The 'future' is in your DVD player

During the late '90s, the fad on network television was animated programming. One of these shows was "Futurama," Matt Groening's follow-up program to "The Simpsons," \nThe first season of this over-looked show was released onto DVD, and it is well worth preserving. "Futurama" is about Fry, a 20th century pizza boy who is accidentally frozen for one thousand years. In the future, he is hired on by his descendant's delivery service. Despite the outrageous premise, the show could be one of the funniest, and surprisingly tender, programs on television.\n"Futurama: Volume 1" contains all thirteen episodes of the first season. Each episode is accompanied by an audio commentary, which range in topic from how to belch on cue to Groening's childhood fear of robots. For hardcore fans, the discs contain a script of the first episode, as well as storyboards and an animatic (or rough draft) of the final animated pilot. Five episodes come with deleted scenes. Most of the scenes are only a few seconds long, but serve as nice filler. The final disc contains an art gallery, showing how character designs evolved from Groening's squiggles to the final product.