Futurama

[Kurupt]

Futurama, "The Best Animated Series to get Canceled"

Futurama- is an American animated television series created by Matt Groening (creator of The Simpsons) and David X. Cohen (also a writer for The Simpsons). Set in New New York City in the 31st century, it was introduced on the Fox Network and received airplay between March 28, 1999, and August 10, 2003. Repeat episodes are currently broadcast on the Adult Swim segment of Cartoon Network and the Too Funny To Sleep segment of TBS in the United States, on Teletoon in Canada, on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom plus Sky One, Sky Two and Sky Three in the UK and Republic of Ireland, on Fox8 and Network Ten in Australia (previously aired on the Seven Network), on Pro 7 in Germany and on Canal Fox in Latin America, including Colombia, Argentina, Mexico , etc.

The series begins with Philip J. Fry, a New York City slacker and pizza delivery guy, who cryogenically freezes himself by accident on New Year's Eve, 1999. He is defrosted one thousand years later on New Year's Eve, 2999, and finds himself in New New York City. Fry thinks he has a chance at a new life, only to get himself permanently assigned a career as a delivery boy. Fry's attempts to escape from his now-mandatory job assignment end at Planet Express, a small intergalactic package delivery company run by his distantly descended nephew, where he is hired on as a delivery boy. The series covers the adventures of Fry and his colleagues as they travel around the universe making deliveries on behalf of Planet Express.

The futuristic time frame allowed the show's writers to be creative with their humor by introducing ideas and events from pulp science fiction of the mid 20th century into the series.

NEWS:

Possible revival

Even though there were no official words on the revival of the show, there have been rumors of it since the news broke that Family Guy was being revived. On May 22, 2005, the Can't Get Enough Futuramawebsite carried the following unofficial post, attributed to Billy West's discussion board:

Well, I spoke to David X. Cohen [...] and he said that they did have talks with the top guys at FOX and they were extremely impressed with the sales of the Futurama DVDs. The idea was to make a Futurama movie right to DVD and then a 2nd and a 3rd [...]

In July 2005, Billy West seemed to have confirmed a "straight to DVD" Futurama movie on a video blog. Several months later, Matt Groening told The Sydney Morning Herald that he "has faith in the relaunch of Futurama." He stated that the Fox Network did not understand the show, and he discussed the possiblity of the show's return and a straight-to-DVD movie. The Internet Movie Database has a Futurama movie page, which claims that the movie will be released in 2007. The IMDb once had a plot summary, but Can't Get Enough Futurama reported that the plot summary was submitted by a user who wished to show that the IMDb would report "unconfirmed rumours." The summary has since been deleted [1]. In January 2006, Variety reported that there have been negotiations to bring back Futurama as a television show, though only a 'limited' amount of episodes may be produced [2].

On January 19, 2006, Billy West confirmed (but this is yet to be confirmed by fox) on his message board that four Futurama direct-to-DVD movies will begin production in July or August 2006:

HERE'S GREAT NEWS! Here's the official word on Futurama!! David X. phoned me about an hour ago and said that this Futurama project is a done deal! Here's the word from DX--- There are 4 DVD movies that we'll start recording at the end of July or August. Full feature length FUTURAMA movies. Everybody is excited to get back together--as I am! Into the Future, Billy

On 16th February it was mentioned on the British television program This Morning by presenter Paul Ross that Futurama would return, with episodes premiering later this year in the US and next year in the UK.

Characters

From left to right: Dr. Zoidberg, Professor Farnsworth, Bender, Amy, Hermes, Leela, and Fry

Fry- is a pizza delivery boy, cryogenically frozen at the beginning of the New Year, 2000 and revived just in time to usher in the year 3000. He seeks out his closest living relative, Professor Farnsworth, who employs Fry as a delivery boy at Planet Express. Much of the show revolves around Fry's attempts to adapt to the 31st century and his interaction with his friends, the rest of the staff of Planet Express.

Turanga Leela a.k.a. Leela (Katey Sagal)- Leela is the captain of Planet Express's ship and usually the most disciplined member of the Planet Express crew. Orphaned at birth, she grew up believing that she was an alien of an unknown race, but is revealed later in the show to be the child of outcast sewer mutants who left her at a minimum security orphanarium to give her a better life. She spends much of her time rejecting Fry's attempts to win her heart, although numerous hints were given that she would eventually give in.

Bender Bending Rodriguez a.k.a. Bender (John DiMaggio)- Bender is a foul-mouthed, drinking, smoking, kleptomaniacal, misanthropic robot built in "America's heartland": Tijuana, Mexico. Built to bend girders, he abandoned his job while he was helping Fry to escape. His antenna made contact with an electric circuit and altered his programming, allowing him to bend for deconstructive purposes.

Professor Hubert Farnsworth (Billy West)- Farnsworth is Fry's great-great-...-great grand-nephew who started Planet Express to fund his mad scientist-like experiments and inventions. In his 160s, he wears comically thick glasses, has bad posture, and frequently forgets to whom or about what he is talking. His catchphrase of "Good news, everyone!" is usually followed by horrible news. He also had the catchphrase "but I am already in my pajamas" in the first few episodes, but this was abandoned.

Dr. John Zoidberg a.k.a. Zoidberg (Billy West)- Zoidberg is a lobster-like alien with questionable eating habits from Decapod 10 and the staff doctor of Planet Express. He speaks with an accent most commonly associated with native Yiddish speakers. Although a self-proclaimed expert on humans, he constantly provides incompetent medical care and mistakes Fry for a woman when they first meet.

Hermes Conrad (Phil LaMarr)- Hermes is the Jamaican manager of Planet Express. An ex-olympic limboer and a bureaucrat and proud of it, he is a workaholic and a stickler for doing everything according to regulations, especially if it involves paperwork and filing, or if it involves a requisition to a beat.

Amy Wong (Lauren Tom) - Amy is an intern at Planet Express, and the Professor keeps her around since she has the same blood type as him. She is also heir to half of Mars, constantly pestered by her parents about their lack of grandchildren. She is clumsy and prone to overusing 31st century slang (ex. "Splah"). She was born on Mars, but she is ethnically Chinese, and curses in Cantonese at various points during the episodes.

See also: List of recurring characters from Futurama and List of recurring robot characters from Futurama

The end

While Futurama ended after its fifth broadcast season, there were actually only four production seasons. Due to numerous preemptions and other schedule shuffles, Fox had enough new episodes backlogged for another full year of shows. These delays account for the difference in Fox's broadcast season number and production season number. (Note: The production season forms the basis for the DVD and video sets.) The 72nd and final episode, called The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings, aired in the USA on August 10, 2003. With this episode, the fifth television season (fourth production season) and the whole series ended. The episode was not a true series finale however, and though many plot issues were resolved in the last season, the final episode was in no way a clear "conclusion" to the series. The last line of dialogue (recorded months after the episode was taped, after the show's cancellation), aptly enough, was "Don't stop playing, Fry... I want to see how it ends."

Several television stations are currently airing the series in syndication. In the United States, Futurama can be seen on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, usually playing adjacent to another (once) cancelled series, Family Guy. On October 28, 2005, Comedy Central announced that it had signed a multi-year deal to broadcast the series, paying a reported $400,000 each for all 72 episodes, presumably beginning when Cartoon Network's broadcast rights end in 2007. In Britain, the series was picked up by Sky One shortly after its US premiere, and Channel 4 later acquired terrestrial broadcast rights.

Since Futurama's cancellation, Matt Groening's The Simpsons series has made several references to Futurama:

Fraudcast News: A person jumps off a cliff, screaming "Why did they cancel Futurama?"

Bart vs. Lisa vs. The Third Grade: Bender appears in one of Bart Simpson's dreams.

My Big Fat Geek Wedding: Matt Groening appears as himself (animated) and was introduced at a convention as the creator of the hit show Futurama. He then signs Bender dolls and draws a sketch of Fry for Bart's friend Milhouse.

Future-Drama: Bart and Lisa Simpson explore their teenage years with the help of Professor Frink. During this sequence, Homer and Bart drive through a "quantum tunnel" where they shift dimensions temporarily. When they exit, Bender is in the car with them and says, "All right! You guys are my new best friends!" Homer then says, "You wish, loser!" and throws him out of the back of the hovercar, breaking him.

Similarly, Futurama references The Simpsons. In an early episode of Futurama, the crew are sent to destroy a huge ball of garbage in space by placing a bomb on it. Bender finds a Bart Simpson doll which says "Eat my shorts" when its string is pulled. Bender eats the shorts, then says "mmmm... shorts" imitating the popular mannerism used by Homer. Groening revealed in the DVD audio commentary for this episode that he intended The Simpsons to be a television show in the Futurama universe, and conversely Futurama was a television show in The Simpsons universe, which is somewhat confirmed in the Simpsons episode in which he guest stars.

There is also a reference to Futurama in the Family Guy movie. Stewie, when walking down the red carpet to the premiere, is stopped by various reporters asking questions. The last reporter asks "Stewie, do you know if Fox has any plans to bring back Futurama?" Stewie then asks "What magazine are you from?" and the reporter replies Entertainment Weekly. Stewie then angrily snaps the reporter's neck, killing him. It should be noted that Entertainment Weekly disparaged Family Guy early in production, leading to the show's animosity towards the magazine.

(for more info go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futurama)

(thanx to www.TV.com for info & wikipediafor info. & answers.com)

Please do not post images side by side that total more than 600 pixels in width &

Hotlinking is not allowed - edited by impel69

[SympathysSilhouette]

Fox kept the wrong show. At the time they cancelled it, Futurama was just about to peak, while the Simpsons was already past their peak.

Edited April 15, 2006 by LimaFan

[Kurupt]

^True but I feel they could of kept both shows, I mean Futurama is freakin Funny what more do you want??(did you read the whole thing??)

Hotlinking is not allowed - edited by impel69

Edited April 15, 2006 by impel69

[EvilOtto]

i have to agree futurama was a great show and it was freakin funny, it should never be canceled

[Kurupt]

Thanx for a great post, its true- should have never be canceled but they might be bringing it back, always good news to a fan (like me)

Edited April 15, 2006 by Kurupt

[EvilOtto]

i wish they bring it back, that would be a good decision. Futurama is a great show, its the show that will carry on after the simpsons finish there legacy.

[Kurupt]

They Might!!! they need all the people back first tought.. thats going to be hard

[EvilOtto]

i hope so

[Kurupt]

hope so too

[red_ed]

Simpsons is past it. They've done everything possible. FOX or whoever should learn to give up. Quit while they're ahead.

Give us more Futurama!!

[EvilOtto]

thats the spirit

[red_ed]

where's your bunny?

[Kurupt]

If they brought back Family Guy, then bring back Futurama!!

[EvilOtto]

TRUE

[EvilOtto]

where's your bunny?

mine died

LOL

[SympathysSilhouette]

Bender is probably the greatest character ever in a Groening animated series. Zoidberg had his moments as well.

[Kurupt]

tHeir both great ...funny wise of course

[SympathysSilhouette]

Bender was love at first sight. Zoidberg had to grow on me.

[Kurupt]

I think Zoidberg was funny allalong, Bender too, first episode I knew this show would shine!!! even the corus is great

Edited April 17, 2006 by Kurupt

[EvilOtto]

i love zoidberg

woot woot woot woot