I saw Mike Reiss this past Tuesday....

[on:]

So I saw Mike Reiss (producer of the Simpsons) here at Eastern Michigan and I asked him about the chances of Futurama ever making it back.  Although he did say the show was over, he did say there was a pretty good chance that they were going to be making a movie out of Futurama.  That alone would blow my small little mind.

I also took it upon myself to ask him if he thinks the family guy is a blatant rip off of the simpsons (cause it is), although he avoided the question, he didnt deny it.


He also said that basically when the Simpsons broke up, all the good writers went to work on Futurama, and everyone else went to King of the Hill hahahah

[Reply #1 on:]

Cool bit of information there!   

Welcome to PEEL Rentboy. (great username by the way   

I must go though; the mods are already making there way over........*ack* ...nerdlingus is gagged and dragged off...

[Reply #2 on:]

whats wrong with my post???

[Reply #3 on:]

There's nowt wrong with your post, I was just joking at the expense of the mods.   

[Reply #4 on:]

hmmmm, 'nowt'. I have a sneaking suspicion that nerdlingus is from up north

[Reply #5 on:]

woah, this is like when my dad met matt groening *joke  *

[Reply #6 on:]

 

Originally posted by Rent Boy:
He also said that basically when the Simpsons broke up, all the good writers went to work on Futurama, and everyone else went to King of the Hill hahahah

[Zoidberg]The Simpsons broke up?  What?  You're kidding.  When did this happen?[/Zoidberg]

 

Originally posted by El Scorcho:
hmmmm, 'nowt'. I have a sneaking suspicion that nerdlingus is from up north

You mean he's Canadian?

[Reply #7 on:]

 

[Zoidberg]The Simpsons broke up? What? You're kidding. When did this happen?[/Zoidberg]

hahaha good point

[Reply #8 on:]

I'm sure you'll see Futurama on the silver screen the same day I get straight A's and pigs fly out of my ass.

I don't know why FOX hates it so much, but at least they let it air for four seasons.

[Reply #9 on:]

i just said Mike Reiss said ithere was a pretty good chance of it happening, although im sure he doesnt know half as much as you do

[Reply #10 on:]

ohh cat fight! however im now unsure what would be funnier to watch, the futrama film or pigs flying out of TheLampIncident's ass

[Reply #11 on:]

blah blah, i just dont want my dreams of this movie crushed

[Reply #12 on:]

 

Originally posted by David A:
 You mean he's Canadian?

No, British, I probably should have made that clearer

[Reply #13 on:]

Zoidberg:"I'll be a movie star!"
(Matt Groening hands him a script.)
Zoidberg:"What?I'm being replaced by Vin Desil?!I'll destroy you!"
Anyway,I woun't beleive anything tell Matt Groening says something.

[Reply #14 on:]

I knew what you meant, Scorch.  I was kidding.

I probably should have made that clearer.

[Reply #15 on:]

i believe him.

hes the one that leaked all the rumors about the simpsons movie for so long.

he still might get fired for it, he said Groening is pissed and so is fox.

[Reply #16 on:]

 

Originally posted by David A:
I knew what you meant, Scorch.  I was kidding.

I probably should have made that clearer.

It's ok, you can blame it on my stupidity

[Reply #17 on:]

 

Originally posted by bish:
ohh cat fight! however im now unsure what would be funnier to watch, the futrama film or pigs flying out of TheLampIncident's ass

I bet I know which one would hurt more.

[Reply #18 on:]

I want to believe it...

[Reply #19 on:]

I'm sure Reiss is just jesting about the "King of the Hill" thing, although he doesn't seem to be the biggest fan of that show (on one commentary he calls Hank Hill "Homer with glasses" ).

I think with the Futurama movie thing, he's probably just repeating what we already know; that Groening and Cohen would like to do one, but nothing is set in stone.  It doesn't mean there's any new developments, just that the possibility is still out there.

This is no where near as shocking as his half-joke about the "significance" of the Flaming Moe's Simpsons episode.

[Reply #20 on:]

Flaming Moe's? Explain. Please.

Mike Reiss! I could listen to him allll day! Huzzah! My misplaced and foolish hope recieved more fuel for its' fire! *burns to death* Ow!

[Reply #21 on:]

Well someone at the No Homers Club board posted it, apparently having seen Reiss talk at a college.  It should be taken with a grain of salt in the first place (this is the internet after all), but I do believe that Reiss really said this.

Anyways, when speaking Reiss was asked by someone in the crowd if any episodes were based on real events.  Reiss said most weren't, but added something like "but the Flaming Moe's is based on real life.  Just substitute Matt Groening for Moe, Sam Simon for Homer, and the The Simpsons for the Flaming Moe".

Take that as you will.

[Reply #22 on:]

 

Originally posted by DotheBartman:
Reiss said most weren't, but added something like "but the Flaming Moe's is based on real life.  Just substitute Matt Groening for Moe, Sam Simon for Homer, and the The Simpsons for the Flaming Moe".

Meh.  Anyone who's seen Life in Hell could tell you that The Simpsons is just Groening's rabbit characters turned into humans.

[Reply #23 on:]

 

Originally posted by El Scorcho:
hmmmm, 'nowt'. I have a sneaking suspicion that nerdlingus is from up north

Wrong! A little further south if you please.

On topic though,  a movie would be great but d'you know what'd be fun for everyone - them pigs flying out of LampIncidents ass, in the movie!   
Seriously though *cough - hehe* I reckon that any movie details for either the simpsons or Futurama will be kept away from prying eyes until its pretty much on top of us. Or thats what I think anyways, bastard executives.

[Reply #24 on:]

In basic design, yes.  Reiss isn't suggesting that Simon drew the original character designs(although, he did, incidentally, design a few characters including Bleeding Gums).  And Groening wrote the original shorts, that can't be disputed.

The series is where it gets fuzzy.  How much influence did Groening have, compared to other people like Brooks and Simon?  Its a fuzzy line, especcially when you consider that the characters in the shorts aren't neccasarily the "true" characters of the series. 

[Reply #25 on:]

Well, Groening would have had to be a driving force in the beginning of the series, both in the design of characters and the plots. For example, Groening (along with Sam Simon) wrote the first episode of the show ("Some Enchanted Evening" ). But, of course, we really don't know who wrote the majority of the script, or if it was an equal collaboration. All I'm trying to say is that Groening created the show, but he needed Sam Simon and Jim Brooks to help him get it off the ground.

You also bring up an interesting point about the "true" characters. Of course the designs are different, but what about the characters themselves. In the shorts, the Simpson family seems just like any other ordinary family. As the shorts go on, they evolve a bit, but still remain basically as the stereotypical American family. But, you can see in "Some Enchanted Evening" that the storyline, when given the chance to be fleshed out into 23 minutes instead of 1, is a bit more unrealistic. This may be due to the fact that Sam Simon had an effect on the characters and their personalities.

Back on topic, design-wise the characters changed from short #48 to episode 7G01. You can see a difference, but not necessarily a drastic one. The slight changes seen in design are most likely Simon's doing.

[Reply #26 on:]

Well basically part of the issue is, yes, with the development of the characters (and the concept in general) in the series.  For instance Simon and Brooks, as opposed to Groening, are often credited with actually developing the characters into what they became for the series, and laying out a lot of the other characters and Springfield and so forth.  And Simon was in fact the one running the show day to day in seasons one and two.

My take is that all three were more or less equally important to the show in the first two seasons as they each put their own things into it and defined the show's spirit together.  But, especcially for a former writer that generally answered to Simon and not to Groening, Simon's role could perhaps be seen as more important.

[Reply #27 on:]

 

Originally posted by Gorky:
Well, Groening would have had to be a driving force in the beginning of the series, both in the design of characters and the plots. For example, Groening (along with Sam Simon) wrote the first episode of the show ("Some Enchanted Evening" ).

OK.  I wasn't paying very much attention to the posts, but I can tell you that "Some Enchanted Evening" is not the 1st episode.  I would know, I have all 5 Simpsons DVDs so far.  So unless your talking about something special happening, the 1st episode is "Simpsons Roasting Over An Open Fire".  "Some Enchanted Evening" is the 13th.

[Reply #28 on:]

Is a Simpsons movie actually set in stone?

and personally I believe a Futurama movie is extremely probably not just possible....

[Reply #29 on:]

"Some Enchanted Evening" was the first full-length Simpsons made (which is why its production code is 7G01), but it wasn't aired until the end of the first season.

[Reply #30 on:]

Just for the hell of it I'll elaborate on the Some Enchanted Evening thing.

Yes, it was originally slated as the first episode but that didn't happen.  In fact if you'd listened to your dvd commentaries (which maybe you did but forgot these facts?) you'd know this stuff.  Anyway, all the episodes of season one were in some stage of development before any animation had been seen at all.  The initial animation came back for Some Enchated Evening (you can find parts of the original cut on the dvd as well) and it was a disaster.  The animation was so terrible and so different from what the creators intended.  They had to ask Fox to push back the premiere of the series to give them more time to re-work it (the show was originally slated to premiere around September of 1989), and hoped that the animation for the second produced episode "Bart the Genius" would be better.  Thankfully it was and the creators were re-assured that the problem was fixable.  But in the meantime the episode had to be mostly re-worked, with 70 precent of the animation being redone.  The show finally premiered in December (instead of September) with the eighth episode produced being aired as a "special" or "preview" of the series, largely because it was Christmas oriented and it had to be aired then.  When it was finally done Some Enchanted Evening aired at the end of season one instead of at the beginning.  For the record, next time you watch the episode you may want to look out for the original animation (about 30 percent).  If you focus enough you can easily tell which parts were "new" and which were part of the original cut.  In one old shot you can even find a lip-stick smear on the door, leftover from a scene that was re-worked (instead of smacking the door in Marge's face as he walks out, the "new" version has Homer simply not noticing Marge wanted a kiss as he sips her coffee).

Oh, and Winna, yes, the Simpsons movie is set in stone.  Its in very, very early stages but it is being worked on now.  Mike Reiss said it could be out by 2006 although that's probably a slightly over-ambitious target.

[Reply #31 on:]

Reiss also said they are making a movie out of "queer duck"


thats beyond me

[Reply #32 on:]

Haha! Was he kidding? That's either the best idea ever or the worst idea ever.


...or it's just ok.

[Reply #33 on:]

 

Originally posted by winna:
and personally I believe a Futurama movie is extremely probably not just possible....

I'm not sure about that. It's obvious that Groening and Cohen want to make one, and it's also obvious that Fox is a money-hungry network. Despite the fact that they seem to hate Futurama, if they get any evidence suggesting that a movie would be worth it, they would probably at least consider a movie.

[Reply #34 on:]

Any chance is better than no chance, it would be great if they did make a movie

[Reply #35 on:]

 

Originally posted by TheLampIncident:
I'm sure you'll see Futurama on the silver screen the same day I get straight A's and pigs fly out of my ass.

If "Firefly" could be made into a movie, so can this.

Since your answer will probably be "But Universal bought the rights so a movie could be made", I've got a comeback. Since Cartoon Network is part of Warner Brothers and CN is intrested in renewing the show, WB could buy the rights from FOX and FOX wouldn't care anyway.

[Reply #36 on:]

Plus that's not even considering that Fox could ver well make the movie themselves.  Its a hit on dvd and in cable reruns; if it picks up enough of a following, Fox will see dollar signs.  Plus, its the television executives that hated the show and had a rift with Groening.  The film executives are a different story.

[Reply #37 on:]

I would love to see a Futurama movie, if they can keep it true to the series. Also, if they made one, I would like to see it be made and advertised so that it attracts people who aren't just Futurama fans. If one ever comes out, I hope they don't just name it "Futurama: The Movie".

[Reply #38 on:]

 

Originally posted by spacepilot3000:
 If "Firefly" could be made into a movie, so can this.

Since your answer will probably be "But Universal bought the rights so a movie could be made", I've got a comeback. Since Cartoon Network is part of Warner Brothers and CN is intrested in renewing the show, WB could buy the rights from FOX and FOX wouldn't care anyway.

I actually wasn't going to reply to this, but I am now.

But I'm just not going to say anything worthwhile.

But still, I doubt it.