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.

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

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

[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

[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.

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!

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: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.

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: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.

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.

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!

Puny Earthicans!

[Anonymous Coward]

Morbo is pleased.

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.

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.

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

[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: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: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".

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.

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.

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.

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.