Futurama: Season 3

Recurring minor characters (Elzar the chef, the robot mafia, the mutants in the sewers) pop up unexpectedly throughout, providing another wink to dedicated fans; like Red Dwarf, this is a show that loves the genre it sets out to spoof. Shame, then, that the show has had a troubled broadcast history and never quite found the mainstream appeal of its stablemate The Simpsons.

This year, Fry and the Planet Express team find themselves stranded on a planet of unfeasibly large women ("Amazon Women in the Mood"), standing in for psychotic Robo-Santa ("A Tale of Two Santas", with John Goodman reprising his evil robot) and variously falling in love with each other and sundry other humans, aliens, man-bots, fem-bots, virtual reality constructs and even the Planet Express ship itself.

On the DVD: Futurama, Series 3 comprises 22 episodes on four discs (see below for complete episode list). As with previous series DVDs the animated menus are a treat and there's a selection of bonus features including deleted scenes, storyboards, selected episode commentaries, animatics, "How to draw" tips and more. Best of all, though, each disc now has a "Play All" facility for the first time. Sheer heaven. --Mark Walker

DVD Description
Disc One – Episodes:

• Amazon Women in the Mood
  
• Parasites Lost
  
• A Tale of Two Santas
  
• The Luck of the Fryrish
  
• The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz
  
• Bendless Love

• Commentary for each episode
  
• Gallery for Parasites Lost
  
• Deleted scenes from all episodes
  
• Easter Egg – David X. Cohen Introduction
  
• Easter Egg – Table Read for A Tale of Two Santas

Disc Two – Episodes:

• The Day the Earth Stood Stupid
  
• That's Lobstertainment
  
• The Cyber House Rules
  
• Where the Buggalo Roam
  
• Insane in the Mainframe
  
• The Route of All Evil

• Audio commentary for each episode
  
• Deleted scene from The Day the Earth Stood Stupid, That’s Lobstertainment, The Cyber House Rules, Where the Buggalo Roam, Insane in the Mainframe

Disc Three – Episodes:

• Bendin' in the Wind
  
• Time Keeps on Slipping
  
• I Dated a Robot
  
• A Leela of Her Own
  
• A Pharaoh to Remember

• Audio commentary for each episode
  
• Deleted scenes from Time Keeps on Slipping, A Leela of Her Own, A Pharaoh to Remember

Disc Four – Episodes:

• Anthology of Interest, Part II
  
• Roswell That Ends Well
  
• Godfellas
  
• Future Stock
  
• The 30% Iron Chef

• Audio commentary for each episode
  
• Alternative animated commentary for Roswell That Ends Well
  
• How to Draw Characters – 1. Fry 2. Leela
  
• Still Gallery
  
• Deleted scene from Roswell That Ends Well, Future Stock, The 30% Iron Chef
  
• Easter Egg – alternative show opening quotes
  
• Animatics for Anthology of Interest, Part II

DVD Technical Information:

• Running Time: 506 minutes (not including extras)
  
• Subtitles: French, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, English
  
• Original Aspect Ratio: 4 x 3 FF
  
• Sound Quality: 2.0 Dolby Surround