[7.5/10] Definitely a classic. I love the humor in this one about how things are so different in the future, from the running gags about people pronouncing things as “ex-mas” and “axe”, to the Professor’s unnecessary nudity, to the crazy but hilarious concept of a killer robot santa claus being on the loose every year. There’s also just the silly, isolated nonsense that Futurama does well, from Hermes’s extended repetition of “Xmas” to the silliness of Fry gradually falling from a big digital clock, to the third act’s riff on a classic O. Henry tale. (And the little swerve with Leela’s axe and the Xmas tree is great!)
But the main story of the episode is good too. I really like how the first two acts are about Fry and Leela each feeling lonely around the holidays, with the two of them finding solace in each other in ways that are still cynical but sweet in that trademark Futurama way, only for the third act to go whole hog into the Santa-bot attack. It plays with holiday tropes while giving them a wry, dystopian bent that really works.
And I also enjoyed the B-story, which is basically just Bender engaging in some of his usual deceit and debauchery, except with a yuletide sheen. Him being a jerk at a soup kitchen or to orphan “Tinny Tim” should be too dark, but it’s just so over the top that it loops back around to being silly.
Overall, a great Xmas outing for the show, with a lot of funny gags and a solid story to support them that plays on traditional holiday themes in an amusing way.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2018-12-31T06:47:29Z
[7.5/10] Definitely a classic. I love the humor in this one about how things are so different in the future, from the running gags about people pronouncing things as “ex-mas” and “axe”, to the Professor’s unnecessary nudity, to the crazy but hilarious concept of a killer robot santa claus being on the loose every year. There’s also just the silly, isolated nonsense that Futurama does well, from Hermes’s extended repetition of “Xmas” to the silliness of Fry gradually falling from a big digital clock, to the third act’s riff on a classic O. Henry tale. (And the little swerve with Leela’s axe and the Xmas tree is great!)
But the main story of the episode is good too. I really like how the first two acts are about Fry and Leela each feeling lonely around the holidays, with the two of them finding solace in each other in ways that are still cynical but sweet in that trademark Futurama way, only for the third act to go whole hog into the Santa-bot attack. It plays with holiday tropes while giving them a wry, dystopian bent that really works.
And I also enjoyed the B-story, which is basically just Bender engaging in some of his usual deceit and debauchery, except with a yuletide sheen. Him being a jerk at a soup kitchen or to orphan “Tinny Tim” should be too dark, but it’s just so over the top that it loops back around to being silly.
Overall, a great Xmas outing for the show, with a lot of funny gags and a solid story to support them that plays on traditional holiday themes in an amusing way.