Futurama's Lifespan

[on:]

So does anyone think/hope Futurama will last as long as the Simpsons? The Simpsons has been on air since 1989 (22 years!) and is currently in it's 22nd Season, with over 400 episodes, and became a global hit with almost everyone. The Simpsons has a huge audience with viewers of all ages, yet Futurama seems to have more of a large fanbase and became more of a pop culture hit. Despite this, the show has managed to keep alive in one way or another, be it movies or merchandise, and it's fanbase is still growing and getting stronger.

So, anyone think it will be as successful as the Simpsons, if not on par, or even better?

Also, in my personal opinion, no show will ever top Futurama.

[Reply #1 on:]

There were many threads about this already.

To answer your question:
Yes, everybody hopes that. But nobody here wants Futurama to "end" like the Simpsons, so they should quit it before it gets as bad as the Simpsons.

[Reply #2 on:]

I haven't seen a single thread like this.

And true, although many people have been telling me the Simpsons is getting good again, correct me if I'm wrong.

[Reply #3 on:]

For example, this one:
http://www.peelified.com/Futurama-Forum-1/Topic-18805-0-Future_Of_Futurama.html
It doesn't fit the topic exactly because I didn't go that deep through the board, but there once was one which was exactly about this.

BTW, i don't like the Simpsons that much anymore. Lost the interest in them because they're too much like a family/kids show.

[Reply #4 on:]

Well, that thread is old!

[Reply #5 on:]

 Not that there's anything wrong with that, right?

[Reply #6 on:]

Correct.

[Reply #7 on:]

Futurama probably has a somewhat limited lifespan compared to The Simpsons, which is a commercial juggernaut. The Simpsons now exists solely to sell Simpsons merchandise. Futurama is still a TV show rather than a series of interconnected jokes with vague plotlines that are aired in order to make people buy everything from clocks to keychains to sticking plasters.

Once Futurama appeals to the mass audience of The Simpsons, its appeal to us fans will probably be long gone. Here's hoping for ten seasons and a dignified exit.

[Reply #8 on:]

I agree with everything Tnuk said. I don't want Futurama to be like the Simpsons.
And I used to feel like it should go on forever, but recently I've realized that its too good to be beaten to death like that. And the way its written, more like a long movie than a silly TV show, it deserves a real ending. I'm getting to the point where I need closure...

[Reply #9 on:]

Farnsworth: So that's what life would have been like for me if a relative of mine had been cryogenically frozen one thousand years ago.

[Reply #10 on:]

I think it will last just as long as The Simpsons.  Maybe even more.  If I were Matt Greoning, I would give up on The Simpsons, and just stick with Futurama. 

[Reply #11 on:]

Groening's beating a dead horse with the Simpsons, from video games to movies to Slurpees to taco kits. I love Futurama, but I don't want it to go on like the Simpsons. Seriously, how do you find EVERY key in a city? I lost interest in the Simpson's a while ago, but Futurama can't go like that. It's been brought back once, which is rare enough in it its' own right. Only Family Guy has done that, and... look at it now. In closing, Futurama, like totalnerduk said, 10 seasons, and a dignified ending.

[Reply #12 on:]

Family Guy was cancelled twice. And no Kurt, if he left the Simpsons, all the sh***y writers would come over to Futurama and ruin it.

I would like to see a lot more Futurama merchandise since it's pretty hard to find some anyway, but I agree, it can't go out of hand like with the Simpsons.

[Reply #13 on:]

Nibblonian: MG doesn't do much about the Simpsons anymore. He's just mentioned as their creator and he always has to get into it because he is their creator.

Overall I can only agree to that what Tnuk, leiapadme77, Nibblonian and Danny said.

[Reply #14 on:]

If it ever lost a main voice actor, that's one indicator of failure.

[Reply #15 on:]

If it ever lost a main voice actor, that's one indicator of failure.

What if a main VA died, like Billy West?

[Reply #16 on:]

I think it'd be best for them to retire the show gracefully if something that awful were to occur. Whether or not they actually would is anyone's guess though.

[Reply #17 on:]

Farnsworth: So that's what life would have been like for me if a relative of mine had been cryogenically frozen one thousand years ago.

No!  I would die.   Although that is an interesting idea.  Plausible and funny (to me anyhow) but I think too many people would get pissed off if the writers did that.  I'm trying to picture who would be watching with The Professor as he says that, though.

[Reply #18 on:]

He must've been sat at the What-If Machine for a damn long time if that's the truth!

[Reply #19 on:]

I think it'd be best for them to retire the show gracefully if something that awful were to occur. Whether or not they actually would is anyone's guess though.

Well, when Phil Hartman died The Simpsons retired Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz (at least when last I checked; I don't know that the characters have been utilized at any point past, say, season 18)--and he was simply an occasional guest star. If Futurama lost a key voice actor, I'm sure they would have the decency to let the show, er, die with dignity. It's kind of morbid to dwell on the possibility for too long, though.

Anyway: I have no desire to see Futurama go on indefinitely. I would have been content if the initial 26-episode order had been it, and will be equally content if the next 26 episodes are the last of the series. Had the show never been canceled initially, I'm almost positive it would have ended after ten seasons, at most (which is to say, it would have run its course by now). It's hard to sustain quality after the sixth or seventh season...or at least that's been my experience with other shows.

[Reply #20 on:]

It's also a bit unfortunate that because of all the starting and stopping, they (and by "they" I guess I really mean Ken Keeler) have to keep coming up with sweet but ambiguous "last" episodes. We'll see how satisfying a canonical ending "Overclockwise" would have been once it airs (and perhaps another maybe-finale will be in the newly-ordered batch), but while I definitely appreciate that they've tried to prepare for the end each time, I wouldn't want the finale creation to run out of steam (let alone the regular episodes).

[Reply #21 on:]

Speaking of 'last' eps, it annoys me how they don't continue them in the next Season or whatever. Like at the end of TDHAIPT, it ended where we thought Leela and Fry were in love, yet in BBS they were still just friends, then at the end of ITWGY, they were in love, which continued into Rebirth, and now they are friends again!

[Reply #22 on:]

Indeed. But as far as ITWGY goes at least, someone here (FistfulOAwesome, was it?) once had the rather cool idea that when the they went to negotiate the DVD movie deal with FOX, were told that there'd need to be at least two to make it worthwhile, and managed to get it up to four, ITWGY was the idea for what would have been the only movie. If that were the case, then Fry and Leela's closer relationship status in that movie would make a lot more sense coming after the finale.

[Reply #23 on:]

Farnsworth: So that's what life would have been like for me if a relative of mine had been cryogenically frozen one thousand years ago.

No!  I would die.   Although that is an interesting idea.  Plausible and funny (to me anyhow) but I think too many people would get pissed off if the writers did that.  I'm trying to picture who would be watching with The Professor as he says that, though.

Anyone see the Smallville finale (my mom made me watch it)? It was left vague, and it turned out one of his friends was reading the Superman comic book to her kid, wtf is this crap? If Professy did that I'd probably have same reaction hah.

Yeah the Fry and Leela relationship bugged me after the show because of its yoyo-ing . I've actually stopped caring about it, because it's started to annoy me like when they switched bodies. I miss the sweet, subtle romance between them like in Time Keeps on Slipping.

[Reply #24 on:]

He must've been sat at the What-If Machine for a damn long time if that's the truth!

He took a break in 3004.
...

[Reply #25 on:]

I miss the sweet, subtle romance between them like in Time Keeps on Slipping.

The romance in that episode was about as sweet as an empty sucralose packet covered in a mixture of spoiled milk and freshly stirred mud from a small farming village in southern Belgium, served atop a moldy baguette soaked in lemon juice and garnished with a triple serving of sauerkraut; and about as subtle as that simile.

[Reply #26 on:]

Indeed. But as far as ITWGY goes at least, someone here (FistfulOAwesome, was it?) once had the rather cool idea that when the they went to negotiate the DVD movie deal with FOX, were told that there'd need to be at least two to make it worthwhile, and managed to get it up to four, ITWGY was the idea for what would have been the only movie. If that were the case, then Fry and Leela's closer relationship status in that movie would make a lot more sense coming after the finale.

I think it was Archonix who thought that.

[Reply #27 on:]

The plot thickens...

[Reply #28 on:]

Yup, it was Archonix: here and here.

[Reply #29 on:]

In that case, credit to Archonix for the idea, and to you for the searching!

[Reply #30 on:]

To get my back on topic, my half-assed conclusion is that Futurama probably ends after the 8th season. As tnuk introduced and others followed, these days The Simpsons is a merchandizing wonder first and a TV series second (as this DeadHomerSociety post details), the show likely still on since it's seen as a necessity to keep the merchandize selling. By contrast, Futurama's merchandizing power is relatively small, to the point that I assume that the majority of the money it makes probably comes from reruns and DVD sales (Svip, if you're reading, please clarify like only you can). That may change once Futurama finally starts being syndicated on local stations later this year (the more popular the show gets, the more merch it sells), but I'm not sure that Futurama quite has the appeal of The Simpsons (which has its incredible classic run of roughly 200 episodes plus its far less classic run of 200 and running episodes to sell) and Family Guy (which appeals to kids and college students). I hazard that the 8th season order is really just 20th Century Fox Television hedging a bet that the series will be popular in (local) syndication and simply making more product to sell on the advent that it is. That said, if it doesn't prove exceedingly popular (it stays on weekend runs rather than being pushed on weekdays), then there'd be no reason to pad episode orders since stations will see the 140 episodes the show will have by the end of the eighth season as more than enough.

[Reply #31 on:]

I miss the sweet, subtle romance between them like in Time Keeps on Slipping.

The romance in that episode was about as sweet as an empty sucralose packet covered in a mixture of spoiled milk and freshly stirred mud from a small farming village in southern Belgium, served atop a moldy baguette soaked in lemon juice and garnished with a triple serving of sauerkraut; and about as subtle as that simile.

I'm sensing some tension from you.

He moved the stars themselves to write her a love note in the sky! How is that not utterly romantic???

[Reply #32 on:]

I miss the sweet, subtle romance between them like in Time Keeps on Slipping.

The romance in that episode was about as sweet as an empty sucralose packet covered in a mixture of spoiled milk and freshly stirred mud from a small farming village in southern Belgium, served atop a moldy baguette soaked in lemon juice and garnished with a triple serving of sauerkraut; and about as subtle as that simile.

I'll agree it wasn't subtle. But it was kinda sweet.

[Reply #33 on:]

Sweet on Fry's part, not so much on Leela's, who automatically assumes she was tricked or forced into something. Furthermore, there was no narrative point to Leela never finding out what truly happened, other than returning to the way things were to start with. Are we seriously to believe no one even took a picture of what made her fall for him? Seriously?

[Reply #34 on:]

Furthermore, there was no narrative point to Leela never finding out what truly happened,

You're kidding, right? It's almost heartbreakingly tragic when Fry watches his note disappear into the black hole, knowing that Leela's never going to believe him. That's the narrative point of it. Fry's personal loss, knowing that he's done perhaps the best he'll ever do, and that nobody is ever going to know about it. Of course, the entire episode is more or less a Shaggy Dog Story, if you're going to insist that I link to TVtropes. Strangely enough, it's not listed on that page, even though Bender's Game and The Prisoner of Benda are. Hm. Anyhow, it's a shaggy dog story with a twist: Fry learns something about himself, giving him hope at the same time as appearing to cruelly yank it away. Things go back to "normal", yes. But now Fry has an ace in the hole. If it comes right down to it, he knows that he's capable of extraordinary things.

[Reply #35 on:]

I don't insist that people link to TVTropes, although I do appreciate it.

And yes, you are absolutely right about there being a narrative point. But I disagree about Fry now knowing that he's capable of extraordinary things. Yes, he does know now that he can do them, but this never seems to translate into actually believing he can do them. There is little indication, if any, that his self-esteem improved at all as a result. If anything, he lost some.

However, it has been a while since I have seen the episode, and I may just dislike it so much that I'm finding things wrong with it that don't exist, so please correct me if that is the case.

[Reply #36 on:]

Re-watch it. TKOS is IMO one of the best episodes both in terms of funny, pathos, characterisation, and science-fiction mumbo-jumbo. It's also got Farnsworth at his maniacal, most amoral, zany best.

So re-watch it with an open mind and an open heart. Please?

[Reply #37 on:]

I think it was touching for Fry to realize he was able to sway Leela to love him, like you eloquently stated tnuk. The ending...was so perfect. Right down to the whistling. It really made you empathize more for Fry with the Fry/Leela ship going on.

[Reply #38 on:]

Futurama will never have as many eps as The Simpsons, but this second run will at least give it the chance to have a decent amount to pick from. 8-10 Seasons in total would be my prediction at this point, and I'd be happy with that as long as the next lot don't all suck...

[Reply #39 on:]

I think it was touching for Fry to realize he was able to sway Leela to love him, like you eloquently stated tnuk. The ending...was so perfect. Right down to the whistling. It really made you empathize more for Fry with the Fry/Leela ship going on.

It was not touching. It was once step forward followed by being thrown two steps back by a kick in the face. However, at tnuk's request, I will watch it again. While I do agree with the other comments he made about the episode, the romance aspect always grated on me as being pointlessly dismal.