Dear PEEL, share your thoughts with me...

[on:]

What would you say to one (or possibly more) season(s) ending with some sort of epic adventure (similar to the movies, but with improvements on the formula) in the form of a 2-4 part episode aired over as many weeks?

Also, if you've thought it out, what are some ideas you might have for these epic adventures?

Personally, I'd enjoy seeing something about the Encyclopod from ITWGY, but not with the Number 9 Man or those other crazies.

Or even some kind of financial battle between Mom and the Wongs, instigated by some interaction Mom has with Planet Express that threatens Amy, with Bender as a shady intermediary between both parties (a la Severus Snape), and Fry, Leela, and the Professor trying to remedy the situation.

[Reply #1 on:]

A two-parter?  Yes, definitely!  Four-part?  Not so much.

[Reply #2 on:]

I wouldn't mind, but I imagine a lot of people wouldn't really enjoy it.

[Reply #3 on:]

A would appreciate two-part episodes (especially "OVerclockwise" would have been really fitting imhO). But -in regard to the movies- 16 out of 114 Episodes being multy-parter, I guess there will be a certain reluctance to produce more multy-part episodes in the near future.

[Reply #4 on:]

I'd like the series to end with a theatrical feature film.

[Reply #5 on:]

I am open to any multiple-parter. CC generally airs the episode from the week prior before they air the new episode, so missing a week wouldn't be a huge problem. Two-parters especially, but I am up for four (although a four-parter is really a movie).

[Reply #6 on:]

I'd like the series to end with a theatrical feature film.

Most likely, DXC said if it's cancelled again they're gonna try and make a film. I don't see why they shouldn't do that when (and if) the series just ends.

[Reply #7 on:]

I'd love a two parter.   There are some pretty epic storylines in S6, but almost all of them suffered from rushed endings and resolutions, since too much is being crammed into the time slot.

A two parter finale every so often would be fine.  Neutopia and Overclockwise in particular would have benefittted from being two parters.   The Late Philip J Fry is fantastic, but a few more time zones to visit would have been pretty good.  So much potential!

[Reply #8 on:]

I would go for a two parter. That would be a great way to enhance the drama and regulate the pacing. As much as I loved Overclockwise, it probably could have benefited from this a lot.

[Reply #9 on:]

Yup, I'd appreciate a two parter too.
The four-parted movies were story-wise a bit too long/heavy because stories that long weren't usual for Futurama.
I think a two parter would be a good compromise between length and story.

[Reply #10 on:]

Two parter would definitely work considering how fast the storylines are getting, as others above me have mentioned. A 4 parter is essentially a story that last 4 weeks - that is too long for anyone to pay attention to one plot I would say.

[Reply #11 on:]

I'm down for a two parter, but  what about a hour long format? If the ad revenue is there, why not give it twice the run time to tell the story? :dunno:

[Reply #12 on:]

I think financially it's not feasible to do any animated series as an hour-long show. At the very least, I feel like they would need to cut the episode order for each season--like, thirteen episode runs instead of twenty-six episode runs. But that's putting a lot of pressure on the creative team, I think, as they would essentially be expected to deliver, length-wise, something equivalent to six or seven ninety-minute movies. I don't think the resources or the will exist, and I don't think they would be able to sustain such an arrangement for too long.

Unless you're talking about just doing one episode a season as an hour-long affair, which probably would be A-OK.

[Reply #13 on:]

Yeah, I'm sorry I wasn't too clear there. I meant maybe one or two hour long episodes a production run. Like a special or maybe the more deep episodes. I don't need a hour long YLL or such but a hour long Overclockwise would have been wonderus.

[Reply #14 on:]

Either having the season premiere or finale being an hour long would be really excellent.

[Reply #15 on:]

Aye to that.

[Reply #16 on:]

I would LOVE to see a Futurama New Year's Special. Sounds like a great concept.

[Reply #17 on:]

I second that. They could get Dick Clark to reprise his role as himself from the pilot. Perhaps we could also get another Halloween episode?

[Reply #18 on:]

The Honking was great, but it didn't work out that well... And I'd hate it if Futurama started doing Treehouse of Horror type things.

[Reply #19 on:]

The Honking was great, but it didn't work out that well... And I'd hate it if Futurama started doing Treehouse of Horror type things.

I don't think we need a Treehouse of Horror-esque thing. The Holiday Spectacular was somewhat similar to that (even DXC made that comparison), and judging by its new nickname (The Holiday Craptacular), I guess they weren't able to play it off very well. But who knows?

I'm pretty sure the writers are capable of thinking up of some more original Halloween material...there are endless possibilities.

[Reply #20 on:]

Ghost in the Machines could of worked, more spooky, less bromance.

But I love that ep as it is.

[Reply #21 on:]

If they wanted to do hour-longs, they could always do them the same way The Office does (or similarly to the DVD movies, for that matter). On The Office, whenever there's an hour-long episode, it's actually just a two-parter that's strung together...but on the first network airing and on DVD, it's presented as one whole episode. In syndication, they're two parts, and they count towards two episodes of the whole season order, too. They don't really use more resources or time than two normal episodes would, as far as I know.

[Reply #22 on:]

They sort of did two Halloweeney episodes in season 6... at least as much as 'The Honking' is Halloweeney. As well as 'Ghost in the Machines', there was 'Fry Am the Egg Man'.

[Reply #23 on:]

Fry Am the Egg Man seemed more like a parody of a Scooby Doo episode.

[Reply #24 on:]

The Honking was great,

Merely good, what with broken canon or at best dubious canonicity.

[Reply #25 on:]

Man I love The Honking.

"I choose to believe what I was programmed to believe!"

"Yes, that sequence of words I just said made perfect sense."

So many great lines....

I'm not sure what doesn't fit continuity, other than it being a little far-fetched with Calculon's part maybe, though I also sort of think that's part of the humor of it. But then I suppose I don't particularly care about the integrity of a cartoon robot soap opera actor's back story.

[Reply #26 on:]

I could be wrong--and correct me if I am, tnuk--but is it the whole robot-ghosts-are-dead thing that bugs you about "The Honking"? I seem to recall you talking about this in another thread a few months ago.

At any rate, I am also really fond of "The Honking"; it's definitely an underrated episode, and it has this cool, sort of creepy vibe.

I would LOVE to see a Futurama New Year's Special. Sounds like a great concept.

Agreed. We kind of got a New Year's Eve thing in "Bender's Big Score," but considering the significance of that day for the series as a whole, it's odd to me that they haven't revisited it. They've done, what, three or four (again, if you count BBS) Christmas episodes? A New Year's one would be a nice change of pace.

[Reply #27 on:]

Fry Am the Egg Man seemed more like a parody of a Scooby Doo episode.

It parodied An American Werewolf in London more heavily than it did Scooby Doo. Scooby Doo only really got spoofed in the final scene whereas almost every aspect of Doohan 6 up until that point was just American Werewolf.

[Reply #28 on:]

If they wanted to do hour-longs, they could always do them the same way The Office does (or similarly to the DVD movies, for that matter). On The Office, whenever there's an hour-long episode, it's actually just a two-parter that's strung together...but on the first network airing and on DVD, it's presented as one whole episode. In syndication, they're two parts, and they count towards two episodes of the whole season order, too. They don't really use more resources or time than two normal episodes would, as far as I know.

I like this suggestion. The story would have to be there, though.

[Reply #29 on:]

I like that suggestion too, but it probably wouldn't work within CC's schedule, at least. I also wouldn't necessarily mind having a two- or four-parter air as separate episodes on separate weeks. It'd be suspenseful, and an interesting change of pace from the episodal nature of the show.