later this season and Dwight (Rainn Wilson) and Toby (Paul Lieberstein) attempt to prove that Darryl (Craig Robinson) filed a false work-accident report about a broken ankle. The latter included a comical scene of mistaken identity between Darryl and his sister, but on the whole wasn’t particularly interesting.

Neither came close to the importance or the hilarity surrounding the promotion of Jim to co-manager of the branch. Obviously this means some major changes for the dynamics of the office and some workers are not thrilled, especially Dwight, who finished end the show with a hysterical scream of anguish.  TV viewers will be happy to know that The Office is moving forward with intriguing plot developments while keeping its award-winning comedic elements.