Author Topic: Good news everyone! (Read 1431 times)

pilonv1 · « **on:** June 09, 2009, 08:28:44 PM »

Quote

Comedy Central resurrects 'Futurama'
New episodes begin airing mid-2010

By Nellie Andreeva

June 9, 2009, 05:12 PM ET

Updated: June 9, 2009, 07:14 PM ET
"Futurama" is coming back.

Taking a page from the "Family Guy" resurrection guidebook, the canceled Fox animated comedy is returning with an order from Comedy Central for 26 new episodes to run over two seasons.

"Futurama" creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen already are working on stories for the new batch of episodes of the sci-fi cartoon, slated to premiere on Comedy Central in mid-2010.

Just like with "Family Guy," whose improbable return was triggered by big DVD sales and solid ratings for the show's reruns on Cartoon Network, the performance of "Futurama's" repeats on Comedy Central and on DVD was key to its resurrection.

The 26-episode order from Comedy Central was preceded by four feature-length original "Futurama" specials: "Bender's Big Score," "The Beast With a Billion Backs," "Bender's Game" and "Into the Wild Green Yonder," which have done well on DVD and on Comedy Central. (The most recent special, "Yonder," premieres on Comedy Central in September.)

Comedy Central was happy with the specials and with the 72 produced episodes of "Futurama" it acquired from 20th Century Fox TV in 2006.

"Yet there is nothing like new, self-contained episodes week to week," said Comedy Central's senior vp programming David Bernath. "This is all about reinvigorating the franchise, giving it a new burst of energy.

"Futurama," which aired on Fox for five seasons (from 1999 to 2003) centers on Philip Fry (Billy West), a 25-year-old pizza delivery boy who accidentally freezes himself on December 31, 1999, and wakes up 1,000 years later with a fresh start at life and a "diverse" new group of friends including Leela (Katey Sagal), a tough but lovely one-eyed alien, and Bender (John DiMaggio), a robot who possesses human characteristics and flaws.

When the series returns with originals in 2010, it will be seven years after the show's last original episode aired on Fox. That is a much longer hiatus than the three years "Family Guy" spent on the bench before being summoned back by Fox.

The four "Futurama" specials, produced in the past two-and-a-half years helped bridged the gap, said Groening, who also created the Fox/20th TV long-running animated comedy "The Simpsons."

"It was a great way of keeping the show alive, and one of the great things was that everyone enjoyed doing them, so it's been relatively easy trying to get everyone who was originally on the show to come back," he said.

All key voice cast members are expected to return for the new original episodes of "Futurama," along with the series' core writing team.

Storyline-wise, the new episodes will pick up where the most recent DVD special, "Yonder," took off -- with the main characters fleeing death and flying into the unknown.

But after four epic-in-scope, feature-length films, "what we will try to do is go a little bit back to pure comedy, characters and sci-fi," Cohen said.

For 20th TV, which has the right to shop the new "Futurama" episodes to a broadcast network, which would get first window over Comedy Central, this marks the second time in four years that a studio series has defied the odds and refused to die.

"When we brought back 'Family Guy' several years ago, everyone said that it was a once in a lifetime thing that canceled series stay canceled and cannot be revived," said 20th TV chairmen Gary Newman and Dana Walden. "But 'Futurama' was another series that fans simply demanded we bring back."

Vizzys · « **Reply #1 on:** June 09, 2009, 08:30:30 PM »

yes very good news

Propagandhim · « **Reply #2 on:** June 09, 2009, 08:30:40 PM »

Futurama is to cartoons what Disgaea 7 is to videogames.

duckman2000 · « **Reply #3 on:** June 09, 2009, 08:34:05 PM »

Eh, I'm not sure about this. The series might have been cut a bit short initially, but I'd rather have the memories than a creatively murdered series.

Veidt · « **Reply #4 on:** June 09, 2009, 08:37:32 PM »

Quote from: Propagandhim on June 09, 2009, 08:30:40 PM

Futurama is to cartoons what Disgaea 7 is to videogames.

Are you accusing Futurama of child pronography?!?!?!

BobFromPikeCreek · « **Reply #5 on:** June 09, 2009, 08:37:53 PM »

I only saw Bender's Big Score and I thought it sucked.

FlameOfCallandor · « **Reply #6 on:** June 09, 2009, 08:38:16 PM »

Meh. I want another season or two of Drawn Together.

duckman2000 · « **Reply #7 on:** June 09, 2009, 09:18:17 PM »

Quote from: Spencer on June 09, 2009, 09:09:49 PM

Fuck Futurama, it made me cry.

The dog one?

Bildi · « **Reply #8 on:** June 09, 2009, 10:36:08 PM »

If they can make it good then awesome. Hopefully they don't ass it up.

Olivia Wilde Homo · « **Reply #9 on:** June 09, 2009, 10:40:46 PM »

Quote from: Green Man on June 09, 2009, 09:04:37 PM

Quote from: FlameOfCallandor on June 09, 2009, 08:38:16 PM
Meh. I want another season or two of Drawn Together.

That show sucked.

FOC: Wrong on politics, wrong on cartoons

pilonv1 · « **Reply #10 on:** June 09, 2009, 10:57:45 PM »

how about just wrong on everything?

Tucah · « **Reply #11 on:** June 10, 2009, 12:45:31 AM »

As long as the new episodes are better than the movies, I'm excited.

Great Rumbler · « **Reply #12 on:** June 10, 2009, 01:18:01 AM »

The biggest problem with the movies is that they were movies. And the biggest problem with them being movies is that they never felt like movies. They felt like several random episodes mashed together. So, there ended up being some parts and some parts that weren't that great.

I could definitely see the return to series format bringing back some quality to Futurama.

BlueTsunami · « **Reply #13 on:** June 10, 2009, 01:34:46 AM »

Why am I not surprised FoC likes Drawn Together?

Phoenix Dark · « **Reply #14 on:** June 10, 2009, 02:30:51 AM »

people think Futurama is funny? I did not know that

Flannel Boy · « **Reply #15 on:** June 10, 2009, 02:59:30 AM »

Quote from: Phoenix Dark on June 10, 2009, 02:30:51 AM

people think Futurama is funny? I did not know that

If that's the best you can do, you're going to have to retire from trolling.

Joe Molotov · « **Reply #16 on:** June 10, 2009, 03:43:42 AM »

The movies sucked but I WANT TO BELIEVE!

Phoenix Dark · « **Reply #17 on:** June 10, 2009, 03:49:41 AM »

Quote from: Malek on June 10, 2009, 02:59:30 AM

Quote from: Phoenix Dark on June 10, 2009, 02:30:51 AM
people think Futurama is funny? I did not know that

If that's the best you can do, you're going to have to retire from trolling.

Wasn't trolling lol. Show isn't funny at all

Joe Molotov · « **Reply #18 on:** June 10, 2009, 04:03:00 AM »

Remember the episode with the horse race where it comes down to a quantum finish, and the Professor gets mad because they changed the outcome by measuring it?

Phoenix Dark · « **Reply #19 on:** June 10, 2009, 06:14:56 AM »

Quote from: Jinfash on June 10, 2009, 03:54:34 AM

PD, don't hate the Simpsons too, or haven't seen a single ep?

Yup so I can't hate on it - I wouldn't know what to hate on.

muckhole · « **Reply #20 on:** June 10, 2009, 10:49:54 AM »

I wouldn't think it would be possible in this day and age not to have seen an episode of the Simpsons, even if only by accident.

Kara · « **Reply #21 on:** June 10, 2009, 11:05:21 AM »

Quote from: pilonv1 on June 09, 2009, 10:57:45 PM

how about just wrong on everything?

He knows M:tG.

tehjaybo · « **Reply #22 on:** June 10, 2009, 11:24:56 AM »

Quote from: Karakand on June 10, 2009, 11:05:21 AM

Quote from: pilonv1 on June 09, 2009, 10:57:45 PM
how about just wrong on everything?

He knows M:tG.

This.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I like Drawn Together too. $:-\$

[close]

Ganhyun · « **Reply #23 on:** June 10, 2009, 02:13:22 PM »

This is good news, if its done right.

Cyanista · « **Reply #24 on:** June 10, 2009, 06:51:21 PM »

Futurama the show is hilarious. Of course, they don't pause after the jokes and add a laugh track, so it was doomed to be deemed unfunny by plebians. Much like Arrested Development.

OHNOES you mean I have to have an attention span longer than that of a gnat to get the humor? CRAI CRAI.

Guybrush Threepwood · « **Reply #25 on:** June 10, 2009, 08:07:47 PM »

Quote from: Phoenix Dark on June 10, 2009, 02:30:51 AM

people think Futurama is funny? I did not know that

It's not really that funny.

But you feel really satisfied after you watch an episode.

Dickie Dee · « **Reply #26 on:** June 10, 2009, 08:59:41 PM »

Quote from: Phoenix Dark on June 10, 2009, 02:30:51 AM

people think Futurama is funny? I did not know that

holy fuck

News:

Author Topic: Good news everyone! (Read 1431 times)