Why are so many TV shows trying to be "meta" these days? I think it's lazy writing.

I dunno if you watched futurama, it was always cheesy commentary on contemporary subjects.

I haven't seen the new episode, but this sounds like the same joke Futurama has made in both of its previous revivals. Bender's Big Score opened with the crew lamenting that the Box Network cancelled their delivery license. Rebirth opened with the crew noting the comedy in the random wormhole from the end of Into the Wild Green Yonder happening to be Earth's central channel for shipping. So this isn't entirely new to Futurama.

Bro have you never watched a Futurama episode before in your life? They've ALWAYS made jokes about current events and pop culture. Those jokes a perfectly in-line with their usual humour.

It's a Matt Groening show, isn't it? He's been doing "meta" since Life in Hell.

Futurama is literally a comedy about everyday life (in the future), and black mirror is literally a commentary on modern day life. Perhaps watch stuff that isn't focused around parodying or doing comedy on real life stuff?

That said, a lot of metahumor and political commentary ends up in western media these days because the people making and controlling the stuff have this fetishization of deconstruction and attacking everyday things. Hence why it's so rampant, even in places it doesn't belong.

They did the same after being cancelled the first time and coming back. Making fun of Fox and their producers. Seems in line with their sort of humour. What other shows are better now?

I enjoyed the first episode of hulurama. It did remind me of the other episode after they were rebooted where they referenced it a few times. Hopefully they follow their previous path and don't do it the entire time. I think being "meta" is a new writing style that has become a fad. Rick and Morty and Deadpool both come to mind as recent productions that are meta and have had Greta success. Many writers work on multiple projects or follow other shows and pull elements they like from one show into another. Also Futurama has always had a slightly meta side to it with many of its throwaway jokes.

I just watched the first episode of the new Futurama season and the running gag was their attempt to make fun of the Hulu streaming network (Fulu)… in the year 3023. Not only that, but they also parody Black Mirror which itself parodies Netfix (Streamberry) in their latest season.

Up front I'll say I haven't seen the new futurama or black mirror so I can't speak directly to these examples, however ...

What is up with all of this meta stuff?

On the very specific level of a new Futurama season, I might guess that they're chasing the Rick and Morty meta success that happened while they were gone, which brings us to the next question:

Does anyone actually enjoy it?

I think in some cases the answer is fairly objectively yes. Rick and Morty is one of the high ratest comedies of recent years, as was Dan Harmon's prior creation, Community, which are both quite defined by their metaness, as was Everything, Everywhere, All At Once, which won Best Picture and was widely beloved. However...

I think it’s lazy writing. ... Is this really the quality of TV prior to AI taking over the writing?

I think you're entirely correct here that in many many other instances it is lazy writing that quite often ruins itself or whatever it's grafted onto.

The real satisfying answer that I think you're looking for though is this one:

Why Do Movies Feel So Different Now? - Thomas Flight

It's one rooted in cultural trends, and is what would be described as moving from the Post Modern age to whatever we call the post-Post Modern period (the video refers to it as the metamodern period).

Its easy comedy. It's so much easier to write what you're thinking about when you're writing the script rather than actually coming up with a joke or something in-character for someone to say. Right up there with references and gross out humor in the lazy writers playbook

I think it's a combination of lazy writing, trying to be 'in', and also trying to be smart.

If you want a breath of fresh tv air, let me recommend a brilliant show that has a dedicated cult following and was cancelled after 2 seasons because Netflix gets more subscribers by adding new shows and advertising them instead of pleasing their current audience. The OA. I loved it.

It's funny that you ended with a Simpsons meme, because the Simpsons has been doing meta for decades now. I don't know why you would expect differently from its younger sibling Futurama.

It's kind of what adult animated comedy does.

People don't do much besides watch shows on streaming services these days. It's the only way to relate to the audience.

It's not really lazy writing. It's just one more symptom of capitalism. Why spend more money to develop ideas when it is cheaper and there are higher profit margins to keep recycling the same old stories but changing a few things.