e9th was one of several readers to write with an update to the Futurama rumors we discussed earlier this week:
"TVWeek reports that 20th Century Fox Television and Comedy Central have officially confirmed a deal for 26 new episodes of Futurama, due to the strong ratings of its reruns and feature-length specials. Matt Groening is quoted as saying, 'We're thrilled Futurama is coming back. We now have only 25,766 episodes to make before we catch up with Bender and Fry in the year 3000.' According to the press release, the episodes will begin to come out in mid-2010."
I think it was said best in the words of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force:
Meatwad: Why don't you ask that TV if he'd mind showing me some Futurama? I like me some Futurama. Master Shake: Well, now we're too damn cheap to receive it, so go the hell over to Carl Central and watch it to your heart's content. Meatwad: Carl gets Futurama? Master Shake: He didn't even want it until we started watching it
For some odd reason, they had only been looking at DVR rating in three day blocks. Some smart person decided, hey, why not 5 day blocks so we can look at the weekend.
Lo and behold, a lot of people in this demographic watch the shows at odd times during the weekends. This is why despite low Nielson rating Dollhouse was renewed.
I suspect a couple of things are being learned right now. 1) People like to watch on their own terms. 2) Ad skipping isn't as bad as they had thought.
It takes MASSIVE amounts of energy to send things back through time. You can't just send things or people willy nilly. Deciding to send something or someone back is a last-ditch effort, and is tactically a very risky thing to try.
Skynet and the machines have a much better handle on it than the humans do. It is likely that the human resistance seized time travel tech from the machines, and reverse engineered it.
The machines decided to send the T-800 back to kill Sarah Connor, as the human resistance led b
I'll have to disagree with you there. In my opinion the final half of the season was easily some of the best Whedon I've ever seen. The first half was crap, but it was worth it to get to the second half.
Huh. Now my post shows numbers for the ol and round bullets for the ul. When I posted it, it showed just L shapes for both. Maybe someone saw my post and fixed the CSS. Either that, or it's a massive coincidence since it's been broken for several weeks (months?) and was fixed within two hours of my post...
By the way, am I the only person who thinks that Alan Tudyk deserves to be the real star of "Dollhouse"? In two episodes he out-acted Eliza Dushku's entire season.
Bender's Big Score The Beast With A Billion Backs Bender's Big Game Into The Wild Green Yonder
And I wouldn't say the writers were out of practice, so much as they weren't used to writing a 90-minute feature-length piece (the same problem is evident in the Simpsons movie). Futurama excelled in 22-minute installments. It'll be nice to see them return to that format.
Bender's Game was awesome and hilarious. Most Futurama "fans" who say they don't like this aren't actual Futurama fans. They're the "fans" that came along after the show was canceled, and who have only watched the show selectively. These people do not get/appreciate the many, many nerdy references. This movies was pure Futurama.
The weakest of the four is The Beast with a Billion Backs.
What got me about it was that it had more plot holes than Fry's novel in The Day the Earth Stood Stupid.
* The professor's plan to deal with high fuel prices is... to destroy fuel? So that people will come up with something better? How are they going to do that with everything shut down? Why not just invent something better? I mean, he runs a delivery company; he has the most to lose.
* Doesn't Dark Matter "weigh as much as a thousand suns"? What are people doing handling it like it's not
Are you referring to the standards which increase the per-capita consumption of gasoline?
Oh, god, another Jevonite...
Right. And if our cars get 300 miles per gallon, I'll suddenly start driving 120,000 miles per year for no particular reason. Have you ever looked at a graph [peak-oil-crisis.com] of the US's oil consumption? See that one major time in modern US history where there was a protracted drop in oil consumption? There was a dip during the 1973 oil crisis, but then consumption kept growing (despite oil prices plateau
I'm convinced Futurama was not canceled for any reason within its power. The powers that be at Fox seemed to think that moving its time slot around so no one knew when it was on was a great idea. I don't know how the politics work there within the scheduling and piloting areas of Fox but someone must have had a problem with Futurama.
The show had a great format. You had a mechanism for sending the crew anywhere where Professor Farnsworth would walk in saying "Good news everyone... you're going to planet X to deliver package Y" with optional information about said planet. From there, they could go anywhere. Using a mechanism like this was a lot like Star Trek (although better than just Trek's "for the sake of discovery" in my opinion but I know that's a monkey shit fight I can't win). And Star Trek (or some form of it) is still going strong on that same idea. Hell, I'll bet there's some pulp sci-fi series in nickel paperback form long ago that used the idea that the universe has an uncountable number of planets so there's an uncountable number of plot lines to keep my readers entertained and me employed.
And Futurama is animated so you're not limited by budgets and CGI.
I think the writers did a good job of keeping multiple plot arcs up and concentrating on them every now and then to keep the fans happy. I think the first movie (Bender's Big Score) was a clear indication of how much they value development in plot arcs and connections between episodes.
To compare it to a show far past it's prime and in a similar format: The Simpsons. The Simpsons has explored every possible crevice and building in Springfield to center on... from the town sundial to the quarry to the statue of Jedediah Springfield to Springfield Gorge to the old folks home to the... they have stretched that town out so badly that recent episodes seem to seep more into neighboring towns for a desperate change of pace. You wouldn't have this problem with Futurama.
Sure, Futurama could jump the shark. But I bet it will last a lot longer than other series if given the chance. Sure, Futurama could end up worse than before the break--much like Family Guy. But I think Family Guy depended too much on edgy questionable humor and when it came back and still had that humor it just wasn't as shocking. And the gimmicks and long digresses got old and tedious. I don't think Futurama relies on these as much as Family Guy.
Anyways, that's my largely opinionated two cents about a show I knew nothing about when it was airing and found it immensely enjoyable years after it was canceled. That's the only show I can say that about. The movies were ok but nothing like the TV formatted shows. Here's to hoping it's just as good as when it left off Season Four!
For the record normally I would complain about lack of originality in a situation like this but after watching some new shows on TV I don't care. Who ever is pitching/accepting these shows like The War at Home and 'til Death should be shot.
"The morons who cancelled us not only got fired, but also got beaten! Badly!"
The biggest problem plaguing Fox was the constant shuffling of executives in charge of the schedule. Because the new guy in place feared that a succesful show implemented by its predecessor would not give HIM credit, he'd just move it around, keeping prime slots for his own pet projects. Fast forward six months, change execs again, repeat until your schedule is a stinker parade surrounding a few scant barely palatable options. Good shows get lost in the cracks.
"This is executive Alpha, programmed to like things he's seen before."
"Hey hey hey!"
"This is executive Beta, programmed to underestimate the audience."
"It's funny, but how will it go with farmers?"
"And this is executive Gamma, programmed to roll dice to determine the schedule."
*rolls dice* "MORE REALITY SHOWS!"
"Family Guy" is the Denzel Washington of animated series. At one point, it was fresh and original.
But then it became huge. Now everyone loves it because it's "Family Guy." Stewie's gonna say something gay, there's gonna be thirty "like that time I was..." jokes that are sorta mildly amusing. Every once it a while it steps out and does something fresh (Blue Harvest), but then it's back into the routine. Or the 'new' just gets recycled into the routine (like the Shawshank parody.)
Denzel Washington does the same thing as an actor. He's played "Morally right guy that the establishment doesn't like / believe / trust" in like twenty movies now. Every once in a while he steps out and it's fantastic (Training Day), but then he turns around and makes "Man on Fire" three more times for the paychecks.
Family Guy's references are so fucking dialed-in that they actually offend me. They copy scenes from movies so often, with nothing added, and for no reason other than to fill time that I don't see how anyone could consider them a reference, tribute, or homage. It's fucking plagiarism.
They drag out "jokes" so long and so often that "dragging out a joke way too long" has BECOME their new joke, and they've dragged THAT joke out way too long.
And internet memes? Really?
And taking pot shots at the Simpsons? Stealing Chuck Mangione and Feels So Good from King of the Hill (AND not referring to Chuck Mangione by name at all, AND calling the instrument a trumpet when it's NOT a fucking trumpet!)?
Seth McFarlane is a fucking hack who talks just to hear the sound of his own voice. We'll have three shows by him soon.
Here's how it goes.
SCENE: Writers sitting around a table talking about the 80s.
Writer 1: "Hey you remember <thing from the 80s>? That was so cool!"
Writer 2: "Yeah, lol!"
Writer 3: "What? I don't remember that."
Writer 1: "You don't know <thing>? OMG it was the best! It had <thing> and <thing>!"
Writer 2: "Here look I found it on the internet!"
Writer 3: "Oh yeah, I vaguely remember this. But it didn't have <thing> and it was actually just a <thing>."
Writer 2 (reading Wikipedia): "Oh yeah, I guess you 're right. BUT OMG WE SHOULD SO USE THIS FOR THE SHOW!"
And Futurama is animated so you're not limited by budgets and CGI.
I'm certain all the artists they have animating the show would be happy to hear that they're all working for free, since they're obviously not included in your budget plan.
And Futurama DOES use a lot of CGI effects (i.e. the New New York skyline shots). They're just not too obvious and they fit in with the hand-drawn stuff.
What does it for me is that Futurama utilizes some fairly intelligent humor, without going so far as to set itself above or beyond its audience. It also successfully mixes in small amounts of shock and surprise humor (ala Family Guy, but usually more subtle). I think they've also got just the right number/mix of characters. It lets them change things up without constantly introducing new people or wearing out and overextending their main characters. Their use of stereotypes and cliches helps them keep t
It's been said before and is worth repeating: The movies were 45 minutes of material crammed into 90 minutes of airtime. The 22 minute format is the best way for the series to continue.
Now, if they can just treat the movies as non-canon, all will be right with the world. New Futurama is always welcome.
Now, if they can just treat the movies as non-canon, all will be right with the world. New Futurama is always welcome.
The end of Green Yonder has them SPOILER move into another universe/SPOILER, with just the ship and crew. They can therefore ignore pretty much everything done before.
It would be hilarious if the first episode of the relaunch had all of the characters drawn as if they were many years old trying to play the part of their younger counterparts. Also, maybe there would be a new kid who was added to freshen things up. He would supposedly be around Fry's age, but the 'actor' would be 30 years younger. Their mission would end up restoring the glory days.
This will be a reboot of Futurama with a new cast, and more action (and sex) to excite a younger more modern audience. The Planet Express spaceship's bridge will look like the Apple Store, Leela will be having a secret affair with Bender. It will be shot in realistic shakey-cam. And there will be lots of lens flare...
Really? I wanna see that! Lets get Dot to play Leela. Phong will play the professor (Imagine the professor with a chinese accent and speaking in riddles). Bob will have to be Fry I suppose, with like a -100 intelligence. Matrix can play Bender, AndrAIa should be Amy Wong. I think it would be fun to make Megabyte play Zapp Brannigan, and of course Hexidecimal is MoM. SCSI can be Nibbler. And just for kicks we'll have Turbo play Kiff. Lets make lil' Enzo play Kiff's & Amy's offspring...
I really like Futurama; I have all four DVD sets and the four movies. However, I think this series should rest in peace. It's over.
The series was great and got progressively better as time went on. However, if the movies are any indication the revived series will be crap. Each movie was worse than the last. They weren't particularly creative with the stories and overall the writing overwrought and not compelling. There was so much untapped potential in the series but instead the movies degraded into pathetic, poorly executed fan service. Some jokes were quite funny but otherwise I felt like they were trying too hard to recreate Family Guy and Adult Swim's brand of humor. And probably the most obnoxious part was the constant environmentalist proselytizing. Some episodes used Al Gore and that theme to great effect but Bender's Game, in particular, was about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the crotch.
However, I am a sucker for Futurama, so I'll definitely watch. But if it ends up being the same kind of crap I saw in the movies I wont be watching for long.
One of the things that was cool about Futurama was it broke the Simpsons 'family animated sitcom' mold. Giving it a different feel and of course many different options for the writers.
Since there is always the comparison to Family Guy keep in mind that Family Guy was just another family animated sitcom. In fact many people have gone far out of their way to point this out as if other non-animated sitcoms have not been doing the same thing for many years. We just had virtually no other points of reference when looking at prime time animation.
As an example look at American Dad. It's a family animated sitcom but it changes up the: dad is fat and does wacky stuff all the time, mom is very well intentioned and ignores all the flaws of her dysfunctional family, kids do stuff, blah blah. Instead, due to some...suggestions...from Fox they made the dad a wacky wing-nut, the mother a blond ditz wing-nut enabler, and the kids who do stuff with the added fact that like the Simpsons the girl is the token left wing voice. (And I don't want to get into the politics of American Dad but there is plenty more to be said about it's dynamic but that is beyond the scope of what I'm trying to say here. Suffice to say I find it hilarious how they have left politics alone in S4.)
The uniqueness of Futurama's sitcom environment made it very open and different than the other 3 prime time family centered ones. We can all only hope that the writers working on it's return will embrace that as well as the original ones did.
3 and 4 disappointments? Leela's Homeworld, Jurassic Bark, The Why of Fry, Roswell that Ends Well, Godfellas, The Sting, The Farnsworth Paradox... plenty of episodes in those seasons that make them worthwhile...and I could probably come up with more if I had an episode list handy.
Actually, it's The Farnsworth Parabox [wikipedia.org]. It had boxes! And a PAIR of them! HA! And then there were more than two boxes, but let's forget about that for the moment.
Series four gave us The Farnsworth Parabox, The Sting, 300 Big Boys and The Devils Hands are Idle Playthings, all of which were awesome.
Also, more importantly, which writers dropped off the show in seasons three and four that you think were funny and sharp? Given the writers credits in Wikipedia suggest that almost all contributors in the first two seasons wrote episodes in three and four I'm not really sure who you're referring to:
Awesome... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Awesome... (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Re:Awesome... (Score:5, Funny)
I think it was said best in the words of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force:
Meatwad: Why don't you ask that TV if he'd mind showing me some Futurama? I like me some Futurama.
Master Shake: Well, now we're too damn cheap to receive it, so go the hell over to Carl Central and watch it to your heart's content.
Meatwad: Carl gets Futurama?
Master Shake: He didn't even want it until we started watching it
Parent
Sounds like Fox has finally got its act together. (Score:5, Insightful)
Lessons learned:
Thinking like this is what saved Dollhouse.
Not true, this is a result of ratings (Score:5, Insightful)
For some odd reason, they had only been looking at DVR rating in three day blocks. Some smart person decided, hey, why not 5 day blocks so we can look at the weekend.
Lo and behold, a lot of people in this demographic watch the shows at odd times during the weekends.
This is why despite low Nielson rating Dollhouse was renewed.
I suspect a couple of things are being learned right now.
1) People like to watch on their own terms.
2) Ad skipping isn't as bad as they had thought.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
It takes MASSIVE amounts of energy to send things back through time. You can't just send things or people willy nilly. Deciding to send something or someone back is a last-ditch effort, and is tactically a very risky thing to try.
Skynet and the machines have a much better handle on it than the humans do. It is likely that the human resistance seized time travel tech from the machines, and reverse engineered it.
The machines decided to send the T-800 back to kill Sarah Connor, as the human resistance led b
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Unfortunately, Dollhouse is crap. Firefly, on the other hand...
Re:Sounds like Fox has finally got its act togethe (Score:4, Interesting)
Parent
Re:Sounds like Fox has finally got its act togethe (Score:5, Funny)
3. 3. HTML ordered lists already number themselves.
Parent
Re:Sounds like Fox has finally got its act togethe (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3)
By the way, am I the only person who thinks that Alan Tudyk deserves to be the real star of "Dollhouse"? In two episodes he out-acted Eliza Dushku's entire season.
Good news, everyone! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Good news, everyone! (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Hope they warm up before starting (Score:4, Interesting)
the two movies that followed the series felt like the writers and voice actors were out of practice. That said, this is Good News! indeed.
Re:Hope they warm up before starting (Score:5, Insightful)
Two movies? Try four:
Bender's Big Score
The Beast With A Billion Backs
Bender's Big Game
Into The Wild Green Yonder
And I wouldn't say the writers were out of practice, so much as they weren't used to writing a 90-minute feature-length piece (the same problem is evident in the Simpsons movie). Futurama excelled in 22-minute installments. It'll be nice to see them return to that format.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Bender's Game was awesome and hilarious. Most Futurama "fans" who say they don't like this aren't actual Futurama fans. They're the "fans" that came along after the show was canceled, and who have only watched the show selectively. These people do not get/appreciate the many, many nerdy references. This movies was pure Futurama.
The weakest of the four is The Beast with a Billion Backs.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
What got me about it was that it had more plot holes than Fry's novel in The Day the Earth Stood Stupid.
* The professor's plan to deal with high fuel prices is... to destroy fuel? So that people will come up with something better? How are they going to do that with everything shut down? Why not just invent something better? I mean, he runs a delivery company; he has the most to lose.
* Doesn't Dark Matter "weigh as much as a thousand suns"? What are people doing handling it like it's not
Re:Hope they warm up before starting (Score:5, Funny)
"...solving the problem once and for all."
"But-"
"ONCE AND FOR ALL!"
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Are you referring to the standards which increase the per-capita consumption of gasoline?
Oh, god, another Jevonite...
Right. And if our cars get 300 miles per gallon, I'll suddenly start driving 120,000 miles per year for no particular reason. Have you ever looked at a graph [peak-oil-crisis.com] of the US's oil consumption? See that one major time in modern US history where there was a protracted drop in oil consumption? There was a dip during the 1973 oil crisis, but then consumption kept growing (despite oil prices plateau
More Than Deserves a Second Chance (Score:5, Interesting)
The show had a great format. You had a mechanism for sending the crew anywhere where Professor Farnsworth would walk in saying "Good news everyone
And Futurama is animated so you're not limited by budgets and CGI.
I think the writers did a good job of keeping multiple plot arcs up and concentrating on them every now and then to keep the fans happy. I think the first movie (Bender's Big Score) was a clear indication of how much they value development in plot arcs and connections between episodes.
To compare it to a show far past it's prime and in a similar format: The Simpsons. The Simpsons has explored every possible crevice and building in Springfield to center on
Sure, Futurama could jump the shark. But I bet it will last a lot longer than other series if given the chance. Sure, Futurama could end up worse than before the break--much like Family Guy. But I think Family Guy depended too much on edgy questionable humor and when it came back and still had that humor it just wasn't as shocking. And the gimmicks and long digresses got old and tedious. I don't think Futurama relies on these as much as Family Guy.
Anyways, that's my largely opinionated two cents about a show I knew nothing about when it was airing and found it immensely enjoyable years after it was canceled. That's the only show I can say that about. The movies were ok but nothing like the TV formatted shows. Here's to hoping it's just as good as when it left off Season Four!
For the record normally I would complain about lack of originality in a situation like this but after watching some new shows on TV I don't care. Who ever is pitching/accepting these shows like The War at Home and 'til Death should be shot.
Re:More Than Deserves a Second Chance (Score:5, Informative)
And Futurama is animated so you're not limited by budgets and CGI.
Futurama is animated using digital ink and paint techniques. So, yes, by its definition it would be CGI.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re:More Than Deserves a Second Chance (Score:5, Funny)
"The morons who cancelled us not only got fired, but also got beaten! Badly!"
The biggest problem plaguing Fox was the constant shuffling of executives in charge of the schedule. Because the new guy in place feared that a succesful show implemented by its predecessor would not give HIM credit, he'd just move it around, keeping prime slots for his own pet projects. Fast forward six months, change execs again, repeat until your schedule is a stinker parade surrounding a few scant barely palatable options. Good shows get lost in the cracks.
"This is executive Alpha, programmed to like things he's seen before."
"Hey hey hey!"
"This is executive Beta, programmed to underestimate the audience."
"It's funny, but how will it go with farmers?"
"And this is executive Gamma, programmed to roll dice to determine the schedule."
*rolls dice* "MORE REALITY SHOWS!"
Parent
Re:More Than Deserves a Second Chance (Score:5, Funny)
"It's funny, but how will it go with farmers?"
Correct quote: ""This is executive Beta, programmed to underestimate middle America." "It's funny, but will it get them off their tractors?"
Loss of 20 geek points. Please complete three Windows ME to Vista upgrades as penance.
Parent
Re:More Than Deserves a Second Chance (Score:4, Funny)
Please complete three Windows ME to Vista upgrades as penance.
Can't I just take over boulder duty from Sysyphus instead? Then I'd be done sometime this millenia at least!
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Hover dolly.
Loss of 100 geek points and 1000 pedant points.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
GAME SHOWS ARE BACK
Re:More Than Deserves a Second Chance (Score:5, Interesting)
"Family Guy" is the Denzel Washington of animated series. At one point, it was fresh and original.
But then it became huge. Now everyone loves it because it's "Family Guy." Stewie's gonna say something gay, there's gonna be thirty "like that time I was..." jokes that are sorta mildly amusing. Every once it a while it steps out and does something fresh (Blue Harvest), but then it's back into the routine. Or the 'new' just gets recycled into the routine (like the Shawshank parody.)
Denzel Washington does the same thing as an actor. He's played "Morally right guy that the establishment doesn't like / believe / trust" in like twenty movies now. Every once in a while he steps out and it's fantastic (Training Day), but then he turns around and makes "Man on Fire" three more times for the paychecks.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Easier to make Family Guy drinking games though.
Recognize a pop culture reference? Take a shot.
Be the only one in the room who gets it? Take two shots.
Re:More Than Deserves a Second Chance (Score:4, Insightful)
Blue Harvest was shit, actually.
Family Guy's references are so fucking dialed-in that they actually offend me.
They copy scenes from movies so often, with nothing added, and for no reason other than to fill time that I don't see how anyone could consider them a reference, tribute, or homage. It's fucking plagiarism.
They drag out "jokes" so long and so often that "dragging out a joke way too long" has BECOME their new joke, and they've dragged THAT joke out way too long.
And internet memes? Really?
And taking pot shots at the Simpsons? Stealing Chuck Mangione and Feels So Good from King of the Hill (AND not referring to Chuck Mangione by name at all, AND calling the instrument a trumpet when it's NOT a fucking trumpet!)?
Seth McFarlane is a fucking hack who talks just to hear the sound of his own voice. We'll have three shows by him soon.
Here's how it goes.
SCENE: Writers sitting around a table talking about the 80s.
Writer 1: "Hey you remember <thing from the 80s>? That was so cool!"
Writer 2: "Yeah, lol!"
Writer 3: "What? I don't remember that."
Writer 1: "You don't know <thing>? OMG it was the best! It had <thing> and <thing>!"
Writer 2: "Here look I found it on the internet!"
Writer 3: "Oh yeah, I vaguely remember this. But it didn't have <thing> and it was actually just a <thing>."
Writer 2 (reading Wikipedia): "Oh yeah, I guess you 're right. BUT OMG WE SHOULD SO USE THIS FOR THE SHOW!"
Writer 1: "YEAH!!!"
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
And Futurama is animated so you're not limited by budgets and CGI.
I'm certain all the artists they have animating the show would be happy to hear that they're all working for free, since they're obviously not included in your budget plan.
And Futurama DOES use a lot of CGI effects (i.e. the New New York skyline shots). They're just not too obvious and they fit in with the hand-drawn stuff.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
What does it for me is that Futurama utilizes some fairly intelligent humor, without going so far as to set itself above or beyond its audience. It also successfully mixes in small amounts of shock and surprise humor (ala Family Guy, but usually more subtle). I think they've also got just the right number/mix of characters. It lets them change things up without constantly introducing new people or wearing out and overextending their main characters. Their use of stereotypes and cliches helps them keep t
Hot Diggity Daffodil! (Score:5, Insightful)
It's been said before and is worth repeating: The movies were 45 minutes of material crammed into 90 minutes of airtime. The 22 minute format is the best way for the series to continue.
Now, if they can just treat the movies as non-canon, all will be right with the world. New Futurama is always welcome.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Now, if they can just treat the movies as non-canon
Seriously? I love the show, but it's a cartoon. It's not exactly a coherent work of fiction.
Re:Hot Diggity Daffodil! (Score:4, Insightful)
Now, if they can just treat the movies as non-canon, all will be right with the world. New Futurama is always welcome.
The end of Green Yonder has them SPOILER move into another universe /SPOILER, with just the ship and crew.
They can therefore ignore pretty much everything done before.
Parent
It's too late (Score:5, Funny)
Too much time has passed.
The professor's probably dead by now, the kids will be all late teenagers, etc.
In Bender's case you can always put another guy in the costume but come on! Where do they expect to find another actress with the eye mutation?
Re:It's too late (Score:5, Funny)
We just get Kiff to give an orangutang a makeover.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
It would be hilarious if the first episode of the relaunch had all of the characters drawn as if they were many years old trying to play the part of their younger counterparts. Also, maybe there would be a new kid who was added to freshen things up. He would supposedly be around Fry's age, but the 'actor' would be 30 years younger. Their mission would end up restoring the glory days.
reboot (Score:5, Funny)
Re:reboot (Score:4, Funny)
This will be a reboot of Futurama ...
Really? I wanna see that! Lets get Dot to play Leela. Phong will play the professor (Imagine the professor with a chinese accent and speaking in riddles). Bob will have to be Fry I suppose, with like a -100 intelligence. Matrix can play Bender, AndrAIa should be Amy Wong. I think it would be fun to make Megabyte play Zapp Brannigan, and of course Hexidecimal is MoM. SCSI can be Nibbler. And just for kicks we'll have Turbo play Kiff. Lets make lil' Enzo play Kiff's & Amy's offspring...
Of course, this is plenty open to changes...
Parent
Now, if only they'd establish a track record... (Score:3, Informative)
... for not giving up on everything else...?
Let it die. (Score:4, Insightful)
I really like Futurama; I have all four DVD sets and the four movies. However, I think this series should rest in peace. It's over.
The series was great and got progressively better as time went on. However, if the movies are any indication the revived series will be crap. Each movie was worse than the last. They weren't particularly creative with the stories and overall the writing overwrought and not compelling. There was so much untapped potential in the series but instead the movies degraded into pathetic, poorly executed fan service. Some jokes were quite funny but otherwise I felt like they were trying too hard to recreate Family Guy and Adult Swim's brand of humor. And probably the most obnoxious part was the constant environmentalist proselytizing. Some episodes used Al Gore and that theme to great effect but Bender's Game, in particular, was about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the crotch.
However, I am a sucker for Futurama, so I'll definitely watch. But if it ends up being the same kind of crap I saw in the movies I wont be watching for long.
Great news everyone! (Score:4, Interesting)
One of the things that was cool about Futurama was it broke the Simpsons 'family animated sitcom' mold. Giving it a different feel and of course many different options for the writers.
Since there is always the comparison to Family Guy keep in mind that Family Guy was just another family animated sitcom. In fact many people have gone far out of their way to point this out as if other non-animated sitcoms have not been doing the same thing for many years. We just had virtually no other points of reference when looking at prime time animation.
As an example look at American Dad. It's a family animated sitcom but it changes up the: dad is fat and does wacky stuff all the time, mom is very well intentioned and ignores all the flaws of her dysfunctional family, kids do stuff, blah blah. Instead, due to some...suggestions...from Fox they made the dad a wacky wing-nut, the mother a blond ditz wing-nut enabler, and the kids who do stuff with the added fact that like the Simpsons the girl is the token left wing voice. (And I don't want to get into the politics of American Dad but there is plenty more to be said about it's dynamic but that is beyond the scope of what I'm trying to say here. Suffice to say I find it hilarious how they have left politics alone in S4.)
The uniqueness of Futurama's sitcom environment made it very open and different than the other 3 prime time family centered ones. We can all only hope that the writers working on it's return will embrace that as well as the original ones did.
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Re:Huh wha...? (Score:4, Funny)
VOICES DO NOT WORK THAT WAY!
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Re:Can Futurama unjump the shark? (Score:5, Informative)
3 and 4 disappointments? Leela's Homeworld, Jurassic Bark, The Why of Fry, Roswell that Ends Well, Godfellas, The Sting, The Farnsworth Paradox... plenty of episodes in those seasons that make them worthwhile...and I could probably come up with more if I had an episode list handy.
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Re: (Score:3, Informative)
The Farnsworth Paradox
Actually, it's The Farnsworth Parabox [wikipedia.org]. It had boxes! And a PAIR of them! HA! And then there were more than two boxes, but let's forget about that for the moment.
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DON'T MENTION JURASSIC BARK.
Re:Can Futurama unjump the shark? (Score:4, Informative)
Series four gave us The Farnsworth Parabox, The Sting, 300 Big Boys and The Devils Hands are Idle Playthings, all of which were awesome.
Also, more importantly, which writers dropped off the show in seasons three and four that you think were funny and sharp? Given the writers credits in Wikipedia suggest that almost all contributors in the first two seasons wrote episodes in three and four I'm not really sure who you're referring to:
List of Futurama episodes with writers [wikipedia.org]
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