Possible return of Futurama

theblinddevil

New member
Since Futurama was cancelled a few years back, the dvd sales have been enormous apparently. I was reading an article earlier that said Futurama may be coming back!

I hope it does as it is definatly the best cartoon on the planet. It is a very popular show so if it did come back i think it would do well... we can only hope. What are anyones thoughts on this?
 

admin

Retired Administrator
theblinddevil said:
Since Futurama was cancelled a few years back, the dvd sales have been enormous apparently. I was reading an article earlier that said Futurama may be coming back!

I hope it does as it is definatly the best cartoon on the planet. It is a very popular show so if it did come back i think it would do well... we can only hope. What are anyones thoughts on this?

I hope so, I really enjoy watching Futurama, I actually find it funnier than the Simpsons sometimes. I am suprised it got cancelled in the first place really! :D
 

Dabney

Deutscher Moderator
admin said:
I hope so, I really enjoy watching Futurama, I actually find it funnier than the Simpsons sometimes. I am suprised it got cancelled in the first place really! :D

That's exactly what I think, too...
 

totti56

New member
yeah same here, i didnt' know it was cancelled either but i'm a fan of it, i'm also from england i watch if on sky one and channel 4
My fave character is Dr Zoidberg
zoidberg.png
 

osoq

New member
All though I'm not a fan of Futurama I figured I'd show you this article since I assume it might be of interest to you.

It seems to be taking the similiar route of Family Guy did...cancelled --> strong dvd sales --> uncancelled

---

http://tinyurl.com/7sdja
(Sydney Morning Herald website)

Off the planet

By Michael Idato
December 12, 2005

Nearly four years after it was cancelled, the popularity of Futurama on
DVD could breathe life back into the animated television series. On the
subject of a rumoured resurrection, creator Matt Groening, best known
for his other animated hit, The Simpsons, says, intriguingly: "You never
know."

Such a trail was blazed in 2004 by another animated series, Family Guy.
Fuelled by DVD sales and high-rating reruns, it spawned a direct-to-DVD
film and two seasons of television episodes.

The move caught the television industry by surprise, and left several
lost properties, including Futurama, ripe with possibility.

"Three months ago, I would have said we were going to start tomorrow,"
says writer David X. Cohen, who collaborated with Groening on Futurama.
"And one month ago I would also have said we were going to start
tomorrow. So ..." He pauses. "My current estimate is that we're starting
tomorrow."

The series, relaunched on Ten earlier this month (it previously aired on
Seven), was something Groening and Cohen tinkered with in the writer's
room at The Simpsons for more than two years. Cohen's background was in
computer science, but both, Groening recalls, had a passion for science
fiction. "What Matt is saying," Cohen interjects, "is that I stood out
as the nerd on The Simpsons writing staff, and that is really saying
something."

In the series, pizza delivery boy Philip J. Fry (Billy West) is
accidentally frozen in a cryogenic facility and revived in 2999. Signing
on with Planet Express, a space courier service, he befriends a one-eyed
alien, Leela (Katey Sagal), an alcohol-powered robot, Bender (John Di
Maggio), office manager Hermes Conrad (Phil LaMarr) and Dr Zoidberg
(also voiced by West), a lobster-like alien.

Sitting in his office, an oasis of organised chaos in the relative calm
of Los Angeles's 20th Century Fox film lot, Groening concedes their
partnership was lucky but unlikely. "Not everyone wants to tell stories
about robots," he says. Cohen adds from across the room: "I only want to
tell stories about robots."

In Futurama, Cohen says, they hoped to "incorporate all the craziest
ideas from science fiction, but we also wanted to have a point and
reflect on life today. I think on our good days we had it both ways."

Their biggest obstacle was being taken seriously, Groening says. "We had
this show that looked goofy, with robots and aliens, but was actually
very sophisticated. Having people overcome the hurdle of taking us
seriously was something we didn't anticipate. Interestingly, it was my
original worry on The Simpsons, where I felt for sure kids would watch,
but I didn't know if adults would give it a chance. What I love about
the reaction to Futurama these days is that people who did give it a
chance and fell in love with it are still ardent fans."

Australia is at the vanguard of that popularity, Cohen says. "I made the
mistake of giving out my email on one of the DVD commentaries and it was
staggering. Loads of email came in, most of it from Australia, so I know
we're popular there. Either that or you all have a lot of time on your
hands."

Both Futurama and The Simpsons, Groening says, share an ambition to tell
timeless jokes. "Both shows are trying to do something which will knock
people out the first time they watch it, but will also hold up years
later," he says. "Jokes that make sense now, and will also make sense 10
or 20 years from now."

He concedes, however, that Futurama's US network Fox "never understood"
the show. The series was cancelled in May 2002 and its final episode,
the 72nd, aired in the US in August 2003. The end came, however, at a
fortuitous time. "We were cancelled just at the time the DVD market blew
up and became huge," Cohen says. "It's far and away the No. 1 factor in
a resuscitation if we do have one."

A return to television or, better, a direct-to-DVD feature would be a
natural transition for the show, Cohen says. "The more seriously we took
the epic nature of the setting, the better the episodes turned out. For
that reason, we always thought that would bode well for a movie because
then we could take that to its extreme and do something we couldn't do
in 22 minutes."
 
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