Godfellas, if only for one perfect line.

When Aliens Attack. Leela's makeover cracks me up.

The pilot was one of the weakest episodes, imo. I would reserve your opinion on the series until you've seen at least a couple other episodes. The ones mentioned so far are pretty solid.

The series has spawned 2 memes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQCP85FngzE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35TbGjt-weA

I was going to suggest "The Luck of the Fryish" it's one of my favorites. "Brannigan, Begin Again" and "Where No Fan Has Gone Before" are probably my favorites.

But, ultimately the series makes liberal use of obscure references. IMHO it's a better series than the Simpsons, but I think the audience is more niche in nature.

I think "Where No Fan Has Gone Before" is an episode that's pretty easy for most people to appreciate. Mostly because everybody enjoys mocking Trekkers.

Sounds like you don't have a soul, jefe. Don't fret, it happens.

Gasp!

It's a great show, I recommend watching at least:

Jurassic Bark
The luck of the fryrish
Amazon Women In The Mood
Where no fan has gone before
Roswell that ends well
Fry & The Slurm Factory

Personally I was a big fan of the first four seasons, I also like the direct-to-dvd movies, never watched the episodes produced by Comedy Central though.

I've gotta admit though that while I already liked the first two seasons the show improved a lot during the third season and the fourth one contains the best episodes. The question is what you're looking for. Some prefer the more serious episodes, others prefer the sillier ones. An underrated episode is in my opinion The Sting from the fourth season. But I also think that in order to fully appreciate the best episodes you have to go through the whole series, get accustomed to the characters etc.. Also the series is definitely better if you're into classic science fiction.

While Jurassic Bark is an awesome awesome episode, it's an absolutely terrible introduction to the series. Its impact is greatly lessened if you don't already know and care about the characters involved.

Of the earlier episodes, I think A Fish Full of Dollars, A Big Piece of Garbage, and the Slurm Factory episodes are the best introduction. The show definitely picks up in the second and third seasons, though. One of my favorites is Cyber House Rules, which sadly hasn't been mentioned yet.

Why not watch all the episodes in season 1, they're great, for an introduction you have to watch the earlier episodes of Season 1.

Some of the must watch episodes:
- Love's Labours Lost in Space (any episode with Zapp Brannigan is a must watch)
- When Aliens Attack
- Brannigan, Begin Again
- How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back
- The Problem with Popplers
- War Is the H-Word
-Amazon Women in the Mood (one of the funniest episodes)
- Roswell That Ends Well (won an Emmy)
- The Luck of the Fryish (emotional but not as emotional as Jurassic Bark)
- Jurassic Bark (This episode will make most people cry or tear at the end, probably one of the saddest things u see on TV)

This.

*Sniffle*

I don't think he's trying to force himself to like it, I think he's trying to give it a fair shake. And I applaud him for that.

But, the series isn't for everybody, it's not as broadly targeted as other cartoons are, and so it's entirely possible that it won't be for him.

But, OTOH, I think it's a series with a significant amount of depth to it and where the characters start to grow on you, even if most of the references are over ones head. It's shame that Fox couldn't give it a reliable time slot when it was on during the first run.

All?

You find Futurama to rely on pop culture references moreso than the Simpsons? Really?