Futurama News - No spoilers outside spoiler tags!

[Reply #320 on:]

If I was matt Groening I would say to fox "fine, you don't want futurama than I don't want you to have the simpsons suck it bitches!" with a lil victory dance too. Why does he  just not blackmail them with the simpsons?

For the very same reasons he created Futurama; he lacks the creative control of The Simpsons.  He cannot make that decision alone.

[Reply #321 on:]

Nice article, svip. Would be nice to have a follow up on those early Futurama ideas.

And let us not forget that Matt hasn't been a showrunner of the Simpsons since Season 2. The last time he wrote on the series was Season 7's 22 Short Films About Springfield way back in 1996. Also, that same Al Jean who he had the Critic dispute with has been the showrunner since Season 13 (2001), also known as the "it's all down hill from here" era.

In short, Fox and The Simpsons don't care about Groening anymore, and Groening doesn't care about Fox and The Simpsons anymore. He's a creative consultant and executive producer for the show now and that's it. And it's shown in recent years. Has he even show up at Simpsons Comic Con panels in recent years? His appearances on commentaries for Simpsons compared to Futurama speaks for itself.

[Reply #322 on:]

He was at least year's Comic-Con, but I guess mostly because it was right after the Futurama panel.

[Reply #323 on:]

For anybody looking for a quiet sunday, Comedy Central is having a Futurama-thon, 8 hours of episodes

[Reply #324 on:]

If I was matt Groening I would say to fox "fine, you don't want futurama than I don't want you to have the simpsons suck it bitches!" with a lil victory dance too. Why does he  just not blackmail them with the simpsons?

Because they'd just put more Seth shows on the schedule. He might even get a fifth show!

[Reply #325 on:]

For anybody looking for a quiet sunday, Comedy Central is having a Futurama-thon, 8 hours of episodes

Impressive. CC really seems to be promoting the hell out of Futurama. Fox Network really needs to take notes from them on how to promote a truly good show.

A Futurama-thon sounds awesome, but it would be redundant for me, because I've been watching at least one DVD of Futurama per night for the past month.

[Reply #326 on:]

4 Days until the big day.

[Reply #327 on:]

I may just break my feeble attempt at this watch-every-episode-ever thing to watch this Comedy Central marathon. The line-up would appear to be as follows:

Roswell that Ends Well
The Farnsworth Parabox
Insane in the Mainframe
Bender Gets Made
Fry and the Slurm Factory
The Sting
Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch
War is the H-Word
The Route of All Evil
Parasites Lost
The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz
Where No Fan Has Gone Before
The Lesser of Two Evils
Bender Should Not Be Allowed on Television
Love and Rocket
Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?

It'll be worth watching for the occasional never-before-seen promo they might throw our way.

[Reply #328 on:]

I like that they chose a lot of the better episodes. Well, other than the ones that we all know suck... You know the ones I mean...

[Reply #329 on:]

I like that they chose a lot of the better episodes. Well, other than the ones that we all know suck... You know the ones I mean...

Are you talking about "Bender's Lame", "The Beast with a Billion Backs and a p*ssy Fry", and "Bender's Big Score with Everybody who Doesn't Give a Flying Fox about Continuity and Seymour"? Or are you talking about "That's Lobstertainment!"?

[Reply #330 on:]

None of the above, in fact. Other than Bender's Game. And I actually like That's Lobstertainment. I meant (of those episodes in hte marathon) Fry and the Slurm Factory, The Route of All Evil, The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz, and The Lesser of Two Evils.

[Reply #331 on:]

Fry and the Slurm Factory?  Seriously?

[Reply #332 on:]

I didn't like the Slurm Factory. I was fine with the Fry, even And, but never The Slurm Factory. The episode was like Bender's Game to me: started off great, but trailed off.

[Reply #333 on:]

I'm not as big on "Fry and the Slurm Factory" as most other fans, either; i_c. Birdbot, though, is one of the most underrated episodes, and the subplot in "The Route of All Evil" really redeems it for me. I'm actually turning Comedy Central on right now, 'cause I never pass up a chance to see "Roswell That Ends Well."

[Reply #334 on:]

What?  It had all sorts of excellent moments.  'Tell them I hate them', 'Party on, contest winners, party on', 'Ouch, my sperm', etc.

That episode kept it ringing throughout the entire time.  Especially because it didn't waste too much time on its parody, 'yes, now we saw the whole river thingie, let's get on with the plot!'  Unlike Bender's Game, which was just trying to fill in time.

[Reply #335 on:]

I just don't think it's the best that season, or the series, has to offer. You have to give the writers credit for, like you say, downplaying the parody aspect. But I still can't get into it. But obviously my taste in episodes is dodgy, since I'm so fond of episodes like Birdbot and such.

[Reply #336 on:]

"Route of All Evil" is just okay...but those others are good.  "Birdbot"?  Come on, that episode's hilarious.

[Reply #337 on:]

I agree with Svip about Fry and the Slurm Factory, but I also second i_c_weiner on the whole actually liking "That's Lobstertainment!" thing.

[Reply #338 on:]

Not to say that Futurama episode survivor is exactly a credible scientific source, but Fry and The Slurm Factory finished 37th of 76 in the last Survivor from last year. That's pretty medium quality then. I bolded the episodes airing tonight, and added hr tags at quarter marks to define the awesome, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

  1.   Parasites Lost
   2.   Insane in the Mainframe
   3.   The Sting
   4.   Roswell That Ends Well
   5.   The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings
   6.   The Why of Fry
   7.   The Day the Earth Stood Stupid
   8.   Xmas Story
   9.   Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles
   10.   Into the Wild Green Yonder
   11.   Hell is Other Robots
   12.   Godfellas
   13.   Amazon Women in the Mood
  14.   The Farnsworth Parabox
   15.   The Luck of the Fryish
   16.   Less Than Hero
   17.   Leela's Homeworld
  18.   War is the H-Word
   19.   Jurassic Bark
  20.   Love's Labours Lost in Space
   21.   Space Pilot 3000
   22.   The Problem With Popplers
  23.   Bender Gets Made
   24.   Fear of a Bot Planet
   25.   Time Keeps on Slippin'
   26.   A Flight to Remember
   27.   I Second That Emotion
   28.   A Fishful of Dollars
   29.   Brannigan Begin Again
   30.   Anthology of Interest I
  31.   Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?
   32.   How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back
   33.   Mother's Day
   34.   Three Hundred Big Boys
   35.   Anthology of Interest II
   36.   Put Your Head on My Shoulder
  37.   Fry and the Slurm Factory
   38.   Future Stock
  39.   A Head in the Polls
   40.   The Deep South
   41.   The Series Has Landed
  42.   Love and Rocket
   43.   Crimes of the Hot
   44.   When Aliens Attack
   45.   A Tale of Two Santas
   46.   The Honking
   47.   Bendin' in the Wind
   48.   Raging Bender
   49.   A Clone of My Own
   50.   Spanish Fry
   51.   I, Roommate
   52.   Mars University
  53.   The Lesser of Two Evils
   54.   Where No Fan Has Gone Before
   55.   Bender Should Not Be Allowed on Television
   56.   Bendless Love
  57.   The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz
  58.   The 30% Iron Chef
   59.   A Big Piece of Garbage
   60.   My Three Suns
   61.   A Pharaoh to Remember
  62.   Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch
   63.   A Bicyclops Built for Two
   64.   Bender's Big Score
   65.   The Cyber House Rules
   66.   Bend Her
  67.   The Route of All Evil
   68.   I Dated a Robot
   69.   A Taste of Freedom
   70.   Bender's Game
   71.   A Leela of Her Own
   72.   Obsoletely Fabulous
   73.   The Cryonic Woman
   74.   That's Lobstertainment!
   75.   Where the Buggalo Roam
   76.   The Beast With a Billion Backs


Looks like the breakdown is 6/3/5/2, or 9/7 between high and low rated. Once again, this isn't a complete science, nor does it reflect my opinions on episodes (such as WNFHGB, BBS, and Lobstertainment apearing in the lower half, and Beast at last).

[Reply #339 on:]

You got to admit, "The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz" does have the best episode title. Then the peace ring fail hit it out of the park.

[Reply #340 on:]

Naw, Roswell That Ends Well is the best. How many other episode titles of other series reference Shakespeare? And, not only that, the title appears on their missile! The only other times the title of the episode was mentioned within it were the brochure in Hell Is Other Robots and Bender saying, "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on Television," in the episode of the same name.

[Reply #341 on:]

Naw, Roswell That Ends Well is the best. How many other episode titles of other series reference Shakespeare? And, not only that, the title appears on their missile! The only other times the title of the episode was mentioned within it were the brochure in Hell Is Other Robots and Bender saying, "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on Television," in the episode of the same name.

Great list. Except, you forgot the episodes "Mother's Day", "Mars University" and "I Dated a Robot". Also technically "Where No Fan Has Gone Before".

[Reply #342 on:]

I always forget about Mother's Day. That episode and A Pharaoh to Remember always feel foreign to me, like I've never seen them.

[Reply #343 on:]

To be fair, "A Pharaoh to Remember" isn't really worth, well, remembering.  "Mother's Day" is pretty awesome though.

Also, that list is a little wack.  "Where No Fan Has Gone Before" in the bottom half?  That's a top five episode!

[Reply #344 on:]

Word on the mediocrity of "A Pharaoh to Remember." And if I recall correctly, that episode survivor got very contentious--lots of infighting, highly political. That accounts for a lot of episodes that I think are really great being so lowly-rated ("Bend Her", what are you doing in the bottom quarter?), and I'm sure that's true for other fans. I'm just happy that people showed "Insane in the Mainframe" the respect it deserves. It may just be my favorite episode.

[Reply #345 on:]

APTR is a very good episode, the 2 funeral services, Leela's skimpy tunic, and the set colors makes it one of the top ones.

[Reply #346 on:]

If anyone wants to continue this episode debatin', I say we move it to the Best Episode thread.

[Reply #347 on:]

And if I recall correctly, that episode survivor got very contentious--lots of infighting, highly political.

That reminds me, I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize as I still feel guilty for just barging in and joining the game without permission in the second quarter.

[Reply #348 on:]

3 Days...

[Reply #349 on:]

And if I recall correctly, that episode survivor got very contentious--lots of infighting, highly political.

That reminds me, I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize as I still feel guilty for just barging in and joining the game without permission in the second quarter.

That wasn't a problem at all. The more community participation, the better! Some thought me not being at my computer at all times was a sign that I was biased towards certain episodes. Once this new season is finished in September, I'm planning on doing a more sophisticated Episode Survivor that should "cut down on spam", as some mods felt the survivor game is.

And Gorky, I'll post a comparison graph showing the original Survivor rankings compared to these new ones.

[Reply #350 on:]

For the record, i_c, I thought you did a fine job running that episode Survivor; I thought it generated some interesting (read: nerdy) debate about the episodes and their merits. Oh, and I love graphs!

[Reply #351 on:]

I'm posting in the best episode discussion an epic spreadsheet dissecting Futurama Episode Survivor 2005 and 2009. In basics, it seems that the problem with 2009's was the misplaced negative sentiment against the movies in their immediate wake.

[Reply #352 on:]

Evidence seems to indicate that 6ACV14 will indeed be title "The Silence of the Clamps".  Indicate in this source and I quote:

With their scripts on easels in front of them, they began at Act 1, Scene 1 of "The Silence of the Clamps," performing each scene in sequence.

Other than a mention of what Hermes' line is in the first episode of the new season, not so much new stuff in this article.

[Reply #353 on:]

If anybody was wondering how hard Comedy Central is advertising new Futurama, they made an event on Facebook for Thursday's premiere via their Futurama page. How did I find out about this event? Comedy Central bought ad space on Facebook on the right side of the main screen (the space that says "sponsored" and usually has a little poll). That's millions of Facebook users seeing this ad. So far, almost 30k have said they're "attending the event", but there's still two more days.

Bravo to Comedy Central for their advertising of Futurama. There's promos about once every hour on CC, you have Futurama featured on the CC homepage, Futurama ads infront of streaming Daily Show and Colbert Report, and now Facebook. I'm positive this will do a lot for ratings, and it's far more than Fox ever did. (Yes, you can say that Fox never had some of this technology, but they didn't match it adjusted for technological inflation.)

[Reply #354 on:]

2 days!

[Reply #355 on:]

If anybody was wondering how hard Comedy Central is advertising new Futurama, they made an event on Facebook for Thursday's premiere via their Futurama page. How did I find out about this event? Comedy Central bought ad space on Facebook on the right side of the main screen (the space that says "sponsored" and usually has a little poll). That's millions of Facebook users seeing this ad. So far, almost 30k have said they're "attending the event", but there's still two more days.

Speaking of this group...(and I know this wasn't the point of your post, so I apologize)...

Anyone else notice that someone seems to have somehow acquired and POSTED the two episodes (minus the endings it seems) in that group?  No way am I watching them 'til they actually air...but holy hell, how did these leak out?

(Sorry if discussion of this isn't allowed...feel free to edit this if need be.)

And yeah, I agree, Comedy Central has been way better about advertising this show.  I don't even have (real) cable, but I've still seen tons of ads for it thanks to the Daily Show/Colbert advertising and even banner ads in random places.  They're putting some real muscle into it that I can't recall Fox ever doing, outside of maybe the pilot.  I think they just care about it more than Fox did.

[Reply #356 on:]

Anyone else notice that someone seems to have somehow acquired and POSTED the two episodes (minus the endings it seems) in that group?  No way am I watching them 'til they actually air...but holy hell, how did these leak out?

Easy.  The episodes were sent to reviewers so they could review the episodes (noticed the high amount of reviews lately?), so one of these who got their hands on the new episodes, decided to leak them.  It happens every time films or episodes are sent in advance for reviews.  This will not happen with the upcoming episodes, since they will not be given out in advance.

[Reply #357 on:]

^Yeah, I figured...although I hadn't seen a lot of the reviews until shortly after making that post, so it looked to me like only a few select "partners" (like IGN) were given access to it, making a leak seem more unlikely.  But yeah, I've seen similar things with other shows before.

I kind of expect that the links there will be taken down, assuming someone at Comedy Central or FOX notices...but it was a little surprising to me.  Regardless, I'm not watching them until Thursday night, so I can watch them more-or-less properly the first time through.

[Reply #358 on:]

It's too late, they've already hit the torrents.
Which is nice for those of us who don't live in America and want to watch Futurama when it makes its glorious return tonight!

But seriously, files are bad and stuff. Right.

[Reply #359 on:]

I'm very happy that there will likely not be screeners sent out in advance for upcoming episodes. I don't like the feeling of having the episodes out there until it's supposed to air... It's good for addicts and internationals, but yeah...