EVEN MORE Futurama news [Warning: SPOILERS]

[Reply #440 on:]

I'd be very surprised if John didn't come back. Hopefully they can get Frank Welker as well.

Sadly the quality (or lack, thereof) of Disenchantment makes me very skeptical.

And Hulu? Hopefully that means Disney+ for countries that don't have it.

[Reply #441 on:]

Every time this zombie show revives itself I desperately try to remember my username and password that I created back on 9/3/2001 to express my excitement. So, hooray!

Hoping it sees a DVD/blu release, as I love the disc releases of this show and hate that The Simpsons has stopped producing them.

[Reply #442 on:]

All those considerations besides, I kind of feel like time has passed Futurama.  It was a great show from the turn of the century, if not almost timeless today.  The two successor seasons were far more hanging themselves of timely references, making them feel dated almost immediately.

I still quote the show on a daily basis, but primarily from the first four seasons.  Just like Star Wars: Episode VI should have been the last Star Wars movie made, so should "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings" have been the last Futurama episode.  If for no other reason, that it was an excellent episode to end the show on.

I pretty much agree with this sentiment: I certainly don’t need more Futurama, and I don’t think the quality (or lack thereof) of the movies and Comedy Central seasons really warrants new episodes…but, like, it’s still Futurama, and I love Futurama in a very instinctual, deeply-rooted way, so of course this news makes me happy.

I’ve also been able to compartmentalize my relationship to the show such that I acknowledge only the first four seasons as “real” Futurama—the complete, satisfying story—and just cherry-pick which of the movies/new-run stuff I fold into my personal canon. (I know that’s kind of delusional, but it works for me.) So even if all these new episodes suck, it won’t alter my love for/relationship to those first four seasons. There’s really no way this can turn out badly for me because I’m not emotionally invested in these new episodes: I’ll go along for the ride, hope to be pleasantly surprised, but won’t sweat it if it’s an utter train wreck.

[Reply #443 on:]

I'm as cautiously optimistic as the rest here, rolls of caution tape surround my optimism.

Having said that, Red Dwarf did / is doing OK with a long series timespan as well as long delays between seasons. Gaps in time like these offer opportunities for new humour as characters age. The small number of scripted hours as a function of production years (read: short runs followed by cancellation, repeated) also reduce the risk of storylines and comic material running thin.

[Reply #444 on:]

Curb Your Enthusiasm is another show that's taken long hiatuses and returned at more or less the same quality, though it makes more use of ongoing story arcs (at least within individual seasons) than Futurama does, so it may not be a fair analogy.

On that note: one thing I would like to see in this 20-episode run is some degree of continuity from episode to episode. I get that Futurama is and always has been sitcom-ily episodic, but one of my gripes with the CC run is that there were no real story or character arcs that consistently recurred or had any bearing upon future episodes (in the way that we had Leela's origin story, the Fry/Leela romance, and the Brain Spawn/Nibblonians stuff in the original run). Seasons six and seven did still have the Fry/Leela stuff, but it was handled pretty sloppily (especially in season six).

[Reply #445 on:]

I feel a serialized story is probably the direction they'll go, likely something similar to Disenchantment with some stand alone-ish episodes in the middle, but some sort of story surrounding it. Whether or not it's good, it would at least be something new for the show.

I don't know why John DiMaggio not being signed on was mentioned outside of trying to stir up some discussion. If they got everyone else, of course he'll be back. Hopefully almost 70 year old Billy West and Katey Segal still sound okay, always sad hearing weak/tired cartoon characters from age (The Simpsons, Animaniacs 2020).

I...have no interest in this. The most exciting thing I felt from this revival news was just remembering this place existed, and the possibility of old posters from here talking about the new eps.

I generally liked the Comedy Central run, but there were enough bad/weak episodes in there to signal that it should've ended where it did. I said for the longest time I would've liked a final Futurama movie as a send off. Maybe David X. Cohen/the writers thought of a great story to do with this world since 2013 (still kind of want to see that "Fry & Leela's time traveling kid" episode they've mentioned before).

I'll watch it when it comes out. I sat through three seasons of Disenchantment, this can't be worse than that.

[Reply #446 on:]

More Futurama is always good I guess? Season 7 was pretty shaky though, but with enough time passed maybe the writers will have renewed energy and great ideas up in their sleeves. Disenchantment has been fairly weak though, so I’m hoping Futurama ends up being better than that. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

[Reply #447 on:]

damn almost 15 years since ive logged in here haha

Im looking forwards to seeing what happens with the new episodes. Good or bad its happening, and i have missed the anticipation and discussion around here back in the day as new episodes were airing haha

[Reply #448 on:]

OH YOUR GOD

I had to come back here to share in the... joy? Confusion? Dread of DiMaggio not returning?

How are we feeling about this? Now that we're... NINE years since Meanwhile (where has LIFE GONE?!), my feelings on the Comedy Central revival have settled down. I feel grateful we had the opportunity for new classic episodes to be made (The Late Philip J Fry being one), but with the occasional glimmers of greatness there were also some duds, ranging from unmemorable (like that one where Bender actually WAS a folk singer) to unforgivably awful misfires (Butterjunk Effect, Neutopia, and In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela - which was a very shaky second go).

Most of my feelings are just echoing Box's really. The greatest opportunity this presents is for those out-there storylines that never happened to come to fruition (I, too, have not  forgotten the backward-time-travelling child episode everyone deemed "too upsetting" at the time).

If you're gonna dig the grave up again to do some Calculon-style resurrection, it better have teeth and be a truly inspired passion project. They said it was that the last time for them, and yet we got some of the weakest episodes in its history and out of character nonsense.

Maybe they'll focus on new characters and world build, or really flesh out Fry & Leela after their ending. But will it retain quality? I'm scare-roused

[Reply #449 on:]

I don't know why John DiMaggio not being signed on was mentioned outside of trying to stir up some discussion. If they got everyone else, of course he'll be back. Hopefully almost 70 year old Billy West and Katey Segal still sound okay, always sad hearing weak/tired cartoon characters from age (The Simpsons, Animaniacs 2020).

I hadn't considered the ages, I watched a recent Simpsons episode and Marge's voice made me sad and she isn't much older than Billy and Katey.

Anyways I'm cautiously looking forward to it but if DiMaggio doesn't sign up I don't think they should bother. If they can hire back some of the original staff that they cut back on for the rival it has a shot. I've no idea what their budget it is but I'd assume its a fair bit less than it was for the original run.

[Reply #450 on:]

Not going to lie, I am also a bit disappointed that DiMaggio will not be returning for the Hulu revival.

I honestly don't know how the show will be successful on Hulu without him, since he's been an integral part of the Futurama since the very beginning. Having said that, I honestly wish Futurama would have stayed dead. Maybe I'm in a minority but I like how the Comedy Central run ended despite the lackluster season that followed it. I want to have faith this new season will do well because Animaniacs had a great return through Hulu, but without John Dimaggio as Bender? The show truly won't be the same without the Bender we all know and love, even if they just have Dimaggio guest star for one episode out of the entire season. I want to believe that David Cohen and the other writers will add a clever way to retcon/explain the absence of Bender, but given what the CC run taught us, we shouldn't really expect that now should we? Don't mean to sound negative, but this is a show that's returning from the grave for a third time. We as fans can't sell ourselves short. We know the kind of writing crew we're dealing with (hopefully anyways). The point is, we shouldn't expect the quality of this new Hulu season to be any better than what we saw during the CC run. In one way it's a good thing because hey we're getting more Futurama, amirite? But in that same effect, the people who wrote for the show during the CC run made Futurama into something of their own. And I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that this new season will likely be wrote by those same people. So I decide not to get my hopes up like I once did many years ago. Not until I watch these episodes for myself.

Regardless, I'll definitely check out the new season on Hulu whenever it comes out, but I'm not going to hold my breath in terms of quality. I fully expect the entire Futurama writing crew to only be doing this for an easy check by now. And that likely includes the VA's whom are retuning as well. I'm happy it's returning, but it's personally not what I asked for. I'd rather see my favorite series Berserk be given a proper adaptation rather than Futurama return. Those are just my thoughts, anyways.

[Reply #451 on:]

I found Futurama airing on FXX the other night. They were airing one of the movies in episode format. I hadn't seen Futurama for a while, so I was very happy to see it again. And in regards to this news, I'm very excited that we're getting new episodes.

Hopefully, they bring back the brainspawn and Nibblonian stuff. But also, this is the first time I've heard about the time-traveling Fry and Leela child. And I hope that story gets into one of the episodes.

I also hope that negotiations go well, and they get DiMaggio back as well.

[Reply #452 on:]

Not going to lie, I am also a bit disappointed that DiMaggio will not be returning for

I wouldnt jump to the conclusion that hes not returning just yet.
the producers are still hopeful that he will sign on.

[Reply #453 on:]

I've said before that I wasn't happy Futurama ended, but I really loved how it ended. Granted that was two or three endings ago.

[Reply #454 on:]

Add me to the number of random people suddenly realising this place exists. Happy it does.

Also cautiously optimistic about what we're getting out of this. One good episode out of twenty is still a 5% yield and one we didn't have before.

[Reply #455 on:]

Well look at this, here we are again.

I'm honestly not all that excited for a revival, because I feel the series ended both at the right time, and in the best way possible. But, who knows, maybe once actual footage starts coming out I'll change my mind. At face value I'm feeling pretty meh about it, but I'd like to be wrong. I just think it's a bit unnecessary. The CC run really wrapped things up all around.

Also, if the no John thing is true, I really hope they wave off the character entirely rather than recast him. I don't think I could buy someone impersonating Bender, so to speak.

[Reply #456 on:]

Yeah, we can re-hire Roberto! Just make sure he doesn't go on deliveries to the Jovian system, because Jupiter has 56 named moons.

[Reply #457 on:]

John DiMaggio has been pretty active on Twitter since yesterday’s announcement, mostly retweeting pissed-off fans and supporters. Of note: a casting call apparently went out two weeks ago looking for a Bender soundalike, and many in the voice acting community are basically reminding their colleagues not to be filthy scabs. If I had to guess, the studio probably put out the call the scare John into signing a contract, which is a shitty (but not atypical) tactic. (I’m reminded of that ridiculous threat from Fox back when the Simpsons voice actors went on strike, something like “We could replace you all with any kid from any college campus in the country.” Fat chance, dudes.)

Based on John’s most recent tweet (that wasn’t just quoting someone else), it seems like talks are still ongoing. He’s probably hoping to leverage the fan backlash to his favor at the ol’ negotiating table, and more power to him for that move. I really can’t imagine John not coming back, but hopefully this gets resolved one way or the other ASAP so we can all adjust our expectations accordingly.

[Reply #458 on:]

Of note: a casting call apparently went out two weeks ago looking for a Bender soundalike, and many in the voice acting community are basically reminding their colleagues not to be filthy scabs.

I just shuddered at the thought of Chris Pratt getting his dirty mitts onto another beloved character :S

[Reply #459 on:]

Late to the party, as always, so time to preach to the choir:

I wholeheartedly agree with Gorky's sentiments. The first four seasons will always be, to me, the best seasons and the ones I consider official canon. The subsequent seasons had some decent moments, but it definitely wasn't the same run as the original (less continuity, more OOC moments, the odd instance of rectonning, and a general loss of momentum as the seasons progressed.) I'm also in the "cautiously optimistic" club with zappdingbat-- reviving Futurama a third time with a different set of staff may be an improvement from the Comedy Central run, but it could also take it in a completely different direction.

I, too, would love to have a more serialized version with more continuity, similar to Disenchantment. Probably the weakest part about the CC run was its reliance on "edgy" or gross-out humor (Susan Boil, anyone?) and the increased number of parodies of current events or existing media. Disenchantment, like the original run of Futurama, didn't overwhelm us with adult humor for its own sake. (I do happen to enjoy Disenchantment and am prepared to dodge thrown tomatoes.) I also liked how it tackled deeper subject matter and the multidimensional nature of is characters. Also that scenery was seriously *chef's kiss* and hope Hulu gave the Futurama crew enough of a budget to create equally luscious backgrounds.

Also 100% agreed that John is probably intending to leverage the fan backlash to get more $$$ out of the deal. He's been very much involved with Disenchantment and probably wants the same, if not more, compensation that Netflix has been providing.

[Reply #460 on:]

Not sure where to put this so I'll put it here: gotfuturama.com has been updated for the first time since 2019. Slowly, the lumbering machinery of futurama internet fandom starts up...

Also, to gorky and athena's comments, agreed as well. One thing I liked about Disenchantment was the light touch they had to the series story arc. It was a good balance, a nice ol' fashioned Hegelian synthesis of episodic and story arc methods. Avoiding the pitfalls of arc-heavy stories (drawing the story out to fit the episode count, creating a need to watch every episode in order to understand each episode) as well as the pitfalls of episodic stories (inability to tell more complicated tales).

[Reply #461 on:]

Lest we forget, Gorky, they actually tried the same with the Futurama cast back in 2009.  Back then it was the entire case.  John DiMaggio stands alone now, and I'm afraid he might not win this time.  They can recast some of them, but not all of them.  Not sure how they got the rest to sign up without DiMaggio, my thinking is some sort of ploy to keep their contract signing separate.

Hulu isn't exactly a streaming service with a lot of money lying around.  This ain't Netflix or HBO.  So they probably want to skim on the cost as much as possible.  For reference, Disenchantment is produced by Netflix.  This new Futurama will not have anywhere near the same budget as Disenchantment, or perhaps even old Futurama.

Unfortunately for the other actors, if they are signed on, there is probably little they can do, if they replace DiMaggio.  This does not bode well for the new show.  DiMaggio might end up reluctantly agreeing, since he would hate seeing someone else voicing Bender.  And I wouldn't be surprised if that is what Hulu is betting on.

For the record, I wasn't as disappointed in Disenchantment as a lot of other people were.  That being said, it never truly captured me, and I did not watch beyond the first season.  Different from Star Trek: Discovery, which I truly disliked.  My expectations are generally higher - or harder to please, I should say - if you are attaching to existing canon.

[Reply #462 on:]

I felt like Disenchantment was terrible at actually progressing its overall narrative. There'd always be more stories popping up faster than they can be resolved. I'd really prefer Futurama stick to the workplace sitcom style.

Either way, I'm cautiously optimistic. There's enough good episodes in the CC era to make me think they never completely lost their touch, and even the bad episodes just kind of retreat into the back of my brain where they become forgotten.

The idea of more PEEL activity is pretty cool, tbh.

[Reply #463 on:]

Hello everyone! Definitely not the news I was expecting in 2022, or ever, really. It feels like a dream. Cautiously optimistic is definitely the best way to describe it. I’m sure John will return.

I’d love to post more but I haven’t had a working laptop/computer in 2 years, and posting on my phone is more effort than it’s worth. I’m active in the PEEL Discord server, though!

[Reply #464 on:]

I'll watch it, but I'm not expecting much. Disenchantment has been like, OK, but it's pretty clear from watching it Matt Groening & Co are not as sharp as they used to be. I mean, he's a 70 year old man at this point.

I felt like Disenchantment was terrible at actually progressing its overall narrative. There'd always be more stories popping up faster than they can be resolved. I'd really prefer Futurama stick to the workplace sitcom style.

The best episodes were the self contained ones, like when they go to Prince Merkimer's kingdom. Honestly, I don't know why they even bother with the serialization.

[Reply #465 on:]

I honestly was anticipating the news of Futurama's return via streaming, but I just wasn't expecting it so soon... or just hours after Disenchantment's fourth part/second half of it's second production season dropped. Disenchantment's prospects for renewal were not favorable before, but following the announcement it looks abysmal. Any conversation about the most recent episodes are eclipsed by this news. I'm a fan of Disenchantment and have watched the series several times (mostly in the background of whatever I'm doing) to support the show, though I always thought to myself I would take new Futurama over new Disenchantment any day. Welp, two days ago was the day I guess.

I've been missing Futurama something awful for almost a year now (I got back into the series around Valentine's day last year). I'm excited about it, and like most fans, quite apprehensive too. I had a gut feeling Futurama was going to be revived by Disney since it's a series with a solid fanbase, a very willing cast, and, as animation, can be produced with much of the staff working from home. Now with the streaming wars heating up and the economy crashing because of COVID, studios need a lot of content to attract subscriptions. The option is the least risk is to revive old properties like Rugrats, Frasier, That 70's Show, Saved by the Bell, and King of the Hill. Reviving Futurama, from an executive's perspective, is a no-brainer. It was inevitable. I just wasn't expecting it in 2022 or on Hulu (in the United States, I'm sure Futurama will be available on Disney's international streaming services like Disney+ and Star). Ideally, I wasn't expecting an announcement until next year at the earliest because I do/did hope that the creative team would have a year or two more to be able to properly conclude Disenchantment before returning to Futurama for a third round. Now it looks like Disenchantment won't get the finale it had planned for in animated format and may need to wrap it up through Bapper Books. Futurama, meanwhile, appears to the public as Matt Groening's rebound following the disappointment of Disenchantment. It doesn't look like ULULU (formerly The Curiosity Company) dumped Disenchantment for Futurama; rather, it feels like Futurama is a consolation prize, a safety net, a back-up for the production company. I really hope the writing team comes back to Futurama with passion and fervor after a decade of inactivity, but so far it just looks like this is how they'll all keep their jobs.

I can't remember if I said this here, but I was expecting Futurama to be ordered by Disney+, not Hulu. I like Hulu- it's my favorite streaming service because it has Futurama as well as all the other 20th Century Television Animation series like American Dad, Duncanville, and Solar Opposites. However, I fully expect Hulu to fold once Comcast pulls out of the service come 2024 when Disney buys full control of it. In the world of streaming, more streaming services means less money as consumers don't like having to go between streaming services to view different content, thus they tend to subscribe to just a few. For instance, my family is subscribed to Netflix, Hulu Live No Ads, and Disney+ (earlier by choice but now by force). We did have HBO Max for six months when it went on sale and while I enjoyed watching Close Enough and all the Studio Ghibli films, I cannot justify paying $15 a month for the service, so we live without. If Netflix isn't ordering any more Disenchantment, the only series that is still in production that I enjoy is Inside Job. I originally envisioned that Futurama would have been ordered in secret (which it kind of has been in this timeline since they announced their first table read is Monday) for Disney+ so then when Hulu folds into Disney+ they could market Disney+ further by adding "we got new Futurama and that's a mature, beloved series". While I have little concern that Hulu isn't subscribed by enough households, my primary concern is that when Hulu folds into Disney+, Futurama will fall through the cracks and end up a casualty in the transition. Maybe I'm being a bit paranoid, but given how Futurama was treated by FOX and Comedy Central (Viacom is stupidly cutthroat) and how volatile the corporate side of streaming services are, the fear is justified. Of course, that won't be a problem until 2024, but given how quickly we went from 2013 to 2023, it'll be here before you know it.

I doubt any of us here are worried about John DiMaggio possibly not returning. We went through this exact scenario back in 2009 when Futurama was being ordered in episodic format for Comedy Central, but this time it's only one cast member instead of every cast member. It's just part of contract negotiations that inadvertently work to Futurama's benefit because once DiMaggio signs on, Futurama will be celebrated in the news again. Besides, it is clear to everyone DiMaggio loves playing Bender. It is his breakout role as a voice actor and not too hard to say the reason why he became an A-tier voice actor in the first place. DiMaggio and his agency probably think that they can demand greater pay for the position and given the amount of free advertising this debacle has provided, it's probably worth it.

Regarding the series itself, my first concern is when will we return to the Futurama world. Is the new season going to start back where we left off in 3013 where Fry was on the verge of coming to the realization he needs to marry Leela, or a decade later in 3023? If they choose the latter, there are two ways it can go down. In one scenario, the world of Futurama carried on like normal in the past decade and life happened. Any amount of events could have gone down in that decade, from Fry & Leela's engagement and marriage to Hermes's and LaBarbara's divorce to Zapp Brannigan's election as Earth President to the birth of Fry & Leela's child(ren) or Fry & Leela's divorce. If Futurama goes that route, it may be too jarring to the fans and scare them off. The other scenario is that world of Futurama went relatively unchanged for ten years like it did during the four year (the Professor claimed two) between "The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings" and Bender's Big Score. I got over that time jump, but this time it's ten years. That's longer than the lifespan of MySpace. I cannot suspend my disbelief that in ten years Fry and Leela do not marry. They had behaved like a married couple for season seven, the last episode had Fry marry Leela, for the past ten years the fans have thought of them as husband and wife, even Wikipedia's pages on the two characters have them listed as husband and wife (though some moron keeps editing the pages to claim that they have fan-made character Elena as a daughter, ugh I can't stand Spider-Matt)- they need to be married. We're done with the will-they-or-won't-they dynamic because we know that they did and will and the writers know they've strung the fans along way too long.

In my ideal scenario, the first episode back begins on December 31st, 3013 where Leela makes a delivery to cryogenic lab to Will U. Merrime where she finds Fry frozen down on one knee. It's symbolically like Futurama is proposing to the fans of the series to stick with the series for a while. The first season the two are married and are given an over-the-top wedding reception by Bender that's a bigger banger than the Big Bang and over the season or so time gradually progresses to 3023. That way the fans get to see the world of Futurama change as abruptly as our world changed in the past ten years and the writers get to recap the madness in their own Futurama-y way.

[Reply #466 on:]

God, this is such random news. Not on my radar at all. I knew there'd been rumblings about King of the Hill and so forth, and Viacom is bringing back a bunch of their old cartoons (Beavis & Butthead, Ren & Stimply, Clone High for some reason), so it makes sense. But I had come to terms with this show just being over. I had even been idly thinking recently about how it probably ended at the right time previously.

I guess I have mixed feelings. I'm really not negative on the Comedy Central seasons at all; I do think season 3-4 were probably the peak, but whatever. The later seasons were still pretty solid - there were some weak shows (that one where they were all fish...ugh) but it's not like A Pharaoh to Remember was a masterpiece, either. Some of my favorite episodes aired in those seasons. It was worth it to me to have it back and finally get a really solid number of episodes out of the show.

But at the same time...seven seasons is a lot. 140 episodes is a lot. I was sad when it got canned again. But it wasn't a desperate sadness. I just would have liked one more season, maybe. And it was a show that truly meant a lot to me. So of course I was sad to see it go, but at the same time, I didn't feel like it had been cut short anymore. And the finale was so good. I worry about it coming back, again, after so many years, and not living up even to those seasons, or to that finale. I like Disenchantment alright, but it's soooo slow and it feels like they've lost some steps. But I don't know how much of the creative time will carry over between those shows, or how much of the problem there is the "serialized" format which just slows shit down way too much.

I don't know. I wasn't exactly clamoring for it, but (assuming they work things out with DiMaggio - any missing major cast members is a red line I won't cross) I'm sure I'll at least check it out. I'm (VERY) cautiously optimistic. I hope it's good, but if it isn't, I guess it probably won't ruin the show for me. If nothing else, I don't see it getting dragged out the way The Simpsons has. It's a perpetually cancellable show.

It's almost hard to be objective really. The last time the show was on was a big sea change in my life. I adopted my dog (named Bender) and moved cities, and towards the end of it met my wife. I'd been thinking a lot about that period, especially since we got married and now Bender the dog sadly just passed on a couple weeks ago. It's not really related, but what weird timing. As my best friend goes, somehow his legacy lives on through his namesake. We had just watched a a bunch of random episodes - from all seasons - partly for comfort and in some weird way to honor our friend. But it was a way to honor the past. I didn't think for a second that some part of that past would come back.

Anyway, I didn't really want it that much, but I'll be watching. They better not mess it up.

[Reply #467 on:]

Anyway, I didn't really want it that much, but I'll be watching. They better not mess it up.

That (whole post) was really nicely put. Sorry about your dog. The old pooches really get into your heart.

As someone who's been on this board for a short time I have to say, this is the most active I've ever seen it, and it's heartening to see so many people dedicated to the show (TV Party!). If nothing else, breathing new life into a group focused on an essentially hopeful* bit of sci-fi can only be a good thing.

I'm really curious to see where they go with the story. Zeus help me, I'm getting excited.

* Debatable, sure, but for now, hopeful == non-apocalyptic future && non-dismal future

[Reply #468 on:]

You should've seen PEEL back when Bender's Big Score was coming out. We were getting enough posts to expand threads by a page daily.

Relating to John DiMaggio's contract negotiations, John DiMaggio turned down the same offer Billy West and Katey Sagal accepted. DiMaggio is demanding more than West even though West is the first name that appears in the credits and voices significantly more characters, both major and recurring. However, DiMaggio is in higher demand in the voice acting industry as he is currently acting on several shows. He voices the lead of Middlemost Post and a bunch of minor characters on The Loud House, The Ghost and Molly McGee, Dogs in Space, and Animaniacs. I was going to include Inside Job on the list, but I know it's currently on hiatus and Netflix's animation department is going through some drama.

[Reply #469 on:]

Anyway, I didn't really want it that much, but I'll be watching. They better not mess it up.

That (whole post) was really nicely put. Sorry about your dog. The old pooches really get into your heart.

Thank you! Yeah, he was very special to me. My first dog and my first pet that I adopted by myself as an adult. He moved everywhere with me and was an extremely loyal friend (though fearful of most other people). The name struck me at the time because I was a single guy living by myself and it was like I would have my own "Bender" as a roommate, the way Fry does. He was kind of like Bender the character in some ways, not really trusting of most people, but I was the one person (until my wife) who he loved unequivocally. And a very loud attention hog.

I know it's not really related to the announcement, but it's just such a weird moment, because I lose him and then all of a sudden "Bender" is trending on Twitter, like 2-3 weeks later. It's like going back in time suddenly, in so many ways.

Don't know how much I'll stick around, but I had to at least check in here and see how other people felt about the announcement. I know the Comedy Central seasons are...controversial, but in general I did enjoy them and I can't really write this whole thing off on that basis. I'm definitely a little skeptical, but David X. and his team are so talented and I don't believe they've ever approached any of the prior revivals cynically. At the very least I do believe they'll put their all into it and that it isn't just a cash grab for them. Cohen clearly loves this show and has always just seemed like he wants to do right by it. I can't be totally cynical about it myself even if objectively speaking coming back to it (again) after this many years and so many past seasons already completed is definitely risky.

[Reply #470 on:]

• The Late Philip J. Fry
• The Prisoner of Benda
• Law & Oracle
• Overclockwise
• A Farewell to Arms
• Game of Tones
• Murder on the Planet Express
• Meanwhile

• In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela
• Attack of the Killer App
• Futurama Holiday Spectacular
• Neutopia
• Yo Leela Leela
• 40% Leadbelly

So, of 52 post-revival episodes, I spot eight that are among the all-time series best, and only six that were total shitters. The rest range from passable to great. I know the last two seasons are contentious, but I'd actually be happy if Hulu can keep that level of quality. Maybe just for one season though. No need to push their luck.

[Reply #471 on:]

Small update from John DiMaggio, posted last night to Twitter:

Hi, I’ve been thinking about everything that’s been going on these past months and just to be clear, I don’t think only I deserve to be paid more. I think the entire cast does. Negotiations are a natural part of working in show business. Everyone has a different strategy & different boundaries. Their “price.” Some accept offers, some hold their ground. Bender is part of my soul & nothing about this is meant to be disrespectful to the fans or my Futurama family. It’s about self respect. And honestly, being tired of an industry that’s become far too corporate and takes advantage of artists’ time & talent.

Look, I wish I could give you every detail so you would understand, but it’s not my place. Thanks again for the love everyone. Still hoping for the best. In the meantime I’ll be in New Orleans shooting Interview With A Vampire for AMC—and very grateful to be! Thanks…

No new information here, really, though I will say this statement doesn't exactly fill me with hope (it does, however, fill me with some other emotions that are weird and deeply confusing).

[Reply #472 on:]

I still have no doubt he'll be back. He can definitely hold out for more money if he wants to, as he's become a much bigger name than he was the last few times he signed on to play Bender.

[Reply #473 on:]

Wow I finally managed to log back into my account! I couldn't for the life of me sign in, but I checked in on the site here and there.

It's nice to see some familiar faces still around, even if it took the news of a revival for people to bring some folks back!

[Reply #474 on:]

Glad to see PEEL still remembers my ID and password.  I'll be checking in occasionally for the revival discussions.  Oh, yeah, and hi everyone!

[Reply #475 on:]

Hey Crash. Yeah, Peel has been updated and revived and has a new caretaker. Vive la PEEL!

I'm doing my best to remain neutral until we get some more definitive news—I may even message my ex-wife 'Hello'.

[Reply #476 on:]

Clone High for some reason)

I've been running a Clone High Twitter account that supports a revival for a decade now (Christ, time flies); safe to say I didn't expect it to actually happen and my head exploded when it was announced. It's a really good show!

[Reply #477 on:]

John DiMaggio's back, baby!

[Reply #478 on:]

This made me chuckle:

"“John DiMaggio may be a great robot, but he’s also a great human being,” “Futurama” executive producer David X. Cohen added. “Not many people or machines can say that. For the fourth time, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime thrill to be back with our entire original cast and the phenomenal animators of Rough Draft Studios!”"

[Reply #479 on:]

I guess Cohen considers the end of production of Into the Wild Green Yonder to be the second cancellation. It's not to us fans since production season 6 was announced before the release of the final movie.