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Futurama to be Resurrected?
KingDaveRa writes "Futurama could follow in the footsteps of Family Guy and re-enter production more than two years after it was axed. The animated series, brainchild of Simpsons creator Matt Groening, ended after four produced seasons amid lackluster ratings and broken scheduling on broadcast network Fox." From the Reuters article: "Reps for 20th Century Fox have declined to comment on the news, but Variety says initial negotiations have begun. If revived, it's unclear exactly which network would air the new episodes. While Fox housed the original series, the show found new life once reruns began showing on the Cartoon Network. Comedy Central subsequently snapped up the off-air rights and will exclusively air the repeats beginning in 2008. " A follow-up to Groening and Cohen's recent comments.
Good news everybody!
Futurama could follow in the footsteps of Family Guy and re-enter production more than two years after it was axed.
Well, i'm waiting... what did they ax it?
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
Fuck them. It's a pity Fox ends up with such draconian ownership of shows, or Groening could have brought new Futurama episodes to a better network. Now he's once again at the mercy of their idiotic policy on show cancellations.
--Chag
lackluster ratings and broken scheduling on broadcast network Fox.
How much did the latter cause the former?
...about the resurrection of Farscape and Firefly for an "F" trifecta!!!
Futurama is being resurrected and you're talking about Ariel Sharon?! You disgust me!
I wish they could just resurrect shows on Cartoon Network. Unfortunately, that's probably not possible.
Dark Reflection
As cool as more Futurama episodes would be, I think the last episode was just perfect as a Last Episode. In fact, some of the almost-last episodes were so good that I just dont' think it could be anything but a step back.
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is kinky.
Life is hilariously cruel.
Compared to the Simpsons at Season 4 or the Simpsons now? I've watched all of season 17 of the Simpsons so far and it's just not funny any more - it's become a vaguely amusing sitcom.
Maybe if Futurama is brought back and becomes a sucess, Fox can finally kill off the dying cash cow that is the Simpsons and put it out of its misery.
We have our priorities here . . . if we cared about politics, trapped miners or egregious violations of law by our elected officials, we'd all be surfing CNN.
You must be related to Zapf Brannigan!
What's "Arrested Development"?
The prisoner of hope is sustained and encouraged by his hope, even as he is confined by it.
...a provision stating that Futurama will NEVER be scheduled anywhere near the timeslot of a God damned football game.
I don't know how many times I sat down to watch a TiVo'd episode of Futurama, only to discover that what was recorded was the last 20 minutes of some stupid NFL game.
THAT is why it got poor ratings, because the FOX idiots stuck it in the 7pm Sunday death slot.
~Philly
Fox could save themselves a lot of trouble by just not cancelling these shows in the first place. Low ratings for a critically-acclaimed show? How about better promotion and not jacking around with the schedule? The word-of-mouth behind these programs makes people want to watch them, but that doesn't do much good if new viewers can't find the proper time slot.
"If only there was some way to know which can of slurm has the winning bottlecap..."
"wait, what did you say? I was too busy using this ray gun to look inside of stuff."
Han shot first.
Robot Chicken's pretty good (and Venture Bros. is awesome) but I tend to think Adult Swim's Flash shows are overrated. You can only take that kind of absurdist comedy so far, and some of them (12 Oz. Mouse) are actually painful to watch. I wonder if anyone will remember them in ten years, as there's a good chance that once the novelty's worn off, they'll go downhill fast.
But I'm pretty stoked about the prospect of Futurama returning.
Firefly, Farscape, Family guy, Futurama
What do these shows have in common? These are great shows that were killed before their time due to poor decisions of TV execs. Everything from showing the series out of order to playing musical timeslots to abruptly killing the series without advanced warning, these shows were actively campainged against by the execs ( although I can't imagine why you'd want to mess up a money maker ).
This is why I don't watch TV anymore ( in fact, I don't own a TV ). I purchase DVDs, and I get to watch things ad free through liberal use of dvd decrypter and dvd shrink.
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
There are certainly benifits to bringing old shows back, mostly a known audience and fewer development costs, but in terms of entertainment I find that these shows add very little.
I enjoyed Family Guy, but face the facts. It was cancelled because it pushed too hard (When you wish upon a Weintstein), and clearly they show was nuetered before it was let back on the air.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
I respectfully disagree. I place Futurama above Family Guy, Simpsons, ATHF, Sealab, Robot Chicken, and Home Movies. Superior to all in animation, writing, acting, and plot. And it had an amazing mix of emotional moments and hilarious comedy. And an absolutely stunning number of tie-ins, in-jokes, frame-jokes, etc.
I don't understand how Family Guy was re-lauched when Futurama wasn't. While I enjoy Family Guy, I think Futurama is an overall better show. The humor is more developed, the artwork is cleaner, and the concept is fun. Family Guy just feels like a dumber Homer Simpson combined with acid flashbacks. Which I do find funny, but not mroe than Futurama. Granted, I'd like to see Bender and Stewie in a cameo scene. From each show, they are my favorite (if not the best) characters.
"But honestly, it's not that good of a show. Compared to the Simpsons, it doesn't come close. Against Family Guy, it pales in comparison. And the other shows for that age range are Aquateen Hunger Force and Robot Chicken, which are much more interesting than Futurama."
What are you talking about? So you like Family Guy and Simpsons better. So what? Have you flipped through your cable channels lately?
Even if you like said shows better, Futurama is more than worth bringing back considering it's infinitely better than 99.5% of what's on tv.
Han shot first.
That's just air escaping from the folds of his fat!
If you think simpsons is better than futurama, I don't think you're getting most of the jokes. The simpsons, especially in recent years, is the cartoon for the masses. It reuses the same material time and time again. Futurama is the cartoon for nerds. The references, the science jokes, the time paradoxes, all make it an interesting intellectual viewing, while still being light enough to be enjoyable if you don't get them all.
As for comparing it to family guy, I'd argue that the genre is so vastly different, it'd be similar to comparing classical and punk rock. I love both, family guy for the mindless craziness and belly laughs and futurama for the "oh...I get it...hehehehe" type.
When cryptography is outlawed, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir cevinpl
Is will the original writing staff be re-hired, this is what really made the episodes in the first place, I remember reading somewhere about the high number of PH.ds and MBAs they had working on the writing staff, not that degress automatically mean anything, but I thought it was interesting given the type of jokes that I would often laugh at but my wife would have no clue what was funny about them...
what about the rest?
Fry: What's so wonderful about Leela being normal? The rest of us aren't normal. And that's what makes us great. Like Dr. Zoidberg. He's a weird monster who smells like he eats garbage and does.
Dr. Zoidberg: Damn right.
Fry: And the professor's a senile amoral crackpot.
Professor: Oyeeaii.
Fry: Hermes is a Rastafarian accountant.
Hermes: Tally me banana.
Fry: Amy is a klutz from Mars.
Amy: Whoops.
Professor: And Fry, you've got that brain thing.
Fry: I already did!
I think you're very much mistaken.
Simpsons has been on a very steady decline since about the time Futurama cmae out (even before than, perhaps). The SImpsons was very much running out of steam and while Futurama channeled some of its style and wit, it also brought a lot of fresh ideas to the table. I feel like the first few episodes are a bit slow, but after that I feel pretty much the entire run compares very favorable with even the Pax Simpsona (say seasons two through six).
As far as Family Guy is concerned, during both program's initial runs I might ahve agreed with you. But especially when they are put back to back, it is obvious how much intellectual humor is in Futurama. It ages well becaues in someways it is a standard sitcom, but with a sharp sense of humor and intellectual writing. Family Guy mostly relies on shock value and easy jokes. While they were funny, its not a show I personally can watch over and over again (and this is discounting the post cancellation Family Guy, which lacks even the heart of the original). Family Guy simply does not stack up well - Futurama's humor is smarter, better written, and ages much better. Care was taken with Futurama and it shows.
Furthermore, Futurama had some of the best animation on TV. Unlike the poor art of Family Guy (the creator of Ren and Stimpy lambasted FG for it's art style, saying any 10 year old can do it, according to FG's wikipedia page), Aqua Teen (which I love, but still, is no prize pig as far as animation is concerned), Futurama was extemely well done and even the first season looks good these days.
The Simpsons is a bit of a send up of the family sitcoms of its periods, while Futurama riffs on Friends and Seinfeld style shows of the 1990s. The sense of humor is far more bizarre, but its grounding in some sort of reality means it pairs up really well on adult swim with shows like Aqua Teen.
"There is no time, sir, at which ties do not matter," Jeeves, (Jeeves and the Impending Doom)
... my Fing-Longer, I could activate the What-If machine, and see what would happen if FOX brought back Futurama.
Instead, I'll just enjoy the syndication, instead.
Yeah, it's kind of a bummer that the only choice for right-wing comedy on the air right now is Fox News.
Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.
-- Dr. Spock, stardate 2822-3.
A Futurma comeback has been mentioned before and every time I've found myself thinking "Oh how kick ass is this gonna be?!!!" But then I have to wonder if it'll be the same Futurama that we've all come to love. Besides a heaping helping of cash, what else is there to motivate Groening into continuing the series? He's always been vocal about his dismay of the Fox execs cancelling the show in the first place. That seems like a big chip to carry on one's shoulders, though I suppose a few extra 0's on a paycheck can put a smile on anybody's face. I just hope his love of the characters and fanbase are enough to ensure the series returns to it's former glory.
If big boobed women work at Hooters do one legged women work at IHOP?
Personally, I prefer Futurama over every show that you list there. The only one that comes close is the Simpsons, and that's tough to judge since the Simpsons has 15 (?) seasons worth of material.
Futurama was a strange show. It was always hilarious - but sometimes it was intelligent (Announcer: "And we have a quantum finish!" Professor: "No fair! You changed the outcome of the race by measuring it!"), sometimes it was WAY out there, sometimes it was sad and touching (I dare you to watch the episode with Fry's dog and not tear up a little). And on top of all that, sometimes it was actually REALLY good sci-fi! That's a very rare thing on TV.
Also Zoidburg was friggin hilarious. All he had to do was walk on the screen and I was already laughing.
Speaker: And the winner is ... Number 3, in a quantum finish.
Farnsworth: No fair! You changed the outcome by measuring it!
I'm sure the masses just don't get this kind of stuff. I'm surprised it made it as long as it did. But here's hoping *Raises glass of Benderbraü*
-- Thou hast strayed far from the path of the Avatar.
* When a show's schedule changes, let one last show air in the old time slot, with "we're moving!" notices every time the show goes to or comes back from commercial.
* Support their own programming by cutting down on informercials and re-airing episodes of prime time shows late and early, with "if you missed it..." plugs.
* Put them online or on iTunes and let people share them x number of times, so they can spread shows around.
(As for Arrested Development, I love the show and have watched every episode numerous times. Afternoon Deelite is still hard to beat. At the same time, I wonder what kind of staying power it has or if it *should* go on for more than two seasons-- a lot happens on the show, so why does the end have to be doom and gloom? I'd love to a LITERAL shark-jumping moment (maybe Buster, in a leather jacket, loses a foot?) in the second to last episode, with Henry Winkler there to save the day (and get hired back as the family attorney).)
you forgot their timeslot to.
Sundays at 7 (6 central), perfect time for a show to fail, seeing as how Football always seems to run over that time.
Let's not forget fox's wonderfull advertising of the show aswell, I saw all of 2 commercials for the show during it's 4 year run.
The series revolved around Fry, a pizza delivery boy, who is accidentally frozen for a thousand years. He wakes up in the year 3000 and befriends sassy one-eyed pilot Leela and cranky robot Bender, who both work for an intergalactic delivery service run by a distant nephew of Fry's.
Leela worked at the Chrionics lab, getting her job with the delivery service at the same time as Fry.
Bender was ending his carrier as a bender, rather drastically, when he met Fry. Also joining Planet Express at the same time as Fry and Leela.
My last shred of faith is shattered. How are we ever to trust the news media again!?
My three year-old daughter loves Futurama. Her favorite character? Bender, naturally.
Bender. Bender Bending Rodriguez. The whoring, hard drinking, foul-mouthed bending robot. I put the over/under at 3 months past her 18th birthday when she first dances on a brass pole for dollar bills.
"No beer until you finish your tequila!" -Leela's Dad
If Matt Groening had any brains, he would avoid Fox like the plague. Same goes to other innovative show creators like Joss Whedon.
I don't know what goes on over there at Fox, but how many decent shows have been axed for no good reason and others left on inperpetuity. Are you telling me that Kind of the Hill has had better ratings then Firefly?
Fox doesn't realize the benefit of a small but loyal fan base. Even if shows like Firefly or Futurama only have a few million viewers, they are usually viewers that tune in faithfuly every week. With that kind of dedicated fan base, you can focus more targetted advertising to a generally similar group of viewers. This opposed to a shows like American Idol that, while having 20+ million viewers, are so varied and wishy washy (only watching the show until their favourite contestant is axed) that you can't find any common advertising ground to target the viewers. In the end, you can actually get more money for advertising slots for cult shows like X-Files, Buffy, and Futurama because advertisers know there is are at least a few million Geeks faithfully watching every week that probably would want to buy some electronic underwear with PDA capabilities.
But Fox, in general, has been abysmal in terms of promoting innovative programming and instead dumping tired cliche sitcoms (at a time when sitcoms are dropping faster then flies on crap) and keeping long running and tiresome franchises like the Simpson's and King of the Hill on forever. Fox is realizing they are losing an audience, and so now have to rely on pulling up past successes in order to fill their timeslots.
But if Matt had a brain, he would can the Simpsons and bring Futurama to another network and end any relationship with Fox. Even if Futurama was reserected, Fox will probably keep it going sporadically until they find some other Malcom in the Middle, Married with Children, Simpson's, King of the Hill, American Dad, War At Home clone devoid of talent to replace it.
Quick poll. Does anybody still watch Fox these days?
I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
Now Zoidberg is the popular one!
Dump that lame comedy show (forgot its name). Put it after The Simpsons and before Family Guy. 8:00 to 9:00 is now Matt Groening's hour. Also, you get two hours of animation domination on Sunday nights! Perfecto. :)
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
Fox would never allow something like that to happen.
If Fox had just given that (and Family Guy) a real timeslot where you could see it every week, maybe they'd have made more money off it.
Absolutely. Fox bungled Futurama like no other show before. Even my Tivo couldn't keep up with the continously changing schedule. The reason it got low ratings is that absolutely nobody knew when it was on.
When it started getting aired on Adult Swim, I was finally able to see a whole season or two of shows that I have never seen before. Not for lack of trying, mind you, it was just impossible to know when they aired them.
Family Guy, however, I never did understand why they cancelled it. It had a decent timeslot, and it was getting increasing numbers of viewers. They just shot it down before it built up a large audience. These days it seems like they cancel a show if it's not an instant hit, which is stupid, of course. Firefly was totally mishandled by airing the episodes wrong (you can't do that when there are story arcs and characters to be developed). They shot down Wonderfalls, a terrific show, after only 4 episodes that *nobody knew about* because they failed to advertise the thing!
Fox just has the most amazing bunch of idiots running the network. It's simply incredible how dumb these decisions are.
- Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set him on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
I mean, the voice talent alone. You have to get the people that do the voices of Philip J. Fry, Professor Farnsworth, Dr. Zoidberg, Zapp Brannigan, Leo Wong, and various other people. I mean that's 5 people right there you have to re-hire!
Can they find all these guys again? They could be anywhere! They may all have scheduling conflicts or something...
waiting for someone to state the obvious about this of course
"Leo Fender was in a 'state of grace' when he designed the Stratocaster." -- Paul Reed Smith
You've absolutely hit the nail on the head. I used to live (aswel as attend school) in a small town where... erm, the general population was as confused about anything beyond farming as Fry was when he witnessed his first game of Blurnsball. A friend of mine and I used to spend our spares in the "cafeteria" watching Futurama and just talking about whatever. Sometimes a few people would join us in watching Futurama and at every nerdy joke, or technical joke, or anything above and beyond the mainstream there failed to be anything out of them. Not even a snicker. Of course they got the slap stick side of it. If Fry got hit, burned by eating Bender's sterno-nicoise, or if Kif was forced to look up Brannigans, uhh skirt? Or if Kif falls off the roof after an Amazonian pokes at him.. They laugh. There were even people who called us losers for watching Futurama, because it wasn't funny. Regular people couldn't see the true hilarity of it. Part of me wishes new episodes would go straight to DVD instead of being aired on tv. No one can screw around with their timeslots then, those that truly appreciate the series will be able to watch them over and over again with no worry about a football game taking valuable Futurama-Time. I dunno, I'm kinda off on a tangent here. Fact is you've got it completely right, the humour is just too intelligent for the mainstream. Kind of saddening, isn't it.
Then we'd finally be able to see Amy's obscene tattoo!
As long as it doesn't turn into a partisan political mouthpiece like "Family Guy" has. If I want to see one-sided political humor, I'll read "Doonesbury."
You seem to have misspelled "American Dad" and "The Boondocks".
Is any of this getting through to you?
that keeps getting told to get the "F outta here".
myke
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
Nonsense! Futurama is like Shakespeare and Ibsen; it works on all levels. Well, not quite like Ibsen, but still, I did read somewhere (here, I think) that while they do try to cram in as much "high-brow" jokes as possible, they won't let it detract from the story.
Most of the humor in Futurama is of the "everybody gets it" variant. I can't immagine Zack Brannigan being anything less than hillarious even if you've never heard of Star Trek. And then you get the "No fair! You changed the outcome by measuring it!" lines that really are the icing on the cake, and makes Futurama rather unique in the field of humorous cartoons. Where else do you get pinball references, Titanic parodies, quantum physics jokes and booze and hookers in such a neat package?
In a fair world, refrigerators would make electricity.