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I was wondering what requirements or guidelines we should put up for Futurama questions to be constructive, to avoid bergs of questions being closed.

One of the great aspects of the show is that it has some sort of meta-humour as it messes with our geeky minds by purposefully and intentionally being vastly discontinuous, that' its appeal. Apart from being repeated time and again in the DVD commentary, you only have to watch a single episode and most times you will be unable to determine consistent rules for the Futurama universe (I wont even begin to name examples).

What I don't see right now, is how we can have constructive questions in such a fluctuating universe, like we usually get them for other franchises. For example, we have many consistency questions on because the plot is so full of holes that you need many people to try and put everything together. But the rules of Futurama are bent ... or should I say completely fried ... for comedic effect.

Don't get me wong, I'm not at all saying Futurama should be off-topic (it's by far worth being featured!), but to fit the site, questions mustn't be open-ended or subjective. So how can we make this topic work here and make it appeal a casual visitor?

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    I'm really torn on this. There is a great part of me which says Futurama has no place here. It should be on movies & tv SE and that it is only SciFi in the very vaguest and broadest senses of the word. But then when you compare it to other SciFi, one realizes that Futurama isn't really any more absurd or off base than any of them and I snap out of it. I am a bit put off, however, by what is essentially topic spamming of Futurama questions over the past day.
    – BBlake
    Jun 13, 2012 at 20:14
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    @BBlake: Futurama is as scifi as it gets. And while we're talking about rigorousness ... I'd say Futurama's accurateness when it comes to science (in-jokes, mostly) by far outmatches most "scifi" shows that you wouldn't hesitate to call scifi (but you have to look a bit closer, as they don't hand most stuff to you on the silver platter). I posted this question only to make sure we get some ground rules established (and to hide six puns in the text).
    – bitmask
    Jun 13, 2012 at 20:26

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I don't think we have to have any sort of special rules or treatment for Futurama questions. Questions about the absurdist elements can be voted-to-close and improved by editing. We have a FAQ to go off of, and we should treat these questions just like any other. Silly, pointless questions have always been off-topic, as we're here for practical, answerable questions based on actual problems that we face.

Now, given the nature of the Futurama event, we should expect an influx of new users. We as a community need to make sure the questions they ask meet our standards, and new users receive the guidance needed to contribute positively to this site. Edit to improve questions, vote to close bad questions, and flag stuff we mods need to clean up.

Also have some fun, it's time to celebrate our love of Futurama!

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    practical, answerable questions based on actual problems that we face; this line in the FAQ cracks me up. Other than story-identification, how many questions here are based on "actual problems" someone will have faced? (this is of course a topic for a separate meta-question).
    – Xantec
    Jun 13, 2012 at 3:48
  • @Xantec Are we really here to solve problems? My most common type of practical question about SF is “what shall I read next?”, which isn't answerable.
    – user56
    Jun 13, 2012 at 13:54
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    Hey, I've faced multiple time dilation, time loop and warp core breach issues in my life. Those questions are always a big help to me. Oh wait, I wasn't supposed to tell anyone that....
    – BBlake
    Jun 13, 2012 at 20:07

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