Futurama May Strike Back (on DVD)

Nik writes "Hot on the heels of Family Guy's revival, Can't Get Enough Futurama is reporting that 'there is renewed talk at FOX about bringing fresh Futurama content directly to DVD.' While nothing is confirmed at this point, it is apparently the first time that a division of Fox has considered producing new episodes of the animated sci-fi series in some time."

Comments

If they bring this back..

[Nifrith]

.. the Simpsons can kiss my shiny metal ass.

Re:If they bring this back..

[SamSim]

BITE. BITE. BITE MY SHINY METAL ASS. It was the first thing Bender said in the series. Variations include "glorious golden ass" and "splintery wooden ass". He said it at least a dozen times. It was his catchphrase. I don't know how you could forget it.

Re:If they bring this back..

[thegrassyknowl]

... red hot glowing ass

Re:If they bring this back..

[orkysoft]

Huh? Red hot glowing ass!?

Re:If they bring this back..

[bar-agent]

Ay caramba!

Re:If they bring this back..

[Daikiki]

I only have three words for you: Chomp my shorts.

Re:If they bring this back..

[barzok]

Don't forget Bite my frozen metal ass.

Re:If they bring this back..

[thegrassyknowl]

Yup. Don't remember the season or the episode, but the Planet Express team takes a trip to the monument beach and Bender is the BBQ...

Re:If they bring this back..

[Raelus]

"Lick my frozen metal ass!"

Re:If they bring this back..

[Andy Gardner]

"The modern world can bite my splintery wooden ass!"

aswell

Re:If they bring this back..

[michael path]

Don't forget:

"Bite my shiny daffodil ass!"

Re:If they bring this back..

[AriesGeek]

Also... "Why don't you interface with my shiny metal ass.. by biting it!" (the SnuSnu episode)

Sound Great

[knoebelsPT]

No commercials, new episodes, no network censors. I'll be the first in line

Re:Sound Great

[Fyz]

Unless of course the commercials are for Molten Boron.

Nobody doesn't like Molten Boron

Re:Sound Great

[Stephen Williams]

This Futurama DVD is brought to you in association with Thompson's Teeth! The only teeth strong enough to eat other teeth!

-Stephen

Re:Sound Great

[Scrameustache]

No commercials, new episodes, no network censors. I'll be the first in line

Leela: Didn't you have ads in the 21st century?"

Fry: Well sure, but not in our dreams. Only on TV and radio, and in magazines, and movies, and at ball games... and on buses and milk cartons and t-shirts, and bananas and written on the sky. But not in dreams, no siree.

Maybe there won't be commercial breaks, but as sure as [consummer food brand name] is delicious, there will be ads in those DVDs.

Re:Sound Great

[westlake]

No commercials, new episodes, no network censors. I'll be the first in line

I have to register a dissenting vote here.

Futurama's pop-culture gags were stale. recycled, worn-out.

The Simpsons is built around the dynamic of the family, you care about the family, satire in the Simpsons can be stinging and timely, but it doesn't carry a series for sixteen years.

Futurama's rightful center is Leela and Fry, "two lost souls on the highway of life." Watching Fry grow into an adult relationship with Leela is deeply satisfying and richly comic.

But the temptation has always been to fall back on the easier laughs you can get with Bender.

Re:Sound Great

[UnCivil Liberty]

Or a Popplers value meal with a 20 oz Slurm!

Re:Sound Great

[The Snowman]

No commercials, new episodes, no network censors. I'll be the first in line

Yeah, but I imagine it won't exactly be "uncensored" in the way that I think of it because I doubt there would be any swearing anyway. I am more interested in the quality level -- hopefully recorded at HD video quality, Dolby Digital (and actually mixed in 5.1 channels, not just encoded that way), and 16:9 widescreen (doubtful).

So far Family Guy's return has been decent but not as good as I hoped. If this Futurama rumor turns out to be true, hopefully Groenig and friends can keep the same level of quality as previous seasons.

Re:Sound Great

[earthbound kid]

Nobody does it like Molten Boron, geez.

Re:Sound Great

[BeaverCleaver]

Oh dude, I'm surprised I'm the first sad fan to correct your correction. On the audio commentary for that episode on the DVD they explain how they had to cut & paste the sound to make that song. And they definitely explain that the line is "doesn't".

Re:Sound Great

[nihilogos]

The Simpsons is built around the dynamic of the family, you care about the family, satire in the Simpsons can be stinging and timely, but it doesn't carry a series for sixteen years.

The Simpsons has, for the most part, sucked for the last ten of those sixteen years. The only thing that's carrying it is the sad fact that large numbers of people appear to have turned into zombies.

Comedy doesn't always have to be deep. Futurama seems to appeal to those people that have a highly developed sense of the ridiculous.

Re:Sound Great

[earthbound kid]

If I had a space ship, I would line up a bunch of stars into the shape of a sad face (then set off a bomb to blow them all up).

Re:Sound Great

[evilviper]

Maybe there won't be commercial breaks, but as sure as [consummer food brand name] is delicious, there will be ads in those DVDs.

I can live with "Slurm" and "Bachelor Chow" product placement.

Re:Sound Great

[Hast]

Arachno Spores - A leathal spore, with a funny name.

Soylent Chow - It's a Dog eat Dog world.

Re:Sound Great

[rikkards]

I was quite disappointed when I got the first DVD set for South Park and they were still beeping out swear words. I guess it was always intentional.

Re:Sound Great

[Bobsledboy]

Why would you need 5.1 channels for a cartoon? I must be missing something... either that or you're an idiot ;-)

Re:Sound Great

[The Snowman]

Why would you need 5.1 channels for a cartoon? I must be missing something... either that or you're an idiot ;-)

Stereo broadcasts and DVDs sound like crap on a 5.1 system. I would much rather the DVD producer mix the audio into the standard Dolby Digital 5.1. Technicaly only 2.0 is required for DVDs, and I can live with that. It sounds better than analog.

Re:Sound Great

[Bobsledboy]

That's what Pro-Logic is for. If your system is good enough for you to complain about sound, I'd assume it has Pro-Logic.


As an offside, how frikken annoying is the anti-script thing. Why did that suddenly appear?

Re:Sound Great

[Some_Llama]

"No commercials, new episodes, no network censors. I'll be the first in line"

Yah sounds great!!! No idea what kind of crap they are producing and the only way to find out is to shell out hard currency? Where do I sign up!?!?!

I think on this note I will also change my netflix selections to "random movies".

Re:Sound Great

[The Snowman]

That's what Pro-Logic is for. If your system is good enough for you to complain about sound, I'd assume it has Pro-Logic.

Yes, my system has Pro-Logic 2. There is a big difference between a computer deciding how to extrapolate two channels into 5.1, and a skilled sound engineer mixing the original audio into the same. Pro-Logic works decently on digital cable channels, sounds like crap on analog channels (but that's just the crap signal in the first place), but for some reason is really bad on DVDs. Thankfully I only have a couple DVDs that are not Dolby Digital, and most of those are children's movies or shows. I don't think my two year old son really cares about surround sound at this point in his life.

As an offside, how frikken annoying is the anti-script thing. Why did that suddenly appear?

Doesn't ring a bell. I might have heard of it... could you jog my memory?

Re:Sound Great

[Bobsledboy]

Pro-Logic has always seemed to work really well for me. :/

As an offside, I think maybe the script thing is there because of my tendency to bang out a short comment and submit quite quickly. =) Here's a picture. Its really annoying cause the c's and e's are quite similar.

Niche marketing vs. Broadcasting

[PornMaster]

Well, it makes sense that if they didn't see enough financial benefit to broadcasting it, but there's a strong enough fan base, to sell it to them directly. Capitalism working well. Bravo!

Re:Niche marketing vs. Broadcasting

[jericho4.0]

I don't understand the economics of this. Most TV watchers have access to dozens of channels, and that number goes up all the time. Futurama is a widely liked show, compared to much of the content available at any one time, yet it's still not cost effective to broadcast?

This seems to me to indicate that something is fundamentally wrong with the model, and it will continue to push quality off the airwaves in favour of crap.

Re:Niche marketing vs. Broadcasting

[balthan]

yet it's still not cost effective to broadcast?

It's probably not so much that's it's not cost-effective to broadcast, but that it's not cost-effective enough. Networks make most of their money from the "hit" shows, so it's easier for them just to churn out new shows and cancel them after 3 episodes until they land the next hit. Futurama may have been profitable (I have no idea), but they were probably looking for Simpsons type numbers and regarded it as a failure.

One day someone's going to start pandering to the niche markets and make a comfortable living doing so. Sci-Fi had that oppurtunity early on, but blew it trying to follow the major networks.

Re:Niche marketing vs. Broadcasting

[Captain Splendid]

Well, it's obviously cost-effective enough to run on at least two channels I get: Cartoon network and TBS.

Re:Niche marketing vs. Broadcasting

[OrangeTide]

Basically you can only slice your channel 48 ways (assuming you have 24 hour programming with 30 minute shows). Public corporations need to increase profits due to outside and internal pressure from share holders and board members. But given that the amount of programming you can present has a hard limit, you need to increase the number of viewers to achieve greater profit. Which is why we see these companies pushing the next Survivor or Friends rather than the next great sci-fi cartoon sitcom.

Cable networks have it a bit easier, often they aren't publicly owned. Or they are some smaller business unit of a larger corporation. As long as the cable network brings in some profits and doesn't seriously compete with the main programming then they have a pretty free hand. Also being subscription based changes the business model a bit.

Re:Niche marketing vs. Broadcasting

[SamSim]

Animation costs much more to make than, say, reality shows. For a reality show all you really, honestly need is, I dunno, one camera and an idea. And most seem to get away with just the camera.

Re:Niche marketing vs. Broadcasting

[ArbitraryConstant]

That bubble burst pretty quick.

Re:Niche marketing vs. Broadcasting

[zaffir]

The adult swim show block on Cartoon Network is doing great by offering this "niche" content. They run Futurama and Family Guy reruns every night in addition to anime and some of their own original shows.

If you get the chance, walk down the hallway of a college dorm building a little after 11:00 PM EST. Nearly every room with a TV in it will have Adult Swim on.

Re:Niche marketing vs. Broadcasting

[nunchux]

Futurama is a widely liked show, compared to much of the content available at any one time, yet it's still not cost effective to broadcast?

Futurama was also a very expensive show. There's a huge list of writers, producers and God-knows-what-they-do executives who are paid quite a bit of money per episode. That's the real problem with the networks-- it's not the actual cost of making a show, it's that every production is top-heavy with people in suits who are paid ghastly sum to give notes. I'm speaking from experience here-- the contact list for a typical network production (animated or live) has more executives than cast and crew. And with so many people with veto power, it's really difficult for something without a very broad appeal to survive.

Futurama is and was great, but it should have been a cable show. With a low overhead it would have found a comfortable audience and could have lasted for years. But at a network, the cost per episode was literally dozens of times what it costs to produce a cable show like Spongebob or Aqua Teen-- and since it wasn't a hit on the scale of The Simpsons, it had to go.

Re:Niche marketing vs. Broadcasting

[marcosdumay]

The cost to make is irrelevant, bradcastig or just distributing the CDs, they are making it anyway.

Re:Niche marketing vs. Broadcasting

[Cutterex]

Network President: "Greetings gentlemen, you already know my Execubots. Executive Alpha, programmed to like things that are seen before. Executive Beta, programmed to roll dice to determine the fall schedule... And Executive Gamma, programmed to underestimate middle America."

Re:Niche marketing vs. Broadcasting

[LetterJ]

I don't think it really burst because they couldn't make money. When you are choosing between $5 million an episode for actors vs. $50,000 in prize money, there's clearly a lower threshold for profitibility. However, if you can take $50,000 and make $5 million, you get a 100x return on the money, but turning the $5 million into $20 makes you more dollars. The networks were all excited at 100x investments but when it didn't scale, they pretty much picked the couple that *did* scale and went to cloning their non-reality programming to the nth degree.

3 CSI's, who knows how many Law and Orders, etc. There will still be a jump in reality programming for the summer as it still does pay better than reruns or the rest of the summer alternatives.

Re:Niche marketing vs. Broadcasting

[babble123]

On the other hand, the syndication value of reality shows is pretty much zero. You can't even show re-runs.

Re:Niche marketing vs. Broadcasting

[chameleon3]

unless South Park, The Daily Show, or Chappelle's Show is on.

Re:Niche marketing vs. Broadcasting

[DavesWorld334]

I bet this has something to do with TV vs DVD division within Fox. The TV division probably has numbers for revenue per hour that indicate they prefer to pass on airing Futurama ... but I bet the DVD division has numbers for cost to produce vs expected returns for direct-dvd sales that show they can have fun with it.

This is good if it catches on, direct-dvd content avoids the mass market bullshit a lot of us hate so much. It could easily give 'niche' or 'genre' programming that isn't as widely embraced as crap like Am.Idol or Surv. a real chance to catch on.

Re:Niche marketing vs. Broadcasting

[ManifestDestiny]

Yup it's so true, every friend of mine that's in college watches Adult Swim. It's truely one of the best block of shows.

Re:Niche marketing vs. Broadcasting

[Brett Buck]

>For a reality show all you really, honestly need is, I
>dunno, one camera and an idea. And most seem to get away
>with just the camera.

Don't forget a random assemblege of self-absorbed imbeciles. Although I do miss the subtle and nuanced "Chains of Love".

Brett

Re:Niche marketing vs. Broadcasting

[RedBear]

Well, it's obviously cost-effective enough to run on at least two channels I get: Cartoon network and TBS.

You misspelled "rerun". The main point of this whole conversation is that Futurama was axed a couple of years ago, and we want new episodes, not reruns. I can already buy the entire series on DVD, which I have done, and was very sad to find out at the end that there simply would not be a 5th season box set forthcoming (I don't have cable which is why I got the DVDs in the first place) because the series is no longer being produced. Apparently the networks think it isn't cost-effective to make and broadcast new episodes.

Re:Niche marketing vs. Broadcasting

[BlueHands]

5 years and over 70 shows is not a short run by any stretch. I think the biggest problem that we (the U.S.) have is that we don't want our good shows to go away. All shows must end, better a little early then alot late.

Re:Niche marketing vs. Broadcasting

[Nodar]

Why is this a US thing, and why is this a 'problem'? It's a problem that we (The Human Race) don't want good things to end?

Re:Niche marketing vs. Broadcasting

[Some_Llama]

"You can't even show re-runs"

Please, for the love of all things pure and innocent, tell MTV this so they will stop showing re-runs of "road house/real rules, rules house real road inferno challenge male female extravaganza!!!"

That show makes my ears bleed...

Re:Niche marketing vs. Broadcasting

[BlueHands]

Well, I suppose you could say that it was a human thing and not a U.S. thing but frankly many of the best shows from England (and a couple from The Great White North) have only 4,6, 8 or 13 episodes at most per season for 8 seasons or more.

<i>It's a problem that we (The Human Race) don't want good things to end?</i>

Trying to force things to not end IS a huge problem, in any context. Everything must end. Better to end when things are complete then trying to preserve things past their natural end. To every season,turn.

Re:Niche marketing vs. Broadcasting

[geoffspear]

It's hard to be profitable when you pre-empt most of a season to show a bunch of old retired football players sitting around talking about the games that just ended.

Oddly enough, every TV network except Fox has managed to figure out how to push back their regular programming to accomodate sports running long instead of just pre-empting the shows or "joining in progress" like the show was being broadcast live or something. 60 Minutes has been broadcasting its entire show after late-running football games for years.

Sci-fi series?

[sound vision]

That's an odd way to put it.

Re:Sci-fi series?

[forkazoo]

I'd assume the "sci fi" misconception stems from the fact that it takes place in the future, and there are space ships and aliens, and they travel to different planets, and a robot is a main character. It amazes me the number of people who don't realise that it is a historical medical drama. Really just a Dr. Quinn rip off.

Re:Sci-fi series?

[TylerL82]

Cartoon Network said ti best when they called it an "Action Cartoon Sci-Fi Comedy Drama that redefines Action Cartoon Sci-Fi Comedy Dramas".

Re:Sci-fi series?

[JimatForemat]

Yes, Sci-fi series.

Groening has made it clear that Futurama was intended to make fun of sci-fi but that it was also intended to treasure and honor it. Vast swaths of Futurama's painfully few episodes were little homages to standard sci-fi elements that didn't even necessarily distill into a joke.

But Groening says it better than I could:

So anyway -- yeah -- so, the inspiration is partly all these things in literary science fiction. When I was a kid, I would read these books and I was so excited by some of the adventurous ideas. Particularly Phillip K. Dick and I really thought Robert Sheckley's work was very funny. And, I thought, boy, it's really going to be great when I'm grown up and special effects get so much better. And, they'll be able to do all the things that are depicted in these books. And, I grew up and I found a lot of science fiction concepts really annoying. And, so this show is an opportunity to both honor some of the conventions of science fiction and satirize them. Have fun with them. (quote from here:http://www.bartfan.com/matt2.htm)

Besides, Futurama was consistently more inventive than that other animated Groening show, which could easily and more accurately be called "Homer is Stupid and Fat."

Re:Sci-fi series?

[kalel666]

Wow. Describing the Simpsons as no more than "Homer is Stupid and Fat" on Slashdot is like saying "MacGyver is gay" to Patty and Selma.

Next thing you know, you're hanging by a wedgie froma telephone pole.

REMINDER: Bender doesn't care

[Anonymous Coward]

First post on behalf of bender

let the quotes begin!

[Moustache N Tits]

"sweet zombie Jesus!"

Re:let the quotes begin!

[FuturePastNow]

"Very well...let this abomination unto the Lord begin!"

Re:let the quotes begin!

[Anonymous Coward]

what do we want?

FUUTUURAAAMMMAAA!

and when do we want it?

FUUTUURAAAMMMAAA!

Re:let the quotes begin!

[Ristol]

OH... YOUR... GOD!

Re:let the quotes begin!

[aslate]

Fry: You got that off the internet? In my day we only used the internet for pornography.

Professor: Oh, that's still true.

Hermes: Behold the internet!

Fry: My God! It's full of ads!

Re:let the quotes begin!

[aslate]

This is why i should use preview. The first two are one quote, the second two are another.

Re:let the quotes begin!

[Dachannien]

Mom: Cram a bastard in it, you crap!

Re:let the quotes begin!

[Anonymous Coward]

Announcer at the races: "It's a quantum finish..."

Prof: "Damn you! You changed the result by oberving it!"

Genius.

Re:let the quotes begin!

[stor]

"ROBOT HOUSE!"

Cheers
Stor

Re:let the quotes begin!

[hao2lian]

If I could express the Hypnotoad's signature synthesized sound effect in ASCII, I would. Several times. But, failing that,
http://www.r33b.net/

Re:let the quotes begin!

[hao2lian]

"I'm Santa!" / "No, I'm Santa!" / "No, /I'm/ Santa!" / "Dr. Zoidberg: And I am their friend, Jesus!"

YEY! Adult swim helps us all out~

[cocoacow]

I think this is proof that adult entertainment is really evolving. And who do we have to thank for all this wonderfullness? Adult Swim.
They have really shown the world that we want more animation, just like they get in japan. And what better then more episodes of my most favorite show of all time, (besides the simpsons). Seems the quick dissemination of television shows to DVD also really helps show those network borgs just how much we really love a show. Take that Nielsen!

Re:YEY! Adult swim helps us all out~

[Tim Browse]

Hmm...except, I love the Simpsons and Futurama, but the fact that they are animated has nothing to do with it - it's mainly because they are well written and acted comedies.

Obviously both shows get some mileage from being animated, in that you can do things that would normally be expensive (esp. in Futurama), but that is for me, very much a side issue.

I don't ever think "Yay! Futurama's on! I love animation!", I think "Yay! Futurama's on! Bender is great! Deal with it!"

Re:YEY! Adult swim helps us all out~

[suitepotato]

Between SeaLab 2021 and Harvey Birdman I get all the sick adult animated humor I need. Getting them on DVD would be even better. Hey, I actually have the first one's first season on DVD. Cool, now I just gotta wait until every other ep of both are out and by that time, we might see Futurama ready to roll. Now where did I put my Best Buy gift cards from Xmas?

Re:YEY! Adult swim helps us all out~

[NitsujTPU]

adult entertainment

Adult entertainment always seems to be at the forefront of various forms of media. Early films included adult films, television was a little different.


Yes, we have come a long way from the humble, but still beloved, lapdance.

Re:YEY! Adult swim helps us all out~

[WhatAmIDoingHere]

Don't ask Fox. Ask Adult Swim and Cartoon Network. That's how we got a second season of Big O..

Re:YEY! Adult swim helps us all out~

[jwiegley]

About 80% of what my TiVo records is animated. Of course others view this as a sign of immaturity but there is one simple fact about Futurama, Simpsons, Venture Bros., Family Guy, etc.:

None of them have (or need) a laugh track.

They are so well written and acted that they stand on their own.

All of the other weekly, live comedy shows require a laughtrack because, honestly and simply, they aren't funny. Because of this, I find them insulting and completely non-entertaining. I stopped watching them all years and years ago.

Re:YEY! Adult swim helps us all out~

[0xdeaddead]

You know I never noticed that!

But its' true, sitcoms are *NOT* funny in the least bit!, They (sitcoms) are so weak that they have to tell you when its a 'joke'... What a joke.

Now I remember why I canceled TV.

Re:YEY! Adult swim helps us all out~

[staed]

But I bet some of the other 20% includes the show "Scrubs". Also without a laugh track. And well written.

Shows that doesn't tell me when to laugh are usually the best.

Re:YEY! Adult swim helps us all out~

[FidelCatsro]

I always explain it like this
"If i want to see real people acting like buffoons i shall look out of my window "
Animation alows for things just not possible in non animated shows.Plus Animation is a true art form .

Re:YEY! Adult swim helps us all out~

[3waygeek]

Scrubs is a good show -- one of my favorites. However, it's not on NBC's fall schedule; it may show up as a mid/late season replacement.

Re:YEY! Adult swim helps us all out~

[Tedington]

Adult Swim is the best block of tv programming out there. One commercial break every 15 minutes, and those anemic commercial breaks are sandwiched between the 'bumps'. (white text, black card, funny stuff)

I just wish the anime block was a bit more worthwile. Aside from Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shell, it's mostly crap. I think that once people realize that the carton medium isn't just for terrible kids shows that do nothing but sell worthless merchandise, we could see real stories in another medium, which is all to the good. Take the anime Lain for example, it's a complete story in 13 episodes. Half a season. No toys, at least not in the states.

No TV exec in their right mind in the US would dream of putting a show on that had a predetermined amount of episodes, unless it's a miniseries 'event', then they can sell ad space on for stupid amounts of money. Nevermind the fact that it's a 'cartoon' that's more philosophical and engaging than anything on Must See TV on any given night of the week; it's too much not like Friends to risk making things like that here for TV. Adult Swim is the last bastion of hope for decent TV, and it's a bunch of cartoons that come on late at night, on a cable station. At least it's not as niche as a lot of people would like it to be. That means we get new Family Guy.

Re:YEY! Adult swim helps us all out~

[Scrameustache]

I think this is proof that adult entertainment is really evolving. And who do we have to thank for all this wonderfullness? Adult Swim.

Yeah, er, you do that.
I'm gonna keep thanking Japan and Europe for leading the way.

Re:YEY! Adult swim helps us all out~

[WhatAmIDoingHere]

InuTrasha? About as high quality as DBZ.

Big O is the same kind of show as Megas, but with a tad less comedy and more rain.

If you like giant fighting Robots, what's why Big O exists.

And it's "Cast in the name of God, ye not guilty."

Re:YEY! Adult swim helps us all out~

[spudgun]

Can Fox Execs Evolve ?

Re:YEY! Adult swim helps us all out~

[TheoMurpse]

It's funny you should mention Lain. Aside from the fact that it was made to sell a game (just like Dot Hack [insert random word here] series was), the creator also wanted to get a rise out of Americans. He purposefully wrote it as a critique of Japan becoming too Westernized. http://www.cjas.org/~leng/pubs.htm#animer Check the 6th page in the Animerica interview scan. In the third column, he states very clearly,

[Americans] won't understand [Lain]. I don't want them to understand [Lain]. This work is based on [...] Japanese people. This work is a [...] cultural war against American culture[...]

Pretty awesome, huh? ;)

Re:YEY! Adult swim helps us all out~

[dave-tx]

I just wish the anime block was a bit more worthwile. Aside from Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shell, it's mostly crap.

Only two episodes in, but Samurai Champloo looks to be a good one. They'll be rerunning FLCL starting next Saturday - only 6 episodes, but it's fantastic.

Sweet

[Lullabye_Muse]

I just started my futurama collection yesterday volume one is better than the Simpsons, season one content wise.

Re:Sweet

[HardSide]

Futurama > simpsons by far. No idea how simpsons is still so popular, sure it >WAS good at one point, but now? its just silly.

Re:Let it die

[Coneasfast]

WRONG! family guy is completely different, the whole comedy style is NOTHING like the simpsons. (family guy is freaking hilarious and senseless, while simpsons has an interesting plot/story every week).

as for futurama, it has a more sci-fi/geek based comedy style that you wont find in the others.

Good news everyone!

[koinu]

This is my favorite series.

Better than the Simpsons

[vitalyb]

I'd hate to offend anyone this is really just what I believe Futurama is. Shows continue if they hit the largest common dominator of the mob watching the show, sadly (aka "2 Fast 2 Furious") the common dominator is quite low.

Result:
Simpsons are on their what? 10th season? Futurama was canceled after 5 seasons (and correct me if the numbers are wrong, that's not the point).

I like Simpsons as well (even if not too much) but as far as humor goes, Futurama is more witty, complicated and deep.

Re:Better than the Simpsons

[ejdmoo]

Simpsons are finishing up season 16 now, FYI. :)

They are contracted through another 1 or 2 seasons, and they are contracted through 2010 for syndication.

Please correct me if I'm wrong...

Re:Better than the Simpsons

[urmensch]

A.K.A stand for "Also Known As".

Re:Better than the Simpsons

[MikeXpop]

Futurama was cancelled after 4 seasons actually. The show ran 5 "seasons" because FOX kept screwing Futurama over (placing it RIGHT after sports events for one), and they had nearly a whole season worth of episodes left over by the time "season" 4 ended.

That's why there are 4 volumes for sale on DVD.

Fox is also experimenting with Web downloads

[prostoalex]

Last year Fox started airing "My big fat obnoxious boss" - a reality show, a blatant rip-off of NBC's The Apprentice, but with a bunch of humorous twists, and parts of it were pretty funny.

Well, they unexpectedly pulled the show after Episode 5, apparently could not compete with Desperate Housewives during the same time slot, so they figured some show about UFOs was worth it, while Obnoxious boss was not.

They posted the remaining episodes on www.fox.com/bigfat (the link doesn't work anymore) later, with a new episode published every Friday. I am not sure what their traffic numbers were, but a lot of fans of the Boss downloaded the complete episodes.

I'd assume Fox would be pretty open to the scheme where they charge $1 or so per download (the obnoxious boss ones were not-DRMed, just regular WMV files, as far as I can remember). Makes sense with the amount of shows they keep cancelling and each show having a "long tail" following of maybe tens of thousands fans, but not millions, to make it justifiable to air on primetime TV.

Re:Fox is also experimenting with Web downloads

[blanks]

Why offer the ability to download an ep of a show when you can charge 40+/- dollars for a 10 ep DVD.

Re:Fox is also experimenting with Web downloads

[Scrameustache]

Last year Fox started airing "My big fat obnoxious boss" - a reality show, a blatant rip-off of NBC's The Apprentice, but with a bunch of humorous twists, and parts of it were pretty funny.

I see too much Apprentice simply from the ads, and you're telling that there are people who not only watch the actual show, but also blatant dumbed down rip offs? And they are willing to go through the hassle of downloading it in .wmv to see it?

Apparently TV's good money isn't in smart sci-fi, it's in staged contests :-|

Re:Fox is also experimenting with Web downloads

[mrgreen4242]

Most TV shows seem to be in the $40-50 range per season, so maybe 20-24 episodes, depending on the show and the season.

That's somewhere around $2/ episode, plus your getting extra's like deleted scenes and commentaries, etc. However, by the time a show makes it to DVD they've already made the money on it from advertising, so the DVD sales are just gravy.

I think there is a market for either direct to DVD or downloadable new syndicated content, though. Throw in some clever product placement, charge $2.50 an episode, or $40 for a season pass, make them available weekly, and keep old episodes available for purchase during the whole season. After the first 6 or 8 weeks make the first episode available for free, DRM-less as well, so it can get swapped around, and I think you could probably do pretty well. Couldn't sell one of the very popular/expensive to produce shows that way, but you could sell a lot of niche content.

Doing business this way wouldn't even preclude DVD sales either. Take the season offline when the new one is going to begin, and sell DVD sets with bonus features, etc, to people who missed it or to really big fans who want everything to do with the show. The bonuses would have to be really good though. Well produced behind the scene's stuff, deleted scenes tat have been finished in post-production and re-inserted where they belong in the episode (as an optional playback feature) and the first episode of the next season or a free download of it a week before it is available to the public, etc.

Good news about Futurama tho! Great show. I think Fox discussed doing a direct to DVD 24 spin off that would sell in the summer months. Eight one hour episodes on DVD that would come out 2 to a disc every other week or something for about $12, with some behind the scenes stuff and special sneak peeks at next seasons 24, etc. Dunno what happened to that idea. Maybe they will make this a regular trend for the summers, when TV is down but DVD sales generally seem to be up (due to having nothing good on TV?)?

Re:Fox is also experimenting with Web downloads

[Anonymous Coward]

Apparently someone's life is so exciting that they find a time to go through the hassle to post a comment on a show they've never seen copying another show they never watch.

Let me guess - you're a bomb with women?

Re:Fox is also experimenting with Web downloads

[porges]

"Obnoxious Boss" wasn't exactly a ripoff of "The Apprentice", but a parody/hoax, along the lines of "Joe Schmoe"; the name is a tipoff, as it alludes to "My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance", another of the same genre from Fox.

How long...

[Cyno01]

Before TV is nothing but a preview for DVDs or some sort of streaming on demand system. How many cancled shows have been released on DVD with a bunch of episodes that never even aired?

Re:How long...

[ePhil_One]

How many cancled shows have been released on DVD with a bunch of episodes that never even aired?

Clerks - The Animated Series absolutely rocks. Two episodes aired, the remaining 4 that were produced were only seen on DVD

Re:How long...

[Refrag]

I hope never. I enjoy my over the air HDTV , thank you very much.

Where's the game?

[rice_burners_suck]

DVD is nice and all, but I'm still waiting for the video game to come out. :-)

Re:Where's the game?

[Beebos]

The Futurama video game came out like a year or more ago.

Re:Where's the game?

[Scrameustache]

I'm still waiting for the video game to come out.

Why? It's a videogame based on a TV show.
Unless this is the first videogame based on a TV show you ever had the misfortune to try, you know it's not going to be good... that's a fundamental rule of videogames: They suck if they are based on a TV show (i.e. the game devellopers are bound by contract to agree to every whim of the TV execs).

Re:Where's the game?

[orkysoft]

Everytime we go to the video store he rents Bender.

Well, at least this way, he'll learn to swear without actually using swearwords. He'll drive everybody around him nuts! (assuming you're American)

I'll believe it when I see it

[SpryGuy]

I'm not sure how they really expect to do this if they're going to go direct to DVD. It seems to me that if they were interested in funding new episodes, they'd want to show them on their station, collect the ratings numbers and ad revenue, and THEN release them on DVD some time later. Wouldn't that end up making them more money, or at least give them a better shot of making a profit?

I do hope they create more episodes though. I loved Futurama. I worry, though, if they can get all the same cast and talent back.

Re:I'll believe it when I see it

[allanc]

Not if they could make significantly more ad revenue with a different show in the same time slot.

Maybe instead of not showing them at all, though, they could show them around 6am. I for one would really enjoy being able to watch an episode of a good TV show before going to work.

Re:I'll believe it when I see it

[ucblockhead]

Not necessarily, as airtime is a limited resource. They probably assume that they can put another show in its place that'll bring in more ad revenue. This is quite rational if a show has a strong fan base but gets low overall numbers.

The shows that do best are stuff that appeals enough to lots and lots of people so that they watch it instead of the other channel. (Roughly speaking.) Lots of people watch stuff on TV just because it's there. A show that most people don't care for but that a few people love will do horribly.

DVD sales are the opposite. A show makes lots of money on DVD if it can convince someone to pay $59.95 or more for a season. The only people who are going to do this are rabid fans. So on DVD, a show with a bunch of rabid fans will do better than a show that everyone sort of likes but no one loves.

That's why a "Firefly" can sell more DVDs than "Everybody Loves Raymond". Fewer people like "Firefly", so it got poorer ratings. But the number of people who loved "Firefly" is greater than those who loved "Everybody Loves Raymond", so it sold more DVDs.

If shows start going "straight to DVD", it could be very good for those of us who likes niche shows. Producers will have to worry less about appealing to the entire TV viewing population and will pay more attention to the rabid fanbase.

Re:I'll believe it when I see it

[neoform]

a lot of movies get produced by large production houses only to be released on dvd and never shown on the big screen. take "Equilibrium" for example, or half of disney's movies.

Re:I'll believe it when I see it

[Scrameustache]

It seems to me that if they were interested in funding new episodes, they'd want to show them on their station, collect the ratings numbers and ad revenue, and THEN release them on DVD some time later.

You got your "they" confused.

They are the Fox DVD execs, they want to sell more Futurama box sets, because Futurama box sets have brought them great profit.
The other batch of execs, the Broadcasting subdivision, don't want to air Futuramas, but the DVD people don't care if the Broadcasters want to air them or not, they want to sell DVDs.

A company as large as Fox isn't one big "they", it's a hydra with many heads. Just because the TV head doesn't like the taste of Futurama, that won't stop the DVD head from feeding on it.

Re:I'll believe it when I see it

[Dhalka226]

But the number of people who loved "Firefly" is greater than those who loved "Everybody Loves Raymond", so it sold more DVDs.

But I thought everybody loved Raymond?

(I can't believe nobody took that one before me!)

Re:I'll believe it when I see it

[SirTalon42]

You should watch the first minute or so of the first new episode of Family Guy, they make fun of Fox and all their failed shows they have started and then cancelled since they were cancelled.

Re:I'll believe it when I see it

[jatencio]

I always thought that the reason these films were released directly to DVD was because after they did some testing, they realized that it would be too expensive to release in a theater and to make a profit, they needed to brought directly to DVD. I don't they were made to go directly to DVD, but had to as a last resort to make any profit.

I must admit, I did not realize that "Equilibrium" only came out on DVD, I always thought I missed it on the big screen, but now I think it is a gem.

Re:I'll believe it when I see it

[DannyO152]

Well, okay, good point. But Fox has cable outlets as well. I think the grandparent post is right. By also producing for some kind of cast, the costs can be divided among the two divisions, and there's an opportunity to add to the revenue with the airing receipts.

Didn't Groening say that one reason Futurama's broadcast future was dicey was that, unlike King of the Hill, Fox didn't own any of the production? So, hmmmm.

On the other hand, straight to DVD has got to mean a lower budget (in current dollars) per episode than the original network run received.

Oh, hell. Fox should bring Futurama back as an animated short and show a new one before each of its features. I just came back from Ep III. Just imagine how much perspective we'd have into General Grievous' character if it was preceded by the best loved and most apt Benderism.

Re:I'll believe it when I see it

[Scrameustache]

I think the grandparent post is right. By also producing for some kind of cast, the costs can be divided among the two divisions, and there's an opportunity to add to the revenue with the airing receipts.

I'm not disagreeing with the cost/benefit logic, I'm just saying that the way Fox behaves is a classic example of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing.

They aren't acting in their collective, long term best interest, but in short sighted, selfish ways.

Re:I'll believe it when I see it

[allanc]

Saw it.

Laughed so hard I nearly fell down.

(Good thing I didn't, 'cause I was in the basement and it has a concrete floor)

Re:I'll believe it when I see it

[orkysoft]

Everybody Sort Of Likes Raymond

Re:I'll believe it when I see it

[halo1982]

I've never actually met anyone who likes Raymond at all. Its terrible. Even my roommates very Catholic/wholesome family can't stand it. But somehow it lasted 9 years. It's not even remotely funny.

Should be Everybody Barely Tolerates Raymond.

Re:I'll believe it when I see it

[evilviper]

airtime is a limited resource. They probably assume that they can put another show in its place that'll bring in more ad revenue.

Yes, airtime is a limited resource, that's why every channel broadcasts at least 6 hours of paid programming every single day...

Re:I'll believe it when I see it

[rikkards]

I liked Raymond. Once. After I have seen each episode it isn't as funny. My wife loves the show mostly as his mother is my mother.

I think one of the reason that Raymond hasn't sold as many DVDs is that it is like Roseanne was in it's heyday. You can pretty much see it at any time of the day on at least one channel. The demand is being satisfied by the syndicated shows. How many channels are showing Firefly?

Re:I'll believe it when I see it

[Jonathan_S]

must admit, I did not realize that "Equilibrium" only came out on DVD, I always thought I missed it on the big screen, but now I think it is a gem.

It did release in theaters. Now apparently it wasn't a wide release, and I don't think it was advertised much, if at all.
But I heard about it by word of mouth and saw it in the theater. Although if I recall correctly only one theater in the semi-local area was showing it.

Re:I'll believe it when I see it

[mink]

Don't forget the 4-6 hours of law and order.

Re:Let it die

[akeru]

Clearly you have never watched Futurama. The Simpsons, Family Guy and (now) American Dad: all pretty much the same "let's make fun of the 'Leave It To Beaver' family" with appropriately similar jokes involving the idiocy of the father. Futurama does away with almost all of that. The only similarity is in the "stupidity jokes". Think before you speak.

Re:Let it die

[kv9]

short answer: yes.
long answer: yes -- family guy died once and it did matter for the fans so fox revived it.

and to be on topic, i for one cant wait for our futurama overlords to be back. even on dvd.

Re:Let it die

[Mancat]

simpsons has an interesting plot/story every week).

Not since 1996.

You've Slashdotted It

[TexVex]

Here's the Google cache link.

Just watched Mother's Day

[October_30th]

Mom: "Jerkwad robots make me sick to my ass!"

Farnsworth: "The thought of caressing that leathery hide makes the tapioca rise in my gullet."
Fry: "Professor, please. The fate of the world depends on you getting to second base with Mom."
Farnsworth: "Very well. If cop a feel I must, then cop a feel I shall!"

Mom: "Your eyes always were the most beautiful shade of milky white."
Farnsworth: "And your skin still dangles so gracefully from your neck."

thats what it would have been like ..

[torpor]

.. if i'd invented the finglonger ..

Someone state the obvious

[tfcdesign]

Bring new episodes to TV on Adult Swim! Geeze, you'd think these guys who are running the show would have a clue about market and demographic.

Re:Someone state the obvious

[SirTalon42]

Hopefully the guys at [AdultSwim] will buy the rights to play the new episodes and air them after they run through all the older ones. It may be a while without any Futurama, but hopefully they will show them! I love watching Futurama at 11!

Re:Someone state the obvious

[william_w_bush]

a: fox still owns the rights, rebroadcast/syndication is cheap compared to the creative rights.

b: yeah... umm i love adult swim, but they are seriously low-budget, which is really why they rock so hard.

love the idea, but doubt it would happen.

side-note:
as someone who loves BT and xvid as much as the next guy, i think futurama deserves a min 9 month amnesty from rips just on account of style. maybe this could be a common route for quality tv if as someone said above, the people who love something a lot, pay for it, and the people who are broke or just think its ok mooch.

imho the problem with the dvd/music industry is they ask too much for things people aren't willing to pay for. imagine $3 for 1-2 star dvd's, all those summer movies that are just barely watchable, but decent for kids or to leave on in the background. not that this doesn't work in their favor too, cause people just end up passing the crap by for the better ones.

just a thought(s)

Re:Theres just one thing to say...

[saigon_from_europe]

It doesn't look so shiny to me.

Where are you?

[Some Random Username]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-images/B 000095ZH4/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_all/104-4142920-72 87127?_encoding=UTF8&s=videogames#gallery

It sucks nuts as a game, but was still worth it for the extra episode.

Re:Let it die

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, pretty much the only reason Futurama and Family Guy died in the first place is that Fox doesn't know how to properly manage award winning shows. Futurama was constantly preempted by NFL games and played at the oddest times. Also, the DVD commentaries of Futarama are amazing. One can't help but be amazed at the talent of the writers, actors and everyone behind the show.

And look at what they've done with Arrested Development, definetily one of the top sitcoms (if you can call it that) on television right now. I just think it's not fair that Fox has the ability to somehow get all these great shows but totally screw it up every time.

Re:Firefly

[Scrameustache]

Firefly/Serenity needs to be next!

Hold your horses, the comics are coming this summer, then the movie this fall, and then we'll see.

Personally, I'd prefer if they kept their new alliance with Universal instead of going back to the deepest pits of hell to meet with the Fox execs.

obligatory quote

[ZeroExistenZ]

"That's not why people watch TV. Clever things make people feel stupid and unexpected things make them feel scared."

I'm not sure if anyone has noticed, but if you read slashdot's headers there'll be random futurama quotes on each server reply. eg:

X-Bender: Well I don't have anything else planned for today, let's get drunk!

Re:obligatory quote

[SirTalon42]

I've noticed those, sometimes I just keep refreshing the page to see more. I wonder where they got the quotes from? Maybe from a Fortune file?

Re:obligatory quote

[Citizen of Earth]

X-Bender: Well I don't have anything else planned for today, let's get drunk!

Well I, for one, am appalled. A robot should know to use a semicolon there rather than a comma.

"Will you sign my Bender doll?"

[Paralizer]

This is something that it seems like Matt Groening has been pushing for for a while now. Every once in a while you'll see a Futurama reference in Matt's Simpsons. I'm sure he's happy Fox is considering reviving his hilarious futuristic show, but he'll probably end up pushing for it to go back on the air too. With the recent success of the return of Family Guy, I'm willing to bet it will go back on Fox rather than straight to DVD, given it's picked back up at all.

Puny Earthicans!

[Anonymous Coward]

Morbo is pleased.

Re:Let it die

[Frizzle Fry]

all pretty much the same show with different coloured characters and situations. all the jokes are pretty much identical so does it matter if one dies

That's a pretty accurate description of tv in general.

Yes!

[radarsat1]

I cannot freaking WAIT to downl.. I mean... BUY this!

("I kid, I kid!")

iTunes video downloads

[Jesse_132]

It would be great if apple could leverage their iTunes music store by adding the ability to buy episodes directly.

Re:iTunes video downloads

[nordicfrost]

It is coming. And it will be cheaper than the half-assed Windows Media Centre as well. Airport Video will stream 720p HDTV from your Mac where you bought the series, Decomp will happen on dedicated hardware in the Airport Video, you computer will be the storage and purchase hub. A remote will hook up to the Airport Video, so you can control it via the screen or without (for music).

The digital hub becomes a reality.

Re:iTunes video downloads

[glesga_kiss]

Wow. Although some of us have had this for like two years already :-)

Re:iTunes video downloads

[Refrag]

I think you missed the spot in that grandparent post that said "half-assed Windows Media Centre."

Re:iTunes video downloads

[glesga_kiss]

That may be, but XBMC has nothing to do with Windows Media Centre. It's an OSS project.

Re:iTunes video downloads

[Hast]

Xbox Media Center is not the same thing as a Windows Media Center Extender. Quite apparently you haven't used it.

XBMC is what all of these other companies are trying to do. The only problem is that it requires you to mod your XBox. (Though soft-modding is sufficient.)

NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN

[mrshowtime]

Every few months or so a "story" pops up that Fox is thinking about renewing Futurama or doing the straight to dvd thing. This is usually drummed up by some Futurama Fan site that is Jealous of Family Guy's success and thinks that because "crappy Family Guy" was renewed that Futurama should be renewed also. Discounting the fact that Family Guy is one of highest rated shows on Adult Swim and the second highest selling dvd-t.v. show of all time.

Problem is, Fox does NOT OWN FUTURAMA, Matt Groining does. The main reason Fox let Futurama die in the firtt place is because of that very reason. Dvd sales of Futurama have not been a barn burner and given the very high cost of producing a Futurama episode I doubt even if Cartoon Network picked up some of the bill it would even be profitable.

Everyone seems to forget that Fox was contractually obligated to the four seasons that aired, and sneakily pre-empted Futurama so that there would be a backlog of episodes so they could tell M.G. "Sorry Matt, there is a backlog of episodes, so we don't need a fifth season," without upsetting the Goose that laid the Golden egg (Simpsons being that egg).

The ONLY way Futurama would see the light of day is if M.G. paid for it himself. End of Story.

Re:NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN

[aslate]

Every few months or so a "story" pops up that Fox is thinking about renewing Futurama or doing the straight to dvd thing. This is usually drummed up by some Futurama Fan site that is Jealous of Family Guy's success and thinks that because "crappy Family Guy" was renewed that Futurama should be renewed also. Discounting the fact that Family Guy is one of highest rated shows on Adult Swim and the second highest selling dvd-t.v. show of all time.
Wrong: The Futurama community knows that it's basically dead, we accepted that about a year after it was cancelled. CGEF still posts all the relevant information, and has been posting all the info they get from the production team, although they always say "Don't get your hopes up", as we know it's basically dead.

Problem is, Fox does NOT OWN FUTURAMA, Matt Groining does. The main reason Fox let Futurama die in the firtt place is because of that very reason. Dvd sales of Futurama have not been a barn burner and given the very high cost of producing a Futurama episode I doubt even if Cartoon Network picked up some of the bill it would even be profitable.
Half wrong: FOX own the rights for Futurama on television, whereas Groening retained the rights for other media, hence the comics are still going strong. Futurama does have a high production cost, however the DVD sales were massive and it reached #1 on Amazon repeatedly. However, FOX set out to kill it. Futurama was the most watched TV premier, and did well. But there's only so many years you can survive being pre-empted by sports and cancelled as they over-run.

Everyone seems to forget that Fox was contractually obligated to the four seasons that aired, and sneakily pre-empted Futurama so that there would be a backlog of episodes so they could tell M.G. "Sorry Matt, there is a backlog of episodes, so we don't need a fifth season," without upsetting the Goose that laid the Golden egg (Simpsons being that egg).
I don't know about the contract for 4 seasons, but Groening was annoyed at Futurama's treatment from the word go, they weren't keeping him happy by keeping it on the air but not producing any more.

Re:NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN

[Dachannien]

Except that Billy West (voice of Fry, Prof. Farnsworth, Zoidberg, Zapp Brannigan) has indicated that David X. Cohen (writer, exec producer) has talked with the Fox executives, and they were very open to going forward with this. This isn't just rumors from some comic con, this is coming from the actual people who make the show.

Re:NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN

[Mr.Zong]

There was adult swim on air posting (or whatever fancy name they have for a black and white text message on tv) that each ep of the Simpson's costs around 2 mil to make and each ep of Futurama takes about 1.2 mil.

That pretty much gives us a lesser tin foil hat reason as to why the show was discontinued and why it it's so hard to pick up again.

Read: If fox spends 70% of what it takes to make the Simpson's, and isn't getting at least half the scaled profit, you think they're going to keep it going? And on that note, it's a very expensive investment for anyone else to pick up again.

I have a feeling this is hardly the end of the story. ASs been hinting at possible new content for awhile, and they rarely beat a dead horse without reason.

Re:NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN

[Bones3D_mac]

I'm inclined to agree with you on this. If you ever watched the commentary for all 80+ episodes of the series, they discuss this topic stating it would be extremely difficult to revive the series due to most of the crew moving on to do other work elsewhere in the industry.

Of course, I'd love to see this proven wrong, as Futurama was a fantastic series, but I really don't see this happening, unless much of the staff is replaced with newer (and possibly less skilled) people.

How about new episodes of alternate-Enterprise?

[davidwr]

I want to see more of the intrigue and backstabbing of The Empire between the undoubtedly short reigh of Empress Sato and the arrival of "our" Spock and Kirk in Mirror, Mirror.

Send those direct to video, or if it's too expensive to film, direct-to-the-bookstore.

Re:How about new episodes of alternate-Enterprise?

[Hangin10]

Exactly what I was thinking, the alternate universe was more interesting than a lot of what went on during Enterprise (although I did like it somewhat more than Voyager).

Re:How about new episodes of alternate-Enterprise?

[Skater]

I find it interesting that some of the best episodes of Enterprise and Next Generation were in the last season, as if the writers knew what was coming and suddenly weren't afraid to take risks.

Re:Let it die

[Scrameustache]

family guy is [...] NOTHING like the simpsons.
Moderation
30% Informative
30% Insightful

I am speechless.

Re:Let it die

[FidelCatsro]

Totaly agree , Family guy is more sillyness and absurd situation (nothing wrong with that ) and is a riot for it ,The simpsons is far more situational and grounded ,it can do more serious stuff well whilst still giving you a laugh(they occasionaly do silly stuff too though which is also great).
Futurama i loved as well the charichters are all great , its has quantom indeterminacy jokes"No fair , you changed the result by mesuring it" and a plethera of geek/nerd reference .
I started whatching American Dad aswell which looks to be promosing , I will pick up the first season DVD when its out (for now i have to use Bittorent , im in germany)

"Fresh Futurama content"

[Stephen Williams]

How horribly buzzwordy. What's wrong with simply saying "new episodes of Futurama"?

-Stephen

Re:"Fresh Futurama content"

[tfcdesign]

And its copyright protected: "Staytuned for a 'Fresh' episode of' some crap on the WB.

Re:"Fresh Futurama content"

[Scrameustache]

What's wrong with simply saying "new episodes of Futurama"?

The awnsers are all about alliterations.

Re:"Fresh Futurama content"

[barath_s]

RTFL: 'coz it may be movies, not episodes ... Besides, it's shorter : 3 words instead of 4

What about the writers?

[tmbg37]

Even if Fox does do this, how are they going to get back the writers that made the show good in the first place? I'm sure most of them have moved on, probably advanced their careers, and probably won't be willing to go back to their old show.

Re:What about the writers?

[aslate]

This has been brought up as a reason for it not coming back, however the good thing is that the writers have always shown a personal interest in the show and an ambition to bring it back.

Alien codec 1. Zoidberg

[hedley]

Super news on the potential for a rebirth.

What does my plate say ladies/gents? :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21274068@N00/830844/

Hedley

Re:Let it die

[FidelCatsro]

Thats not fair , Season 8 had some of the best eppisodes of the simpsons ande Season 9 had a fair few greats aswell. It did start to faulter a bit after season 9 though , but there are a few gems in seasons 10-14 . It really started to sink at season 15 , The actors and animation have improved alot . The writting however (whilst good) just dosn't seem to have the spark it did , I do think they are running out of ground to tread with the current set-up .
It may work if they start to age the charicters a bit , well for a few seasons .
But the simpsons has had a great run .

Futurama Family Guy

[miyako]

I'm really glad to see that it's being considered, though I'm not going to hold my breath. It always stuck me as odd that Family Guy got so much more support than Futurama. While I think familiy guy is a perfectly good show as shows go, I think that Futurama is perhaps the best pure-comedy show I've ever watched.

Re:YES!

[h4rm0ny]

Yep. And after it's gone straight to DVD, and they've had the initial massive sales... It goes to TV.

Yes - it began with Futurama. DVD is the release medium and crap films go straight to TV instead of DVD. Think about it - it makes so much more sense (for them). Hell, it can even shut down the Betamax argument.

Re:Hey!

[thePjunisher]

They have. check out:

http://www.tvtome.com/Futurama/eplist.html

Compare the Production numbers to the FOX Episode numbers. The episodes in "Season 5" are actually all from Season 4, plus one from Season 3.

tremble in fear puny earthlings

[blah-Hipo]

"PUNY FOX EXECUTIVE, you will bring back futurama or suffer the wrath of MORBO!!!"

"aah hah hah. that's nice."

Re:tremble in fear puny earthlings

[Kohath]

Morbo is great. Just put Morbo on reading the nightly news. I'd watch that every night.

Re:tremble in fear puny earthlings

[nobbin]

windmills do not work that way!

God I hope so

[deadmantyping]

I love Futurama. It's great to think that there's a possibility that they might make more, particularly with the cliffhanger-like last episode =)

I definitely had an decent run with 5 seasons but it could have easily lasted more than that, and I for one look forward to its return, even if it is only to DVD and not TV.

Re:God I hope so

[geekoid]

Cliffhanger?

Fry and Leela live happily ever after..and Beyond!
not really a cliffhanger, more of a great ending to a great serious.

Happily every after I tells ya!

Re:Hey!

[RPoet]

The reason for this of course being that Futurama got NO AIR TIME the last couple of years of its existence. Shows would get pre-empted for new reality show experiments or some sport stuff every other week, or they would simply air reruns. The few new shows that did air, would often air at irregular timeslots. So those who hadn't already lost interest, would either forget to watch it or not know that it would air at all. Because of so few new episodes being aired, they had enough holdover episodes from two production seasons back for a whole new "season".

In comparison, these days we get two brand new The Simpsons episodes every week. Sigh.

get groening away from FOX

[ShineyMcShine]

all groening, all the time...(except when family guy is on) we like cartoons because they are very funny. and because we get to watch three of them before bedtime.

if its like the last several seasons of simpsons..

[arazor]

If its like the last several seasons of the simpsons then I am not interested. Matt Groening in his Life In Hell comic strip during the 2004 US presidential election cycle made some sort of promise that it would be just anti-bush only. I took that to mean just the life in hell comic strip but it turned out to be in the Simpsons. I applaud him for making good on his word (even though I am obviously on the other side of the political spectrum).

If Matt Groening takes that kind of work to Futurama I would rather go without new episodes of Futurama.

The last Simpsons episode I found funny was Tree House of Horror 12.

Carl: You know, I was hexed by a troll and a leprechaun cured that right up.
Lenny: Hey you know what's even better is Jesus. He's like.. 6 leprechauns!
Carl: Yeah, but a lot harder to catch. Go with the leprechaun.

Planned cancellations, office politics

[Scrameustache]

it makes sense that if they didn't see enough financial benefit to broadcasting it

Futurama, like firefly, was scheduled during a "sport overtime" timeslot, i.e. it aired rarely, and sometimes only the confusing second half of the 24 minuttes would air, etc.

Your options are:

1. The person in charge of the schedule has never watched sports in his life and doesn't know that it tends to go long, and therefore made a mistake.
   
2. The person in charge of the schedule didn't like Futurama and decided to have it cancelled by making sure no one can watch it regularly (that person cannot make the call on which show get financed and which get the plug pulled, but they have power over scheduling, and timing is everything on TV).

Mind bogging incompetance, or mean spirited abuse of power. I'm gonna go with mean spiritted: I don't think someone that incompetant would ever earn the right to make that decision, especially since it happened again to a similar show on the same network not long afterwards.

Re:Planned cancellations, office politics

[Refrag]

Was Firefly aired on Fox or FX? I never, ever saw it on but I enjoyed the series when I rented the DVDs. I don't have cable, so if it was on FX that would explain why I never saw it.

Re:Planned cancellations, office politics

[Scrameustache]

Was Firefly aired on Fox or FX? I never, ever saw it on but I enjoyed the series when I rented the DVDs. I don't have cable, so if it was on FX that would explain why I never saw it.

On Fox... at a random shifting time slot of death.

Sometimes it came on as advertised, friday at 8, but sometimes it was on at 12:05am (after baseball and the news), one time at 12:15am... sometimes not at all.

And it was aired out of order, with the pilot being the last episode shown. Off course they didn't have good ratings! It was HARD to watch that show! It required planning, sacrifice, and luck.

Re:Planned cancellations, office politics

[Insightfill]

Futurama, like firefly, was scheduled during a "sport overtime" timeslot, i.e. it aired rarely, and sometimes only the confusing second half of the 24 minutes would air, etc.

It was pre-empted so many times, that they were actually able to stop production of the last season, and still had another entire season of unwatched shows to broadcast. Pathetic.

Re:Planned cancellations, office politics

[Anarcho-Goth]

Mind bogging incompetance, or mean spirited abuse of power. I'm gonna go with mean spiritted: I don't think someone that incompetant would ever earn the right to make that decision, especially since it happened again to a similar show on the same network not long afterwards.

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_J._Hanlon

Never underestimate the power of stupidity.
It is the most powerful force in the universe.

(Should I bother to spell check this?)

Re:Planned cancellations, office politics

[Scrameustache]

Mind bogging incompetance, or mean spirited abuse of power. I'm gonna go with mean spiritted: I don't think someone that incompetant would ever earn the right to make that decision, especially since it happened again to a similar show on the same network not long afterwards.

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_J._Hanlon

Notice that I bothered to explained how stupidity does not adequatly explain it.

Only siths deal in absolute.
-Yoda

Re:Planned cancellations, office politics

[Anarcho-Goth]

Notice that I bothered to explained how stupidity does not adequatly explain it.

True, but I was thinking, don't underestimate the ability of stupid people to get promoted into such possitions.

Sometimes it seems there is an inverse ratio between how high up someone is in management, and their intellegence.

But perhaps I should have explained that.

They Forgot The Important Link!

[aslate]

Quoted from Billy West's Message Board:

Well, I spoke to David X.Cohen because we did promos for a new Futurama compilation and he said that they did have talks with the top guys at FOX and they were extremely impressed with the sales of the Futurama DVDs. The idea was to make a Futurama movie right to DVD and then a 2nd and a 3rd. That's what's being discussed. Fox is trying to figure out a budget for the whole project, and it sounded like David X. was very jazzed!

I would love more than anything to do that show again. I thought it was best experience on every level... creatively, voice-wise, writing, animation and the laughs. The laughs. Writers and performers that respected each other.

It's got a bit more effect when you have a quote from a voice-actor talking with a producer.

Lain WAS commercial

[Anonymous Coward]

Lain was created to sell a video game. The video game failed to take off, and no more seasons of Lain were created.

Fortunately, Abe has gone on to do other projects, like Haibane Renmei (Charcoal Feathers Society).

Cryogenics

[dangitman]

How horribly buzzwordy. What's wrong with simply saying "new episodes of Futurama"?

If it's fresh, does that mean I have to keep the DVDs in my fridge?

Drawing a blank

[Scrameustache]

Who are the pricks who modded me -1 Troll? Asking for a torrent was obviously a joke. Christ on a cracker, go fuck yourselves, you humorless right wing son of a bitch bloggers.

I can't possibly imagine why anyone would mod you down for trolling.

Re:Futurama Family Guy

[tfcdesign]

Family Guy's return was probably Seth MacFarlane bargaining the return of Family Guy if the Buy American Dad. Or, Fox already paid for American Dad, but its potiential was dimmed by Family Guy's demand. ("This is just a cheap version of Family Guy...") Pick any theory combination from this matrix: Fox, Seth, Family Guy, American Dad.

Firefly

[Digitus1337]

I can't be the only one here that wants to see Firefly back on the air (or DVD for that matter). I don't know how Fox does it, but they let the best shows get started and then cut them down in their prime. Does anybody know what the survivability of a show is like on these stations?

Commentaries are very impressive!

[FatSean]

Of all the shows I have (all cartoons, except Mr. Show) on DVD, Futurama commentaries are the best. You get a feel for the chemistry between everyone involved, they explain all the nedy things I always wanted to know, explain some of the in-jokes.

I think they said it cost $1Million USD per episode...I wonder if they could recoup that on DVD sales alone? I'd hate to see quality suffer...and they'd need to get Billy West and John DiMaggio at a bare minimum for it to work.

Re:Commentaries are very impressive!

[spudgun]

Worldwide , sell 1 million , make a dollar on each ?
well sell a 15 episode box and make $15 on each.......

do-able !

fox only airs in USA , DVD sales are international !

Re:Theres just one thing to say...

[z-man]

Shinier than yours, meatbag!

Re:Let it die

[Scrameustache]

Arrested Development, definetily one of the top sitcoms (if you can call it that)

Yes I can call it that.
It's a half hour situation comedy revolving around a dysfunctionnal family, with the regular assortment of clueless dad, horny and confused teenager, goofy simpleton, etc. Nothing new there.

They do, however, shake the camera around and pretend it's reality TV. I guess there's people out there who really like pretend reality television... but it's just another gimmicky sitcom to me.

So Dr. Zoidberg = Dr. Quinn? (nt)

[imthesponge]

q?

The Hypnotoad says......

[Beechmere]

(.....Bring back Futurama.....)

Annoyingly hypnotic buzzing sound convinces all that this is wise.

Re:The Hypnotoad says......

[stor]

Annoyingly hypnotic buzzing sound convinces all that this is wise.

All hail the Hypnotoad!

A friend of mine had the best description of the Hypnotoad sound effect: violating.

I won't be surprised when I hear a sample of the Hypnotoad sound integrated into a hardcore dance track.

Cheers
Stor

I ran into Matt Groening at E3

[Anonymous Coward]

.... and he said that they are doing a DVD movie for sure.

---Frodo
onlinecomic.net

the only problem is...

[sootman]

...when I go to buy it, will there be a bunch of football videos on the shelf where Futurama should be?

Adult Diapers

[tepples]

C'mon, Firefly/Serenity needs to be next!

What do lightning bugs have to do with adult diapers?

Re:Let it die

[pcgabe]

I disagree. Futurama and The Simpsons are quite similar, where one focuses on family members, and the other on co-workers. They both have similar three-act formats, but Futurama is more of an ensemble show (like early Simpsons, before the "Jerkass Homer" years). The main draw for Family Guy on the other hand isn't the family plotline, but the numerous short flashbacks.

<rant>
The less said about American Dad, however, the better. In other animated shows (Simpsons, Family Guy, Futurama) the main character is basically a dumb guy with no authority. That's fine. He's an idiot, but can't do any harm.

In American Dad, the main character is not only dumb, but psychotic. He has anger management and control issues, and readily abuses his position of authority to impose his idiotic will on others. In addition, there are no intelligent characters to counter-balance his insanity (Homer has Lisa, Peter has Brian, Fry has Leela). He is a nightmare bully who isn't checked by anything.

Every character on the show is a whinging loser. With whom are we supposed to identify? For whom are we supposed to cheer?
</rant>

Sigh.

Misinformation

[XBoyAdv]

Umm... Firefly episodes were aired on Friday nights. No NFL football on Fridays. Fox didn't schedule any sports during that day.

Only Futurama was on an American sports day (Sunday) during its last couple of seasons. Before Sundays, it was aired on Tuesday nights with the Guinness World Records, P.J.s (the short lived Eddie Murphy claymation show) and King of the Hill in early 2000's.

Re:Misinformation

[Scrameustache]

Firefly episodes were aired on Friday nights. No NFL football on Fridays. Fox didn't schedule any sports during that day.

Baseball.

Re:Misinformation

[Wildfire Darkstar]

Umm... Firefly episodes were aired on Friday nights. No NFL football on Fridays. Fox didn't schedule any sports during that day.

Yes, they did. Baseball, to be precise. And during the playoffs. Firefly got preempted quite a bit as a result. To be sure, things had cleared up by the middle of October, but we were already several episodes in by that stage.

Moderator abuse

[sirReal.83.]

Seriously, how the fuck is this Offtopic? I second the parent. I began to appreciate Futurama far too late.

Bring it on!

[kjots]

Yes! I've already got four box sets of Futurama, I can easily make room for a fifth.

BTW, does anyone know of a way to let Fox know that I would definatly purchase the DVD if it was released? IMHO, the more people who express an interest, the more likely it is that the DVD will actually be made.

--
Hmmm, Acronym Soup.

Live?

[samkass]

Maybe they'll do a live comeback special...

"Is this episode going on the air live?"
"No, [...] Very few cartoons are broadcast live. It's a terrible strain on the animator's wrist."

Much better than the Simpsons.

[Anonymous Coward]

I've heard a lot of people say that Futurama was a funnier show than the Simpsons but that, unlike the Simpsons, it lacked any emotional appeal or character development. While I think the latter assertion is untrue and sort of perplexing, there are a couple other logs to throw onto the inevitable Simpsons/Futurama flamewar.

I would have to agree that a randomly selected episode of Futurama is probably going to be much funnier, wittier, and better-written than any episode of the Simpsons. Futurama was consistently great in terms of writing and directing. The Simpsons had many excellent episodes in seasons 3-4, and since then, it just hasn't been enjoyable to me.

Futurama was really just hitting its stride when Fox pulled the plug, and that's part of what is so remarkable: it was great from the very beginning, and it was turning into something Insanely Great(tm) towards the end of its abortive stint on network TV. It baffles me to hear the "no emotional resonance" criticism in light of this fact, because a lot of what made Futurama great was precisely its humanity, its emotional appeal. I feel little emotional response to the characters of The Simpsons, and I don't know if it's the annoying voice acting, the flaccid writing, or what. But think about, for example, any number of "Fry-Leela episodes": "Parasites Lost," "Time Keeps on Slippin'," and "The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings" come to mind. Every one of these episodes is wonderfully written, acted, and directed, and every one is both funny and emotionally resonant without being melodramatic. Strange as it seems, I care about Fry and Leela more than any other TV sitcom couple or almost-couple--Ross and Rachel, etc., etc.

And it's not just the Fry-Leela relationship; "Jurassic Bark" comes to mind as an episode very characteristic of later Futurama with its witty humor and genuinely heartbreaking ending.

The examples are too numerous to cite, but Futurama was a great show (while the Simpsons is just an above-average sitcom) because it succeeded at being funny, humane, witty, literate, and entertaining. Too bad it failed at surviving the scheduling abuse of the Fox network.

Correction...

[Andy Gardner]

"This ice dispenser is SO big, the ice crushes YOU! Yakov Smirnov said it!".

Leela: "No, he didn't".

Re:Correction...

[Andy Gardner]

Just to eleborate, this quote is how I discovered /. ! I didn't get the joke so I googled around trying to find out who Yakov Smirnov was and why I should be laughing. My journey ended, or began (as a matter of perspective) here.

Gentlemen, To Futurama!

Re:Firefly

[StratoChief66]

I just downloaded the season last week to see what all the damn fuss is about and now I'm going through withdrawls, seriously. Damn the fuckers who wrote about it cause now I'm hooked on a canceled show. Firefly rocks and I'll buy the season the first chance I see it in store.

If I do not get more of that show I am going to strap myself up and blow something up!

Re:Let it die

[damsa]

The point at which Arrested Development had me was when they did a parody of the Star Wars kid.

Re:Let it die

[porges]

Yes, if you insist on reducing AD to a bare-bones description of the character types, and proudly ignore the unusual style, you'll conclude that it's just like any other sitcom. As I see it, though, the style -- which is fake documentary, not fake reality show -- allows the writers to use their narrator to operate at a stunning level of comedic efficiency; rather than spend 5 minutes establishing a misunderstanding in dialogue, the narrator can simply say "Michael thought that Lindsay meant X, but Lindsay was in fact referring to Y [insert ludicrous picture of pulled-out-writers'-ass past event]", and move on with the consequences of that. (And if anyone wants to wag a finger in my face and say "show, don't tell", in the manner of people who remember something they heard in a writing class, you can bite my shiny -- anyway.) In fact, if such a thing is possible, AD might be considered as a parody of a sitcom, in that I sometimes get the feeling that the writers are playing a joke on the audience, stopping occasionally to high-five each other after pulling a fast one on us.

But if you don't like it, you don't like it.

Re:YES!

[dgatwood]

Yep. And after it's gone straight to DVD, and they've had the initial massive sales... It goes to TV.

Wouldn't it be easier for Fox to do a direct-to-bittorrent release and skip the middleman? :-D

But seriously, they show reruns of this show on Cartoon Network every night. Why not go to TV? What possible sane explanation could Fox have for why they intend to spend huge amounts of money to manufacture DVDs, lose 65% of sales revenue to channel costs, and piss off everybody who might actually want to see the new episodes (yeah, like I'm really going to go out and buy a DVD of episodes of a TV show that I haven't seen...) when they already have a perfectly good outlet for airing it today?

Basically, the only way I'd buy a DVD of episodes of this or any other show (and I do happen to like Futurama, BTW) would be if I had already seen the episodes. So short of these things airing or a legitimate direct-to-bittorrent release from the studio, I just don't think there's enough crack in the world for this to make sense... not that the direct-to-bittorrent idea makes sense, but relatively speaking, it does.... Maybe it's just me....

BTW, anybody ever replace a fuel line in a 1999 Windstar? Mine just blew off the front of the fuel filter today.... Just wondering.

Morbo is very excited!

[Timberwolf0122]

I find the Futurama shows very entertaining, my wife how ever does not... I WILL DESTROY HER!

YES!

[Pants75]

OH GOD YES!

Re:YES!

[netsharc]

Shouldn't that be a million years? :)

Re:YES!

[bitchell]

They should take a leaf out of the sci-fi channels book and stick it on the net for free download.

Re:Let it die

[Scrameustache]

The point at which Arrested Development had me was when they did a parody of the Star Wars kid.

Meh, I think that's where I stopped wayching : )

Re:Let it die

[Scrameustache]

ignore the unusual style, you'll conclude that it's just like any other sitcom.

It's not just any old sitcom, it's a gimmicky sitcom.

Like Alf, or that one where the daughter was secretly a robot...

You forgot the goddamn INFOMERCIALS!

[b00m3rang]

That's gotta cut a good 12 slices out of your pie, right there.

SO sick of Chappelle's Reruns. They're killing it.

[b00m3rang]

Seriously. They REALLY need to lay off. Yeah, it's funny stuff, and a popular show, but how could anyone want to see the same episodes THAT MANY times?

They still had a lot of teat to suckle from

[b00m3rang]

They were far from running out of ideas. The Simpsons still has a decent percentage of good episodes, and that's enough for us die hard fans.

The PJs as a manhole cover in a Futurama episode

[b00m3rang]

Muy comico.

It's called "money"

[b00m3rang]

Does wonders for convincing people to do things.