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shadowforce420
Joined: Jun 01 2006
Posts: 70
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"Futurama" Pulls a "Family Guy"
By Gina Serpe
Fri Jun 23, 10:59 AM ET
Comedy Central is going back to the Futurama.
Three years after the show last aired on prime time, the cable net has signed a deal to resurrect the former Fox animated series for a minimum 13-episode run.
Comedy Central will start airing the new shows in 2008.
"We are thrilled that Matt Groening and 20th Century Fox Television have decided to produce new episodes of Futurama and that Comedy Central will be the first to air them," said David Bernath, the cable net's senior VP.
The new episode order is part of a larger deal Comedy Central made with the production company last year, when they bought the syndicated rights to Futurama's 72-episode library.
"There is a deep and passionate fan base for this intelligent and very funny show that matches perfectly with our audience, and it is great that we can offer them not just the existing library but something they've never seen as well," Bernath told the Hollywood Reporter.
The offbeat show was the brainchild of The Simpsons mastermind Groening and writer David X. Cohen and debuted on Fox in March 1999. The series revolved around Fry, a pizza delivery boy who is accidentally frozen for a thousand years. When he wakes up in the year 3000, he befriends a sassy one-eyed pilot, Leela, and a cranky robot, Bender, who both work for an intergalactic delivery service run by a distant nephew of Fry's.
In August 2003, after five seasons and three Emmys, including the 2002 award for Best Animated Series, Futurama was canceled due to low ratings.
Reruns of the show, however, were picked up by Cartoon Network, and just like cable home did with Family Guy before it, the move paved the way for a Futurama revival.
Both shows aired on the Cartoon Network and quickly built up unexpectedly robust ratings.
In 2004, Stewie & Co. were resuscitated by to Fox thanks to staggering DVD sales--the show ranks as the fourth-biggest TV series seller ever--and its proliferation in reruns.
In January of this year, 20th Century Fox began talks with Comedy Central to revive the long-gone Futurama as well, thanks to its resurgence in popularity courtesy of its second life in reruns and high--though not Family Guy high--DVD sales.
The cable net has already re-signed voice stars Billy West,
Katey Sagal and John DiMaggio to reprise their animated roles.
In the meantime, new Futurama plots can already be had in comic book form, with Groening's Bongo Comics releasing the stories.
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"Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat." - Jesse Ventura
R.I.P. Sherri |
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Cattivo
Joined: Apr 14 2006
Location: Lake Michigan
Posts: 3332
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Yep, great news. I just wish the episodes were going to be on Adult Swim. I guess they didn't have the money for it.
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DarkMaze
Joined: Feb 24 2006
Posts: 2578
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Cattivo wrote: |
Yep, great news. I just wish the episodes were going to be on Adult Swim. I guess they didn't have the money for it. |
They blew it all on Saved by the Bell.
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shadowforce420
Joined: Jun 01 2006
Posts: 70
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DarkMaze wrote: |
Cattivo wrote: |
Yep, great news. I just wish the episodes were going to be on Adult Swim. I guess they didn't have the money for it. |
They blew it all on Saved by the Bell. |
Don't forget Pee Wee's Playhouse.
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"Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat." - Jesse Ventura
R.I.P. Sherri |
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Syd Lexia
Site Admin
Title: Pop Culture Junkie
Joined: Jul 30 2005
Location: Wakefield, MA
Posts: 24869
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*is still holding out hope The Critic will be revived*
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shadowforce420
Joined: Jun 01 2006
Posts: 70
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Syd, did you ever see the webisodes, I don't have the direct link to the episodes but they're on cybernetjump.com, there are 10 of them. For the futurama fans, here a clip of Al Gore and Bender http://youtube.com/watch?v=5BjrOi4vF24
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"Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat." - Jesse Ventura
R.I.P. Sherri |
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Syd Lexia
Site Admin
Title: Pop Culture Junkie
Joined: Jul 30 2005
Location: Wakefield, MA
Posts: 24869
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Yes, I have seen them. They were on Shockwave.com at one point and they're on the Critic DVD set.
Al Gore is a Level 8 Vice President.
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Tebor
Moderator
Title: Master of the Universe
Joined: Aug 22 2005
Location: Gotham City
Posts: 6088
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Syd Lexia wrote: |
*is still holding out hope The Critic will be revived* |
Tebor's theory on the Critic: The World Trade Center Towers were iconic images for the Critic both on the show and the webshow. The last episode of The Critic produced was on the web, which focused on the release of Pearl Harbor before 9/11. Stands to reason Jay Sherman was killed in the 9/11 attacks and why we haven't seen him in five years.
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"If you will not tell me, I will hurt people!!!" -Nuclear Man
"Do you hear? The alpha and the omega. Death and rebirth. And as you die, so will I be reborn!" - Skeletor
8341 unread forum updates since I left (2/7/14)... Uh-oh. |
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Lady_Satine
Title: Head of Lexian R&D
Joined: Oct 15 2005
Location: Metro area, Georgia
Posts: 7287
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Actually you can still catch like 2 hour blocks of The Critic on Comedy Central's "Why the hell haven't you passed out yet?" hours heh.
In regards to ressurecting Futurama, I'm glad it's going to be on Comedy Central and not FOX (which would likely die off because not everyone would be willing to sit through an assanine sitcom with maybe two decent jokes to fill its 22 minutes of script--I'm looking at you War at Home).
Is it me or does FOX just not have a clue as to when and how they should show their animation? Granted, I don't care that much for American Dad (I give it two more seasons, tops), but it almost seems like the guys in charge of Sunday evening programming just got drunk and threw darts.
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"Life is a waste of time. Time is a waste of life. Get wasted all the time, and you'll have the time of your life!" |
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rj815
Title: Dslycixe
Joined: Dec 15 2005
Location: ON EARTH or the Internet
Posts: 103
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Syd Lexia wrote: |
*is still holding out hope The Critic will be revived* |
Like lordsathien said, isn't it still around on CC? I've definitely seen it there, but I don't know if it's still around.
I'm glad Futurama is making a comeback, it was weird, but it was a pretty funny and good show sometimes.
I know you may think this is strange, but I wish the Dilbert series would come back. It's not over-the-top funny, but it has its moments. It's much like an animated Office Space.
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Permanently under construction.
"We have to kill the animals, or else they die!" ~ South Park
"The Window is now open, may the rain drizzle in." ~ RegalSin (slightly edited)
S. McCracken wrote: |
Fuck, you really are a retard. |
RegalSin wrote: |
The retard who plays Mortal Kombat. |
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Tebor
Moderator
Title: Master of the Universe
Joined: Aug 22 2005
Location: Gotham City
Posts: 6088
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rj815 wrote: |
Like lordsathien said, isn't it still around on CC? I've definitely seen it there, but I don't know if it's still around.
I know you may think this is strange, but I wish the Dilbert series would come back. It's not over-the-top funny, but it has its moments. It's much like an animated Office Space. |
I think Syd meant new episodes of The Critic. CC still airs the old episodes (available on DVD )
I was a fan of the Dilbert show, but it was hardly the animated "Office Space" I wish it was. Mutants, Bob Bastards, and Stephen Hawking aside the show was still mighty weird, grounded in fantasy rather than humor in the real workplace. Occassionally, you had moments of it on the show though. My favorite being: The name is the last thing you do (developing a product)! (Dilbert also available on DVD. At Amazon, you could usually buy the two shows together and save $10.)
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"If you will not tell me, I will hurt people!!!" -Nuclear Man
"Do you hear? The alpha and the omega. Death and rebirth. And as you die, so will I be reborn!" - Skeletor
8341 unread forum updates since I left (2/7/14)... Uh-oh. |
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RegalSin
Joined: Apr 24 2006
Posts: 292
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DarkMaze
Joined: Feb 24 2006
Posts: 2578
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Man, I'd love to see more episodes of The Critic. I wish that was even a remote possibility.
As for Dilbert, I definitely agree it was grounded more in fantasy than office humor. Probably the best example of that is the absolutely-on-crack season/series finale, which managed to be almost -- but not quite -- entirely unlike Dilbert. Not to say it wasn't a highly enjoyable series, though.
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Sexton Hardcastle
Title: The Supreme Element
Joined: Apr 01 2006
Location: Maine
Posts: 514
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The part of Futurama coming back is that we will now be able to see more Zapp Brannigan. He's one of my favorite cartoon characters ever!
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Chrisby
Joined: Mar 31 2006
Location: Where my computer is.
Posts: 1262
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"When I'm in command, EVERY mission is a suicide mission!"
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rj815
Title: Dslycixe
Joined: Dec 15 2005
Location: ON EARTH or the Internet
Posts: 103
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Oh, and I said an animated Office Space because it was the only Office humor thing I could think of besides Dilbert. In any case, I wholeheartedly agree it was kind of insane and filled with fantasy. It was still enjoyable though.
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Permanently under construction.
"We have to kill the animals, or else they die!" ~ South Park
"The Window is now open, may the rain drizzle in." ~ RegalSin (slightly edited)
S. McCracken wrote: |
Fuck, you really are a retard. |
RegalSin wrote: |
The retard who plays Mortal Kombat. |
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Black Zarak
Title: Big Coffin Hunter
Joined: Feb 01 2006
Location: Phyrexia
Posts: 4098
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I just hope they don't try to make Futurama more "edgy" or "hip" or "over the top" like Spike did when they brought back Ren & Stimpy.
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rj815
Title: Dslycixe
Joined: Dec 15 2005
Location: ON EARTH or the Internet
Posts: 103
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Black Zarak wrote: |
I just hope they don't try to make Futurama more "edgy" or "hip" or "over the top" like Spike did when they brought back Ren & Stimpy. |
Speaking of which, that show was absolute garbage. I'm glad it was cancelled almost instantly. In fact, I do think after their first (or second, don't remember how many) episodes, they were never aired again.
I think CC should do a good job with Futurama, they try to show the best of their shows. For instance, they only show the old MadTV reruns with people who where actually funny some of the time. All the new ones on Fox are pretty much crap minus a handful of good scenes.
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Permanently under construction.
"We have to kill the animals, or else they die!" ~ South Park
"The Window is now open, may the rain drizzle in." ~ RegalSin (slightly edited)
S. McCracken wrote: |
Fuck, you really are a retard. |
RegalSin wrote: |
The retard who plays Mortal Kombat. |
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