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Television

Matt Groening In Talks With Netflix For Animated Series (variety.com) 103

An anonymous reader writes: Matt Groening, creator of "The Simpsons" and "Futurama," is reportedly in talks with Netflix about creating a new animated series. According to Variety, details about the new show are still being kept secret, but it would involve a contract for two seasons of 10 episodes apiece. This would be Groening's first major new project since Futurama premiered in 1999.
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Matt Groening In Talks With Netflix For Animated Series

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  • by Idou ( 572394 ) on Saturday January 16, 2016 @01:51PM (#51314387) Journal
    be something geeky like the original Futurama. . .
    • by brxndxn ( 461473 ) on Saturday January 16, 2016 @02:08PM (#51314477)
      or just more Futurama!!!

      Professor Hubert Farnsworth: Dear Lord! That's over 150 atmospheres of pressure!

      Fry: How many atmospheres can the ship withstand?

      Professor Hubert Farnsworth: Well, it's a space ship, so I'd say anywhere between zero and one.

      • Zapp Brannigan: Have the boy lay out my formal shorts.
        Kiff: The boy, sir?
        Zapp Brannigan: You. You lay out my formal shorts.

        • You forgot Kif's response to everything stupid Zap says (which means about 99.5% of Zap's lines):
          *exacerbated sigh*

      • by Kjella ( 173770 )

        FYI, that assumes the only place it'd land it earth ;) but seriously though, I think they've revealed as many crazy character traits as one is likely to have like Leela being a sewer mutant, Fry his own grandpa, Nibbler being a cuddly protector of the universe and so on. And the circular time-loop duplicates, any more and it'll start being like the end of Heroes or Doctor Who instead of a parody of time travel and the "grandfather paradox". Honestly I'd rather see something new.

    • Probably not going to happen.

      Futurama was good, all of it. The Simpsons started sucking pretty quickly, and they really suck today.

      Guess which one is still on the air?

      Suck sells.

      • by Anonymous Coward

        When futurama returned it was no where near as good as the original run. Forced humor targeting geeks is still forced humor.

        • by Anonymous Coward

          When futurama returned it was no where near as good as the original run. Forced humor targeting geeks is still forced humor.

          But still better than the Simpsons has been for the past decade or so.

      • by mwvdlee ( 775178 )

        That explains why you're still posting.

      • by Idou ( 572394 )
        The Simpsons beat Futurama on traditional television. Netflix is the futur. . . AMA!!!!!
      • by tlhIngan ( 30335 ) <slashdot.worf@net> on Sunday January 17, 2016 @04:30AM (#51316933)

        Probably not going to happen.

        Futurama was good, all of it. The Simpsons started sucking pretty quickly, and they really suck today.

        Guess which one is still on the air?

        Suck sells.

        Only if you don't understand how TV works.

        First of all, there are three predominant business models for TV. If you don't know them, then you won't be able to produce the right content for them.

        First, we have the free to air model - where the signal is free, and you get the content for free (or could). Here, the content, and the overhead is paid for by ads. In fact, the content only exists to sell ads, and content can reduce its cost by selling ads within it (product placement)..There's a whole industry built around this, and you know it as the Neilsen raitings. But that's not the truth - because the ratings you see published are just incidental to the real numbers that pay for it. The "free" numbers we get are the L+SD (Live + Same Day), L+3 (Live + 3 days) and L+7 (Live + 7 days) numbers, which are basically the audience numbers for the program. Now, these numbers mean diddly squat to the networks because that's not what they pay for.The networks pay for the C, C3 and C7 numbers, which are the same numbers, minus program content - i.e., they represent the people who during the program watched the ads. That's the numbers they pay Neilsen big bucks for, the numbers they really collect, and what they generate revenue from. Those numbers set the rate for a 30 second spot. In general, they can range anywhere from 80K to 150K during prime time. So your average 30 minute show may pull in a million bucks.

        So the content used here must attract eyeballs, and the eyeballs it attracts would be the ones who aren't savvy enough to use fast forward on their DVRs or other thing. And they must have mass eyeball appeal, hence lowest common denominator (i.e., "suck sells"). Because the more eyeballs means the more eyeballs watching ads, means higher ad rates.

        Now, if we take this one step further - and analyze what's happening. The networks love streaming TV because guess what? They can force people to watch ads (they hate DVRs), so higher rates if you stream your TV. And if you torrent it for the ad-free view, well, they don't care. Because when it comes time to decide at the end of the season, your "view" means zilch - it doesn't matter if a TV show is torrented billions or trillions of times - if it isn't bringing in the commercial eyeballs, it's cut.

        The second model of TV is the subscription model. This can be from cable channels (though with a la carte, it's shifting to the first model. Pay attention as you'll see what impacts it has on your favorite programs), to full on subscription services like HBO, Netflix, and Amazon Prime, among others. For this model, the primary goal is to attract subscribers (except cable channels, which have to attract ad eyeballs too, and with the move to a la carte, even more eyeballs as subscription rates drop, so your favorite programs may watch to go lowest common denominator). But for full on subscription services, their goal to make money is to provide you with content that will keep you paying the subscription fee, AND attract new subscribers. They're continuously examining their demographic - what content they like (to produce content you want to watch and thus, keep paying subscription fees for), and who they'd like to attract as subscribers. This programming will not be lowest common denominator because they don't want eyeballs, they want paying eyeballs. So they'll only attract people who will pay for the content. You'll hear a lot of people how they like what Netflix, etc. is producing - and guess what? That's the point - Netflix is producing what you, a subscriber, likes because they want you to keep paying the $9 a month. The person you hear complaining about Netflix not having what they like? Probably wasn't going to subscribe anyways so no loss.

        The third and final model is government or othe

    • Futurama was good, because Groening was only barely involved with it. Simpsons jumped the shark in season 13 because he wanted to go more preachy with it. He knew everybody hated it, and the numbers were dropping, but he liked the new direction and refused to relent.

      Haven't you see this before? Groening jumped the shark. Anything he comes-up with will either be: The Simpsons and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, or even worse: Futurama Episode 1: The Phantom Menace.

      • by lgw ( 121541 )

        Futurama was good, because Groening was only barely involved with it. Simpsons jumped the shark in season 13 because he wanted to go more preachy with it.

        Groening basically stopped working with Simpsons in season 12 to start Futurama, but the main thing that changed with season 13 is Al Jean became the showrunner, which continues to today. Groening stopped being the showrunner after season 2.

        The Simpsons lost me when it changed formats, for a 20-minute plot to several shorts, like a bugs bunny cartoon.

    • It should just continue futurama +1
  • Matt Groening Cartoon series likely to be good

    vs

    (from TFA)

    Matt Groening SJW

    He also committed to a yearly $50,000 donation to help students produce socially conscious short films.

    Looking forward to seeing how this plays out amongst the outraged /. population.

    • I find SJWs - especially the self-identifying ones - almost as tiresome as hipsters.

      But if someone wants to waste his own money and he isn't bothering anyone else then I say let him get on with it.

    • Re: (Score:1, Insightful)

      by 91degrees ( 207121 )

      He also committed to a yearly $50,000 donation to help students produce socially conscious short films.

      Good for him. I hope they represented a wide range of viewpoints and opinions.

      Look, the objection to "SJW"s isn't that they're socially conscious. The basic principles they claim to support are all well worth supporting. It's the level of bigotry and hatred of anyone who doesn't share the exact same opinions that comes with it. If you have a socially conscious movie then that's great. Go for it.

    • Like from for an hour with The Simpsons and Futurama. Stupid Fox had to put Futurama earlier with NFL messing its schedule up!

  • Very good news indeed. Can't wait!!
  • Presumably Groening is living comfortably off the residuals of The Simpsons and Futurama. He therefore had zero incentive to create anything original for the last 16 years.

    This is society's loss. Now if his income had dried up 10 years ago, he would have gotten off his Duff and produced something for our enjoyment and remained comfortably off at the same time.

    Thanks, ridiculous infinite copyright!

    PS I know he is working on a new project now, but we cannot rely on boredom as an incentive.

    • by Anonymous Coward

      Presumably Groening is living comfortably off the residuals of The Simpsons and Futurama.

      As he should be. They're great works of entertainment.

      He therefore had zero incentive to create anything original for the last 16 years.

      wut.

      This is society's loss.

      hmm... reading through the rest of the post (as well as your post history), I suspect what you really mean is "This is my personal loss because Matt Groening should've produced something new to entertain me."

      but we cannot rely on boredom as an incentive

      huh? Doesn't this directly contradict your earlier ramblings?

      Christ, I know you're being a parody of a typical entitled slashdot poster here, blaming copyright for Every Single Thing That's Wrong With the World Today... but, focus, man, FOCUS.

    • by SeaFox ( 739806 )

      You think he should be out any money from stuff he made 16 years ago? I think copyright laws as they are now are ridiculous as well, but that's just stupid.
      He should be able to enjoy the benefits of the stuff he personally created, from a copyright of original works standpoint, for his own lifetime.

      Now after the original author dies (or a certain number of years, whichever comes last) it starts to be less about protecting the works for those involved and more about corporations looking for endless income wi

    • Clearly, if you were fired today then once the unemployment benefits ran out you would create a hit television show.

  • The Simpsons hasn't been funny in a decade. And after it was canceled it was never quite as good, Seasons 5, 6 and 7 are optional for viewing.

    Can't we have Matt Groening pick a successor in the industry, say something nice about him (or her) and then we all go watch the new blood take a crack at making us laugh?

  • He is bringing Akbar and Jeff to prime time.
  • And less influence f the BOX network. I heard you can accelerate the schedule with some Torgo's Executive Powder...

He has not acquired a fortune; the fortune has acquired him. -- Bion

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