Futurama News all the latest things happening in the year 3000 now

[on:]

Well lets start where we all left off

[Reply #1 on:]

Ummm... it's canceled... I'm sad.

[Reply #2 on:]

Isn't it: "Futurama News all the latest things happing in the year 3000 now"
's means "is"

[Reply #3 on:]

It's dead, Jim.

[Reply #4 on:]

Isn't it: "Futurama News all the latest things happing in the year 3000 now"
's means "is"

You are technically correct, the best kind of correct.  :)

[Reply #5 on:]

Sorry ^^: I'm Deslexic and I have spelling issues

but back to futurama XD
and @MuchAdo Matt Groening is trying to get it back

[Reply #6 on:]

What's the point of creating news thread without actually contributing a piece of news to it?

[Reply #7 on:]

Chat.

[Reply #8 on:]

well the countdown will start in a few days

and this is contuation of the last one because the topic is locked

[Reply #9 on:]

And in other "news": the petition has lost steam.

[Reply #10 on:]

how has it lost steam

[Reply #11 on:]

I do not want Futurama on Netflix, straight to dvd seasons would be better.

[Reply #12 on:]

how has it lost steam

Its rate of getting signatures is awfully low now.

[Reply #13 on:]

how has it lost steam

Its rate of getting signatures is awfully low now.

See the positive side:
At least no one has come up with a petition demanding Futurama should STAY cancelled

[Reply #14 on:]

I say just let it end then, what's wrong with finality??
It only ended 26 episodes sooner than I would have liked.. let there be a theatrical movie.. or let it end.

http://sphotos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/385830_518868134842740_1961489930_n.png

@IH: Oh.. I know a few NHC users who would start that petition if you suggested it.

[Reply #15 on:]

I saw that picture
and futurama fans don't give up, we didn't give up before and we won't give up now

[Reply #16 on:]

What does that even mean???

I don't want this beautiful series to be run into the ground like all the other shows.
If it comes back yet again, it may be even cheaper, less writers and animation and less music.

Do we really want that?

[Reply #17 on:]

in my opion the new seasons turned out really good

but if this is actully the end either for a while or forever, I just hope meanwhile will do it justice, and we will always have our memories

[Reply #18 on:]

In that case, what would Scruffy do?
Well, let me ask the What if machine.
What if Matt Groening would start a Kickstarter project?
I hope there will be at least one DVD movie.
What about the comics?

[Reply #19 on:]

@Nantal
there will be an episode on scruffies origins, and Maybe we don't know they JUST got news a few days ago

lol it seems like no one knows that I started topic to start were we left on the futurama news today because it's locked XD

[Reply #20 on:]

Maybe we shouldn't let people with dyslexia create threads? Not to be mean, but that title is going to annoy me forever now.

[Reply #21 on:]

I am quite with you Danny, my sister and mom are dyslectic to. It can be very annoying sometimes.

Episode about scruffy? No thank you. I'd like scruffy to remain that unknown funny guy who pops up every now and then

[Reply #22 on:]

Episode about scruffy? No thank you. I'd like scruffy to remain that unknown funny guy who pops up every now and then

They've already mentioned that they're doing an episode on Scruffy's origins or something like that.

[Reply #23 on:]

Maybe we shouldn't let people with dyslexia create threads? Not to be mean, but that title is going to annoy me forever now.

Correction: The title thread is going to annoy you until a mod fixes it.

They've already mentioned that they're doing an episode on Scruffy's origins or something like that.

Didn't they mention that at Comic-Con two or three years ago? Like, before season seven had even begun production? I seem to recall us getting that information at the same time we heard news on episodes from either 6A or 6B, which leads me to believe that the writers were just messing with the fans.

Whether my recollection here is faulty or not, I'm with Eternium on this one. I'm annoyed enough that Scruffy's role has been beefed-up in the new run (it makes his sporadic appearances in the original run less funny to me; the humor there was based largely in how randomly he'd show up, and he certainly wasn't treated like a full-fledged member of the PE team), and I don't think he's an interesting enough character in his own right to sustain an A- or even a B-plot in an episode.

His story in "The Prisoner of Benda" was admittedly pretty awesome...but it was, like, the F-plot in that episode.

[Reply #24 on:]

Yeah, they definitely mentioned the Scruffy thing waaaay back, like in the first crop of info for season 6 back in 2009 or whenever it was. I remember that being one of the first plots they mentioned. I don't think they were messing with us, though, but must have just decided not to do it. Aside from killing the joke, hearing his voice for that long would be kind of annoying and he slooooows things down so much.

I like his appearances in the Comedy Central episodes, though. There was only so long they could go strictly down the "nobody knows who he is" route before the joke would just die. They idea that the characters actually treat him as super important now and then (and he STILL only appears sporadically, anyway, or at least only for short scenes) is a funny extension of the original joke.

[Reply #25 on:]

Fry having both Scruffy's home and mobile number in BWaBB was one of my favourite Scruffy moments, strangely.

[Reply #26 on:]

Lol no offence taken Danny, I do get that alot XD

I should be more careful with my spelling

[Reply #27 on:]

With Scruffy's origin, there is so many possibilities, although it can easily ruin Scruffy's "thing". I hope it will be done right, so that he will remain some unknown janitor at the same time we will know his past.

[Reply #28 on:]

I like his appearances in the Comedy Central episodes, though. There was only so long they could go strictly down the "nobody knows who he is" route before the joke would just die.

Not necessarily:
Comedy has known quite a lot of "immortal" running gags:
- The Asterix Pirate's being sunk whatever they do*.
- Charly Brown's Kick-Off
- "RESPECT MY AUTHORITAAA!!!"
- (Though this gag was cancelled): Kenny died far more often than Scruffy tumbling into the pic.
etc...

Besides, Scruffs is not really a character demanding continuity.
Leela had to remaining a mutant after LH, the mutants had to keep access to the surface in TMAR...sure. But there is no problem with everybody knowing Scruffy in one episode for a change, to be given "Who the heck are you" "Scruffy...the Janitor" treatment the next episode again.

*That brings an OT question to mind:
I was always a bit surprised that no one from America seemd to know those comics (while they are rather well know in other English speaking countries).
So, out of curiosity and for the sake of it: Are there any Peelers from the US who have actually read Asterix comics?

[Reply #29 on:]

But there is no problem with everybody knowing Scruffy in one episode for a change, to be given "Who the heck are you" "Scruffy...the Janitor" treatment the next episode again.

Agreed. To me, that's the same style of joke as Mr. Burns never knowing Homer's name on The Simpsons.

That said, though, my complaint with how Scruffy's been used in the new run has little to do with the fact that the crew now seems to know who he is; it's more that he's been appearing too frequently, when his shtick to me has always seemed to be as the hidden-in-the-shadows (or, you know, the boiler room) character who only emerges when you least expect it, therefore inspiring many a laugh. Some of his appearances in the new run are of this variety, but things like him accompanying the crew to find Fry's pants in "A Farewell to Arms," for example, seem like events that in previous seasons might would not have included him.

And on the one hand I'm happy because Scruffy's role in the new run indicates some kind of growth in the show in terms of storytelling and character development...but on the other hand I'm irritated, because I would have preferred to see different stories and characters develop. So I am willing to admit that my gripe here is based more on the fact that I don't love Scruffy as a character and would rather be seeing more of other tertiary characters (say, Mom), than it is on his appearances no longer being all that funny.

[Reply #30 on:]

But there is no problem with everybody knowing Scruffy in one episode for a change, to be given "Who the heck are you" "Scruffy...the Janitor" treatment the next episode again.

Agreed. To me, that's the same style of joke as Mr. Burns never knowing Homer's name on The Simpsons.

Indeed. A lot of Futurama events HAVE to be forgotten.
Considering the episodes granting one of the trio celebrity status*, everyone in the galaxy should know them by now. Yet, they remain "some random losers nearly everyone gives zero fucks about".

*(Or epic events like saving the universe. For that, you'd at least be en-par with the first man on the moon)

[Reply #31 on:]

90 percent of continuity I really don't care about. I wasn't saying I had any problem with the continuity issue, just that WITHOUT SOME KIND OF TWIST, the basic joke they always used with Scruffy would eventually die. Right now it's still funny, because they put a twist on it. Even in the original run they were doing twists on it.

All those running jokes from other comedies eventually had twists put on them. And even then, most of them did eventually succumb to age and just stopped being funny. I love the hell out of South Park, but "Respect my authoritah!" was already unfunny by the second episode they did it in. It became funny again later when they put twists on it or parodied it. I think much the same thing would have happened with Scruffy if they didn't mix things up eventually.

I kind of enjoy that the janitor of all people would (occasionally) accompany them all on some important mission as if he even has any business being there. It's funny. The joke was always "wait, who is he and why is he here?" so the way they've been using him recently is just a natural extension of that idea.

[Reply #32 on:]

But there is no problem with everybody knowing Scruffy in one episode for a change, to be given "Who the heck are you" "Scruffy...the Janitor" treatment the next episode again.

That said, though, my complaint with how Scruffy's been used in the new run has little to do with the fact that the crew now seems to know who he is; it's more that he's been appearing too frequently, when his shtick to me has always seemed to be as the hidden-in-the-shadows (or, you know, the boiler room) character who only emerges when you least expect it, therefore inspiring many a laugh.

Absolutely. Scruffy works best when he's essentially a random variable. He comes out of left field, does something that's funny to relieve tension, and disappears without having impacted the plot. I suppose he would also work fairly well as the character that in one episode comes out and maybe tightens a nut somewhere on the ship, casually and without saying a damn thing, which fixes whatever problem has been plaguing the crew, before disappearing back to his hidey-hole with a porno magazine.

Scruffy is a chaotic event in one sense, rather than a character. To turn him into one by force will most likely cheapen him, possibly destroy his value to the show's dynamic. With that dynamic already destabilised by a lack of the polish and detailed nuances established in earlier seasons, it could conceivably lead to a completely terrible episode. I don't see how it'll lead to a great episode, as much as character development is one of the great strengths of Groening and his team.

Character growth for Scruffy will probably kill off part of his charm: inscrutability. You can never tell when he'll pop up, or exactly what he'll say or do. It's not necessary or relevant, and he's normally not there for long. If he starts popping up constantly, maybe delivering a typical Scruffy-ism or a catchphrase, that's going to feel a little forced. The plotline occupied by Scruffy in TPoB was a brilliant one, and I think it's about as deep as they can dive into Scruffy without disturbing the delicate balance that comprises what the audience loves about him.

Oh, and we've had this discussion before. The same things were said by the same people. Interestingly, the page linked to has a quote from myself defending Season 6 against accusations of being ruined, and plenty of graphs (not by me) showing that Season 6 was comparable in terms of excellence to the original run.

Go back to the previous thread for a moment, and look at the discussion as to whether Season 7 represents a decline, and you'll see that the arguments made in defense of Season 6 (and not just by me) in the "everything is worse now" thread are rather harder to apply to Season 7A.

This, coupled with what's supposedly coming up in 7B is actually making it easy for me not to care that Futurama's been cancelled. It was great whilst it lasted, easily better than 90% of TV on a bad day, the best thing that you could hope to channel-surf across on an average day, and the height of popular entertainment on a good one (it's got more of those than bad ones, too). But the direction taken between the return of the show and the beginning of the last season by the production staff hasn't really paid off.

To go back to the glory days, DXC and MG would need to hire back the whole writing team, go with more of the fancier animation that they had going in Seasons 3 & 4, grovel to Christopher Tyng and present him with an even bigger orchestra (the shift from an orchestral score is quite noticeable when you compare something like WMIBACIL to TBaTB, for example), have whichever network is showing it invest in promoting the shit out of the show, and stop pandering to whatever demographic loves pop-culture references that'll be dated in six months. They'd also have to build in more of the rich detail and web of background jokes that characterised Seasons 1-4 (along with much of the movies' run and some of Season 6), they'd have to continue the grand plot arcs that they started or come up with new ones, and they'd need to employ at least one person full-time simply to keep track of continuity.

Which is a roundabout way of saying that the show's going to need a cash injection in order to get back on track, and that cash injection isn't terribly likely. If Futurama hadn't been cancelled whilst it was still good, then it would have ended up declining to Family Guy's level, and probably staying there. If it comes back, it'll come back somewhat reduced from the current capabilities of the staff (and they're currently somewhat reduced from what they could do back in the days of Season 1).

As it is, Seth McFarlane's next project will probably be "Future Guy", the tale of a moron who was catapulted through time, and now makes a living giving wildly inaccurate lectures on galactic network TV about what life was like in the dim and distant past. There'll be a wisecracking alien, a beautiful cybernetic woman, and an old man with a sexually colourful past to flesh out the cast, and there'll be a robot which tells jokes and goofs off.

90 percent of continuity I really don't care about.

You are a terrible person. Seriously, you are awful. You are moral excrement. Continuity is important. Growth, development, and emotional resonance are all enabled by strong continuity. Look at Stargate: SG1, which built up a rich continuity that meshes with and twines around every episode. It was on the air for ten years, and it was when continuity started to go to hell that ratings dropped so far that the plug was pulled (basically after Season 8, when a huge chunk of retconning was dropped in). Look at Red Dwarf. The first six seasons had excellent continuity, which tied together what were in some cases simply collections of unrelated jokes into an epic quest to get back from Deep Space to Earth. When continuity received a destabilising kick to the arse in Season 7, it started to flag. When Season 8 decided to rape continuity with a sledgehammer, the show never really recovered.

Continuity is what builds a universe that you can count on, something that you can care about. It's what gives characters a history with one another, and it's what allows previous events to mean something presently. It turns episodes into arcs, seasons into stories, and the whole show into a tapestry rather than a series of isolated sketches.

The joke was always "wait, who is he and why is he here?" so the way they've been using him recently is just a natural extension of that idea.

No. The joke wasn't that nobody knew who Scruffy was and why he was there, the joke was the unpredictability of it. Scruffy would be off-camera until Scruffy was required to deliver his line, and then he would leave again. Scruffy was known to the crew, and his presence unquestioned - but at the same time, a relative unknown to the audience and thus able to provide a moment of dissonance (always useful in comedy). Scruffy was enigmatic, but at the same time a known quantity. Scruffy could be relied upon not to resolve the plot as some kind of deus ex machina, but at the same time help the episode along (usually by providing a counterpoint to building drama or tension. Dissonance again).

To have Scruffy laid bare will strip him of much of his mystique, his undefinable allure. To have Scruffy visible in establishing shots, or standing in the background robs him of that special quality he had: always being on-hand when it was time to say something, but never being obvious. Now the unpredictability is gone. When Scruffy is there, you know he'll eventually say something or have an impact (and if he doesn't that's anticlimax. Not even the good kind, that's used effectively for humour. Just anticlimax). Beforehand, there was no telling if he'd even show up in an episode. It added something exciting and special to each appearance. Twist? There wasn't any fucking need for one, because he was used effectively and creatively. There's a difference, by the way, between doing this and "putting a twist on it".

Besides which, "a new twist" on something every five minutes is arguably far more tedious than a properly-executed and well-timed running joke.

Fry having both Scruffy's home and mobile number in BWaBB was one of my favourite Scruffy moments, strangely.

Yeah, some of the best Scruffy moments have some of the least Scruffy in them. He really is a character who works best by being absent most of the time. Scruffy's charm is entangled with his enigma, and I fear that to dissolve one will unravel the other.

[Reply #33 on:]

The Scruffy episode is one that was talked about ages ago, and I agree that it may damage his character.

For the record, two of my favourite Scruffy moments are from "A Pharaoh to Remember" and "Bender's Big Score".

[Reply #34 on:]

Btw...who is that Scruffy guy you are all talking about?

For the record, two of my favourite Scruffy moments are from "A Pharaoh to Remember" and "Bender's Big Score".

* Inquisitor Hein adds that information to his folder of UnrealLegend's files and data

[Reply #35 on:]

"a greater tragedy has never been hold... well, into the toilet"

My favorite ^^

[Reply #36 on:]

For the record, two of my favourite Scruffy moments are from "A Pharaoh to Remember" and "Bender's Big Score".

HANG ON, SCRUFFEH!

[Reply #37 on:]

Some article you might want to read: http://nerdreactor.com/2013/04/29/5-of-the-best-futurama-episodes/

[Reply #38 on:]

90 percent of continuity I really don't care about.

You are a terrible person. Seriously, you are awful. You are moral excrement.

I think having a differing opinion about an animated television show is a lesser crime than calling someone "moral excrement" for having a differing opinion, which does in fact make the person using that verbage moral excrement. But sure, I'll play along with some part of your nonsense on my lunch break today.

Continuity is important. Growth, development, and emotional resonance are all enabled by strong continuity. Look at Stargate: SG1, which built up a rich continuity that meshes with and twines around every episode. It was on the air for ten years, and it was when continuity started to go to hell that ratings dropped so far that the plug was pulled (basically after Season 8, when a huge chunk of retconning was dropped in). Look at Red Dwarf. The first six seasons had excellent continuity, which tied together what were in some cases simply collections of unrelated jokes into an epic quest to get back from Deep Space to Earth. When continuity received a destabilising kick to the arse in Season 7, it started to flag. When Season 8 decided to rape continuity with a sledgehammer, the show never really recovered.

I also don't give a shit about any of those shows. Sorry if that makes me "moral excrement" in your eyes.

Continuity is what builds a universe that you can count on, something that you can care about. It's what gives characters a history with one another, and it's what allows previous events to mean something presently. It turns episodes into arcs, seasons into stories, and the whole show into a tapestry rather than a series of isolated sketches.

That's the thing; most episodes are already isolated from the rest.

The characters don't age. Cubert has somehow remained 12 years old this entire time. David Cohen has said more than once that they realized even in the original run that 100 percent continuity would not be sustainable or worth it. While relative to shows like The Simpsons or South Park Futurama does actually have a pretty strong continuity, it doesn't even match other sitcoms like Parks and Recreation, The Office, hell even something silly like 30 Rock in terms of continuity and story arcs. A few episodes get expanded on later or play on some larger story or theme, and that's great. The vast majority of episodes do not. What happens in one episode very rarely has any direct impact on the following week. An episode about Bender joining the mob or even Fry saving Star Trek is not part of some grand plan for series. It's an idea that the writers thought would be funny and interesting that week.

I care about the characters and themes of the show. This necessitates continuity if and where it actually matters. I would be deeply disturbed if one of the episodes that really established Fry and Leela as a couple was followed by one in which the status quo had been reset again (I'm not talking Bender's Big Score to Beast With A Billion Backs or whatever, stuff like that doesn't count because they still were not a couple). I would be disturbed if an episode about Nibbler completely flew in the face of what we know about his role with the Nibblonians. These are important things in the grand scheme of the show and important to the characters and the larger "vision" - to the extent there actually is one - and it makes sense to get up in arms if they are significantly violated.

But this show is also full of offhand jokes that really don't matter - 90 percent might have been a high estimate (I was mainly just trying to make it clear that the continuity problem of the crew constantly being "introduced" to Scruffy is NOT the issue I would have if the writers hadn't switched things up with him a little bit), but I don't think it's at all far off to say that the majority of things on this show that you could theoretically violate or even have been violated in the continuity are not really important. If an awesome plot about Star Trek being banned technically violated some offhand line from 40 episodes ago where the phrase was said with no trepidation....then I don't really care. If a hilarious scene of gargoyles speaking in French technically violates some previous offhand line about French being a dead language...I don't care. If some minor funny detail about Scruffy is technically violated by another detail about him 50 episodes later...I really don't care. It doesn't hurt the show, he's not even a remotely important character (even in his relatively increased role in newer episodes) and as long as the joke is funny, then it's worth it.

This show isn't Stargate. Sorry, but for better or worse, it's just not, and never ever has been. It's a show with amazing characters and at least a few amazing story arcs. But it's an animated sitcom whose most primary purpose is to be funny, and that comes first.

Sorry again if that makes you "moral excrement" in your eyes. Instead of getting angry and calling people names when they disagree with you about cartoons, you might just have to try getting a life.

[Reply #39 on:]

@Eternium>Except for the Runner-Up, I would have made nearly the same choices