Futurama Cancelled (Again)

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Posted by samzenpus on Monday April 22, 2013 @05:43AM from the bye-bye-bender dept.

eldavojohn writes "Bad news everybody. According to Entertainment Weekly, Futurama has been cancelled (again). The renewal of Futurama back onto television was met with great fanfare but sadly it appears that Futurama's luck has run out for a second time. The second half of season 7 will air from June 19th to September 4th and that will be it."

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No surprise, really. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-04-22 05:45 · Score: 5, Interesting

The newer episodes just haven't had that same flare the older ones did.
A couple of them even felt forced.
Better end a series on a decent note than to drag it on forever (Simpsons, Family Guy, etc)
1. Re:No surprise, really. by KClaisse · 2013-04-22 06:10 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Couldn't agree more with this sentiment. The old episodes felt very clever and smart with their jokes often playing on scientific themes to make the punchline. That's what I really enjoyed about the original Futurama. After their comeback it seemed like they had changed to appeal to a wider audience, making more generalized jokes and story lines. I found early on I could predict the outcome of most episodes, at first anyway. By the end of their comeback the episodes were so disjointed it felt like the entire plot twisted two or three times an episodes. In the end I'm not even the least bit surprised they were canceled again. Fans like me were hoping and expecting Futurama to come right back to the old smart funny ways but were instead greeted with another generic cartoon spewing generic jokes to a futuristic theme. Maybe it was a mistake to come back in the first place, maybe they had a good run and should have been left with the cult following it had. Now its just a flop for the general audiences. C'est la vie.
2. Re:No surprise, really. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-04-22 06:21 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  The big problem was reduced running time. Going from 21 minutes down to 18 really hurts storytelling.
3. Re:No surprise, really. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-04-22 08:22 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  That was the thing: the original run had left wing "propaganda" in it, too (global warming, garbage, oil tankers, Al Gore, vegetarianism, etc.) but they always turned those things on their head to make them funny. I never felt like they were beating me over the head with their message. Instead, it just felt like a natural part of the story. More recently, though, there was less funny and more message, which just isn't really that fun. If I want to be preached at, I'll just surf the web.
Kickstarter by F34nor · 2013-04-22 05:48 · Score: 3, Interesting

Put you money where your mouth is.
1. Re:Kickstarter by dgatwood · 2013-04-22 06:21 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Is it bad that I read that in Bruce Willis's voice, complete with the trailing expletive?
  Speaking of fun plots, they should have done one in which they unfreeze John McClane (voiced by Bruce Willis, of course). He falls for Leela, but keeps calling her Leeloo. Then he happens to be at a spaceport when they discover that an asteroid is heading towards earth, and the only way to stop it is to foil the terrorists who have taken the spaceport hostage so that he can steal a ship and mine the asteroid. Meanwhile, he is constantly being annoyed by Dr. Zoidberg who keeps talking in a high-pitched voice while wearing a light blond wig and a bizarre leopard-print suit.
  Spoiler: it ends with the Earth blowing up when the asteroid hits it.
  
  --
  Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
Re:Good news everyone! by Mitreya · 2013-04-22 06:02 · Score: 5, Interesting

So... how much Kickstarter money would they need to make another season...?
Also, imagine how much money a guest voice role on Futurama could fetch!!
who's gonna pick this up and make $BIG MONIE$$$?!! by Thud457 · 2013-04-22 06:03 · Score: 5, Interesting

Doesn't matter if they've been slipping. Throw in enough lame geek in-jokes and the fanbois will beat a golden path to your door.

Right now, all the online content providers are looking to content creators to get brand lock-in.

Who's gonna bring Futurama back from the dead again?
Amazon?
Hulu?
Google?
Netflix?

It's inevitable.

--
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Re:Put beavis and butthead in it's place that show by newcastlejon · 2013-04-22 06:13 · Score: 3, Interesting

Put beavis and butthead in it's place that show needs to come back.
It did back in 2011, but quietly died again shortly afterwards.

--
If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
not necessarily the end by roc97007 · 2013-04-22 06:32 · Score: 3, Interesting

TFA (maybe not this FA, but some FA I read this morning before I saw it on Slashdot) says that Groening is looking for another home for the show as "we still have more stories to tell". I know I know, they always say that, but all I'm saying is, Groening reportedly has not made the decision to irrevocably end the show. So it's not exactly like the browncoat thing, where sad overweight acne-encrusted fans in poorly made costumes plead with... I'm sorry, did I say that out loud?

--
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Re:Good news everyone! by eln · 2013-04-22 06:33 · Score: 4, Interesting

"Fucking awful" is a bit strong, but they definitely weren't up to par. I'm not surprised it was cancelled, and at this point I'd be much happier if they put the series to bed instead of continually trying to bring it back, as it will inevitably get worse every time they do.
Re:Good news everyone! by freeze128 · 2013-04-22 06:37 · Score: 2, Interesting

The episodes are roughly 1 million dollars each, so I would estimate about $26 Million for another season.

How much you got?
Re:another futurama? by Darth_brooks · 2013-04-22 07:02 · Score: 4, Interesting

Cute Kid: Hubert (who was added explicitly as the annoying 'cute' kid.)
Wedding: That's the last episode, according to the rag sheets
Inexplicable actor replacement: WELSHIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (ok, granted, it was a guest star, and was done only because James Doohan politely declined to do the Star Trek episode)
So other than that you've got Jumping the Shark, which most folks would call the movies. I'd fine with the show either way. It had a nice run, even if the comedy central episodes didn't quite have that mind blowing awesomeness (which, who knows, maybe after a few years in reruns they'll develop.)

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There are some people that if they don't know, you can't tell 'em.
Re:Good news everyone! by omnichad · 2013-04-22 07:27 · Score: 4, Interesting

I picked it up again from Season 20 when it went to HD. It's hit or miss, but pretty good overall. Definitely not the same show it was 20 years ago, but riffs on pop culture more often in the vein of Family Guy. And I'd still much rather watch The Simpsons than Family Guy.
Re:Good news everyone! by Reverand+Dave · 2013-04-22 08:23 · Score: 4, Interesting

When Futurama first premiered in 2000, it was the most expensive cartoon on air to produce due to the quality and the mix of CG with hand drawn animation. That is part of the reason it was initially cancelled by Fox. It had more to do with the cost than the actual ratings. I don't think that is the case anymore, but still when you watch the opening sequence, realize that there are over 80 layers of animation in just that few second span.

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I got here through a series of tubes
Re: Oh you and your sentimentality. by root_42 · 2013-04-22 08:41 · Score: 3, Interesting

This, this, a thousand times this! "The Late Philip J. Fry" is my favorite Futurama episode. So witty and full of good jokes and quotable lines. ("Just slow it down, I'll shoot Hitler out the window.")
But I must concur, the quality of the episodes varies in the last two seasons. I hope there'll be new, excitong shows around the corner.

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Re:Good news everyone! by amicusNYCL · 2013-04-22 08:43 · Score: 4, Interesting

I apologize for confusing you all of these years. Soviet Russia jokes are from the comedian Yakov Smirnoff, who used Soviet Russia jokes to contrast life under a Communist regime with life in the US. His punchlines were that things in Soviet Russia are opposite from the US. The implication behind my signature is that in the US corporations control the government.

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"Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black