Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I was wondering if anyone else has given this a watch?

For those who are unaware, it's Matt Groening's new fantasy series and you can definitely tell from the animation which I found stylistically very reminiscent of later seasons of Futurama, it is quite well done though, it looks pretty crisp. The voice acting for it is well done too, although even with that there were more than a few that are definitely recognisable from Futurama as well. I'm going to try and avoid spoilers as far as possible for those who haven't had a chance to watch it yet, the season definitely follows an arc rather than being stand-alone episodes and really needs to be watched in order IMO.

I'm trying to be as fair to this as possible and I did quite enjoy it overall and it's only one season in so far so is still finding its feet to a degree, but I think it suffers a bit from the visual style being so similar to Futurama which is obviously far more established (And personally sci-fi is far more my thing than fantasy, so there was always going to be that element of bias from my point of view). I've yet to find any of the characters to be particularly engaging though, the main protagonist manages to somehow be a bit bland but at the same time quite irritating too and after ten episodes I'd honestly struggle to tell anyone too much about her. One big criticism from me though would be the season finale, I don't mind seasons ending on a cliffhanger and so long as it's done well and with a bit of forward planning, cliffhangers can be a good thing and set the scene for the start of the next season. With Disenchantment though it seemed less like an end of season cliffhanger setting things up for season 2 (Which is due next year apparently) and more like they had another episode or two planned and just ran out of time.

I'll definitely be looking out for season 2 and like I've already said, I did enjoy Disenchantment overall but at the moment even though I've probably watched them a dozens of times it's made me far more enthusiastic about the idea of digging out and re-watching some Futurama rather than giving season 1 of this a second viewing.

I am looking forward to season 2 also. It's good. Better than Simpsons for sure. But Futurama is still by far the best.

As much as I enjoy the cast of Disenchantment, Futurama is so densely packed with some of my all time favorite characters that it's just an impossible bar to surpass. Bender and the Professor are leagues ahead of anyone in any of the other Groening offerings.

Watched first 2 or 3 episodes and it has it's moments but been a fair few "didn't work for me" gags/moments too.

Probably see it through to the end though.

I barely made it through the first episode. I didn't laugh at all, or even just chuckle. It was miserable. Futurama feels forced at times but it is a tour de force by comparison.

It’s....shonky.

Some of it is genuinely laugh out loud hilarious. Some of it just isn’t funny, and certain running gags wear out their welcome pretty quickly.

However, as I touched on above, when it works it really works. So I’m hoping it evens out in the second half.

Also, it has Matt Berry in it, which is always, always a win. Douglas Renholm, Steven Toast, Beef - doesn’t matter, he’s brilliant.

I watched the first 4 episodes, and I more or less enjoyed it.
That said, I don't really have any motivation to go back and finish the series. The whole time I was kind of thinking "Man, I should rewatch all of Futurama".

Also watched like 4 episodes and went eh.

only like 2 good laughs from it.

I generally like to watch something short and light in bed before lights out as part of my wind down routine, and this was fine for that.

That said, it's hugely derivative, both of Groening's own previous work and fantasy tropes in general, and the fact that I got any laughs out of it is more likely down to so much mud being thrown at the wall than anything resembling quality.

I mean, even the concept is phoned in..

"Ok, I've done the Simpsons, then I slightly modified the dysfunctional family format and did the Simpsons in Spaaace.

Now what do I do? Oh! I know!"


Automatically Appended Next Post:
But it does get a whole bonus point for having Matt Berry in it.

I'm a long time Simpsons fan, and I love Futurama, but this series is... boring. I've watched the first 4 episodes, and I really just didn't enjoy it. I think I laughed once. The characters, setting, plot, etc. are very dull. I feel like it could have been good, but someone (Netflix?) asked Groening to pull his punches in order to appeal to a wider audience. I'll try to finish it out (seems like a good show to have on in the background while painting), maybe it will get better?

I got halfway through the first episode, and gave up. Not sure what's missing, but it was just dull. Might try again if I run out of other things to watch...

I too found it bland but I absolutely loved Lucy as some of his antics remind me of... me, I’m a pretty mischievous person at heart.

Luci is far and away the standout of the show. It's an interesting departure from his standard fare in that it doesn't have the room to breathe. In that way, it reminds me very much of the Futurama movies. One or two of those were excellent, and the others were pretty dire.

I expect the next season to improve, as the ensemble cast gains more depth. For some reason Pendergast has really captured my imagination. His callousness exceeds Brannigan's law, but he rarely had more than a line at a time. Many, many people are enamored with Chazz.

The big weakness to me is that I could not care less about Elfo. Same thing happened with Bender's Big Score, I just wanted the Scammers to not be there anymore.

I enjoyed it. Loved futurama, looking forward to more Disenchanted.

Would not cry if Elfo went away however.

I found the second half of the season to be an improvement. Still not fantastic, but it did make getting through the first few episodes worth it.

It's a shame the premiere episode is among the weakest.

Yeah, Elfo needs a good slap upside the head. Always good to see Luci follow through on that.

The show's a little rough around the edges, but I wouldn't be shocked if it improved a lot going forward. Luci, Bean, and King Zog all got some pretty solid laughs out of me ("Stealing from my stepmother's purse? Is that really the person I am?" "Yes. Yes, you are. And what's more, you're the person who steals enough for her friends.") It's not Futurama, but it's still worth a watch, I think.

The Cave of the Single Trap was a great little Python-esque moment, too.

Zog is great. 'I ain't here to answer cat questions!'

I love how Luci always walks around with his arms up in that thriller pose.

Zog is basically the only character I like from the show. Hes the character with the most depth and developement from the series. But I liked the show.

I find it WAY too derivative of Futurama, a show that I love. Ass-kicking Leela, pathetic Fry, and sociopathic Bender.

Except, Bean is a skeeze, Elfo is pathetic to the point I hope he’s gone from the series, and Lucie... is Bender without a shiny metal ass.

That said, I felt it got stronger as the season moved forward. I howl each time Lucie gets booted offscreen. And I also agree that the most relatable character for me is Zog, as he is pretty much the only character that develops as a character.

I liked it well enough to finish it, but if another season does NOT come along, I wouldn’t be upset.

I think the show is amusing enough to watch while having dinner, but it's ultimately 'meh'. Futurama was a lot better. At least it's better than zombie-simpsons.

 greatbigtree wrote:

Lucie... is Bender without a shiny metal ass.

See, I'm not entirely sure about that. If anyone in the cast is Bender, I'd say it was actually Bean; she's short-sighted, driven by her own whims, and fueled by alcohol. Luci's got an agenda and he's pretty skilled at manipulating the other characters into doing what he wants them to do. He does show a casual disregard for others' well-being, but, I mean...he has to hang around Elfo.

Well, Lucie wants “bad” for humanity, like Bender is often fond of saying he also wants

Bender is constantly encouraging others to do bad things. He’s lazy. Tricking other people for his benefit. Is a “secondary” character to Fry and Leela.

I see more of a cut-rate Leela, warrior princess in Bean than I see mischievous alcoholic Bender.

I'd say that Bender encouraging others to do bad things is more of a side effect of Bender's own lazy selfishness, or sometimes for a quick laugh on his part; Luci's enabling of everyone's worst impulses is through a deliberate plan to corrupt Bean. The trouble is, as the show acknowledges, she doesn't need that much help in that direction

We see Bean do some fighting, but she's not really anywhere in Leela's class. The way she defeats



is mostly luck, for instance. 'Mischievous alcoholic' seems like a pretty good way to sum up her character, actually.

Leela was the driven, principled character on Futurama, and neither of those words can really be applied to any of the Disenchantment cast. Each of the main three characters have their own brand of selfishness that they express for their own reasons; there isn't really a voice of reason to keep them in check.

I think episode 5 was the best and it convinced me to check out season two.

I really enjoyed season 1. My biggest gripe is that it was entirely too short for what they were trying to do with having a halfway coherent story.

The King is probably my favorite person though. His yelling gets me.

Watched the first episode and did not feel the need to continue. I will get around to watching the rest of season 1 eventually.

I'm up to episode 2 and that's felt like a chore. It's just a bit dull really. I'm not sure if this makes sense but it's a bit quiet, it's not got the same punctuation with music as the Simpsons and Futurama has. In general I think it feels a bit half assed.

Finished it off over the weekend. Second half was a little better than the first, but overall the series was lackluster. Unfortunate.

I was going to binge the whole thing one Sunday but in the end I managed 3 episodes and then spaced the rest out over a week or so. There's a lot I like, and the episodic structure is different in a cartoon (and very zeitgeisty); but it's not quite hit the mark yet.

I do feel that it's unfair to compare it to Futurama, which has lots of episodes to draw on, established characters, setting etc but ultimately that's exactly what it is trying to live up to.

Personally, I hope . As a previous poster mentioned, King Zog takes the limelight in the show, as well as some of the side characters like Merkimer. Hopefully, they get the main cast more nailed down in the next season.

I won't lie...I was tired of the Simpsons by the time I was out of grade school. It's kept me from ever watching more than an episode or two of Futurama, and when I saw this advert I knew it was another Simpsons knock-off. Just really never care about the shows.