Billy West Says Futurama Might Return To Fox For 6th Season

MajikJon writes "After strong sales of the straight-to-DVD Futurama movies, Fox is reportedly considering bringing back Futurama for a 6th season. This according to Billy West in a recent statement at the Anime Supercon in Florida. Here's me with my fingers crossed."

Comments

As a fan, I hate to say this

[elrous0]

I was a huge Futurama fan when it was on TV, so it pains me greatly to say this. But if you can't do better than those terrible new DVD releases, please *DON'T* bring this show back. I don't know if they got different writers for those movies, or whether the writers they brought back just lost their edge, but those were just embarrassing. Each release has managed to be even worse than the previous one.

But if Matt Groening has proven nothing else with The Simpsons, it's that he has absolutely no understanding of the phrase "finishing while you're on top" and all-too-much understanding of "run it into the ground until it's a pathetic shadow of its former greatness."

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Eli Gottlieb]

Well actually, Beast with a Billion Backs sucked, but the rest were pretty damn good. I thought Bender's Game was completely back on form for Futurama.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[genner]

Well actually, Beast with a Billion Backs sucked, but the rest were pretty damn good. I thought Bender's Game was completely back on form for Futurama.

This!

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Gat0r30y]

You know, you might be right. But if they bring it back, I'm still gonna watch it.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[RabidMoose]

I agree with you that the DVD releases have been of much lower quality than the original show. However, I'm hoping (and believe) that the movie-length format was simply wrong for the show, and they would do much better if they were allowed to return to a 20 minute format.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[eldavojohn]

But if you can't do better than those terrible new DVD releases ...

Eh, I'm not going to insert my own opinion, merely point out that Beast with a Billion Backs was 12th and 6th on the charts for DVD sales according to Billboard. Bender's Game was 10th for a week while Bender's Big Score was only 37th and 11th for its two weeks.

Their sales have put them on charts so while I'm not disagreeing with your assessment, someone out there enjoys them.

Honestly, the DVDs are far above 99% of what's on TV right now so ... I say bring it back--it's a great idea financially.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Anonymous Coward]

I concur, the new material simply isn't as good. I remember watching Bender's Big Score with very high hopes, really WANTING and trying hard to like it, but in the end it just ended up being a lot of fanservice and very uninspired knee-slappers.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[n4f]

Best line in Bender's Game: Is that a hobbit over there? No, that's a hobo and a rabbit, but they're making a hobbit.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[nine-times]

Well I've seen two of the movies, and I disagree a little. They weren't amazing or anything, but I would wonder if some of your disappointment was because you were expecting them to be spectacular by virtue of them being "movies". You know, when something is released as a movie, even if it's straight to DVD, you might have higher expectations than if it's just a normal show.

I watched "Bender's Big Score" and "The Beast with a Billion Backs", and I think if they had been released on TV as a bunch of "to be continued" episodes, they would have been fine-- at least passible. But even if not so, I think it may still be worth cutting them some slack. Shows like Futurama can require that the writers (and everyone else) gets into a groove, and then can build off of prior episodes in funny ways. They didn't have much time to do that.

Anyway, if they put it on the air again, I'll definitely watch it. At the very least, those people have earned another season's worth of my attention.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Ethanol-fueled]

Amen, brutha. Bill Watterson(creator of Calvin and Hobbes) was one of the few people who were wise and humble enough to quit while they were ahead(though in the last strips you can see signs of cynicism and repeats of old ideas...he knew what was coming).

If only Metallica or Saturday Night Live(man, how sad...) could only do the same thing. Personally, I believe that Drawn Together should be resurrected immediately. It's going to be sad times when every show, no matter how good, will run for a few years and then quit abruptly to force DVD sales on people.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Lumpy]

Otherwise I say they tell the executives to screw off and go direct to iTunes and then DVD.

The biggest thing that scares TV executives is a highly popular show getting traction on the internet. Honestly, there is enough rabid fandom for Futurama that they could do it iTunes only and make as much or more money than being aired on FOX again. Plus they get the side benefit of becoming a historical footnote as to what started the destruction of TV networks.

I'd buy new episodes of many shows that went away due to mentally retarded executives. Problem is I think FOX owns Futurama so they would do everything in their power to kill it before it could be a threat.

Big TV needs to die. and Die violently. Executives heads on pikes kind of violently. Those morons are trying to kill the future of media as much as possible.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[MBCook]

They were released that way. They were made to be cut up into 6 episodes each (or was it 4?) to be aired a few months later on Comedy Central.

They had their moments. "Bender's Game" had quite a few.

I agree with some of the others here that the show just doesn't work in a long format like that.

I'll watch again. Better than most stuff out there. Heck, with stuff like "Kath & Kim", old fashioned static or holding patterns are better than some of the stuff out there.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[elrous0]

I think more American TV shows should adopt the BBC model. Do two really great seasons and then move on to another project.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Anonymous Coward]

I mostly agree with you, but I think Futurama really isn't well suited to a 90 minute movie format. I think they could be funny again if put back in the standard 30 minute TV slot. I mean think about it: how many sitcoms do you think would fare well in a 90 minute installment?

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Joe the Lesser]

Network President: "Greetings, gentlemen. You already know my execubots. Executive Alpha, programmed to like things it has seen before."

Executive Alpha: "Hey, hey, hey!"

Network President: "Executive Beta, programmed to roll dice to determine the fall schedule."

Executive Beta: *rolls dice* "More reality shows!"

Network President: "And Executive Gamma, programmed to underestimate middle America."

Executive Gamma: "It's funny, but is it going to get them off their tractors?"

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Anonymous Coward]

Justin Timberlake sells a lot more records than Caruso. That must make him a better singer, too.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Darth_brooks]

I think it was the movie format in general that sucked for Futurama. It was as though they crammed 45 minutes of jokes into a 90 minute movie. The snap just wasn't there. Getting back into a 22-minute box would eliminate that problem. I watched the first movie start to finish, and was a little disappointed. I waited until Beast with a Billion Backs came to comedy central, and found it to be a slightly better presentation.

Any additional Futurama is welcome.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Bashae]

I also think Bender's Game is good, it has plenty of memorable moments. I'm not saying it's better than the first seasons as a whole, but it's at least better than the less memorable episodes.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[93 Escort Wagon]

Justin Timberlake sells a lot more records than Caruso. That must make him a better singer, too.

Billy Caruso? I love that guy!

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[nine-times]

They were released that way. They were made to be cut up into 6 episodes each (or was it 4?) to be aired a few months later on Comedy Central.

Well that's what I read they were going to do, but whenever I've seen it aired on Comedy central, They're all played back-to-back. On the on-screen guide, it even shows up as a single 2 hour (or however long) block. And they aren't intermixing those episodes with their normal weekly episodes, either.

If they had waited until all the movies were released and then aired them as normal 30 minute episodes, a new one each week, over a few months as though it were a normal TV season, then I think I would have watched them differently.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Anonymous Coward]

As a fan, I advise you to shut the hell up. Don't like it - don't watch it. Don't call for the canceling of a show that large groups of people still enjoy, in other words, don't be a dick who thinks the universe revolves around his perception of reality.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[kwalker]

I have to agree. The coolest part of Beast with a Billion Backs was how it tied directly to the end of Bender's Big Score. Other than that, it's my least favorite of the three.

I'm just not sure if or how they'll recover from the Dark Matter situation (Trying to not spoil it for anyone).

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[gornzilla]

Matt Groening isn't the best. The Simpsons was really helped by Sam Simon (who was fired or quit) and James L. Brooks. If it wasn't for Brooks and Simon, it wouldn't have even made it to teevee.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Fozzyuw]

I agree with you.

I found watching all the 3 DVD's for the full length got pretty *yawn*. However, If I watched them in a shorter format, they weren't that bad. During the whole DVD run, I was saying to myself "well, that's a Futurama joke, and that's a Futurama joke, but they're just not funny, but it's classic Futurama. Did I just grow up and it's not funny anymore?" hehe

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[toleraen]

I'd probably disagree with the quality of the movies, but I haven't really watched them more than once. Futurama was a great 22 minute dose of comedy that I could flip on while I'm eating a big bowl of Golden Grahams. The movies are much harder to just strap in for a while...although the broken out comedy central versions made it a little better.

I'm really hoping they return to the show format...I think they still have it, they just had to do too much for the movie format.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[EpsCylonB]

Read em and weep, and then tell me what they are.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Hognoxious]

Beast with a Billion Backs [billboard.com] was 12th and 6th on the charts for DVD sales according to Billboard.

What an odd way of saying that it was 18th.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Anonymous Coward]

I guess it's fashionable to hate on new things, but I loved the movies.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Hordeking]

Justin Timberlake sells a lot more records than Caruso. That must make him a better singer, too.

Billy Caruso? I love that guy!

No. David Caruso.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[bigstrat2003]

I think you may just have shifted tastes. The new material (Beast With a Billion Backs excepted) is excellent, and very much on par with the quality of the original show.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[bigstrat2003]

They just completely ignore it in the new movie, which is probably for the best. I don't know that a major plot thread about fuel issues would've been welcome for two movies in a row.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[SCPRedMage]

But then executives couldn't milk all the cash they could without having to actually think!

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought the the best line in Bender's Game was: HANG ON SCRUFFY!

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[jandrese]

Beast with a Billion Backs was marketed as a fairly dirty (for Futurama) DVD. There were references to tentacle porn right in the ads. I'm guessing it had a bit of crossover appeal from the people who are really into that. I imagine they were disappointed at the rather religious tone in the DVD. Benders Game was solidly aimed directly at Futurama's fanbase (nerds) so it didn't have the crossover appeal.

In my opinion (because everybody on the internet has an opinion) all three DVDs have been good, but not great. Beast was the weakest of the three, but even it had good parts.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Catiline]

Big TV needs to die. and Die violently. Executives heads on pikes kind of violently.

Heads on spikes is sooo 20th century. This is the 31st century... we'll dessicate them and grind their corpses into a fine pink powder.

(Rattles Can)

Torgo's Excecutive Powder, anyone?

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Anonymous Coward]

But if Matt Groening has proven nothing else with The Simpsons, it's that he has absolutely no understanding of the phrase "finishing while you're on top" and all-too-much understanding of "run it into the ground until it's a pathetic shadow of its former greatness."

He fits in perfectly with Fox then.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[valisol]

IAWTC. First one was awesome, second was bad, third was on par. Haven't seen the fourth/last yet.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Anonymous Coward]

"I don't know if they got different writers for those movies"

Perhaps the "written by" credits that appear on screen are some sort of clue?

I sort of agree with you about the quality though. The first and 4th movies were kinda lame. Beast with a Billion Backs wasn't too bad, and I liked Bender's Game a lot.

I think the quality suffers from the 90-minute format. When they're limited to 22 minutes they're forced to distill/focus the comedy down to its essence.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[wgoodman]

Same thing happened with Family Guy. The movie they put out sucked really really hard. The new shows are better than that, but still worse than the original run. The nice thing about Futurama is that they still have ALL of the same people.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Anonymous Coward]

Bender's Big Score was sort of tedious too, but I guess some fans liked it. "Beast" had some fantastic moments too, especially the whole Bender v. Calculon storyline, but the primary story was just weird and creepy. It's a shame too, because I adore David Cross. He just should have been given a better role.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[WhatAmIDoingHere]

It's not that they "had to do too much" it's that they decided to crank up their preaching to 11.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[wgoodman]

Would those "good parts" have been the beast's uhm... "tentacles"?

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[SpeZek]

They just completely ignore it in the new movie

No, now the ships are using Whale Oil, as evidenced by the fuel indicator in the Planet Express Ship.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Sponge Bath]

...they crammed 45 minutes of jokes into a 90 minute movie.

But the DVD extras! Those are completely and totally...
well they gotta be worth something.

Or maybe not. Like you I waited until they were broadcast to watch them.
I'm surprised at how negative the view of them are in this thread, I enjoyed them. It helped that I wasn't overly analytical in comparing them to some perceived ideal from the series, and that I didn't pay to watch.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[kwalker]

Possibly, especially since its allegorical value has plummeted along with gas prices. Or they may have a character spout a one-liner to cover it. I'm just a little bit curious.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Anonymous Coward]

I didn't see Bender's game, but I heard it was not very good. I also heard it was written by the same person who wrote the two worst episodes: That's Lobstertainment, and A Leela of Her Own (which were still good in my opinion)

Personally, I say bring back Futurama. Even if it's worse than it was, it's still better than most shows, and I like the show format better than DVDs.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Anonymous Coward]

to iTunes

seriously, not everyone has iTunes and not everyone worships Apple. If they go to iTunes no amount of how much I want something would ever make me get it there. Quit advertising for them and quit slobbin on Steve Job's nob.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Anonymous Coward]

there is a mention of whale fuel, I figured this was the replacement. Pesky whales!

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Anonymous Coward]

Meh. Matt Groening understands the phrase "pay for the house and retirement".

"finishing while you're on top" has never come into it. He's a comic book guy. He's gotten lucky and has been able to do very big things for very big money. Okay so the Simpsons is no longer what you enjoy. It's like the Rolling Stones or [name your band here]. It peaked, and rather than packing up the band and all the dependent careers, they still play to packed houses.

Simpsons makes good money. People watch it. A hell of a lot of people are paying for house and retirement in exchange.

So fling shit at the man because the Simpsons is no longer what you like? Why? He delivered something you liked once. Okay so he's not continuing to do that, but that doesn't take away at all from the shows you did like.

Calm down, friend. Take the ears off and kiss a girl.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Workaphobia]

Really? I absolutely loved Bender's Big Score more than I have the words to express. I felt that it was in every way the perfect futurama movie. But Beasts with a Billion Backs was clearly an unfinished piece, with tons of promising gag ideas mutilated by terrible execution, timing, and unconvincing plot. I figured this was likely due to the writer's strike, but I've been afraid to view Bender's Game lest I suffer the same disappoint.

But if Bender's Game and the fourth dvd are half as good as Big Score, I'd love to see a return to episodes.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Tingler]

I know exactly what you mean. I bought the 1st movie, Benders Big Score, sight unseen, because I enjoyed the TV shows so much. Bender's Big Score was, in my opinion, not that great, so I didn't buy the 2nd movie, "Beast with a Billion Backs." I watched a borrowed copy. I was so disappointed with the 2nd movie; I will most likely watch the 3rd via Netflix.

I noticed that they just stretched everything out just a little bit. In the TV show the dialogue was fast and snappy. They had a lot to say and not a lot of time. So it came at you fast and hard. In the movie's they had plenty of time (Too much time) and everything was stretched out a little. Even the opening song had a few extra bars. It felt as though they had 60 minutes of material and 90 minutes of time.

Maybe like the Simpsons, Futurama has seen better days. God, I hope not.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Anonymous Coward]

Unimportant spoiler:

They DON'T ignore it, at one point in the movie they're running low on whale oil :>

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[pokerdad]

Bill Watterson didn't quit because he wanted to go out on top, he quit because he became increasingly frustrated with the format forced upon him. He would have likely quit even sooner than he did but that his publisher won him some freedom with regards to the Sunday strips - though many newspapers never carried the later C&H sunday strips precisely because it didn't follow standard formating.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[root_42]

Well actually, Beast with a Billion Backs sucked, but the rest were pretty damn good. I thought Bender's Game was completely back on form for Futurama.

I second this emotion. :)

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Jurily]

Beast with a Billion Backs sucked

No, it made me feel bad about ever liking Futurama.

I had to rewatch Seasons 1-3 to get rid of it.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[IthnkImParanoid]

In the end, it was not guns or bombs that defeated the aliens, but that humblest of all God's creatures...

The Tyrannosaurus rex.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[mazarin5]

I thought they switched to elephant oil?

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[interstellar_donkey]

Sadly, you're right. Each DVD release has gotten progressively worse, and this last one just sent the simple message "Futurama has lost its magic".

Maybe a return to TV would change that, but my hopes aren't high.

P.S. More Al Gore.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Krater76]

So it came at you fast and hard.

A lot like Branigan's Law, which is like Branigan's love - hard and fast!

Brannigans Law is like a rock, it crushes scissors. But scissors cut paper and paper covers rock! Kiff! We have a conundrum!

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[mqduck]

It seems opinions vary widely. To me, the first one was, while good, filled with fanservice and a little bit of trying too hard, the second was a return to form and the third was excellent.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, did you notice in the new one that the ship is running low on whale oil?

"the low whale oil indicator is indicating!" or something like that.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Jeff DeMaagd]

I thought Bender's Game was one of the better Futurama works. I can't think of any single Futurama TV episode or any combination of three Futurama TV episodes that I would say is better than Bender's Game.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[uberjack]

I loved Bender's Big Score, but I agree that the last 3 movies have been a departure from the usual for Futurama. I don't blame that so much on the writing, however, as on the fact that it's difficult to stretch what's usually a 22 minute episode into an hour-and-a half. That said, I have every movie, and do not regret buying them, with the faint hope that extra sales will push Fox to re-release the brilliant show that was cut in its prime. I have to admit, however, that even the movies have some of the best one-liners and geek jokes around - like Fry's polygamist girlfriend's t-shirt depicting "for all X, I love X" in logic notation, as well as some of the best one-liners: "You do a nice 'hand' job, Zoidberg" I'm fairly certain that Futurama will do a LOT better as a TV show.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Reed Solomon]

which I think is a poke at Star Trek IV. Whenever something for fuel becomes abundant and cheap, they'll find something rarer and expensive.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[roystgnr]

Well actually, Beast with a Billion Backs sucked,

Compared to most Futurama, yeah. It wasn't any worse than "That's Lobstertainment" or "A Leela of Her Own", though.

but the rest were pretty damn good. I thought Bender's Game was completely back on form for Futurama.

Not quite. Bender's Big Score (at least parts of it) put together an enthralling plot that tugged at the heartstrings. And Bender's Game managed to keep the jokes hilarious, original, and steady. But by the time they were in full swing, the original Futurama episodes were managing to do both those things simultaneously.

Leela: "Acting like a moron won't bring your dog back."
Fry: "Then all hope is lost."

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Anonymous Coward]

Personally I enjoyed all of them, though I agree that Beast with a Billion Backs was probably the weakest. Bender's Big Score was entertaining, and played with time travel in a humorous and (intentionally) somewhat nonsensical way. Bender's Game was enjoyable, but it did have a halfway plot-swap (with the game becoming reality) that, while not terrible (and was foreshadowed to an extent), wasn't quite the style I loved (a little too much Simpsons or Family Guy).

Into the Wild Green Yonder was, in my opinion, quite strong as a potential final part to Futurama. The overall plot was a bit silly (a huge miniature golf course?), but that happens at times (sometimes a lot of times) in Futurama, and it used many of the characters and elements quite well, including Fry's "special" brain - though I was hoping for the Niblonians to show up. The final scene in particular struck me as a nice way to end Futurama, if it is indeed the end. Enough uncertainty to bring it back, but also enough closure to be an acceptable final ending - and was greatly in keeping with the overall feel of the show and the movies.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[ico2]

yeah, but into the wild green yonder was pretty weak :(

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[LazyBoot]

well, I would suggest that you watch the 2 latest ones too, at least imo they are better than the 2 first ones...

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[sexconker]

Wrong.

We're owwwwwwwwwwl exterminators!

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[mdf356]

Bah. "Would you like some scroto?" was so funny even my wife quotes it.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Wooky_linuxer_Jr]

No. His issue is with more then 24 minute spots. Simpson's movie wasn't very good either. It was basically an excuse for Homer to flip everyone off. I Have watched the Simpson's since TA, and I think it keeps getting better. I also enjoyed the futurama movies. The bad news is that they might just be splicing out the movies to make the sixth season, not creating anything new.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[SirLurksAlot]

But if you can't do better than those terrible new DVD releases, please *DON'T* bring this show back.

You watched it, you can't unwatch it!

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Wooky_linuxer_Jr]

I liked it, not the best work, but there where parts where I laughed out loud. Professor Farnsworth: Now I've often said "good news" when sending you on a mission of extreme danger; so when I say this anomaly is dangerous, you can imagine how dangerous I really think it is. Hermes Conrad: Not dangerous at all? Professor Farnsworth: Actually, quite dangerous indeed. Hermes Conrad: That is quite dangerous! Professor Farnsworth: Indeed. That was delivered perfectly in the movie.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Jonny_eh]

The writers strike supposedly didn't affect writers of animated shows and feature films.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Jonny_eh]

Why is everyone talking about '3' DVDs?

There's a 4th one you know, it just came out yesterday, and I liked it a lot.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[JustOK]

Whale oil? Beef hook!

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Arivia]

*looks down at a mobster* We might just have a *slides glasses on* hit on our hands. *waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiil*

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[wampus]

I've been saying that since I turned off the second movie and turned on Gilligan's Island. What a horrible pile of shit.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Anonymous Coward]

They didn't even try with Into the wild green yonder. Awful, just plain boring and meaningless.

and the "I love you" was about as meaningful as Poochies last words.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Anonymous Coward]

I agree that the later Futurama "movies" were disappointing when put against more classic episodes. I hope, if they do bring it back, they can retain the glory of old.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, I love seasons 1 & 2, season 3 is alright, I only bought and watched season 4 because I'm a little bit of a completist for things that I really like, I bought BBS, it felt half-hearted, just like season 4. I mean, it was okay... but not quite nearly as wonderful as season 2 (I think s2 was the peak for Futurama). I picked up BWABB to see if maybe it could get any better, and although it wasn't great, I felt that it managed to hold together without as many cheesy jokes, and ran a bit more smoothly around corners. I look forward to watching BG as soon as I find some time, as it seems the people behind these little diddies are getting better again, which means that BG should be on par with at least the better episodes of s3...

and by the way, I hate family guy.

I'm a bit of a flake, but really, when I get to experience great art, I just can't bring myself to accept lesser art, even if it is made by the same artists, and has the same general structure. Sometimes a person just falls off the ball, and even if they get back on, it can never be the same. never.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[socsoc]

As long as the animation wasn't for a struck company.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[AmigaMMC]

Agree. I watched "Bender's Game" a few days ago and it cracked me up. I'm in favor of having one of my favorite shows back, since it died way too prematurely. Give us at least 12 seasons! :)

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[tiny-e]

I thought Bender's Game was one of the better Futurama works. I can't think of any single Futurama TV episode or any combination of three Futurama TV episodes that I would say is better than Bender's Game.

One word: Godfellas.

(although I enjoyed the DVD's for what they are- more Futurama.)

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[bonch]

Man, I was with you until you praised Drawn Together.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[zmollusc]

Hoof Hearted!

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[craagz]

Logically, One should measure the sales of the succeeding DVD to see if the preceding movie was good or not. if 1 is good people will line up to buy 2. And if 2 was bad, people will think about buying 3. The sales figures will show that 2 had better sales than 1 and 3. While in fact 2 was the worse DVD. I just love watching Futurama, whether it is good or not. Just watching the Planet Express Employees on screen gives me smile. makes me reminisce the old times. I am looking forward to the 6th Season too with some good fun from Bender Bending Rodriguez (Bending a brick wall even though he is not programmed to do so... awesome!)

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Anonymous Coward]

It's titled : Into the Wild Green Yonder.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[CopaceticOpus]

I thought it was an odd way of saying that it was 4th.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[VShael]

I wouldn't mind too much if Futurama ran for 20 years. So long as after 9 - 12 years of mediocre crap, they had a slight return to form.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[1u3hr]

Who's on first?

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[stevey]

Jurassic Bark?

Personally I thought the recent releases were OK, but not quite the same as the previous episodes.

But a lot of that has to do with the length, and the way I expected the series to both change and stay the same..

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Ginger Unicorn]

That's lobstertainment is one of my favourites. Best calculon episode ever. The problem with beast was that NOTHING happened very slowly, and there were almost no jokes. And the plot was inane. Nine thumbs down. I can't think of any futurama eps that were that empty of ideas.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[tolan-b]

I've only seen the first two so far, but I though the first one, I forget the name, was worse than Beast with a Billion Backs.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[LanMan04]

It will play in Peoria!

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[jshackney]

I couldn't agree more. I eagerly anticipated the return of Futurama but was unbelievably disappointed with Bender's Big Score. By the time I got to Beast.. I couldn't even finish the show. Futurama has jumped the shark.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[elrous0]

uhhhhh...I'll get the powder, sir.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[elrous0]

What kind of "fan" wants to keep his show going even if it means that it devolves into an embarrassment? Why can't we just be happy with 4 great seasons and leave it at that? In the UK, the BBC does this all the time. They had two great seasons of The Office and then they moved on. Only in America will they run a series into the ground just because they can't let go (or want to milk it for every penny it's worth).

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[squiggleslash]

Well, SNL is a poor example. You have to remember that it really cycles. It started off fairly funny, then it kind of ran out of ideas for a bit, and lumbered on, and people watched it but said it wasn't as funny as it was, but then they brought in some fresh talent, and it started to be really funny again, and it became fairly popular, until it started to go downhill and have a whole bunch of really unfunny shows, and everyone started talking about how it was better originally but perhaps it's time it got some fresh talent, and it carried on that way until they obviously brought in some new writers because it started to be hilariously funny again.

Which is why it got renewed for the second season.

Ho ho. Actually, I'm pretty sure one of the hosts made the same joke. Just like SNL I suppose...

But, in any case, SNL gets to re-invent itself on a regular basis, refreshing the cast and writers, so while it usually has periods of stale, unfunny, comedy, it still comes up with a gem every now and again, and every few seasons has a really, really, great season.

The problem with dramas - and that includes sitcoms and animated sitcoms, Futurama being one - is that they have less space to reinvent themselves. They're having to work against a fixed dynamic, with a fixed character set where you can't just swap out old characters for new ones unless you're extraordinarily careful. Yes, somehow they introduced Ted McGinley into Married With Children, but he's a (somewhat ironic, given Ted's usual role of helping with shark jumps) rare exception.

I think some of Futurama's problems have to do with running out of ideas, but some of it has to do with the combination of the break and the movie-length new series episodes. They forgot what the dynamics were, and would have had difficulty making them work in a movie anyway.

None of this is irrecoverable. Other shows have managed to deal with massive gaps between seasons, just look at Family Guy. Groening needs to be a little more active controlling and restricting the show to match the original vision, just as presumably MacFarlane did.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Wyzardking]

Search them for paper! And bring me a rock!

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, I wouldn't say that it sucked. I would say that it was weird. Really weird. Jim Henson & company weird. The Meaning of Life weird. Futurama weird. No, wait, weirder. WTF weird. Did I mention it was weird? It had some great ideas. It would have been great as a single episode. But, for a whole movie, it was waaaaay too weird, and not funny enough.

I must go download, um, I mean, buy the new movie now.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Cheeko]

Bender's Game is by far the best of the DVDs thus far.

Though I sorta liked dark matter as fuel.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Miseph]

I know you have a signature, but I can't see it, and I'm feeling nervous.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Anonymous Coward]

You know, you might be right. But if they bring it back, I'm still gonna watch it.

I'm pretty sure they know that there are enough people like you that'll watch- and buy- it if it sucks... so they won't need to bother making it any good!

Wasn't intended as a troll; it's a legitimate (and sensible!) observation that- assuming Fox are only in it for the money... and Fox themselves *are*, don't kid yourselves!- then it doesn't bother them whether you enjoy it or not, so long as you go and see it and they get their money.

Quality only becomes an issue if it stops people going to see it.

And if everyone goes and sees it regardless, and they get their money, what do they care? Do you think Rupert Murdoch is going to be upset by criticism on Slashdot? Is he ****!

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Marxist Hacker 42]

It was, but doesn't it create a continuity problem for a 5th season (especially since, unlike the other three episodes where the characters ended outside the universe, THIS TIME all possible universes were also destroyed by the incredible number of alternate universe benders)?

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Anonymous Coward]

Too many gay jokes. This is not a discriminatory statement. If they could have some hetero stuff in addition to the homo, it would just be cool, that's all. Yep, we know that all of the characters have zero sexual inhibitions. We get it. Don't try to use that to fill every show with homo love scenes. We might think you're pushing an agenda. And we won't watch activist shows even if they're occasionally funny.

Re:As a fan, I hate to say this

[Anonymous Coward]

The movies were ok but I dislike the fact that they leave each movie
on a cliffhanger. I think when they come out of the worm hole
(if they do a new season) they'll come out on the miniature golf couse.

woohoo!

[poopdeville]

Fry's post

Oblig.

[grassy_knoll]

Good News Everyone!

Re:Oblig.

[solarium_rider]

Shouldn't that be: Bad news, everyone!

Re:Oblig.

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a suppository!

Re:Oblig.

[Feynman]

"The Bible--that's the real good news!"

Re:Oblig.

[KlaymenDK]

Oblig sig. Sorry, but I just gotta.

Re:Oblig.

[Anonymous Coward]

Since Prof. Farnsworth always followed that up with bad news, I wonder if it's appropriate here.

Re:Oblig.

[Anonymous Coward]

You're hearing this in my voice in your head!

Executive powder

[genner]

We're the executives who took the show off the air ground up into a fine powder?

Re:Executive powder

[Main Gauche]

No, just you're.

Re:Executive powder

[ruiner13]

They were turned into Slurm.

Spooky

[ArhcAngel]

I only posted this comment a few minutes ago and look what it has wrought!

And if they don't...

[Anonymous Coward]

then they can kiss my shiny metal ass!

-- Bender

Kinda Funny

[DesScorp]

I was never a big Simpsons fan, but I loved Futurama.

Re:Kinda Funny

[4D6963]

Hmm, fascinating! Thanks for the insight on your opinions, perfect stranger!

Oh my god...

[martas]

Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god... *hyperventilates*

Futurama is one of the funniest and wittiest shows ever, and the movies definitely proved they still have a lot of material for at least another season or two. Besides, I think my soul will refuse to move on to the afterlife unless I see Fry score with Leela.

Re:Oh my god...

[OctaviusIII]

But you already did! In the Tales of Interest! It was alternate reality, but your soul shouldn't care.

Re:Oh my god...

[martas]

Well, actually, it does care. My soul has a very strong sense of reality. It's like Neo - it will eventually free itself from anything that isn't real.

Re:Oh my god...

[wgoodman]

He also scored with her in this reality.. He just skipped past it because of the cronotron radiation.

Re:Oh my god...

[Chris Burke]

Well, actually, it does care. My soul has a very strong sense of reality.

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Re:Oh my god...

[martas]

Huh?

Re:Oh my god...

[Chris Burke]

We're talking about two cartoon characters making woopie. It's kinda the opposite of reality. ;)

Re:Oh my god...

[martas]

Oh, I see, so you think your idea of reality is somehow absolute? Of course by that same argument I could just pretend that in reality they did "make woopie"...

I've downloaded 2 off of TPB and puchased 2

[Anonymous Coward]

And will likely purchase the remaining 2 sooner than later - especially if it sways the network to release a 6th season.

1 download = 1 lost sale? I think not.

Screw Fox

[Raul654]

Seriously, screw 'em. They've wrecked one good show after another. I hope another network - any network - picks it up rather than them.

Re:Screw Fox

[Gat0r30y]

Incompetent? Undoubtedly. But they are also the only network that takes chances on shows like Futurama in the first place. You think CBS/NBC/ABC would risk something putting as original as Futurama on the air vs. "a sitcom about a female writer living in the city"?

Re:Screw Fox

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey, I really enjoyed Single Female Lawyer!

Re:Screw Fox

[Chabo]

a sitcom about a female writer living in the city

Are you talking about Sex in the City? ;)

Re:Screw Fox

[Belial6]

My example would have been "fat stupid and lazy blue collar guy with hot smart hard working wife... Havoc ensues!" They've been beating that dead horse since The Honeymooners.

Re:Screw Fox

[Raul654]

NBC hasn't had a new hit TV show in years - that's why they recently moved Jay Leno to 10. They, literally, had nothing that could fill the slot. So yes, I think NBC might be in bad enough shape that they'd be willing to take some risks.

Re:Screw Fox

[TheoMurpse]

To be fair, Sex in the City was an HBO show. It was not a broadcast TV show. So CBS/NBC/ABC didn't even take a chance on a female writer living in the city.

Re:Screw Fox

[RichiH]

Indeed. Invader Zim, I miss thee!

Re:Good news everyone!

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

Good News everyone!

... I've invented a device that makes you hear my voice while reading this off the screen!

Did I miss something?

[BaronHethorSamedi]

Weren't there only four seasons? Or are they counting the movies as a season? (Pardon my ignorance.)

Re:Did I miss something?

[MajikJon]

While there were only 4 production seasons of the show, Fox spread these episodes out over 5 on-air seasons. The DVD-movies which aired on Comedy Central do not properly count as a "season".

Re:Did I miss something?

[mqduck]

It depends on who you ask. Old episode lists follow the Fox order of the original four seasons spread out over five. Newer lists show episodes in the original order with the DVDs episodes as season five.

http://theinfosphere.org/Episode_Listing#Season_5

Futurama yes! Fox No!

[RapmasterT]

After seeing how Fox can absolutely murder excellent shows with their weekly schedule ramdomizing game (Futurama, Firefly, etc), I'd MUCH rather see Futurama get picked up by Comedy Central, or Cartoon Network than back on Fox. Screw you Fox, you blew it.

Nope, there were 5...

[ebbomega]

You're missing the season that was produced for Comedy Central after FOX dropped them.

Faux: canceling the shows you love

[jollyreaper]

I never really understood how Faux not only greenlit so many wonderful shows but also murdered them in the cradle after barely a season. It seems too much to be coincidence, I think it must be some sort of pathology amongst their programming directors. Keen Eddie, Futurama, Firefly, Dollhouse, all axed. (Ok, might be jumping the gun on Dollhouse by a few weeks.)

There's usually a political explanation for this kind of illogical behavior where Exec #1 gets to feel like he has a bigger penis for sabotaging Exec #2's pet project. It ultimately costs the company more money than it makes but ego is served so nobody cares. It just makes me wish the inevitable decline and destruction of the company would happen sooner before they tease me with any more shows I might like.

Anyone remember that old animated show God, the Devil, and Bob? That fat fuck Jerry Falwell led a crusade against it as being blasphemous, the same way he did with the Last Temptation of Christ. Oddly enough, both examples here had a greater understanding of and sympathy for Christ's point of view than that bloviating, closet-case fucktard and all of his ass-hatted minions.

The Last Temptation one is particularly amusing because the basic premise is "How can Jesus make a sacrifice of rejecting a peaceful human life and accepting the cross if he had no desire for it? Sacrifice without desire is an empty gesture. Giving up brussel sprouts for Lent? Meaningless. Giving up chocolate? Meaningful." So the fundies all flipped out at the idea of Jesus having an erection, Jesus having amorous thoughts about women, about wanting to take a wife and raise a family. Do you idiots read your own fucking book? It says God was made flesh, he is the son of man! One follows the other! What, you gonna flip out if anyone implies Jesus must have had to take a dump or two during his time on Earth? No, Jebus can't poo! Our pitiful little minds cannot contemplate it! Blasphemy!

So the whole point of the movie was showing Jesus wanting that normal life, seeing how good it felt, knowing it could all be his, and sacrificing it for a greater purpose. And this was considered to be the most horrible cinematic sin committed since Ishtar. Stupid fucking fundies.

Re:Faux: canceling the shows you love

[squiggleslash]

Futurama ran for four seasons before Fox dropped the axe, it was a good show and deserved to continue, but it's hard to put its cancellation in the same basket as the ones fans really complain about, where Fox commissions a show and then either drops it right away before it has time to develop, or demands so many changes that it doesn't stand a chance.

It's going to be interesting to see what's done with Dollhouse. The ratings thus far have been abysmal, and the pilot was very poorly received, but most viewers seem to have been much more positive about the second episode, and that might mean it'll pick up viewers over the next few months. I wouldn't count it out right yet, and if Fox is serious about making Friday evenings a science fiction thing (rather than them just shoving two shows they're uncomfortable with to the death slot - but why commission Dollhouse in the first place?), then I could foresee them dropping T:SCC and replacing it with Futurama and some other show next season, with Dollhouse continuing to be given a chance to prove its viability.

On the other hand, if Ep 2 was a fluke, and Dollhouse is as awful as the pilot suggested, then...

Re:Faux: canceling the shows you love

[Joe the Lesser]

I agree. If the show was good enough for them to put it on, at least let it run a full season and build buzz!

Re:Faux: canceling the shows you love

[macraig]

Bet you don't remember Space: Above and Beyond, do you? This antagonism that Fox has to QUALITY programming - IOW, anything that isn't distinctly mediocre and non-controversial - has been going on for a lot longer than most people even realize. I suspect it's rooted in Fox's struggle from birth as a belated network, and having to be better than the Big Three at targeting the broadest market segment possible. That meant that any show that proved too intellectual or (negatively) controversial to a median audience got axed very quickly, far too quickly for it to reach percolate up to those niche audiences. This has become an entrenched mentality. Other broadcasters aren't immune to it, but it's the persistent mindset at Fox. House is a rare exception that amazes me, though it's evolved more toward that inexorable median than I would like.

I think that the term "Bell Curve" and all those common diagrams of it are misleading of the true effect: it should be named the Bell Trough and diagrammed as a Pit of No Return, because everything on the ends tends to be sucked down toward that median, like an ant lion patiently waiting for its dinner guests to arrive.

Re:Faux: canceling the shows you love

[metamatic]

I thought the most potentially offensive part of The Last Temptation of Christ was the suggestion that Jesus worked as a carpenter making crosses for crucifixions. Made me laugh.

Re:Faux: canceling the shows you love

[smoker2]

Now that's pornography !

Ha ha ha.

Re:Faux: canceling the shows you love

[sgt scrub]

I was thinking more like the people that go out and find good content line it up. Then it runs until the p.o.s. that owns the network watches enough of it to see it doesn't impose his world view on others then cans it but I like your version too.

Re:Faux: canceling the shows you love

[Kozar_The_Malignant]

>It's going to be interesting to see what's done with Dollhouse. The ratings thus far have been abysmal, and the pilot was very poorly received, but most viewers seem to have been much more positive about the second episode, and that might mean it'll pick up viewers over the next few months.

Haven't seen it, but are you sure they actually ran the pilot? As I recall, the geniuses helped Firefly by running the first few episodes out of sequence.

Re:Faux: canceling the shows you love

[squiggleslash]

Ok, well, whatever it was, the first episode they aired was fairly dire. And the second was fairly good. I await the next few episodes to see which was a fairer reflection of the show itself...

Re:Faux: canceling the shows you love

[Moridineas]

I never really understood how Faux not only greenlit so many wonderful shows but also murdered them in the cradle after barely a season. It seems too much to be coincidence, I think it must be some sort of pathology amongst their programming directors. Keen Eddie, Futurama, Firefly, Dollhouse, all axed. (Ok, might be jumping the gun on Dollhouse by a few weeks.)

Really? Dollhouse? You're putting Dollhouse in the same category as Futurama (which ran for multiple years) or Firefly (which was passed on by UPN, Scifi, etc...I'm sure all of them regret it, but it wasn't just Fox that made that call)? I own several seasons of Buffy, Firefly, and Dr Horrible...and I could barely sit through the first episode of Dollhouse. I too am expecting it to be cancelled, and no doubt, there will be many upset Whedon fans. (And add Arrested Development to your list)

It just makes me wish the inevitable decline and destruction of the company would happen sooner before they tease me with any more shows I might like.

Out of curiosity, what is the ideal? That is to say, what network lives up to your programming expectations? For me personally I would say HBO is about as good as it gets, but you also pay for it...

than that bloviating, closet-case fucktard and all of his ass-hatted minions.

Wow, angry much? (to use a Whedonism...) Did he also run over your dog or something? You seem to be taking that stuff pretty personally (and taking Fox programming decisions pretty personally as well)..

Re:Faux: canceling the shows you love

[Moridineas]

That's good to know... I could barely sit through the first episode. Maybe I'll give the second a shot after all.

Re:Faux: canceling the shows you love

[dissy]

Anyone remember that old animated show God, the Devil, and Bob? That fat fuck Jerry Falwell led a crusade against it as being blasphemous, the same way he did with the Last Temptation of Christ. Oddly enough, both examples here had a greater understanding of and sympathy for Christ's point of view than that bloviating, closet-case fucktard and all of his ass-hatted minions.

Ok, once more... But this time, with *feeling*

Re:Faux: canceling the shows you love

[Chris Burke]

On the other hand, if Ep 2 was a fluke, and Dollhouse is as awful as the pilot suggested, then...

Even though it was much better, I still wasn't especially impressed. It just feels like I've seen it before. Secret spook-like agency, using brainwashed agents to do their dirty work, other personality slowly peeks through... It's like "Bourne Identity" or "My Own Worst Enemy" (damning with faint praise there) with hot chicks and a couple other thin layers of Whedonism spackled over it.

Though I'll give them the interesting twist on the "Surviving the Game" plot line, where the hunter reveals the game to the prey right after seducing her.

Re:Faux: canceling the shows you love

[DTemp]

You forgot about Family Guy, one of their biggest examples of a show axed too early. Of course we know they brought it back, but still.

Re:Faux: canceling the shows you love

[mattack2]

Anyone remember that old animated show God, the Devil, and Bob?

Umm, this was on NBC, and the entire series is available on DVD.

Re:Faux: canceling the shows you love

[Martin Blank]

if Fox is serious about making Friday evenings a science fiction thing ... then I could foresee them dropping T:SCC and replacing it with Futurama and some other show next season

I think it's more likely to end up on Sunday nights, replacing King of the Hill, as that's their animation night. It would be a nice segue from The Simpsons into Family Guy and American Dad, ratcheting the humor towards later fare more gradually than happened with KotH.

Re:Faux: canceling the shows you love

[mattack2]

I liked "My Own Worst Enemy". I've only watched the first episode of "Dollhouse" so far, though. (Seemed pretty "meh", but I'll definitely watch a few more.. but based on only one episode, I like the Sarah Connor Chronicles much more.)

Re:Faux: canceling the shows you love

[squiggleslash]

It just feels like I've seen it before

In fairness, you have. Thus far, the plot has been pretty close to La Femme Nikita, with the "brain wiping" thing mixed in. Girl with a criminal past is forced to join ultra secretive and amoral agency which she cannot leave and where she performs various missions. Even the agency has the same archetypes, the father figure mentor, the ruthless boss, etc.

If the series continues down that road, then it'll be a problem. But I think they've already started to show, at least with the second episode, that the show is going to ultimately get out of the Dollhouse, and thus out of that dynamic. I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt until the end of the first season based upon that second episode. No, it wasn't perfect, but it set in motion a lot of arcs, and it'll be interesting to see where they lead.

Re:Faux: canceling the shows you love

[Anonymous Coward]

So the fundies all flipped out at the idea of Jesus having an erection, Jesus having amorous thoughts about women, about wanting to take a wife and raise a family. Do you idiots read your own fucking book? It says God was made flesh, he is the son of man!

It also says he was the only sinless man, completely free of temptation.

Don't try to act like the Last Temptation was a portrayal consistent with the Bible, because it explicitly was not. And feel free to produce or approve of material specifically designed to offend... but then don't be surprised when people are offended!

Re:Faux: canceling the shows you love

[tibman]

and Sliders too.. FOX execs continuously mauled that show until it died. Fox isn't the only channel that does it though. Lots of good shows died prematurely on their first season: Earth2(NBC), Threshold(CBS), Odyssey5(Showtime), Dresden Files(Sci-Fi), and more.

Re:Faux: canceling the shows you love

[Anonymous Coward]

like an ant lion patiently waiting for its dinner guests to arrive

Or the cross section of a black hole and its event horizon?

Re:Faux: canceling the shows you love

[DNS-and-BIND]

So - you've got 2 paragraphs about Fox, which I assume that you hate. Then, the real meat of your comment where you spend THREE paragraphs bashing Jerry Falwell with a nightstick in the face - right on, man! Yeah! Take on those 80s TV preachers and resurrect ancient debates about an 80s movie. Fight the power, man! You even appear to have invented a bigoted term to describe the people you hate.

Dude, you have serious issues. Projection would be my first guess.

Well, I'm an idiot

[ebbomega]

Those episodes were just the movies spread out... nvm

Let me be the first to post about the 6th season

[gpinzone]

...It's not as good as it used to be. They're raping my childhood. How come they're making so many episode with Q-Bert? Q-Bert sucks! Billy West is just calling it in. Yada, yada, yada.

Stong DVD Sales

[morghanphoenix]

Okay, didn't Firefly & Serenity have great DVD sales as well? Why not another season of that? Nothing against Futurama, but it's not at the top of the list of Fox killed shows I'd like to see make a comeback.

Re:Stong DVD Sales

[Anonymous Coward]

Because the actors already moved on... :(

Re:Stong DVD Sales

[Chabo]

FIREFLY/SERENITY SPOILER ALERT!!!

Well, cause the primary motivation of the Firefly/Serenity plots was that the Alliance was after River. However, by the end of the movie, it's apparent that River is no longer a threat to the Alliance, so she's no longer a fugitive.

As much as I loved the show, the movie, and the characters, I don't think a new series based on the franchise would be possible. There's not enough motivation for non-boring plotlines involving the Serenity crew continuing to live among the Outer Planets. The best you could hope for is more episodes where the crew are guns-for-hire, like "Heart of Gold".

Re:Stong DVD Sales

[sgt scrub]

didn't Firefly & Serenity have great DVD sales as well

I cant find the reuters article that backs that up but in 2007 it was in the top 10 for a long time.

Re:Stong DVD Sales

[TurboNed]

They could still continue the series in the (ambiguously long) chunk of time between the end of the series and the movie. But yes, much of the mystery of the show is revealed in the movie so there would be less material to work with than if the movie hadn't been made.

Re:Stong DVD Sales

[Anonymous Coward]

There's a very simple concept to start a new series, one that the movie very clearly is meant to set up. The independence movement starts up again and there's a second war with the alliance. I dunno, maybe it's just me, but the movie really seemed to telegraph that setup.

Re:Stong DVD Sales

[morghanphoenix]

I actually like this idea a lot, you know the alliance is not the most popular group in the verse after that holo is broadcast. I'm betting plenty of sheep are believeing stories they're likely to come up with to cover themselves, but a good bit aren't going to fall for it, especially those on the outer planets that have been feeling the alliance's justice for too long. It wouldn't be far fetched to have another war start because of the reaver revalation.

Re:Stong DVD Sales

[Chabo]

Maybe it wouldn't be far-fetched, but the big reason I love Firefly/Serenity is the characters, especially the variety. Wash and Book are gone, and Inara likely isn't going to stay on board during a war they're involved in (I personally don't care for her anyway, but still...), and Jayne would probably only stay and fight if Mal paid him as a mercenary.

I just don't see how that show would be fun and interesting.

Re:Stong DVD Sales

[morghanphoenix]

Yeah, two of my favorite charachters dead, you have a point there. Can we bring a Genesis Torpedo over from Star Trek? :P

Take a longer term perspective...It'll warm up.

[Anonymous Coward]

I was a huge Futurama fan when it was on TV, so it pains me greatly to say this. But if you can't do better than those terrible new DVD releases, please *DON'T* bring this show back. I don't know if they got different writers for those movies, or whether the writers they brought back just lost their edge, but those were just embarrassing. Each release has managed to be even worse than the previous one.

But if Matt Groening has proven nothing else with The Simpsons, it's that he has absolutely no understanding of the phrase "finishing while you're on top" and all-too-much understanding of "run it into the ground until it's a pathetic shadow of its former greatness."

I actually like the movies quite a bit, but know sort of what you're talking about. There's definitely a bit of "trying too hard" on some of the scenes.

But you should keep in mind--it took a season for the original run to warm up. I think the wait for the episodes to become consistently great again will be far shorter this time around.

Re:Good news everyone!

[numbski]

Oh my god, he's right!

Why Fox?

[RyoShin]

Does Fox still have first-air rights? Fox loves to take the best stuff and strangle it to death. Out of order episodes, random slot times, and only a dozen episodes before cancellation is extremely common. They're the ADD child of networks.

Fox doesn't deserve Futurama; if they aren't contractually obligated to bring it back to Fox, West should sell the rights to Adult Swim or Comedy Central. Adult Swim loved showing five hours of Futurama at a time, and Comedy Central just wants more animated filler. They'll both be better homes (though my confidence in [AS] is basically nil now, they've wasted all the class and personality that once made me interested in them).

My other concern is Family Guy syndrome. Maybe it was because the show was off the air for some time, but Family Guy just isn't as good as it once was. Partly it's because they've completely changed the dynamic of every character (usually for the worst--Stewie is now more about "hiding in the closet" now than "take over the world and kill Lois"). Partly it's that the seem to rely more and more on the "like that time when" skits. While Futurama has always had a much different way to go about humor than that, it could still fall flat.

Also, I'm worried that we'll lose all the great "under the table" jokes that require at least some college education to get.

Re:Why Fox?

[mqduck]

Family Guy hasn't been as good as it once was, but I don't think that had much to do with the cancellation. If you watch all the episodes one after another, the evolution from original Family Guy to modern Family Guy is very slow and steady.

Re:Why Fox?

[Krater76]

Partly it's because they've completely changed the dynamic of every character (usually for the worst--Stewie is now more about "hiding in the closet" now than "take over the world and kill Lois"). Partly it's that the seem to rely more and more on the "like that time when" skits.

All the characters are better and funnier than they used to be. The Stewie character had to change eventually. Honestly, the 'wacky character that is obsessed with global domination' has been played out for a long time, almost as much as either a talking animal/inanimate object, or the self-obsessed, idiot dad. We've seen those things in comics forever and it really isn't much of a gag anymore. The Stewie/Brian-heavy episodes are the best. Anything else is like watching a Lisa- or Marge-heavy episode of The Simpsons. You get through it but you don't expect anything good.

The big question is where American Dad fits in all this. I'm not sure why they didn't just call it 'Another Family Guy' since you've got the idiot dad, the 'smarter than dad' mother, the talking animal (fish), the crazy wacky character (alien, although not bent on world domination), and the 2 kids who aren't interesting in the slightest.

Re:Why Fox?

[Anonymous Coward]

Just an FYI, Billy West isn't the creator of Futurama and doesn't own the rights, he's a voice actor (Fry, the Professor, Zoidberg and some others).

Re:Why Fox?

[RyoShin]

Thanks for the correction; How could I forget it's Matt Groening? Someone mod parent up, please!

Re:Why Fox?

[Zontar_Thing_From_Ve]

Fox doesn't deserve Futurama; if they aren't contractually obligated to bring it back to Fox, West should sell the rights to Adult Swim or Comedy Central.

The fact that you think that Billy West owns the rights means that you really do not understand what you are talking about. West is simply an employee of the production company and nothing more.

Individual episodes, please

[Adrian Lopez]

If they do decide to bring back Futurama, I hope they'll go back to standalone episodes rather than movies cut up into four episodes. I don't mind an occasional "to be continued", but I find Futurama works better in half-hour chunks.

Obligatory

[p0]

bite my shiny metal ass!

Re:Futurama yes! Fox No!

[RabidMoose]

[Adult Swim] will come up with the money to buy the rights to Futurama and Family Guy.
They will then begin making new episodes of Shin Chan, continue with Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Venture Brothers, and Frisky Dingo.

They will then split from Cartoon Network, starting up their own channel (HD and SD), which will be on 24 hours a day.

/fantasy time

Re:Futurama yes! Fox No!

[Chabo]

Plus the fact that Terminator:TSCC was just moved to Friday as a lead-in to Dollhouse, which will result in both shows dying.

Seriously, the only worse thing they could've done was put those shows on Saturday night.

Re:Futurama yes! Fox No!

[gad_zuki!]

Cable channels dont typically have the budget for something like Futurama. Its one thing to licence reruns and produce low-quality stuff like Aqua Force and another run a show like Futurama. Right now, its Fox or nothing. Has any of the major players expressed interest? Everyone seems to shy from animation except for Fox.

Zoidberg!

[SoundGuyNoise]

Because nobody else has said it yet.
Honestly, my favorite episodes are the Zoidberg-centric. Or anything Zoidberg.

Re:Zoidberg!

[hampton]

Zoidberg is a pretty good character but I don't know how you can pick a favorite whe...ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD!

Re:Zoidberg!

[Anonymous Coward]

Zoidberg? Are you kidding? Ugh. You mean stinkers like Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?, A Taste of Freedom, and (trying to hold back my puke) That's Lobstertainment. Ugh, some of the worst episodes right there.

The best episodes are the Fry-centric episodes like Parasites Lost and The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings (among the many others, I Dated A Robot, etc.).

Don't date robots!

Re:Zoidberg!

[Anonymous Coward]

I always found Zoidberg annoying, except "Crustacean in Love" where he does battle with Fry to the Spock/Kirk fight music in one last scenes.

I find Zaph Brannigan the best secondary character. His episodes are some of the most memorable, he brought a Monty Python-esque (ask your parents) absurdity to the show that always made me laugh out loud.

"Amazon women in the Mood"
  - "You win again gravity"
  - "I never thought it would end this way, but I'd always kind of hoped" (Fry on learning he would die by "SnuSnu")

"War is the H word"
  - "What's the lowest position imaginable Kif?", "Your assistant","No Kif - your assistant".

Re:Zoidberg!

[rreyelts]

"Amazon women in the Mood" - "You win again gravity" - "I never thought it would end this way, but I'd always kind of hoped" (Fry on learning he would die by "SnuSnu")

Those are some good quotes from that episode, but my personal favorite was: "She's built like a steakhouse but she handles like a bistro." Makes me laugh just thinking about it.

Re:Zoidberg!

[Anonymous Coward]

Look at me I'm Dr. Zoidberg, homeowner!

Re:Zoidberg!

[AbRASiON]

MY FRIENDS, A HAMSTER TRICKED ME!

(yes, by far the best character and of course Zapp as well)

Re:Zoidberg!

[Anonymous Coward]

That reminds me of my favorite box...

In my experience they usually contain nothing, but once, pepperoni! What a day!

I hope it doesn't come back to Fox

[Anonymous Coward]

These @ssholes don't deserve the show. Better to bring it back to a different network that will support it. I rember reading how the show, when orginally cancelled, had better ratings than King of the Hill, even though Fox never did any promotion, kept changing the schedule, and pretty much doing everything in their power to sabotage the ratings. The d*ckheads and Fox should all go and collectively F@ck themselves. (I hope I spelled all of that right.)

Re:I hope it doesn't come back to Fox

[Anonymous Coward]

Fox never did any promotion, kept changing the schedule, and pretty much doing everything in their power to sabotage the ratings.

Like sticking it in the 7pm Sunday timeslot that almost always gets at least partially preempted. When the first Futurama DVD set was announced, I remember joking that the DVDs would only have the last 10-15 minutes of each episode but first you'd have to sit through the last few minutes of some damned NFL game.

Billy West stole their jobs

[SethJohnson]

As an FYI on Billy West:

They had several other voice actors hired for Futurama, then when Billy West showed up, the producers realized his voice was so versatile that they could fire all the other staffers and have him do all the voices.

Seth

Re:Billy West stole their jobs

[defenestr8]

so...he's really good at what he does. what's your point?

Re:Billy West stole their jobs

[Dutchmang]

Haven't really caught much Futurama but Billy West is one of the funniest and most versatile voice actors, evar. He was on WBCN Boston for most of the 80s (Charles Laquidara's "Big Mattress" program) and to this day I'm still re-using his shtick most days. If you ever heard him doing all Three Stooges in succession, you would agree. Or the old "Fool's Parade," where they would stage a complete virtual parade down Commonwealth Ave on April 1, just to see how many people would actually show up. I still smile thinking about the Somerville Float (to the tune of "Oh Christmas Tree").... "Oh Sumville, oh Sumville, the people there are pissah!"

Re:Billy West stole their jobs

[Wooky_linuxer_Jr]

and....? You have a business and need 10 employees. Some guy shows up and can do the work of 7, what do you do?

Re:Billy West stole their jobs

[SethJohnson]

Is the quality the same? The point made by the disgruntled ex-actors was that they had created those voices. Then the studio hired an impersonator to imitate their creations.

Seth

Re:Billy West stole their jobs

[Trillan]

Which voice did West steal? I've heard him talk about how he came up with the Fry and Zoidberg voices, which leaves only Brannigan and Farnsworth. Now Brannigan was supposed to be voiced by Hartman, but West took over when Hartman died.

So that leaves Farnsworth, and we're down to "actor" from "actors." Who was his voice supposed to be?

Re:Billy West stole their jobs

[mrdoogee]

Several other voice actors, such as
Phil LaMarr
John DiMaggio
David Herman
Maurice LaMarche
and Frank Welker?

Yeah, its too bad they lost their jobs.

Sweet Zombie Jesus!

[srobert]

Will Sweet Zombie Jesus be resurrected into the dialogue?

Re:Futurama yes! Fox No!

[nine-times]

Yeah, isn't Dollhouse the second Joss Whedon show that Fox has started out in a Friday night time slot? I mean, really, if you're going to start a new show on Friday night, you may as well just title it "Cancel me".

Re:Futurama yes! Fox No!

[Chabo]

Joss Whedon said that with Fox pulling their usual crap for Dollhouse, combined with the success of "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" last year, that he will never again work with a TV network.

Hope the writing is like the show and not movies!

[AbRASiON]

Movies were mediocre at best :/ The TV show had it's ups and downs but it was brilliant overall.
I'm sure it's already been said but damnit if it isn't true, such a shame about those movies.

Bender should not be on Television!

[Brett Buck]

"Bender must be stopped! I have gone too far. Who does that guy think I am? "

    Bender

Re:Bender should not be on Television!

[The Sith Lord]

Have you ever considered turning off the tv ?
Sitting down with your children ?

And hitting them ?

Television Exec

[Digital_Mercenary]

Whats!? Televidsion executives are being Ass-Holes?

You just figured that out now?

In the future

[gary_7vn]

So let me get this straight, Futurama might return in the future? I see... I think.

Will it be in HD like the Simpsons or SD like Fami

[Joe The Dragon]

Will it be in HD like the Simpsons or SD like Family Guy?

Quotes

[Anonymous Coward]

"The present may stink, but at least now we can look forward to a better yesterday."
- Fry, Futurama

"Hell of a thing to send a universe to certain doom, fun though!"
- Zapp Brannigan, Futurama

"I saved the space-time continuum, and 40% of your rectum."
- Nibbler, Futurama

More here:
http://www.quoteaddict.com/quotes.php?search=futurama

Re:Good news everyone!

[gaderael]

Prepared to be sued by the Writers Guild!

Re:Good news everyone!

[TempeTerra]

Farnsworth paracusia?

Morbo says

[mrfantasy]

TV shows DO NOT work that way!

Well crap.

[Anonymous Coward]

Anyone remember Family Guy being brought back? ...Yeah.

Fox: God tier trolls?

[Anonymous Coward]

Am I the only one who thinks Fox is just a massive troll network?

- They fund and show left-leaning/liberal programs (Simpsons/Family Guy, etc) but have insanely conservative news programs - it's like they want people to tune in at the wrong time/channel and be enraged by the opposite political spectrum. Yes, they're on different channels, but it's still under the same brand despite there being a clear advantage to emphasising the difference (each spectrum thinks less of the network for being associated with "the enemy").

- They troll our friends/parents/etc by polarising them with extremely biased news "reporting" - either you're a fox-news guy and your friends/family/etc are bleeding heart fairy-land liberals, or you have a brain and your friends/family will swallow anything if it's explained simply and verbosely enough by a blonde in a box.

- They cancel all the shows with huge cult followings (even if they're popular), just to troll the fans.

- They troll all the people without the inclination to track their favourite shows with TiVos or TV Guides (ie. the non-fans) by constantly shifting the time slots.

- They troll the show producers by introducing all kinds of hair-brained schemes (network bugs, etc) and reducing show time for more ads (see: Simpsons Commentary). Other networks do this, but Fox are prime pioneers for most of the schemes and trends.

The human mind is good at recognising patterns, and this one is visible from a mile off. -1 Troll.

Re:Good news everyone!

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

I think the dude I stole the joke from is gonna sue me first.

Re:Futurama yes! Fox No!

[Backward Z]

Matt Groening has said before that Futurama is so budget-intensive that the smaller cable networks would not be able to financially support the show in its current state. I remember he went on to say that the kind of sacrifices that would have to be made to make the transtion from a broadcast to a cable network cut too deep and he was unwilling to make them.

I can't remember exactly where I read this, but it makes sense. It's very espensive to make an animated show of this nature while maintaining Futurama's standard of quality. Look at how Comedy Cental and Adult Swim save money on their animations. South Park is super cheap because there's no hand animation. Drawn Together has hand animation, but it's crude and ugly when you stand it next to Futurama. For years Adult Swim used stock character animations and used computers to manipulate them (e.g. Space Ghost, Sealab).

Futurama needs Fox's money. Kind of like how Mr. Bungle's California could have never been made without Warner Bros.'s money backing it up.

Re:Futurama yes! Fox No!

[socsoc]

I would welcome this... It really sucks to turn on your tv in the morning while not paying attention and it is still on Cartoon Network from the night before.

Queue some crazy kid's cartoon

Re:Futurama yes! Fox No!

[socsoc]

This is spot on. Cable networks like USA, TBS, TNT, FX, etc never come up with original programming series or movies.

They just don't have the budget for Monk, Psych, My Boys, 10 Items or Less, Closer, Saving Grace, Nip/Tuck, Sons of Anarchy, It's Always Sunny....

And that's just off the top of my head, I'm sure I omitted many and I seriously doubt their production costs are less than that of animation.

why fox

[Anonymous Coward]

unfortunately the reason why they will return to fox is because fox owns the rights to futurama, the movies were only produced with foxes permission

Re:Good news everyone!

[Anonymous Coward]

awesome, it works, but where is the device?

Re:Futurama yes! Fox No!

[LostCluster]

Fox's good series but low ratings failures were due to giving the network over to sports instead of recorded programs.

Fridays during the late 90s and early 2000s, many affiliates carried local baseball games during primetime and they ran the Fox Friday lineup in late night after the local news. So, any series schedule for Friday would get weak rating numbers, and therefore be canceled as a flop.

Sundays were troubled by NFL runovers and the fact that The Simpsons had to start on time at 8pm or not at all, meaning that in many cities the 7:00 and 7:30 programs would be pre-empted by the game being shown in the late afternoon slot. This doomed Futurama because it couldn't be found in a consistent slot.

Another strike against Futurama is that it had to run with an alternate opening due to a showing the Planet Express ship crashing into a large screen, which was considered too close to a reminder of 9/11/01.

However, Fox has fixed all of these problems. Time has passed so the opening is more acceptable. The Friday baseball pre-emptions are now a thing of the past, Fox has let baseball move to regional cable channels, some of which it controls. The Sunday problem has been solved by a postgame show called "The OT" that stations join in progress as the game ends, and runs until 8pm. So, the only thing that can be pre-empted by football is football talk.

Fox is now no longer killing good shows because they're not getting the numbers due to Fox's own mistakes. They've solved that problem.

YAY!!!

[stms]

Thank all powerful atheismo!!!

Re:YAY!!!

[Rick Genter]

Thank all powerful atheismo!!!

And don't forget Zeus, Satan, Buddha.....thank one of those guys!

YES!

[brezel]

YES! OMG YES!
*almost can't believe it*

Re:Futurama yes! Fox No!

[Atriqus]

If Groening does sign back on to FOX, there better be a can't-dick-with-our-time-slot clause. At least break the monotony and stick it somewhere in the middle of Seth MacFarlane's (soon-to-be) hour and a half of Sunday night. I figure since they've finally learned not to disturb anything MacFarlane, putting a show within the borders of his time slot should be safe... should.

Agreed

[illegalcortex]

I just finished watching Into the Wild Green Yonder. Yeah, not great. Not as bad as the first and third movie, though. Better than the second. It's weird, I've noticed two types of Futurama fans since the movies came out. Those to whom the pacing and joke density of the original 30 minute shows was key, and those who are just interested in the characters and are fine with having about the same amount of jokes spread out over a whole hour and a half.

I would certainly hope they get a shot at the 30 minute format again. It is pretty much the same people creating it, and they've proven before that they can create great material in that format.

Re:Agreed

[FredFredrickson]

Not as bad as the first and third movie, though. Better than the second.

So you're saying it's the best of the 4?

Re:Agreed

[illegalcortex]

Yes. This can also be phrased as "the least terrible."

Cheap laughs are not what F.A.R.T. is about!

[Brett Buck]

"C'mon! We're gonna march all the way to Hollywood and make them stop forcing their filthy me down our throats."

        Bender

I vote for more futurama

[Anonymous Coward]

Yay! Futurama is awesome. Fox canceled firefly, they better bring futurama back. Bender's big score was awesome.

Re:Will it be in HD like the Simpsons or SD like F

[TheSync]

Will it be in HD like the Simpsons or SD like Family Guy?

All FOX regular network programs are HD, 720p60 now. Whether they are 4:3 or 16:9 is a show-by-show issue for animation though.

Also many programs syndicated by 20th Television are SD.

It's not funny!

[tbird81]

Am I the only one on this nerdy site that thinks Futurama is simply not funny?

It tries too hard, every episode is the same, and the characters are boring. I realise it has stupid statements designed to make nerds fell good about themselves (e.g "sum of two cubes"), but that's not funny. It's just gay. It's try-hard.

It's like watching some of the new episodes of The Simpsons - lots of celebrities, but too formulaic. That's why no-one watched it, that's why it was taken off the air.

Re:It's not funny!

[Anonymous Coward]

"Am I the only one on this nerdy site that thinks Futurama is simply not funny?"

YES

Flickering horizontal lines

[Anonymous Coward]

Why do so many animation shows on Fox have flickering horizontal lines?

It was extremely annoying when the simpsons made their first HD episode only to have it ruined by distracting flickering.

Please baby babt baby please

[Phoghat]

Given the popularity of "Family Guy", "The Simpsons", and to a lesser degree "American Dad" and "King of the Hill" Fox would have to be mentally deficient to a very large degree NOT to bring "Futurama" back. Oh wait, they are.

Very Cool!

[stanjam]

I love Futurama! Will be great to see new episodes! Was a mistake to ever stop!

Re:Nope, there were 5... and also 4.

[Anonymous Coward]

They were originally broadcast as 5 seasons, but if you check out the DVDs (which are sometimes even funnier with the commentaries turned on, btw...) you'll find that they were written as 4 seasons.

Comedy Central have been (or at least planned to...) broadcasting the feature length shows split into pieces to make 4 episodes each.

Re:Futurama yes! Fox No!

[slackbheep]

Yeah, I'll pass on an American group trying to make shin chan.

Re:Futurama yes! Fox No!

[GeckoAddict]

Bad examples:
FX - Owned by Fox
USA - owned by NBC/Universal
TNT and TBS - Owned by Turner Broadcasting/Time Warner

These channels certainly have the cash behind them if they need to take a risk on a new show (and for some of these, I have to believe the station is taking a loss in order to gain market share for other shows), although I suppose the same could be said for Comedy Central (part of Viacom). The problem is getting the show approved and getting a budget to do it from the higher ups...

Re:Good news everyone!

[Anonymous Coward]

Combined with the finglonger that could be an instant hit.

Re:Futurama yes! Fox No!

[socsoc]

Bad examples? Are you saying that there are independent cable networks that are successful? The ones that people remove from their custom channel guide listing because nothing on them is interesting?

Re:Futurama yes! Fox No!

[Anonymous Coward]

The Sunday problem has been solved by a postgame show called "The OT" that stations join in progress as the game ends, and runs until 8pm. So, the only thing that can be pre-empted by football is football talk.

I'm sorry, what? No later than last week, Fox's Sunday night lineup was replaced by a NASCAR event. The issue is still very much present. Sunday night shows run, but only 2 out of 3 weeks on average are new shows, reruns abound, and some shows get bounced slots between 7 and 10 regularly.

Re:Good news everyone!

[Convector]

Only if the GP's voice actually sounds like the Professor's.

Re:Futurama yes! Fox No!

[gad_zuki!]

Its rumored that Futurama's cost per epsiode is almost 1 million dollars. The shows youve listed probably float around 250k or less. Animation is expensive, especially good animation.

Secondly, animation is a gamble. Many, many animated shows have failed badly. There's a animation ghetto that keeps costs low and you get animation quality on par of the typical AquaTeen-esque shows. There's a higher level of this ghetto with kid's shows, but none of them come close to the quality of Futurama. It ain't cheap. I doubt Matt or Fox want a cheap poorly animated Futurama.

Lastly, this is business, not a religion. If USA or whomever could make a high quality cartoon that would sell, they would in a heartbeat. If any of these companies thought they could buy Futurama they would. I imagine the asking price from Matt and Fox is ridiculous and a gamble, thus the direct to DVD releases. They probably only need to sell 100k DVDs to break even. You can start to see some real cost-cutting on the quality of these DVDs, especially on the previous release. The fluid animation just isnt there anymore and the writing has obviously been hurt (I imagine they are hemorrhaging talent). I bet each DVD cost around 500k to make after all these cuts. To get back to the quality of the original series you'll have to pay out a bit more.

Re:Futurama yes! Fox No!

[jmauro]

Computer technology has come along quite a bit. A lot of the things that were done by hand when Futurama was on Fox were automated for the DVDs. That and they dropped the full orcharstra for an all make believe band.

Re:Will it be in HD like the Simpsons or SD like F

[kimvette]

The only reason I'd want Futurama in HD is to see Amy's erotic tattoo. ;-) Other than that, will HD make much of a difference? It's an animated series and even on a 1080i set I don't care whether or not there are minor jaggies and upscaling artifacts. I'd watch Futurama even if it were broadcast in 320x240 resolution.

That is not to say I dislike HD programming - I do like it, but I still stand by my opinion that HD does not make poor writing watchable. I don't like "reality TV" shows (a relative was on one and I still have not seen it. I refuse to watch such drivel!) and no resolution, bitrate, or other visual improvements will entice me to watch it.

What DO I like HD for? Cooking shows, documentaries, and so forth, and of course, movies. However, most TV series and movies are just fine in standard def. The primary reasons I'm upgrading all my sets to high-def are:

  * increased size (good CRTs were not available any larger than what I purchased ten years ago. There were a couple of larger models but they had terrible failure rates)
  * aspect ratio - the widescreen aspect ratios are more "natural"
  * flat screens free up a LOT of space
  * ease of integration with PCs, not to mention supporting either 1920x1080 or 1920x1200 natively

I bought all the Futurama DVDs. I won't be wasting money on the blu-ray releases unless they provide additional commentaries, additional episodes, or something else that is otherwise compelling.

However, a new Futurama season? Who didn't see that coming? Fox has had to eat crow when it came to Futurama (Adult Swim and then Comedy Central proved Fox wrong when Futurama topped the ratings for the re-runs, and when the DVDs became best sellers), Family Guy (DVDs became best sellers), and Arrested Development (DVDs were best sellers, now they have a film coming out). It is also worth pointing out that all of those shows are series that Fox execs intentionally went of their way to sabotage due to corporate politics, and yet their popularity has endured, forcing Fox to begrudgingly admit their mistake and allow production of more episodes/movies/etc.

Firefly? Not so much - the reason is its target demographic (Sci fi fans) were already watching the Sci-Fi channel friday nights, or going out (yes, some sci-fi fans actually have lives!) so it was kind of a crappy time slot. It didn't pick up much of a following initially because it was airing opposite Stargate SG1. Had they picked a timeslot not opposite an established science fiction franchise, it might have done better. On another network, the same was true of Enterprise - it was in a lousy timeslot.

I'm extremely happy that Futurama is making a comeback. I'm hoping we get at least a few more seasons out of it.

To get back on topic: the direct-to-dvd movies were 16:9 and it's very likely (probably 99.999%) that any new episodes will be 16:9 and rendered for 720p. I really enjoy that it's 16:9 but being an animated series, the increased resolution doesn't make a whit of difference to me. Yeah, I can take it or leave it, but it's not something I'll pay a premium to buy on blu-ray without additional content - and on top of that, I can easily rip DVD on Linux to my PocketPC, laptop, and iPhone. The same can't be done with Blu-Ray (yet). Heck, can blu-ray even be played on Linux yet?

Re:Futurama yes! Fox No!

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow. I had to reread that to make sure I just saw a Mr. Bungle reference on Slashdot. Interesting point though.

Actually...

[beonarri]

I actually liked the DVD movies, and would like to see more. The only weak one, in my opinion, was the first one. Beast with a Billion backs was like Amazon Women in the Mood, only longer...harder...hentai-er. "These aren't tenticles! They're Genticles!" Also, Bender's Game had me laughing so hard at some points I had to pause the movie and catch my breath.

Ren and Stimpy, not Futurama

[SethJohnson]

My bad. I was confused. Thought he screwed over the actors on Futurama when it was really the Ren and Stimpy show. Check this transcript of an interview with the creator of the Ren & Stimpy show:

After those interviews they played an old show clip where they were going to surprise Billy by having the creator of Ren and Stimpy on the show to surprise Billy but Billy found out he was there when he showed up. Howard told the story about how Billy was hired to do the voice of Stimpy which was basically his Larry Fine voice. The creator of the cartoon came up with the Ren voice and did that for a while. Howard said the guy who created the cartoon was fired by Nickelodeon but Billy stuck around and did the voices for both characters, screwing over the guy who created it.

Howard had the creator of Ren and Stimpy, John Kricfalusi, come in to talk about what went on with the cartoon. Howard said he thought the cartoon was pretty minimal but John and Billy said it was actually pretty high end stuff compared to cartoons like Beavis and Butt-Head.

John told Howard it took him about 10 years to sell that show to actually get it on the air. Then he hired Billy to do the Stimpy voice. Then Nickelodeon fired him because he wasn't producing episodes fast enough. John said it was actually that they were producing too many shows and not spending enough money on them. He said they took over the show in the middle of the second season and finished off some of the stuff they had started already. John said he's really not upset with Billy for sticking with the show.

John said he did expect Billy to leave the show when he left because Billy told him he was going to do that. Then he and his agent called him up and said that they were going to pay Nickelodeon back by gouging them really good and get paid really well. John said that Billy sent him a box of red hots after he got the show and that was his cut of the show. Howard said it was obvious he was a little upset with Billy. John wouldn't say he was though.

John said that they have another cartoon coming up soon so it should be even more successful than the Ren and Stimpy thing. Howard asked Billy why he stuck with the show when maybe he should have been in solidarity with John and left the show. John said that about 50 people got fired, it wasn't just him. Howard said Billy probably didn't miss one night of sleep either. It was John's dream to do that whole cartoon.

Howard asked the woman who came in with John what he really thinks. She said that she wasn't there when it happened but from what she's heard, John was kind of upset with Billy. John said he thought that it was funny when Billy was on Conan O'Brien's show talking about how he created the character voices. Billy said he was just describing what those voices were a mix of, he never said he created them. Gary came in and said that some people from E! went over to interview John and found that he gets way into his readings and was throwing stuff around and smashing it during the taping.

Howard said it looked like John was shooting looks at Billy like he wanted to kill him. John asked if he could get into his George Licker character and read some stuff for him. Howard wanted to do some voices of his own first and did a little bit of his Jackie impression. He also did some impressions of Billy doing some of his voices. Then he let John do his George Licker character.

Robin asked Billy about having no remorse when all of that stuff went down. Billy joked that he had no remorse at all and didn't care about what had gone on. John admitted he never even saw the Conan thing, he said that someone taped it for him. John also said that he didn't make up that Ren voice, he stole that from Peter Lore.

Howard asked Billy and John if they wanted to make up and hug. John said he would do that and went over to give him a hug. Howard asked Billy if he wanted to apologize for anything. Billy s

Re:Ren and Stimpy, not Futurama

[Trillan]

Yes, I know about Ren and Stimpy. But that was almost 20 years ago, and there comes a time to give up a grudge.

fox....so painful

[Teriblows]

first they cancel family guy, then bring it back, now futuramas coming back. hopefully they dont cancel the terminator show. some top execs need to be fired, their judgment just is seriously bogus