To the Year 3014 or Bust - General Futurama Discussion

[Reply #480 on:]

Hmmm... Not sure if they will renew Futurama or just stay thinking on it.

[Reply #481 on:]

We should find out between now and the end of May I'd say...

[Reply #482 on:]

I'm hoping for another podcast, the podcast last year came to early/late... I really became a fan of futurama like 3 moths after that

[Reply #483 on:]

We should find out between now and the end of May I'd say...

Hmmm... Not sure if they will renew Futurama or just stay thinking on it.

I'd say we should find out on 03.28.2013, 'cause Futurama was renewed for Season 7 on 03.28.2011 (BTW, in USA "Space Pilot 3000" was first aired on 03.28.1999). I think it would be a good tradition to maintain that pattern .

[Reply #484 on:]

It's also possible for the show to just "skip" one year:
Should season 7B produce higher rankings than 7A, a renewal might be reconsidered. Yet, by the time those ratings are present, the deadline to start 8A production for 2014 probably has passed.
So, a potential renewal might be delayed until 2015.

Of course, these are extremely hypothetical considerations.
Yet, I would not mind the show being given a break of 1 year.

[Reply #485 on:]

That actually seems like a fairly good possibility. Now that the show seems to be in danger of being permanently canceled this time, maybe some more people will have greater inclination to watch, leading to higher ratings.

[Reply #486 on:]

Skipping a year is highly unlikely with a model of production such as Futurama's. It makes things much more difficult for the people producing the show, and it, therefore, makes it more difficult for them to produce a good end-product. Not to mention how much more expensive it is to produce something that way.

[Reply #487 on:]

This is probably a very stupid question, but why does skipping a year make production so much more difficult and expensive?

[Reply #488 on:]

I would guess that they wouldn't already have everything ready, so investments would be needed to start production.

[Reply #489 on:]

This is probably a very stupid question, but why does skipping a year make production so much more difficult and expensive?

The production offices have to completely shut down, then be completely opened again, from scratch.

Then the production staff all have to be sourced again. Many of them will, most likely, be able to work on the show - but a lot of people will be tied down with new jobs that will interfere with their ability to come back, or they might simply just feel like they've moved on at this point. This means that they have to hire a whole series of new people which adds to the time and cost, as well.

It's just not really done in TV, either. If they want to keep the show alive, the network will usually treat it with enough respect to keep them going without shutting down production, then opening it again.
I should note that it's a different kettle of fish if the production "skips a year" because of creative types involved taking time out - such as with Larry David on most seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm.

I mean, it is a possibility, but it's highly unlikely.

[Reply #490 on:]

Ah, okay, thank you for the explanation, I hadn't considered any of those things.

[Reply #491 on:]

Skipping a year is generally pretty odd, but it's actually not really unheard of for shows to go out of production for some period of time while the network makes decisions or waits for ratings. Community might very well get another season (depending on how desperate NBC is), but in the meantime, the show has effectively shut down because all the episodes for this season were finished prior to season premiere airing. Cable shows especially do this all the time given the shorter production runs per year. All told, I would actually guess that most Comedy Central shows probably go out of production for some period of time each year, and then end up waiting a while for the network to make decisions on another year (especially with shows that had just completed the first test season, prior to CC actually airing them).

Part of me wonders if this waiting is because Comedy Central just doesn't want to jump the gun again before they even see the ratings for this year, and is more inclined to treat it like all their other shows. The problem of course being that this would seemingly be forgetting how long the production process really is for the show, but even then, it could be that the network has simply reasoned that if they wait it out and see how the ratings do first, it would still be relatively easy to "get the band back together" (so to speak) for another season down the line, given that the show has been put on hiatus (and even cancelled for a lengthy period) before and still been resurrected successfully, original voices and writers and all.

Plus, is there a rule that any future episodes would have to be in the summer again? I mean, I'm sure this year's probably will be, but if there was a late renewal they could always air them in the fall of 2014 (paired with South Park, perhaps), assuming the renewal at least came in enough time for that.

[Reply #492 on:]

To be honest, I would be FOR Futurama ending because of the way the show currently is. A problem with the series since the revival is that every week it seems like they are saving the world.

They also rely too much on the original run jokes (like Leela's Oh Lord!) and characters. To be honest I now find Bender obnoxious and overused. Fry's voice has changed and he just isn't the same old Fry he was in the original run. His intelligence has gone way down in the way that it just isn't funny anymore. They use to have "smarter" dumb Fry jokes but now it's just easy, not amusing jokes.

Example Quote from Season 1's A Big Piece of Garbage:

Fry: Hey! You have no right to criticise the 20th century. We gave the world the lightbulb, the steamboat and the cotton gin.
Leela: Those things are all from the 19th century.
Fry: Yeah, well, they probably just copied us.

I also don't like the adding of Hermes and Amy to every plot in addition to the saving the world plots. I prefer it when it is the trio (Fry, Leela and Bender). Hermes and Amy don't need to be added every trip they go on. Zoidberg can also fall in that category -- overuse of him focused on in the episode is too much.

The plots they have been coming out with are just really boring IMO it didn't help that they decided to not make Fry and Leela get together after The Wild Green Yonder too and just really handled it poorly by making it off and on again which didn't make sense to me. They just made me not care for their relationship anymore.

Also that brings to me another thing - the Sentimental episodes just are weak and to me can't really match to the moments of the original run. Bender's Big Score was probably the only one that did.

I also don't care for the fanservice moments they have done from the movies onwards. They used to be used sparingly and often clever.

The whole show just is lacking what it is that made it Futurama. This show that had great plots that related to Fry being in the future (without him having to save the world), and smarter jokes that made you laugh and can still laugh about and recall back after all these years. I still love Season 1 the most and I think that was the best season. The humour in there was so intelligence and great!

I think the show is just too boring to me now. There aren't any good enough jokes in there to keep me entertained compared to say new Family Guy which I find some of the stories poor or a good story so i'm not bored. I absoutely find from 6B onwards and Bender's Game competely boring.

I don't want to offend the writers and creators of the show but I kind of wished Futurama never came back (maybe called it quits after the movies.)

Just my opinion. And trust me I was one of the biggest Futurama fans back in the day!

[Reply #493 on:]

I agree that the "end of the world" episodes can become pretty tiring after a while, but for me it's only a problem in the filler episodes like In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela and That Darn Katz. Also, 7A used that plot only once, so the repetition of this concept isn't an immediate concern for me.

There's still a great deal of interesting stories that make the most of the setting (At least in my opinion). The Late Philip J Fry, The Prisoner of Benda, and Law and Oracle are some notable examples.

As for the humour becoming stale, it seems to me that the quality fluctuates between each episode. I found Near-Death Wish and All the Presidents' Heads to be largely unfunny, but on the other hand I could barely stop laughing during episodes like Reincarnation and Zapp Dingbat.

Either way, you're entitled to your opinion so I won't try to change it.

[Reply #494 on:]

Nice, well said...ermmm... written.

[Reply #495 on:]

Cho Lum Kin, I agree with you that they really do need to get back to focusing on the main trio, and I do miss that aspect of the old run, too.

However, like UnrealLegend the "saving the world/end of the world" plot was only used once in 7A, and, in my opinion, Season 6 didn't really overuse it that much. I think it was only used in In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela, That Darn Katz, and Cold Warriors and I suppose All the Presidents' Heads could fall into that category, too. That's only four out of twenty-six, which is comparable to the two out of thirteen Season 1 episodes (When Aliens Attack and A Big Piece of Garbage) centered on that theme.

Also, I don't personally find the newer sentimental episodes weak, especially TLPJF, which is my favorite of the whole series. While there haven't been any others that can match Leela's Homeworld or The Sting, I thought the emotional ending of Lethal Inspection and Bender and Ben Vending's relationship in The Bots and the Bees were both handled very well and were effective at tugging at the heartstrings.

I agree that there is less of the subtle, intelligent humor that was almost constant in the original run, but it is still very much present. I did find 7A more lacking in that regard, though, in comparison to Season 6.

Overall, I'm still very glad it came back and am very much excited for the new episodes, but to each their own 

[Reply #496 on:]

I don't feel Fry's gotten notably dumber in the new run. That season 1 quote isn't really a good example, because that's a line he wouldn't have said in season 2 or 3 either.

I also don't know that the shift away from the main trio has actually been that significant. Maybe a little bit, but it's necessary to keep the show fresh, and any show in its seventh season would do some episodes about under-explored secondary characters. Because...they can. Why shouldn't they if they're good characters?

The great majority of episodes are still about Fry, Leela, or Bender (or some combination of those). I would say there's probably more of the Professor now than there used to be, but I could be wrong on that. Regardless, I'm not complaining.

My only big complaint with the new seasons is that there just seem to be fewer really out-of-the-park, top-20, super memorable episodes like seasons 3 and 4 had. I think they're comparable to the first couple seasons honestly, but 3 and 4 had new classics every 3-5 episodes or something. It was ridiculous. There's a handful of top 20 contenders in the new episodes, but if I was making a list it would probably only have a couple of the 30+ new eps aired so far on it. I still really enjoy the show though and don't consider it to have "jumped the shark" yet.

[Reply #497 on:]

I don't think anyone who understands the meaning of "jumping the shark" will have claimed the show has done that.

[Reply #498 on:]

Question:

I'm trying to work out if the Amazonians who appear in "Brannigan, Begin Again" and "The Lesser of Two Evils" are supposed to be the same character or not. The infosphere claims that it's "Thog" but I'm not sure if that's accurate. Thog and these two other mysterious ladies all look slightly different, yet slightly similar.

Opinions?

[Reply #499 on:]

im not sure if someone posted this yet but http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rb_ef3pRqbI

[Reply #500 on:]

Yeah that's been passed around a lot. Still looks awesome as hell, mind.

[Reply #501 on:]

Has anyone posted this yet?



This Bender Furnace Wants You to Bite His Shiny Metal... You Know

That's so awesome! I would love to own a robot like Bender

[Reply #502 on:]

That's pretty neat.

Somebody should make a Bender Popcorn machine that uses the antenna to squirt butter.

[Reply #503 on:]

Nice! I wonder where that guy will put his bender, perhaps a tiny house and he goes live in the closet? Nah...

POPCORN! Butter on your popcorn? BAM! Calory bomb

[Reply #504 on:]

Is that actually sheet metal?  it's bloody awesome!

[Reply #505 on:]

Is that actually sheet metal?  it's bloody awesome!

Yes it is. The guy wrote a how-to, detailing exactly how you can reproduce this item. Enjoy. Here's video of it in use.

[Reply #506 on:]

Wow.  I have a couple pair of sheet metal shears, but very little patience, I'm afraid.

[Reply #507 on:]

Watch this gif whilst listening to "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" by Dead or Alive.

[Reply #508 on:]

* Tachy fires up "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)", ripped from his antique ten-inch
vinyl EP

[Reply #509 on:]

I didn't know Bender was on Family Guy. lol If you haven't seen the episode, it's called 'The Splendid Source'

[Reply #510 on:]

Watch this gif whilst listening to "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" by Dead or Alive.

Thank you, you made my night! (such a great song!)

[Reply #511 on:]

If you haven't seen the episode, it's called 'The Splendid Source'

I've seen the episode, and I'm not trying to criticize you, but I thought it was complete garbage. But I think we can all agree to that. Bender's 3 second Cameo fit well into the "story", but was pretty lame. Still a nice cameo though, I'll agree to that  

Which reminds me.......I love how Futurama has the possibility of being cancelled, but Family Guy has got not even the slightest possibility. We as Futurama fans, all know which is the superior show. Honestly, I really cannot see what FOX likes about the Modern-Day Family Guy though, besides the ratings, and the DVD Sales, and the money......  

[Reply #512 on:]

I know I mentioned this before, but is it a possibility that Comedy Central could be considering moving Futurama to air next to South Park come autumn 2014? It gives Comedy Central more time to review the ratings for this upcoming season and if Futurama aired new episodes with South Park, both shows would likely boost the ratings for each other.

I really hope Comedy Central doesn't ignore the ratings of reruns. Not everybody may be aware that Futurama has new episodes in the summer, but at least a casual viewer can catch up during the daytime broadcast...

[Reply #513 on:]

I suppose it is a possibility that it will air with South Park, but wouldn't we have heard some brief mention of it if that was being considered? I'm not sure, but I feel like if that was being discussed, people associated with the show wouldn't sound so confident the new episodes are airing this summer.

[Reply #514 on:]

New episodes will air on this summer, but Frida is speculating possibility to air season 8/8A alongside South Park if Futurama is renewed.

And we can only hope something like that. Problem still would be that production has stopped and needed to be started all over again.

[Reply #515 on:]

Sorry but I definitely want Futurama to get cancelled. They'll pay for taking away my smile. Don't make me sad

[Reply #516 on:]

Just ignore this, guys. BTW, current reason of Unmentionable's "sadness" is: Eric Rogers just blocked him again...

[Reply #517 on:]

I have a feeling that CC are going to let the staff have a year break (in 2014) or something, and we'll get more new episodes in 2015. I'd prefer that than (a third) cancellation or infinite hiatus. Maybe they really are gonna judge the show's fate on the ratings from this summer's half-season.

Thank you, you made my night! (such a great song!)

No problem! The gif matches up well with the song for obvious reasons (plus the gang bouncing in the background somehow becomes in sync with the song) and it's damn hilarious.

[Reply #518 on:]

I need to start posting in here more and less in the news thread.

Anyway, I have a feeling FOX doesn't want to cancel Futurama but CC may not want more, so a big change may be in the works.
Thus we'll be getting a hiatus most likely.

FOX said they'd officially announce the fate of TCS in early May.
Perhaps Futurama will get some news about renewal in May as well.

[Reply #519 on:]

New episodes will air on this summer, but Frida is speculating possibility to air season 8/8A alongside South Park if Futurama is renewed.

And we can only hope something like that. Problem still would be that production has stopped and needed to be started all over again.

Ah, I'm sorry, I read through her post too quickly and didn't notice the 2014 part.