By Hawking's chair! Futurama is back! (News thread) (No spoilers)

[Reply #320 on:]

Lots of people gonna be pissed when they show up to the signing and get turned away...

My thoughts exactly.

Edit: It especially sucks for anyone who only bought a Saturday ticket, because there's no way they can get access to that signing under those conditions. 

If that's the case, how many tickets are they giving out and do you know what time on Friday they're giving them out?

I don't know how many they have (it's a four hour signing session, so I assume quite a large number), but the woman told me to get to the booth ASAP as soon as the exhibition hall opened.  Which means I'm sacrificing precious Hall H line time to do so (but for the Futurama cast it'll be worth it).

[Reply #321 on:]

Ha. In that case, I may end up bumping into you at the Fox booth when everyone's bumrushing the booth for tickets.

See you there.

[Reply #322 on:]

Have fun at comic con.  Be sure to let us poor PEELers who can't go know EXACTLY what's said at the Futurama panel; feel free to slap a Fox Executive for me...

[Reply #323 on:]

Whoa, people camp over night in the Con to get into that room? That's legit commit. ... Do it!

It's crazy that they're handing out tickets for the signing. I wonder what the actors will think when they see diehard fans with taped glasses and "WINDMILLS DO NOT WORK THAT WAY" t-shirts being turned away...

Whatever the obvious question is, if you get to ask it, mention PEEL. ... And me. ... But mostly PEEL!

Speaking of which, do you know whether or not the actors will be on the panel? There were rumors brood from Billy West posting something which hinted that he might not be on the panel.

[Reply #324 on:]

From Phil LaMarr  (via Facebook): “[20th Century Fox] just dis-invited the cast members who were supposed to appear [at the Futurama Comic-Con panel] so it may not be entertaining but it’ll certainly be interesting.”

http://voiceactors.wordpress.com/2009/07/17/fox-attempting-to-recast-futurama/

Emphasis mine.

[Reply #325 on:]

From Phil LaMarr  (via Facebook): “[20th Century Fox] just dis-invited the cast members who were supposed to appear [at the Futurama Comic-Con panel] so it may not be entertaining but it’ll certainly be interesting.”

http://voiceactors.wordpress.com/2009/07/17/fox-attempting-to-recast-futurama/

Emphasis mine.

Looks like they haven't reached a deal yet then....despite the fan backlash
Expect even more rioting and anger at CC....

[Reply #326 on:]

Perhaps.  Or perhaps Fox wants to address the issue in a one-sided manner.  And leaving the Futurama cast out may help some of the discussion.

This panel is going to be about one thing:  The recasting.  And if Fox/FOX wishes to have a word to say or a statement to make, cutting down on the panel may be in their interest.

It may not mean they have reached an agreement though.  In fact, it could mean they haven't yet.

[Reply #327 on:]

What.  The.  Fuck.

I have to pick up Dollhouse signing tickets this morning, so I'll ask anyone at the FOX booth what their excuse is what 20th Century Fox's excuse is, but.... good lord, Saturday's panel is going to be insane without the VAs there.

I wonder if Groening and Cohen are even going to bother to show up.

ETA: John DiMaggio should still show up for his other panels on Friday and Saturday (10:00-11:00 Batman: The Brave and the Bold Screening and Q&A and 2:00-3:00 Nickelodeon's The Penguins of Madagascar: Making a Splash respectively).  I don't think it's a good idea to spam any unrelated Q&A sessions with Futurama questions, but  for anyone who can make those panels it might be worth trying to approach him afterwards and show support/ask him how else we can help.

[Reply #328 on:]

I wonder if Groening and Cohen are even going to bother to show up.

Although it would show a certain solidarity with the voice actors, I'm sure MG and DXC will be there just to answer the influx of "What the fuck is wrong with Fox?"-related questions.

Seriously, Fox, real mature of you to un-invite the actors. That'd be like if Columbia had un-invited Ahmadinejad. Or, like, Katharine Houghton had un-invited Sydney Poitier in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Or something.

And now you have me using mixed social/pop-culture metaphors that are horribly out-of-date. I'm that annoyed by your ignorance and stupidity. Way to be, Fox.

[Reply #329 on:]

SPAAAAAAAM...



Stick it on your site.

[Reply #330 on:]

Seriously, Fox, real mature of you to un-invite the actors.

"Oh yeah? Well... You're not coming to my birthday party comiccon panel then! So nyer!"

[Reply #331 on:]

What. The. Fuck.

I'm betting this means they havn't reached an agreement. If a Fox representative does dare to turn up, he's going to be lynched by a mob of angry nerds.

Well whatever happens as LaMarr says, it's going to be interesting, one way or another. To those who are going we want to know everything that happens! Oh, and pictures. Lots of pictures. Ta!

[Reply #332 on:]

I'm betting this means they havn't reached an agreement. If a Fox representative does dare to turn up, he's going to be lynched by a mob of angry nerds.

That poor guy thought he was just going to get a free weekend in San Diego and pick up a paycheck acting on stage, but instead thousands of rabid fans are going to rip off all of his various pieces.

[Reply #333 on:]

To shreds, you say?  What about his widow?  To shreds, you say.

[Reply #334 on:]

I was thinking he/she would be a silhouetted figure on a large screen with a evil James Bond villian voice.

Other than that I blame the French.

[Reply #335 on:]

Dammit! I don't want them to recast Futurama! Futurama's spectacular voice cast was one of the things that made me love this show. It just won't be the same with a new cast. Anyone know who made that decision? BECAUSE I'M GONNA KILL HIM/HER!

[Reply #336 on:]

Other than that I blame the French.

Sure, blame the wizard French...

Dammit! I don't want them to recast Futurama! Futurama's spectacular voice cast was one of the things that made me love this show. It just won't be the same with a new cast. Anyone know who made that decision? BECAUSE I'M GONNA KILL HIM/HER!

For some reason, I'm inclined not to divulge their identity to you.

[Reply #337 on:]

Just back from Comic-Con.  There's, um, a new issue to ponder, but I'll get to that.

My first stop this morning was the FOX booth.  It looked like the same temp workers I'd seen the night before were still there, so rather than press them about why the VAs had been uninvited, I asked them if they knew anything about Saturday's signing being canceled (my logic being that if the VAs weren't going to show up, there wasn't going to be a signing... which in retrospect is poor logic, but whatever).  I was told that as far as they knew, the signing was still on.

Realizing the flaw in my logic (   ), I next went to the Bongo booth, where Bill Morrison and a few other employees were stationed.  I asked them if they knew anything about the VAs being uninvited, and they seemed as surprised by the question as the FOX booth runners.  They told me that last they'd heard the VAs were still coming.  However, Morrison (I think; I was looking elsewhere when I heard this) also mentioned that Maurice had told him that, as of Monday, he wasn't sure he was coming down because of the status of the negotiations.  FOX is (was) apparently footing the bill for all of their travel and hotel accommodations, and it sounded like Maurice wasn't sure they were still going to do that.

So, as far as the Bongo and FOX booth employees know, the panel and signing session are still going to happen, and the VAs are attending.

...Which brings me to my other point.  While grabbing my ticket for the Dollhouse signing, I noticed this:



Not only is the signing at a completely different time and location than indicated on the Comic-Con web site, it's less than an hour and a half before the Futurama panel.  There's a highly unlikely chance that a person will be able to attend both events simply based on how long it takes to get into Ballroom 20 on a Saturday.

On the flip side, they claim Katey Sagal is going to show up at the signing, as well as the other VAs.  And to my knowledge this sheet wasn't on their booth table last night.

I don't know what I'm going to do.  Thoughts?

ETA: I just read i_c_weiner's post in the other thread.  Now I'm horribly confused about the signing times.  I don't think the FOX booth's signing time is a typo, because the Bongo booth had the same time listed (although they indicated that only Matt Groening was going to be there).  Maybe there are two signings?  >_>

[Reply #338 on:]

Personally, I'd opt for the panel. I'm betting it's going to be crazy--regardless of whether or not this is all revealed to be a joke--and it might be cool to see it all unfold first-hand.

Of course, the signing would enable you to get the actors' points-of-view (and, y'know, their autographs). Which could be equally enlightening.

Hmmm...have you considered investing in a matter transporter? Or some back-alley cloning procedure?

[Reply #339 on:]

Maurice said he would be attending the Con despite not being on the panel. He also made sure to say: "The people who have been doing this "recasting thing", are the "Box Executives", not Matt and David X. Be nice to them." At least he's making sure that people don't misinterpret the situation and focus their hate towards MG and DXC, as this scheduling change is yet another thing that builds up fan hatred.

My advice: what if you and KickPants team up on this one. One cover the signing and get autographs for both, the other cover the panel and get footage. It's near impossible for somebody to go to both (unless there's some way of reserving seats for the panel...) so perhaps you should combine yourselves for maximum coverage.


And I notice things I would've gone to if I was at the Con, specifically Bruce Campbell and Human Target signings. If those three are in Human Target, I am automatically interested in the show.


Edit to 1BDI's edit: If there is a place that is called the Sail Pavilion, I would trust Moe and say there's two signings. 3 to 7 seems like quite a long time for a general Con signing, so maybe it's off-site? I'm sure that now that they don't have that pesky panel to be apart of they have a lot of time for signing autographs. Given this signing is happening, go to the panel.

[Reply #340 on:]

The Sails Pavilion is actually a separate area of the convention center, but it's enormous and might as well be its own entity.  It's where Autograph Alley is located, which is where Comic-Con claims the 3-7 panel is being held anyway.

I think I will go to go to the panel and then the 3-7 signing.  Thanks!

[Reply #341 on:]

Billy West about what he's gonna do at the Comic Con:

Hi guys!!

I am going to be at Comicon on Saturday and Sunday.
Here's where to find me.

Saturday: I will be joining my friends Matt Groening and David X. Cohen
for the "Bender Head" signings.

Then from 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM
I will be joining Phil La Mar, Johnny D. and Maurice to sign photos on
Autograph Alley.

Sunday at 3:00 PM I'm in on a discussion with the great Mark Evanier
and others about people wanting to get into the voice acting field.
It'll be really cool.

No Katey Sagal..  
I dunno what's gonna happen...

If anyone attending the Futurama Panel at the SDCC could Twitt about it live, it would be great!!

Why is the Voice cast Discussion in 2 different threads... oh well.. never mind

[Reply #342 on:]

This discussion is more about Comic-Con as a whole, the other is about the voice actor replacements as a whole. It seems like this weekend is where the two discussions have become one.


Well, 1BDI, it seems like there's the definitive answer on who's where and what and etc. It seems that doing the panel and then going to the Alley afterward seems like the best bet. Too bad you won't be able to meet MG and DXC though, although you might be able to catch DXC after the panel as Matt has The Simpsons directly following. However, given that they'll be signing for four hours, you'll probably get a nice, long discussion with them.

And if you can't get a camcorder into the room, if you could use Twitter or even post on PEEL live that'd be really clool. Although, with the former option, this would require me to finally concede and get a Twitter account...


Edit: I found a picture of Ballroom 20 from yesterday's Psych panel:

The caption was: Ballroom 20, capacity: 4000. Seats available: 0.
This was the fourth of seven panels in Ballroom 20 on Thursday, and it was at 3:45. It wasn't leading into much, but it was leading out of Burn Notice with Bruce Campbell. Moral of the story: camp out. Also, what are those reserved seats about?

[Reply #343 on:]

Wow.  That is a big room.  Seems like someone has a death wish.

[Reply #344 on:]

You wouldn't want to be in a room full of that many nerds and give them this bullshit, There will be blood.

[Reply #345 on:]

If there isn't a sudden turn of immensely good news, I think I actually want a riot to happen. I'm actually lusting after blood here. The silver lining is that this would be totally righteous to see.

Seriously can't wait for tomorrow, even though I'm not down there.

[Reply #346 on:]

Anyone who is going: If you think there will be a riot - please film it

[Reply #347 on:]

While a riot would sort of stem our lust for blood, it will also not serve us very well as a bargain position.  If Fox wants to take us seriously, we also ought to show them that we while we protest the decision, we are willing to battle them in a sensible manner.

I'm just sayin'.  Because it certainly would be fun with a riot.

[Reply #348 on:]

Kidnap their beloved Family Guy staff? That's a strong bargaining position.

[Reply #349 on:]

Too bad you won't be able to meet MG and DXC though

I managed to meet them at the last Con, so it all works out.

Moral of the story: camp out. Also, what are those reserved seats about?

I'm not quite sure.  They might be for [associated booth] staff members; I was at the Capcom panel yesterday afternoon and I caught sight of a significant number of booth workers/employees beyond the people actually being featured at the panel.

While a riot would sort of stem our lust for blood, it will also not serve us very well as a bargain position.  If Fox wants to take us seriously, we also ought to show them that we while we protest the decision, we are willing to battle them in a sensible manner.

This so much.

Regarding that picture: I see at least three empty seats =P when I got there yesterday morning, there were a handful of people already in Ballroom 20, but the room didn't look even close to full.  Or half full.  Or 1/8th full.  And there were still more people outside, [I assume] waiting to be let in when the center reopened.  I'm not quite desperate enough to camp out, but I'm arriving well before the convention center's scheduled to open tomorrow to get in line.

Wow.  That is a big room.  Seems like someone has a death wish.

The room is enormous.  It essentially runs the width of the convention center, sans hallways.

[Reply #350 on:]

While a riot would sort of stem our lust for blood, it will also not serve us very well as a bargain position.  If Fox wants to take us seriously, we also ought to show them that we while we protest the decision, we are willing to battle them in a sensible manner.

I'm just sayin'.  Because it certainly would be fun with a riot.

It would be fun. I'd certainly be suprised if some pretty loud heckling doesn't commence over the issue. As a matter of protest though - how about a sit-in? Refuse to leave the hall until the cast are re-instated or demands to that effect?
Hmm, maybe a sit-in-the-way-of-the-door so that the Fox representatives don't just leave at the end of the time and have the fans simply unconvenience and become villified by whoever has booked the hall next...?

Sit-ins may be on my mind due to that refinery dispute in the UK that looks pretty bleak for the protestors but I mean it worked for the French didn't it?

[Reply #351 on:]

If it's true the signings are moved, then I can't get autographs because we're shooting interviews...

Urge to kill...rising...

[Reply #352 on:]

Sit-ins may be on my mind due to that refinery dispute in the UK that looks pretty bleak for the protestors but I mean it worked for the French didn't it?

Well it worked for the Indians but I'm not so sure about the French. I thought they set fire to half the country and guillotined everything in site.

[Reply #353 on:]

True, I'm talking about setting things in motion though (I guess...)
The protest at the Tennis courts got the French Revolution going, what we do next is up to us to decide. I'm not advocating burning down half of Nakatomi Plaza and guillotining the rest off the staff. (I guess...)

Maybe the French weren't the best people to use as an example. Go Force India!

[Reply #354 on:]

Sure, hate the wizards French...

[Reply #355 on:]

At least the French make good aeroplanes... Can't help but think that this could have been resolved if they'd only tried to communicate with each other instead of just airing it all out in public to try and score points. Bloody TV executives...

[Reply #356 on:]

At least the French make good aeroplanes... Can't help but think that this could have been resolved if they'd only tried to communicate with each other instead of just airing it all out in public to try and score points. Bloody TV executives...

This is not time for logic!  It is time for action!

Sorry, I tried to be a voice of reason, but if they really did change around the signing times after I bought the Bender Head, and now I can't get it covered in signatures well, it's upsetting.

[Reply #357 on:]

From what Billy posted on his forum, it looks like there's two signing sessions: one with MG and DXC and another with the VAs, with the former being the "Bender Head session". What interview are you shooting?

[Reply #358 on:]

From what Billy posted on his forum, it looks like there's two signing sessions: one with MG and DXC and another with the VAs, with the former being the "Bender Head session". What interview are you shooting?

I don't know, our publicity department controls our movements from the office in LA.  I pushed to do a lot of comic book folks, Jason Aaron, Matt Fraction, etc, but it looks like we'll be doing folks in direct to DVD movies and stuff. I may grab a camera, a stand, and a mic and go rogue and conduct my own "interviews" just so I can meet people.

[Reply #359 on:]

Perfect! You could "acquire" some of the tools and "interview" the Futurama voice actors! Get an exclusive for the office.