"Jurassic Bark" is the second episode from the fifth season of Futurama and this is one for the dog lovers. Fry is at the center of this episode and we find out that back in the year 2000 he became friends with a dog briefly before his "time travel" began. Through coincidence, he comes across this dog again in the "now" when this series is set and develops a plan to bring it back to life with the help of cloning. Professor is of course the right guy for the job, even if nobody listens to his warnings in the end. Bender, on the other hand, is not happy at all and we see how he is really jealous. When he shows up with a robot dog, it was kinda funny and the moment he sinks all of Fry's hopes to ever see his dog again was typical Bender, only to immediately afterwards become some super robot and make up for it again and his words when he says he should have known that it is possible to have deep feelings for low creatures were also typical Bender. By the way, his eyes are also easily interchangeable as we find out. My favorite moment from this episode also had to do with Bender, who is himself just a tool there, namely the moment when Fry destroys the showcase to free his dog. Very brief, but very funny I felt. In general, it was the small moments from this episode that felt the best. Being a pizza delivery boy was clearly a difficult job back then. That much is safe. I mean just look at the pizza box and what is written on it. Straight-up bullying, even if today it could maybe inspire people to tip the pizza boy really generously.
These over 20 minutes were also a solid tribute to music for once. You don't see that too often with comedy, especially with animation, that it is about one specific song as some kind of running gag. Here it would be Walking on Sunshine. (Not Sturgill Simpson's "Sam". That one wasn't out yet back when this episode was made.) I like the song and have it on my MP3 player, so it was fine and I disagree with Bender's evaluation of the song towards the end. The ending was a bit heartbreaking. I mean Fry had totally forgotten about the dog before, so of course he would easily manage to do it again in the tradition of the episode must story-wise end the way it started. But seeing the dog out there aging and still waiting for Fry to come back was touching and there I was close to giving the episode another two stars at that point. In the end, it was not enough though, but I am still positive that this is one of my favorite Futurama episodes from season five. A lot done right here. Those who love flashbacks to Fry's life back in 2000 will have a good time too, especially with Fry's parents and now we know why he is the way he is. Go watch and I hope the level stays that way with the following episodes. We shall see. The title is a nice little play on words too, even if the episode is of course never about dinosaurs. I am one of the people who think Futurama does not deliver too many real emotions and that it is almost always completely about the comedy, so this episode made for a nice change. Grab your dog and check it out.
These over 20 minutes were also a solid tribute to music for once. You don't see that too often with comedy, especially with animation, that it is about one specific song as some kind of running gag. Here it would be Walking on Sunshine. (Not Sturgill Simpson's "Sam". That one wasn't out yet back when this episode was made.) I like the song and have it on my MP3 player, so it was fine and I disagree with Bender's evaluation of the song towards the end. The ending was a bit heartbreaking. I mean Fry had totally forgotten about the dog before, so of course he would easily manage to do it again in the tradition of the episode must story-wise end the way it started. But seeing the dog out there aging and still waiting for Fry to come back was touching and there I was close to giving the episode another two stars at that point. In the end, it was not enough though, but I am still positive that this is one of my favorite Futurama episodes from season five. A lot done right here. Those who love flashbacks to Fry's life back in 2000 will have a good time too, especially with Fry's parents and now we know why he is the way he is. Go watch and I hope the level stays that way with the following episodes. We shall see. The title is a nice little play on words too, even if the episode is of course never about dinosaurs. I am one of the people who think Futurama does not deliver too many real emotions and that it is almost always completely about the comedy, so this episode made for a nice change. Grab your dog and check it out.