Light At The End Of The Wormhole?

[on:]

After watching the final Futurama film, Into the Wild Green Yonder and contemplating it's fantastic ending, I started thinking (which is never a good thing).

Let's assume for a second that Futurama is picked up again by FOX for another season or for another movie, and the series picks up right where the end of the last movie where the Planet Express ship enters the wormhole not knowing what's on the other side, or if they survive at all. This is obviously a metaphor for the unknown outcome for the franchise, and if the show is renewed, they will exit the wormhole somewhere.

So, my question to you is: What will the crew find on the other side?

To me, only one thing comes to mind...an opportunity for a much intriguing Futurama-Simpsons crossover adventure. It's been twice so far in the comics series, so it wouldn't be entirely out of the question. Thoughts?

[Reply #1 on:]

My first thought would be that if it was picked up again the wormhole would just spit them out in a really convenient place like right in New New York but I guess they could do something like a whole episode or two part episode about them trying to get back to Earth if it were to spit them out in "deepest space"...

[Reply #2 on:]

It would be either:

• A Futurama-Simpsons crossover adventure
• A conventional spitting out right above PE
• A parody of Voyager

[Reply #3 on:]

The whole "anywhere in the universe" would be a lot more dramatic if we hadn't already seen them travel to the edge of the universe twice (I Dated a Robot and Route of all Evil).

[Reply #4 on:]

Even if our heroes de-space right back on Earth, they're all still wanted criminals and Amy's relationship with her parents is completely ruined.  I guess they could all be granted amnesty, but that would be a horrible waste of material imo.

[Reply #5 on:]

They could go into 'adventure mode' where the characters take forever to get from point A to point B. Like, they have to go to some planet to find some person that can help them avoid the strife they're in.

[Reply #6 on:]

The whole "anywhere in the universe" would be a lot more dramatic if we hadn't already seen them travel to the edge of the universe twice (I Dated a Robot and Route of all Evil).

With no dark matter fuel, and reliant on whale-oil, suddenly distances like that may be more of a problem.

[Reply #7 on:]

Honestly, I expect the Planet Express ship to end up inside Fanny.

What I'd like to see them do is have an entire season based upon their voyage back to New New York, kind of like the epic "Odyssey". It would give the crew new reasons to explore new planets without having to do their delivery work. Also, much like Futurama Time-Traveling Bender Comic series, they could also have a side-story or two about what's going on back on Earth with Cubert and Dwight since they have no parental supervision, along with stories with Zapp Brannigan as a bounty hunter.

[Reply #8 on:]

Frida I like your idea except for the Dwight and Cubert part. But side-stories could be interesting on earth with secondary characters like Zapp, Kif, Mom.

[Reply #9 on:]

They couldn't have them with Kif. Kif's with the crew.

I know that Cubert and Dwight may be annoying to most of us, but it is important that they do have their appearances. Children still need to be included in the Futurama world, as there still is an audience of children for Futurama. You couldn't have The Simpsons if it weren't for Bart and Lisa, and I believe that the same applies to Futurama with Cubert and Dwight.

[Reply #10 on:]

If they decide to do a Voyager/MST3k during the SciFi transition years/Odyssey plan, there is no way that I can see it happening past another full length movie. I just cannot see them spanning a multi-episode story arc at the beginning of the return season. Perhaps it could be a "made for TV movie" event which then launches into the new season, but I cannot see them either putting that much adventure into 22 minutes or into multiple episodes when they're trying to save the series still.

[Reply #11 on:]

Well, if Futurama does get renewed, the first season may only be 12 episodes (that would make the total amount of episodes 100). Their expedition may only take six to eight episodes, with the remaining four to six allowing the writers to settle them in.

[Reply #12 on:]

But the one thing viewers hate is a series that they actually have to watch every single episode to understand, especially a series which never held that format. Television viewers, for the most part, are idiots who hate actually having to think. If you get six episodes in with nothing of the classic scheme happening, the show'll surely be canceled.

[Reply #13 on:]

Time travel.  Obviously, send them to a point in time where everything is convenient, like say, the year 4000.  In other words, LA.

They could, but I don't think are going to, ignore it.  Though, I think Futurama writers are capable of wrapping it all up in a couple of minutes, if they have to.

[Reply #14 on:]

Agreed with some of the posts above, the crew will be lost in space for 4 episodes/a movie at the very most, and more likely 0 or 1 or 2 episodes.  If they spent any more time than that, maybe 70% of old Futurama fans would like it, 30% would hate it, and they'd bring in about 0 new fans.  Not a recipe for sustained renewal.

[Reply #15 on:]

Yeah, I agree with speedracer - 1-4 episodes, 4 at the absolute most, and even that might be pushing it a little.

I love TV shows that make you have to watch the preceding episode to understand what's going on in the next one, but really, if a show wasn't like that from the start - and Futurama was never really like that - then going beyond 4 episodes is a bad idea that messes with the show. I do love your idea, Frida, but I don't think it ever would have been feasible for Futurama, and especially not now.

Things like that in shows like Futurama are best given to story arcs, and Futurama did a marvelous job at having those kind of float around in the background, like Leela's search for her parents, or the whole Fry's delta wave thing, where it would pop out more prominently for a few episodes but even if you hadn't seen The Day the Earth Stood Stupid or Roswell That Ends Well, you'd still be able to follow The Why of Fry easily enough. Unfortunately a "lost in space" arc wouldn't work, because that wouldn't be in the background, that would be the main focus of several episodes, and if it's all about them trying to get home/avoid prison time, then there would have to be a much stronger sense of continuity, pulling the arc even further out of the background, which just wouldn't work.

[Reply #16 on:]

I figure that if they renew the series they'll end up pulling a Deus Ex Machina style thing to absolve them of their "crimes". Sort of like the end of Brannigan Begin Again.

[Reply #17 on:]

I don't think the writers are just going to ret-con the ending of ItWGY--that'd be a pretty cheap shot. At the very least, I think the wormhole would take the crew right back to Planet Express--which is kind of cheap, but at least it's not a total reset.

If the show does come back in episodic format, I could see the new season starting off with some kind of Special, Hour-Long Premiere; it could wrap up all the wormhole stuff, and address the Fry/Leela stuff (and the fugitive stuff, and all the other crazy plot-points that were left unresolved), and set it up so that season six (or five, if that's how you look at it) can run smoothly and not-so-continuously, like the original run. Like others have said, Futurama was never one of those Last Week, On Such-and-Such shows; devoting an entire season to the crew's wormhole-related exploits would divide the fanbase and probably do the show more harm than good.

[Reply #18 on:]

Maybe just the one or two episodes, to make the serious fans happy, then back to crazy adventures.

[Reply #19 on:]

Maybe just the one or two episodes, to make the serious fans happy, then back to crazy adventures.

They could do it for two episodes, but two specific plots in each, though related to their current position.

Also,

David Cohen: Every morning, and I'm not making this up, I find myself thinking in the shower about the next episode that we'll do after this one. I have it mostly worked out, so we're ready to go if the call comes in.

There is a chance of it coming back as the DVDs sold well.

Matt Groening: You have a solution? We painted ourselves into a corner at the end of this one, but I think we can do whatever we want.

Cohen got us covered.

[Reply #20 on:]

to be honest it would be good to see more futurama after ITWGY.

it would be pretty hard to make a plot aligned with the ending of into the wild green yonder but i am really intrested to see what they do.

[Reply #21 on:]

Maybe the wormhole could lead to a world where someone like Lrrr or Morbo took over, and the PE Crew gets turned back into kids via a spell.  They still go on delivery adventures, but the main focus is to free the world from whoever took it over and find a way to break the spell that made them turn back into kids.   

[Reply #22 on:]

What if the wormhole leads to another wormhole and that one leads back to the first wormhole?

AKA the show isn't coming back

[Reply #23 on:]

The whole "anywhere in the universe" would be a lot more dramatic if we hadn't already seen them travel to the edge of the universe twice (I Dated a Robot and Route of all Evil).

Not really, because Earth could be only a couple of hundreds of light years away from one edge of the universe but at the same time could be trillions and trillions of light years away from another edge of the universe. In the episodes where they visit the edge of the universe it could be the closest edge to Earth and the edge they end up at doesn't neccesarily have to be the exact same one from those episodes.

Plus wormholes are unpredictible, They could end up right next to a black hole, inside of a star or in a deadly part of the universe (radiation, quazars, anti matter ect).


If it does come back i think we'll find out it droped them off right next to Zapp brannigans ship again and the PE crew just ended up doing time. I mean it was only 6 weeks wasn't it? Or maybe Nixon will give them a pardon (irony) once he realises they helped save the violet dwarf which ended up being the egg.

[Reply #24 on:]

It was 50 years, not 6 weeks, six weeks was for killing the headless torso of Agnew, but for Leela and the rest of the feministas it was 50 years for vandalizing Leo Wong's golf course in 30 star systems, because saving the environment was a crime. I can imagine that for helping her escape they would now be facing even more severe penalties.

[Reply #25 on:]

There has to be some sort of truce between the Planet Express crew and their enemies before the status quo can be restored (assuming that that's what the writers plan).  Amy reconciles with her parents, Brannigan stupidly follows the crew into the wormhole and has to cooperate with our heroes in order to return to Earth, something like that.

[Reply #26 on:]

I can imagine that for helping her escape they would now be facing even more severe penalties.

At last count, I believe they were charged with 53 counts of fugivity.

There has to be some sort of truce between the Planet Express crew and their enemies before the status quo can be restored (assuming that that's what the writers plan).  Amy reconciles with her parents, Brannigan stupidly follows the crew into the wormhole and has to cooperate with our heroes in order to return to Earth, something like that.

I don't think the writers would dare ignore all the unanswered questions from ItWGY. I think DXC's quote (thanks for that, Svip) indicates that they understand there're some loose ends to tie up before it's back to business as usual. Honestly, a ret-con of all the outlaw stuff would piss me off just as much as a ret-con of the Fry/Leela stuff would. So that'd be a whole lot of ire directed at the writers, and I'm not sure I'm up to the task.

[Reply #27 on:]

SPOILERS AHOY!!! (dont know how to do a spoiler thingy )






so , having just watched ITWGY(twice:D), i started thinking. i know we all want futurama back, but it was left on such an ambiguous cliffhanger, i reckon it would be wrong to mess with it.

for example;   if anyone here watched angel, you will probably remember the finale of that:
"ill take the 30000 on the left".....
it leaces you feeling like theres so much more that could happen.(hopefuly you see the point im trying to make)
does anyone else see it the same way? i would love more futurama, but they seem to have hit the nail on the head with this one...

[Reply #28 on:]

I'd really like to see a TV season, not another movie. Even though I LOVE the movies.
I'm kind of hoping they just end up back in NNY, and everything goes back to normal. Except, Fry and Leela would be together.....and events would resume just as they were after ITWGY. Just without the being fugitives thing....that kind of sucks! They need to get out of that somehow.

[Reply #29 on:]

space travel is no big whoop in futurama. if it is picked up again, they would end up just where they want to go. (Planet Express)

other than that I am not concerned, considering the gap between the last season and the first movie, they really haven't lost track of the futurama style and it is still there at the beautiful end of yonder. 

whatever happens from this point on is fine with me (even if nothing else happens)

[Reply #30 on:]

Ignoring the worm-hole and focusing on Fry/Leela relationship. I would like to see Fry and Leela in a Ross/Rachel relationship where everything seems to be great at first but it steadily goes downhill until there's a messy breakup and a lot of tension between the two for a while. Once all that's over with it could move to a point where they both still love each other but A. can't get over their pride and B. one or the other is in or has just come out of a relationship, i.e. it is never quite the right time for them to get back together.

[Reply #31 on:]

Did you just compare Futurama to Friends?

[Reply #32 on:]

He did! GET HIM!!!

[Reply #33 on:]

Hey, to me, that's no worse than comparing it to Family Guy...

Although I've got to disagree with your Fry/Leela-Ross/Rachel thing, Raiding Kvatch (while simultaneously welcoming you to PEEL). To me, what makes the Fry/Leela dynamic so great is that it's not full of (too much) drama. Actually, when you think about it (and I mean this in a good way), it's pretty one-note: Fry loves Leela, she can't get past her pride to admit she loves him too. That's why the ending of ItWGY was such a turning-point: to me, it shows that the writers are done with the whole unrequited love thing; if the show comes back, they're finally going to give us shippers what we've wanted for years. But turning it into a Ross/Rachel love-hate thing, where their own personal drama bogarts the show, would just be bad for business. Futurama has never been a romantic comedy (like I think Friends was); it's a sci-fi cartoon with dramatic and/or romantic elements. And, as big a shipper as I am, I'd hate for Fry and Leela's relationship to govern the direction the show takes (and I'd also hate seeing them break-up, get back together, break up again, etc.). I think the Fry/Leela ship would be most successful if it was kept in the background, where we as viewers clearly know they're dating, but it's not the topic of every episode.

Edit: Hey, I'm a Liquid Emperor, I am. (Granted, I knew this was coming, on account of I check my post-count obsessively. But still: party time.)

[Reply #34 on:]

... I would like to see Fry and Leela in a Ross/Rachel relationship where everything seems to be great at first but it steadily goes downhill... it could move to a point where they both still love each other but... it is never quite the right time for them to get back together.

If I wanted that, I'd simply watch my "F•r•i•e•n•d•s" DVD's - of which I have none!

Hey, I'm a Liquid Emperor, I am.

CORN-GRANULATIONS!
 

[Reply #35 on:]

I agree with the person who said they should go back to New New York through the wormhole and have everything go back to normal.  Matt Greoning said there is a possiblity that the show will come back.   It would suck if they had got sucked into a black hole and all died. 

I know I've stressed this before, but maybe the comic books will say what happened to them after the wormhole.  It never should've ended like that. 

[Reply #36 on:]

... I would like to see Fry and Leela in a Ross/Rachel relationship where everything seems to be great at first but it steadily goes downhill... it could move to a point where they both still love each other but... it is never quite the right time for them to get back together.

If I wanted that, I'd simply watch my "F•r•i•e•n•d•s" DVD's - of which I have none!

And SpaceCase raises a good point, why do something that has been done to death by now?  Besides, Futurama isn't your cheesy everyday sitcom.

Do a parody of another show, if it is funny.  And if it is sort up in the time.  Friends ended years ago, it is too late to parody it, and too early to copy it.

[Reply #37 on:]

Also it sucked in 1994 and it sucks now.

[Reply #38 on:]

I see the wormhole taking them back in time to the point where The Devils Hands has just occurred, but BBS has not yet happened.  The paradox will cause their former selves to disappear, but they are all in place to make it happen again three years later.  The interesting thing being that through a series of mishaps they are all replaced in the next occurrence of BBS, due to even more paradox, thus never aging, even though the loop keeps repeating.

If Fry can be his own grandpa, this makes nothing but sense.

[Reply #39 on:]

Bogad to transition Adoy into 2D, then continue more-or-less as per usual thanks to some invention or 3023 to do with the Amy/Kif spinoff.