I immediately fell in love with Futurama when it came out in 1999. I was already a huge fan of The Simpsons, and I knew that I had to give a chance to any other show created by Matt Groening. For the few years that Futurama was on, I actually thought it was funnier than those seasons of The Simpsons. Maybe because Groening was focusing his attention there?

I was bummed when they canceled the show, not devastated, I felt it had a good run and that it was starting to reach a lull towards the end. And The Simpsons was always there to fill that void. But I was happy to see that they were releasing a straight-to-DVD movie, it gave me a chance to catch up with Fry, Leela, Bender and the rest of the year 3000 gang.

Bender's Big Score is a slightly-above-mediocre 90 minute episode of Futurama. They always say that, but here it really couldn't be more true. Nothing has changed or improved, it's all the same, just longer. If you're a fan of the show, it's well worth seeing. But if you haven't seen Futurama before, I suggest you check out a few episodes on Cartoon Network or Comedy Central, or wherever it's showing these days.

In this episode, uh, movie, the gang and everyone else are scammed via email by a couple of goofy looking aliens into giving the entire world away, piece by piece. After taking over Global Express as their headquarters, aliens discover the secret to time travel tattooed on Fry's butt. They reprogram Bender and send him back in time to steal all the great treasures of the past. Meanwhile Leela falls in love with a mysterious stranger; Fry is so heartbroken that he sends himself home to the year 2000. Anyways, you get the drift... the plot is convoluted and basically just set-dressing for the writers to hang their non-stop jokes on.

Bender and the Professor remain my favorite characters, each hilarious in their own way. Being a huge fan of sci-fi, I've always loved the show for all the futuristic gadgets and scenarios they come up with. This is I believe is the first time they've used time-travel on the show, and they have fun with the paradoxes that come with it.

In the commentary, they mentioned that there are going to be three more Futurama movies. The next one is due out in March, 2008, but I'm not sure where that stands with the writer's strike. These animated films always go through 100 rewrites before they're finished. I noticed on IMDb that it has Homer himself, Dan Castellaneta, playing a character called Robot Devil. Too cool! Whenever the next Futurama episode, film, whatever, is released, I'll be sure to check it out.