Haven't seen this Thursday's episode, but to comment on some of the stuff about the "Is it as good as it used to be?" sort of thing...
I like the new Futurama shows. I like the old Futurama shows. What I didn't care for much was the in-between movies...or, at least, the last two. I was so sorely disappointed in "Bender's Game" that I didn't watch "Wild Green Yonder."
Why I say this, is because what I think about the iPhone thing is that they used the parody as background for the characters. The focus of the episode didn't seem so much to hate the iPhone and Twitter, which they did get in some jabs on, as much as they used them as a way for the characters to bounce off and have a goofy story. The point of the episode isn't "LOOK! LOOK! THIS TECHNOLOGY IS STUPID!" It was there to have Bender and Fry have their contest and to poke fun at the culture of "Embarrassment=Popularity." You know, things that'll be around long after the iPhone is history.
The problem with "Bender's Game," in my opinion, is they let the whole parody of "green energy vs. oil" get in the way of the characters and of having FUN. Considering the second half of the movie is the exact same thing that happened in the first half, just with D&D references, cheapened the whole story for me and made it less fun to watch. I have no problem with anybody getting political, having a serious stance on something, or doing satire...I love South Park, and they do it all the time...but when it stalls out your characters doing what they do best, then you're not doing your audience justice. For comparison, look at the Family Guy Star Wars stuff. There are some good gags in there, but when you're too focused on "this character should play THAT character" regardless of who pairs up best, and worry too much about recreating your favorite scenes instead of thinking about what would be funny, then the overall experience isn't going to be as good as it could've been. Somebody on here mentioned that Brian and Stewie are their best team, and splitting them apart just because they thought the characters looked more like these particular Star Wars characters was a bad idea; I agree.
You have to do right by the characters you write for, and I think the show since it came back on is doing that. Zap Brannigan making the "Zoom in" gag (as well as all the "MMMGGGGG!" noises when explaining things to Leela), the whole "robot" thing in the first episode, and Bender and Fry creating a punishment that, in all honesty, wouldn't bother Bender in the least when you think about it, all have the classic Futurama vibe TO ME (emphasis here) while trying to do see what new stuff they can stick out there. They're having fun with it, and as long as they keep that up it's fine with me.
Oh, and the endlessly spewing goat is awesome. I don't care who says otherwise.