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Matt Groening Talks About Futurama's Comeback

Joel Keller writes "When I was at the Television Critics Association press tour earlier last month, I briefly talked to Matt Groening about Futurama's comeback. I posted the interview to TV Squad a couple of days ago. The man behind the Simpsons and Futurama talks about the latter's comeback, the fun of doing sci-fi in a comedy format, and a few words about the first episode to air on Comedy Central."

28 of 156 comments (clear)

  1. In the words of bender:ism ... by danalien · · Score: 5, Funny

    Kill all curmudgeon99's , Kill all curmudgeon99's ....

    --
    I don't claim I know more than I know, and if you know you know more than I know, then by all means, let me know.
    1. Re:In the words of bender:ism ... by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 4, Funny

      Zzzz... Hey there sexy mama, how'd you like to kill all curmudgeon99s?

      --
      #DeleteChrome
  2. good news everyone! by Lord+Ender · · Score: 5, Funny

    Futurama now comes in suppository form!

    --
    A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
    1. Re:good news everyone! by Loadmaster · · Score: 4, Funny

      Zoidberg: Hmm. We'll need to have a look inside you with this camera.
      *Fry opens his mouth*
      Zoidberg: Guess again.

      Swi

  3. Cast/Writers by kevin_conaway · · Score: 4, Informative

    Whenever a story about Futurama comes up, everyone always wonders, will the original writers and cast come back? David Cohen answers that

    We have the entire cast back, as well as a good chunk of the writing staff. We also have Rough Draft Studios animating once again, and they seem determined to top even their own amazing work from the first time around. To complete the reunion of our original crack team, it looks like we will also have Chris Tyng back to work his magic on the musical score.
    1. Re:Cast/Writers by sconeu · · Score: 5, Funny

      We also have Rough Draft Studios animating once again,

      But will the new episodes be painstakingly drawn before a live audience?

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
    2. Re:Cast/Writers by pkulak · · Score: 4, Funny

      No sconeu, very few cartoons are broadcast live; it's a terrible strain on the animators' wrists.

  4. Why, Fry, Why? by tomcode · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Is there a single Sci-fi movie, book, or TV series they DIDN'T lampoon in the first four seasons? The Fry-Leela love story ran its complete arc. Every character did everything people do in their 20s. Even the hottie trust fund chick is spoken for. Did I miss something?

    --
    f u cn rd ths u cn gt a gd jb n cmptr prgmng
    1. Re:Why, Fry, Why? by DamnStupidElf · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Is there a single Sci-fi movie, book, or TV series they DIDN'T lampoon in the first four seasons? The Fry-Leela love story ran its complete arc. Every character did everything people do in their 20s. Even the hottie trust fund chick is spoken for. Did I miss something?

      Is there anything Futurama can't lampoon? As long as the characters keep their clichés funny and not annoying, they can time travel or visit alternate universes or just old new york to lampoon whatever they want. It's a funny and scathing social commentary like any of the great satirists have done, but with animated characters to do it because exposition doesn't work quite so well on TV as it does in books.

    2. Re:Why, Fry, Why? by Loadmaster · · Score: 3, Informative

      You'll get it.
      http://www.wizarduniverse.com/magazine/toyfare/002 710592.cfm

      And thank God. Every time I watch that episode and I see Seymour wait for all those years then finally just lower his head to die my heart sinks. A powerful image, to be sure, but I just don't feel right after the show. Luckily, watching on the DVD you can just go to the next or to the previous (Bender should not be allowed on TV).

      Swi

    3. Re:Why, Fry, Why? by Mex · · Score: 3, Funny

      A Slashdot poster complaining of Futurama's comeback? Sir, I'm going to have to confiscate your Geek License. Sorry, it's in the rules.

  5. Re:All I ask by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yes I too enjoyed that episode of South Park. Kudos to your original commentary. We could all learn a thing or two from you.

  6. Re:All I ask by ArcherB · · Score: 3, Funny

    You need to take that up with the manatees.

    --
    There is no "I disagree" mod for a reason. Flamebait, Troll, and Overrated are not substitutes.
  7. Re:It Died Because It Was Boring by odasnac · · Score: 5, Insightful

    it died because:

      it wasn't given a consistent timeslot
      it was constantly preempted by sporting events
      it was NEVER promoted by fox
    fox is stupid

    i don't need to cite sources, as all of these are fairly well established (or i'm lazy)

  8. leeway not on Cartoon Network by Sebastopol · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Cartoon Network notoriously censors The Professor whenever he uses the term "sweet zombie jesus".

    I hope Comedy Central doesn't stoop this low.

    (I googled for this a year ago when I noticed it and found a website saying it was due to C.N. claiming it was offensive, but I can't find the link now.)

    --
    https://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
  9. Re:It Died Because It Was Boring by DamnStupidElf · · Score: 4, Funny

    fox is stupid

    Which probably means they didn't understand any of the jokes, either.

  10. Re:All I ask by dbIII · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I haven't seen a lot of Family Guy, but I saw it as "joke on the horizon flashing it's lights wildly - joke arrives but you already know what it is - joke stays for an extra agonising minute as the character sings the second verse of the song the initially funny reference was to so that everyone will catch the pop reference". To me it seemed as pointless as "Man In The Moon" which seemed to be about how funny racist jokes are if you pretend it's about a country that doesn't exist - there's something in some brands of US humor I don't get. Simpsons, Futurama, Marx Bros, Chaplin and most of Mel Brooks is the stuff I can see as funny.

  11. woop woop woop by thhamm · · Score: 3, Funny

    in doublevision (tm) where drunk (r).

  12. Re:It Died Because It Was Boring by roka · · Score: 3, Funny

    01011001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01100001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01101011 01101001
    01100100 01100100 01101001 01101110 01100111 00101100 00100000 01110010 01101001 01100111
    01101000 01110100 00111111

  13. Re:It Died Because It Was Boring by thhamm · · Score: 4, Funny

    it died because:

    no it did not die. repeat after me: it did not die. it did not die. all glory to the hypnotoad. al glory to the hypnotoad. it did not die.

  14. Re:It Died Because It Was Boring by x1n933k · · Score: 3, Funny

    01001110 01101111 00100000 01101000 01100101 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101110 01101111 01110100 00101110 00100000 01001001 01101110 00100000 01100110 01100001 01100011 01110100 00100000 01101110 01100101 01111000 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101001 01101101 01100101 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01110000 01101100 01100001 01101110 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110011 01110000 01100101 01100001 01101011 00100000 01101001 01101110 00100000 01100010 01101001 01101110 01100001 01110010 01111001 00100000 01110010 01100101 01101101 01100101 01101101 01100010 01100101 01110010 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100001 01110100 00100000 01001001 00100111 01101100 01101100 00100000 01100010 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01110010 01100101 00100000 01101001 01101110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110011 01101000 01100001 01100100 01101111 01110111 01110011 00100000 01110010 01100101 01100001 01100100 01111001 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110011 01110100 01110010 01101001 01101011 01100101 00100000 01100010 01100001 01100011 01101011 00100001

    [J]

  15. Re:It Died Because It Was Boring by geekoid · · Score: 4, Funny

    "It was just a dream, Bender. There's no such thing as two"

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  16. Both by ivan256 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    They could have aired Futurama after the game, or in a timeslot that didn't get preempted.

    Why would you pay to produce a show you don't air? It's not like they have more new content than time in the day.

    1. Re:Both by pipingguy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It was too smartish for the perceived audience?

  17. Take that, Fox by Mantrid42 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    You can only destroy so many good sci-fi shows with poor advertising and bad timeslot placement, Fox! If only Firefly could have pulled off the same feat that Futurama has.

  18. Re:It Died Because It Was Boring by Yvan256 · · Score: 3, Informative
  19. Re:All I ask by dangitman · · Score: 4, Insightful
    You're all wrong. The funniest joke is when Stewie imitates William Shatner singing "Rocket Man" like he did in that 1978 clip. With the multiple Shatners and the cigarette-smoking.

    And I'm going to be ... high ... as a kite by then.
    I'm a... Rocket Man... Rock-it man.

    To have Stewie covering Shatner was the Best. Homage. Ever.

    --
    ... and then they built the supercollider.
  20. Re:All I ask by drsquare · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The problem is, that was only funny the first time they did it, not the next fifty. I'm convinced that they only made Family Guy series 4+ because they were told to, rather than because they had any ideas.

    Similarly, the Simpsons has outstayed its welcome by around a decade. I don't think Futurama should come back, there's a lot to be said for ending a show when it's still good.