"Where No Fan Has Gone Before" Nominated for Nebula Award

[on:]

As you might have seen on CGEF, David A. Goodman was nominated in the scripts category for writing this episode.  It's up against four movies: Finding Nemo, The Two Towers, Minority Report, and 千と千尋の神隠し (aka Spirited Away).  Interestingly, three of the five nominees are animated.

You might be wondering how an episode that aired in 2002 could be nominated now.  Well, according to the official rules, the nomination period is for 2003, but any work is eligible for twelve months after its initial release or airing.  So pretty much anything from 2002 was eligible.  (And actually, out of all the nominees, Finding Nemo is the only 2003 release.)

The award will be presented on 17 April.  See the list here:

http://www.sfwa.org/News/nebula_ballot03.htm

[Reply #1 on:]

Wow, that's some incredibly tough competition... but a nomination up against those sorts of films is sure an achievment. Congrats, and good luck to a great episode!

[Reply #2 on:]

we shall see

[Reply #3 on:]

That's some mighty fine company for a Futurama episode to be up against. I don't think David A Goodman will pull this one off, but best of luck to him.

[Reply #4 on:]

I gotta say, it's a nice change of pace to see Futurama nominated for an award where I'll be happy whoever wins.  With competition like this, it's got to be an honour just to be nominated, especially when you're the only TV script in the bunch.  Good luck, David A Goodman, we're all rooting for ya!

[Reply #5 on:]

I'm very happy to see it up there, but it's up against such strong competition. Not strong in a better sense, but strong in a more popular sense...

[Reply #6 on:]

You might have realized that since an episode from 2002 was nominated this year, episodes from 2003 could be nominated next year.  Those episodes are:

"Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch:" Bill Odenkirk
"Less Than Hero:" Ron Weiner
"Bender Should Not be Allowed on TV:" Lewis Morton
"Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles:" Jeff Westbrook
"The Why of Fry:" David X. Cohen
"The Sting:" Patric Verrone
"Bend Her:" Mike Rowe
"Obsoletely Fabulous:" Dan Vebber
"The Farnsworth Parabox:" Bill Odenkirk
"Three Hundred Big Boys:" Eric Kaplan
"Spanish Fry:" Ron Weiner
"The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings:" Ken Keeler

[Reply #7 on:]

"The Sting" should be nominated next year.

However, as much as I want Futurama to win, I don't think it will, seeing as it's a cancelled TV show and the rest are high-grossing movies.

[Reply #8 on:]

it most likley wont win but i inerley hope so
and its realy strong to be nomanaded for this i mean doent fox care about any awords

[Reply #9 on:]

Hahahaha ! I have no idea what you just tried to say.

I don't really think a 20 minute cartoon like Futurama will be able to beat all those feature films even though the writing fo "WNFHGB" is much better than the writing for those films (keep in mind I haven't seen spirited away.)

Here's to hoping !

[Reply #10 on:]

I would say the writing was better than Finding Nemo and Two Towers at least, even though Nemo was a really inventive film. It was the animation that truly brought that film to life though, so I doubt they'll win.

[Reply #11 on:]

Wow, a 20 minute animated cartoon against hour long films? Surely that shows the sheer quality of Futurama, no matter how it does!

It's also great to see it no-where near "The Simpsons".

[Reply #12 on:]

Hooray, very nice indeed to See Futurama regarded so highly. We can but hope that it wins.

[Reply #13 on:]

I don't think there's any real hope of it winning, but what an area to be nominated in anyway.  Up against some of the most popular movies of the last couple years.  I've seen all of those movies and can honestly say they are all generally good too.  Even if it doesn't win Futurama has recieved quite an honor here.

Though, WNFHGB is one of the best episodes, so it deserves it.

[Reply #14 on:]

I love fututama, but i'm rooting for spirited away. It's one of those films where you come out and are amazed by what you have just seen.

[Reply #15 on:]

 

Originally posted by nagrub:
I love fututama, but i'm rooting for spirited away. It's one of those films where you come out and are amazed by what you have just seen.

I agree with all of that, but the script is nominated, not the images.

Also, does anyone know if Spirited Away's nomination is for the original script or the english translation?

[Reply #16 on:]

I'm not sure on that.
Anyway, I'm glad to see Futurama getting a nomination for an award where it has some real competition.
A question: Is there a site that lists all of Futurama'a award nominations and wins?

[Reply #17 on:]

IMDB's Awards Page

CGEF probably has it too.

[Reply #18 on:]

Does it seem to anyone else that this award isn't really comparing apples to apples? I mean comparing Futurama to movies like Spirited Away isn't even apples to oranges, more like apples to Buicks.

Spirited Away is one of my favorite movies and Futurama is one of my favorite shows. But can the writing of the two really be compared using the same criteria? It sounds to me like the Nebula Awards could use a seperate award for writing in a TV series. Plus then Futurama would actually have a chance to win  . Ohhhh well, it's still great to see it nominated.

[Reply #19 on:]

 

Originally posted by boingo2000:
Does anyone know if Spirited Away's nomination is for the original script or the english translation?

The press release linked to at the top of the thread seems to say the nomination is for the English script. That’s a bit of surprise to me, I thought spirited away was an absolutely awesome film, but the breadth of the imagination and beauty of the animation let it get away with a bit of a weak story. The English translation (the only one available at cinemas here in New Zealand) was worse than the subtitled Japanese for mine.

Having said that Hayao Miyazaki is one of the nominees and surely the amazingly imaginative aspects of the story are considered at least in part as being in the script.

As an aside every video store around here puts Spirited Away in the children’s section which really annoys me.

[Reply #20 on:]

Thanks for the link, aslate.

[Reply #21 on:]

It lost to The Two Towers.  No one seemed to think it had much of a chance of winning, but I think everyone was just surprised it was actually nominated.

http://www.sfwa.org/awards/2004/nebwinners2003.html

[Reply #22 on:]

Any recognition for the geniuses behind Futurama is good.

[Reply #23 on:]

Yes, and comparing to to blockbuster movies like Two Towers is even better.

[Reply #24 on:]

I wonder why they considered TV and movies inthe same category..? I'm glad they imcluded animation and live action together, but TV and Movies are sort of on different planes. Well, it was a genius script, and I wouldn't feel bad for LOTR if it missed ONE AWARD once in a while. The on-set janitor alone must have a full trophy case.. Don't even get me started on its thievery of best song at the Oscars.

[Reply #25 on:]

As much as I like Futurama, I think WNFHGB is one of the weaker episodes.

[Reply #26 on:]

I loved it, personally, and I've never even seen Star Trek. I'm pleased it got that kind of recognition, rather than the usual Emmy rubbish.

[Reply #27 on:]

I agree with M.O.V never seen star trek but I loved the episode.
Although I kind of get the feeling it was some kind of administrative error that gave it a nomination.