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Matt Groening on Futurama, Simpsons and Fox
dipfan writes "Simpsons and Futurama creator Matt Groening, in an interview with the FT, says that the Fox network didn't understand or support Futurama. Groening says: "They haven't really supported it. I think it's a worthy companion to The Simpsons and we're really proud of it. But Fox gave it a bad slot and zero promotion for the last three years." He also accuses the channel of meddling with the show, making complaints that the characters were "too mean". He's hoping to change Fox's mind, and endorses the online petition to try and save the show. The good news is that he's got other ideas for new shows if Futurama really does get canned, and talks about new Simpsons plots involving Enron, and Krusty The Clown running for Congress." His feelings shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who saw the first act of "Homer the Moe", but what I thought was interesting was his comments on Fox and how he's not interested in moving networks over the futurama thing.
The link from Jeffy124's journal is here. Please mod up.
Yahoo News carries an interview with Groening. My favorite quote it "Although what happens generally if we win the Emmy for best animation show is that that gives us another couple of years to run it into the ground," he said.
"Jumped the shark" is a reference to the last episodes of Happy Days, when the studio was so desperate for ratings that they had episodes with topics like "Fonzie jumps a shark on his motorcycle."
It's now used to describe the episode in a series where long time fans give up watching a long running series because it has just become too much of a joke, too much of a cliche, or so far from the original premise that it doesn't warrant watching anymore.
Shows can also "Jump back" if they redeem themselves in a later episode.
Common examples (I don't neccesarily agree with them) are the Mulder and Scully Kiss episode of X-Files, and the Buffy Musical episode.
My personal Jump the Shark fave is the last episode, series 1 Dark Angel, where [[SPOILER WARNING]] Max's boyfriend/CO tops himself to save Max. I refuse to watch Dark Angel any more after that little travesty of scriptwriting...
Russ %-)
... and never, ever play leapfrog with a unicorn.
Yes, it's probably true that online petitions aren't worth the server space their stored on which is why Futurama fans might want to consider writing a good old USPS letter. Rumor has it that big-wig studio execs are greatly swayed by your willingness to waste paper, time, and tax dollars. Here's their addresses at the Fox network:
Ms. Gail Berman
President
Building 100 Room 4450
10201 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90035
United States of America
Mr. Sandy Grushow
Chairman
Building 100 Room 5110
10201 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90035
United States of America
I don't want to give you a script but you might want to focus on Futurama's poor and frequently changing time slot and it's abundance of critical praise.
Telling a studio exec to bite any part of your anatomy (shiny or otherwise) is generally a bad idea.
Well, right after the story got posted on Slashdot, the number of signatures was 113435.
Right now it is up to 114215.
That is 780 new signatures in about 1 hour.
Just thought I'd let you people know.
http://america.net/~judge/jms04-18
Your design to a real part online: Big Blue Saw
Mr. Show, Upright Citizens, Simpsons, Family Guy, The Daily Show
They can only take credit for two of these shows. The simpsons and the Family Guy. The others were made and more importantly shown by HBO or comedy central. And they've tried everying possible to kill off the family guy. Give up being edgy on Fox. They needed to be edgy when they were a start up. Now their one of the big networks and need to keep the viewer tuned in with predictable stuff, rather than steal them with the edgy stuff.