What if Futurama was what FOX wanted?

[on:]

Would anyone watch Futurama if it were the kind of show FOX wanted?  i.e. 'Simpsons in Space'.  What if Futurama had been perverted, ultra-violent, vulgar, and about a dysfuctional Simpsons-like family instead of an intergeletic delivery service?   One thing's for sure, if Futurama was like this, it will still be on and FOX would love it! 

[Reply #1 on:]

FOX wanted a 'Jetsons' type show according to Groening.  Futurama is perverted at times (constant talk about Fry masterbating, Bender viewing Robot porn and hanging with Hookerbots, Amy being 'easy').  Leela has a penchant for being extremely violent at a second's notice - she has been physically and verbally abusive towards every other member of the show at some point.  Constant bathroom jokes at The Professors's expense (his lack of control of his bodily functions).  Almost all the characters are dysfunctional in some way - Fry is stupid; Leela is bossy, has low self esteem and is prone to violence - Leela also has a VERY dark side that comes out occasionaly.  Amy is constantly in search of one night stands; Zoidberg is just not popular no matter what he does, etc.

Futurama has just the right mixture of brilliance and tastelessness for me.  Whatever FOX wanted, I'm glad that Matt stuck to his guns and gave us the Futurama that we got.

[Reply #2 on:]

fox wanted a simpsons clone.  If thats what they had gotten people would probably watch it, but it would loose the depth and intelligence that futurama has now. 

[Reply #3 on:]

Leela's also a drinker like the rest of them

[Reply #4 on:]

 

Originally posted by futurefreak:
Leela's also a drinker like the rest of them

OH DEAR GOD!  LEELA DRINKS!

They all drink.  The scene in 'The Howling', when Fry is trying to help a mangled Bender and asks 'Does anyone have any liquor?', everybody offers a bottle.

I have Bender and Fry pegged as beer drinkers.

Leela probably likes wine and cham-paggen.

Amy likes those fruity Zima-type drinks.

The Professor, Hermes and Scruffy probably like whiskey and scotch.

I personally like Budweiser beer, Famous Grouse Scotch and Jack Daniels.

[Reply #5 on:]

Leela evidently likes canadian beer.

[Reply #6 on:]

Leela drinks beer, remember The Route of all evil? Leela helps to make beer in Bender, then drinks some in the end. There is other episodes where she also drinks beer. I'm not saying she doesn't prefer wine and the like, but definitely has nothing against beer.

If Futurama had been like the Simpsons, I might have watched, but I wouldn't anywhere big as fan as I am, and definitely wouldn't have bought the entire series on DVD.

[Reply #7 on:]

From "Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurddles"...

Leela: (whispering) "Bring beer."

Definetely a beer drinker, afterall she's been brewing it herself since her childhood at Cookievile.

[Reply #8 on:]

 

Originally posted by Teral:
From "Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurddles"...

Leela: (whispering) "Bring beer."

Definetely a beer drinker, afterall she's been brewing it herself since her childhood at Cookievile.

Ah, but I'm as big a Leela fan as you, and in TKOS, she was really impressed by Fry's offer of non-vintage, domestic champange.

Then again, she may not be choosy - any booze is fine - especially FREE booze.

[Reply #9 on:]

 

Originally posted by Ralph Snart:
OH DEAR GOD!  LEELA DRINKS!

They all drink. 

 

Originally posted by futurefreak:
Leela's also a drinker like the rest of them

'nuff said 

also though...I'd like to see a drunk professor.

[Reply #10 on:]

Given his age and his eating habits I say a drop of beer would do. But I think that in Bender's story in AOI2 the Professor was the only scientist not partying.

Maybe he's more concerned about breeding atomic supermutants than getting drunk... 

 

Originally posted by Teral:
From "Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurddles"...

Leela: (whispering) "Bring beer."

Definetely a beer drinker, afterall she's been brewing it herself since her childhood at Cookievile.

Why do I think that this was some sort of background story that was never fully developed?

Thank you FOX. 

[Reply #11 on:]

What kind of background story? Leela the alchoholic? I doubt it, we've seen her drink but we've never seen her drunk. Plus with her being super responsible she probably never drinks more than she knows she can handle.

I would have loved to have seen her really drunk though. I'm sure hilarity would ensue.

[Reply #12 on:]

 

Originally posted by Venus:
I would have loved to have seen her really drunk though. I'm sure hilarity would ensue.

Yeah, I can see Leela being a totally different person when drunk - she always has such a tight control over her emotions.  A flirtatous Leela, with the morals of Amy (or Bender) and her temper unleashed - man, what an ep that would be.

[Reply #13 on:]

You say "perverted, ultra-violent and vulgar" like it's a bad thing.

[Reply #14 on:]

uh...I guess the answer to the question is...

If Futurama was what FOX wanted, FOX would have kept it. I mean seriously, who the hell asks questions like that?

Hey Jicannon what if that girl you broke up with was everything you wanted instead?
Well, durr, I guess I wouldn't have broken up with her

[Reply #15 on:]

 

Originally posted by KurtPikachu2001:
Would anyone watch Futurama if it were the kind of show FOX wanted?

Yes, people would watch it. Noone here would, but people would. Probably the same kind of people who watch Loonatics Unleashed.

I wouldn't. I got sick of "The Amazing Adventurs of Captain Whacky", why would I watch "The Amazing Adventurs of Captain Whacky in the Future"?

I'm thankful that Groening told FOX to stuff it, and produced the show according to his own vision and not what FOX wanted. If you produce shows, constantly thinking; "will people like this? Is this what they want?" you're probably heading down that nice road called "Good Intentions" and we all know where that ends, right? This reminds me of a quote I posted here in GD eons ago. In an interview once, Gene Roddenberry (everybody hopefully heard of him) was asked if feedback from the viewers helped him develop and improve on Star Trek, his answer was:

 

Originally said by Gene Roddenberry:
"While I listen to the audience, one of the secrets of whatever success I've amounted to was that I never make shows for the audience. I listen to good advice, but the only person I make shows for is myself. I love any help you can give me, but I'll be damned if I'll make a show for you! I make it for myself, and if you happen to like it, I'm delighted that you do, and great; we've got the best of both possible worlds. Writers and producers and directors and so on that create a show for specific audiences do schlock work. They should do selfish work, proudly selfish work, and that happens to be true about painter and sculptors, too.

[Reply #16 on:]

 

Originally posted by Ralph Snart:
  Ah, but I'm as big a Leela fan as you, and in TKOS, she was really impressed by Fry's offer of non-vintage, domestic champange.

Then again, she may not be choosy - any booze is fine - especially FREE booze.

But she made it clear she wasn't too keen on tequila.

[Reply #17 on:]

 

Originally posted by Smitty:
 But she made it clear she wasn't too keen on tequila.

That's just good taste.  The sickest that I've ever been was off of Tequila.  Paint thinner is more appetizing than Tequila.

[Reply #18 on:]

How did we get talking about alcohol? 

Oh, right. FOX. Tastelessness. Gotcha.

I'm very glad that the Futurama crew didn't cater to what the general FOX audience wanted. I mean, see how well these sh**ty reality shows have done? Just sad, man. *sighs*

[Reply #19 on:]

To the topic of the thread:
If Futurama was what F*x wanted, it would be a drastically different show (read bad). The odds of my watching- or indeed being interested in the first place are about 10e85 to one against.
Oh, and my only disagreement with Ralph is, I would've said "kerosene" instead of "paint thinner." Bleccha!

[Reply #20 on:]

 

Originally posted by Gocad:
Maybe he's more concerned about breeding atomic supermutants than getting drunk...   

Maybe he knows the risks of drinking and deriving.

*Gets sued by Gary Larson*

[Reply #21 on:]

 

Originally posted by Kryten:
You say "perverted, ultra-violent and vulgar" like it's a bad thing.

Hey, it works for me.

[Reply #22 on:]

If Futurama was what Fox had wanted, people would have watched it. It would probably still be on the air, but I'd feel really bad for Matt Groening. I mean, no guy deserves to have two crappy shows airing on the same network on the same night!

Member of the "So...what, is this, like, the 57th season of the Simpsons?" club since 2004 

[Reply #23 on:]

Actually, if it had been nothing but a mindless Simpsons clone it probably would have died faster, as proved by Family Guy (the recent comeback notwithstanding, and I think Fox may come to regret that comeback in a year or two anyway).  By being a different show, it earned Fox's contempt but managed to carve out it's own niche of dedicated viewers, which is what kept it on as long as it managed to stay on.  If it had been a Simpsons clone, everyone would have said "been there, done that" and no one would have watched it.

In any case, the reality at this point is that good, innovative shows probably just can't be successful on the main free-air networks anymore, unless they've been already been on since before that reality became evident (like Simpsons, SNL, etc).  Even if they audience doesn't bail, the network will.  Cable is the only place now for good shows that don't date back to at least the 1980's.

[Reply #24 on:]

Fox did wind up with a simpsons clone, and it wasn't called Futurama

[Reply #25 on:]

It was called Family Guy.  No offense to fans.  FOX wanted Futurama to be a show that's the same crap all over again.  The same formula:  An underacheiving, drinking, apathetic father, a domineering mother who has a weird voice and always finds out what the kids are up to.  A goof-off son who's popular, and either an outcast or boy-crazy and trendy daughter.  FOX wanted a dysfunctional family sitcom that takes place in the year 3000.  If Futurama was what I explained here, I never would've watched it.   

[Reply #26 on:]

If it was like the Jetsons it would suck. People would be saying it's unoriginal and it would be exacly like the new Bewitched movie. I'd rather vomit then watch that.

[Reply #27 on:]

If Futurama was what Fox wanted it to be, it would be a reality show, where 12 hopefuls would compete to win $50,000. What happens is they leave their friends and family in order to get frozen and defrosted 1000 years in the future. They get trained to go into space, which is common at this time, and have to compete in meaningless tasks which have nothing to do with anything, except that Fox can open premium rate phone lines so you can vote off your least favorite astronout.
The loser gets ejected into space, and blows up under the pressure of nothingness.
However, what they don't know is that they aren't in the future at all! They're in a poorly built cardboard set on a grotty old studio in the middle of Texes. They weren't on Mars! The losers just fell a few feet off camera and the explotion was CGI.
Afterwards, they all return to their normal lives, just the same as before, but with added riticule and embaresment.

Wasn't that great? I'm ready for my promotion to Head Of The Network now!

The majority of Fox veiwers: How Funny! 

Us: 

[Reply #28 on:]

That's just stupid enough to work.

[Reply #29 on:]

Thank God Matt Groening was smart enough to do his own thing. I don't know what I would do with my spare time if Futurama were different. Probably eat...

[Reply #30 on:]

cheers to matt for sticking to the plan , sure the show was short lived but it was what we wanted and that is the important bit and hey a movie might be comming along soon too (:

[Reply #31 on:]

Family Guy was a simpsons knock off and it did great. In order to not be a simpsons knock off and do well on fox you have to either be sports a sick show like cheating housewives or a soap like the OC. I guess the emmy winning Futurama just was not good enough for them

[Reply #32 on:]

 

Originally posted by futurefreak:
 'nuff said   

also though...I'd like to see a drunk professor.

Oh, my god that would be awesome! 

[Reply #33 on:]

Ditto... Drunken Professor.. [Leela] Never know what he's gunna do next![/Leela] oddly enough, I've noticed FG, Simpsons and Futurama have all had some Charlie and the Chocolate Factory rip-off, and something to do with Baseball, or Blernsball in Futurama's case (which is somewhat baseball-ish)

[Reply #34 on:]

it's want we wanted not fox

[Reply #35 on:]

Yea except blernsball is awesome!