Official Futurama Thread - Futurama back in '08 -RK has 2 years to afford cable

[Stefen]

Did RK ever get cable?

[RegularKarate]

Did RK ever get cable?

HAHA... I did, but I barely have time to watch Futurama anymore.

[ono]

Gentlemen (and la... dy?).  Set your DVRs.  It's back Thursday night!

[cronopio 2]

Something's not working about this show.

I  figured what it is .The characters aren't funny. And what's up with the actors? It's as if their hearts arent into the whole thing anymore. They're just reading lines, annoyingly.

i've watched the past two out of commitment to the idea of futurama, but i haven't enjoyed any.  and that last episode before they went to mid season was the biggest middle finger a show has given to me.

Pubrick: thoughts? it's been a while since i've read your opinions on this show and the simpsons, and i consider you an eminence on those two.

[cronopio 2]

good episode. much less noisy.

[ono]

Futurama Volume 5 Blu-Ray is only $13.49 at Amazon.  Just what I was waiting for!  That's like 67% off or something.  Quick, snatch it up!

I was meh-ing about this season so far.  I really liked the first two episodes, but haven't cared as much for the last two.  Will post more thoughts later.

Oh, and: http://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/is5xj/scumbag_futurama/  <3 Reddit.

[cronopio 2]

i miss the cool stories. now it's just about fucking bender and fry loving each other.

[ono]

It's back.  I guess the lack of response so far mirrors my lack of enthusiasm thus far, but I'd thought I'd post anyway in hopes of things getting better.

1 - The Bots and the Bees
Didn't really care about Bender having a kid.  It'd already been done in The Cyber House Rules.  How soon they forget?

2 - A Farewell to Arms
Was somewhat interesting, though I only watched it once and don't remember much of it.  Was a bit reminiscent of the episode where the gang keeps finding DaVinci's old inventions -- but only in that first part where they fall down in that hole and see those hieroglyphics.  Okay, maybe that's a stretch.

3 - Decision 3012
Dammit, they did this one already too in the episode A Head in the Polls.

4 - The Thief of Baghdad
Reminiscent of Bender's Big Score in theme, "Bender steals something he shouldn't" -- in this case, an actor's likeness via photo.  Bad shit happens.  Granted, I wasn't paying as much attention to this one as I should have -- maybe I should watch it again.

With these synopses, you'd think the episodes ahead would be more interesting.  I've been so enthusiastic since they've returned, and indeed, a lot of stuff back in the first half of season 6 was very strong, but this is not the start I'd hoped for.  Granted, I think Futurama's gotten bad since the second half of last season, but I still hold out hope for it to get good again.  Take us to places we haven't dreamed, like some of the best episodes of the first four seasons.  That's where its true potential lies.  It can realistically explore anything in our consciousness, in our imagination, yet it clings to this world with diminishing returns.

[MacGuffin]

'Futurama' to end seven-season run on Sept. 4 — EXCLUSIVE
Source: EW

The Planet Express ship will soon make its final delivery.

Comedy Central has decided not to renew Futurama, which means that the 31st-century-set animated comedy will end its 140-episode run on Sept. 4. The final 13 episodes, which represent the second half of season 7, begin airing on June 19 at 10 p.m.

Futurama is no stranger to cancellation, of course: The series aired from 1999 to 2003 before Fox sent Fry & Co. into oblivion. After thriving in reruns on Adult Swim, Futurama was relaunched in 2007 with four-direct-to-DVD movies that Comedy Central ran in half-hour increments as a 16-episode fifth season in 2008-09. Comedy Central subsequently ordered a sixth season of 26 episodes, which aired in 2010-11, and a seventh season of 26 episodes, the first half of which debuted in 2012.

The news did not come as a shock to executive producer David X. Cohen and creator Matt Groening, who had thought their space explorations were ending three previous times (after the Fox run, after the four movies, and after Comedy Central's first 26-episode order). "I felt like we were already in the bonus round on these last couple of seasons, so I can't say I was devastated by the news," Cohen tells EW. "It was what I had expected two years earlier. At this point I keep a suitcase by my office door so I can be cancelled at a moment's notice."

The series won the Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program twice, in 2002 and 2011. It has declined in the ratings, though, averaging 2.6 million viewers in 2010, 2.3 million in 2011, and 1.7 million in 2012.

Comedy Central's EVP of Programming Dave Bernath views the network's decision as "the natural end" to the show's improbable comeback. "That's a helluva run that few shows achieve, and especially given the fact that it came back to life, it's really an amazing story," he says. "I'm more thankful and feel a sense of gratitude toward the whole process — and that we found a way to keep going for 52 more episodes — than I really am even thinking about the ending. It's a blessing that it came back and lasted so long."

The producers say that they are exploring options for a new home for the show, but there are no serious talks at this point. "We've been in this situation before and it's tempting when you're doing episodes that are as good or better than anything you've ever done to continue doing it," Groening tells EW. "We're catching our breath and seeing what the fans have to say. The experience of this show has been so much fun from the very beginning to now — everybody is so happy to work on this show — that it'd be a shame if we all went our separate ways... We would love to continue. We have many more stories to tell. But if we don't, this is a really great way to go out... I think these episodes are the best ones we've ever done."

Cohen calls the final run — which features such guests as Larry Bird, Sarah Silverman, George Takei, Adam West, Dan Castellaneta, and Burt Ward — "our best 'last season ever' ever," noting that there are "a bunch of episodes that I think are going to be classics." SPOILER ALERT: In one installment, Futurama is "reincarnated as various cartoons of your youth, not legally resembling but somehow quite reminiscent of Scooby-Doo, Strawberry Shortcake, and G.I. Joe," he says. And the series finale, which features a wedding between Fry and Leela, is "a tasteful, emotional gorefest," he raves. "There's a lot of death but there's also a lot of time travel, so that makes for an interesting combination." Adds Groening: "It's a really satisfying ending. It's an epic ending. If indeed it's the ending."

If, indeed. Somehow we'll see Bender shout "Bite My Shiny, Revived Metal Ass!" down the road, right? "Perhaps Futurama will return in another form, on the Internet, or as a puppet show in the park," says Groening. "Or maybe as a puppet show in the park on the Internet." Deadpans Cohen: "As I said three times before, this is definitely the absolute end of the show. I don't know why nobody believes me when I say that."

[Lottery]

Please, they must cancel The Simpsons. The once godlike king has long faded and now sits in the royal chamber alone, eating its own faeces.

Futurama was a funny and wildly different show.

[ono]

Fry and Leela's getaway was a teeny bit reminiscent of an old episode of Dinosaurs, though perhaps I'm misremembering it.

2-D Blacktop took FOREVER to get to its premise, and then squandered it.

T. the Terresterial had a cute title, but fell into the trap of repeating itself.  Just how many times is Lrrr going to invade earth and threaten that one of the gang be eaten?  I did LOL a bit at "Drrr" and some of the ET jokes.

That said, (in other news) David X. Cohen is doing/did an AMA at that other site and I so wanted to ask him ... "why?"  Just why.

I really love(d) this show, so I guess it's good it's going out when it is.  It's sad that a show with literally the known and unknown universe to explore at its fingertips is running so thin on premises.

[ono]

http://schmoesknow.com/simpsorama-first-pic-of-simpsonsfuturama-crossover-hits-the-web/28843/

It's ... back?  Sort of?

[ono]

Okay, it's really back.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/futurama-revived-at-hulu-1235090020/