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Futurama Returns 553

Posted by CowboyNeal from the now-zoidberg-is-the-popular-one dept.
GrumpySimon writes "Good news everyone! Straight from a one-eyed alien's mouth - 13 new episodes of Futurama have been confirmed by Katey Sagal on Craig Ferguson's Late Late Show. All the original actors have signed up too."
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Futurama Returns More

Futurama Returns

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  • YAY! (Score:5, Funny)

    by B3ryllium ( 571199 ) on Thursday June 22, 2006 @11:35PM (#15587365) Homepage
    I love the smell of Slurm in the morning - it smells like ... walrus!

    • Re:YAY! (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 23, 2006 @12:27AM (#15587571)
      Considering that the recent thread on global warming is about to reach 600 posts, I think I should remind everyone that there is hope:

      Fry: This snow is beautiful. I'm glad global warming never happened.
      Leela: Actually it did. But thank God nuclear winter cancelled it out.

      • Re:YAY! (Score:3, Informative)

        by tolan-b ( 230077 )
        in a rare (*snigger*) continuity error there were two explanations for global warming not destroying the planet in Futurama. The other being that they drop a huge ice cube in the ocean once a year. /pedantic obsessive fan

        "glowbal wopple?"

        • Re:YAY! (Score:5, Interesting)

          by BakaHoushi ( 786009 ) <Goss DOT Sean AT gmail DOT com> on Friday June 23, 2006 @06:16AM (#15588454) Homepage
          I don't think Futurama actually even tries to have a real continuity. In the beginning of the series, they make references to Star Trek all the time, but later on the name becomes a "forbidden word."

          I just think of it like I did the Simpsons in some jokes. Lisa once stated the Springfield Oil Field is 3 times the size of Texas. This means either they live in Alaska (possibly, I need to consult a map for scale) or it's a joke because it's too ridiculous to be true.

          • Re:YAY! (Score:4, Insightful)

            by tolan-b ( 230077 ) on Friday June 23, 2006 @06:47AM (#15588561)
            Yeah that was kinda what I was getting at.

            I suppose there's no real need for that sort of continuity, as long as the continuity for the main characters broadly fits together, and it gives them more room for humour without being penned in by what they did before.

          • Logic? (Score:5, Informative)

            by PhYrE2k2 ( 806396 ) on Friday June 23, 2006 @08:00AM (#15588861)
            Most shows have some kind of continuity and Futurama does. Sure they'll be a bit random and break rules at times (take that Bender is made of 40% of Zinc, 40% of Titanium and 40% of Dolomite- 120% for those of you who are reading this early in the morning), but in general unlike the Simpsons, the show progresses. The characters age, have different birthdays, refer to events in the past. You'll also notice the love between Fry and Leela developing. Take the later episodes like 'The Sting' where Fry takes a giant bee for Leela, and the many loving things they do that continues to bring them closer, as well as the same thing on the Amy side.

            PS: best episode ever: Jurassic Bark.... poor Seymour the dog.

            • Re:Logic? (Score:5, Insightful)

              by stinerman ( 812158 ) on Friday June 23, 2006 @08:14AM (#15588932)
              PS: best episode ever: Jurassic Bark.... poor Seymour the dog.
              I have trouble watching that one and "Luck of the Fryish". They are both really, really sad, but excellent episodes.

  • Restrike while the iron is still warm? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ackthpt ( 218170 ) * on Thursday June 22, 2006 @11:35PM (#15587366) Homepage Journal

    While I applaud it, I remember the resurrection of Ren & Stimpy and how it just wasn't quite the same anymore. The making of a popular series can often rest on the frenzy of creating the episodes and the chemistry of those at work on it. Add an interruption, time for other projects and influences, what will become of pulling the team back together? Will it be the same, or will it be like, "well, Bender saying, 'bite my shiny metal asee' doesn't totally suck, but it's just, you know, different now."

    Other news in the It's About Time Department:
    In other good news, finally on DVD, Yellowbeard! Arr! July 27 for USA & Canada [amazon.com] or July 10 for UK [amazon.co.uk] No word yet on extras, like Group Madness, the documentary of making of the film.

    • ...but see I remember watching the old episodes of Ren and Stimpy and thinking, "why did I like this? This is horrible." Especially those two minute ultra-grotesque stills.

      It's not because the writers got worse. It's 'cause you got better. Or at least, I did. I can't stand the old Ren and Stimpy episodes now.

      Just like Family Guy, Futurama still cracks me up. If they make more, I'll still like 'em.

      • I remember watching the old episodes of Ren and Stimpy and thinking, "why did I like this? This is horrible."

        Ah, well, I bought the 3 dvd set of the originals and still get a big laugh out of them. Some are kinda weird, but I think they were weird back in the day, too. Best of the series were the Cmdr Hoek and Cadet Stimpy space serial send ups.

        I've been to a Spike and Mike's Festival of Animation and have thought, "Whaaaattt? This stuff is supposed to be funny?" Then I realise about 75% of the a

      • Re:Restrike while the iron is still warm? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by alshithead ( 981606 ) on Friday June 23, 2006 @12:02AM (#15587481)
        Unlike Family Guy, Futurama is funny. I'm off now to eat my lobster self.

        • Re:Restrike while the iron is still warm? (Score:4, Insightful)

          by gfxguy ( 98788 ) on Friday June 23, 2006 @08:25AM (#15588995)
          Well, I like Family Guy and American Dad...

          The difference is that Family Guy and American Dad are funny the first time you watch them while the Simpsons and Futurama are funny every time you watch them.

      • Re:Restrike while the iron is still warm? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by bjb ( 3050 ) * on Friday June 23, 2006 @08:00AM (#15588863) Homepage Journal
        ...but see I remember watching the old episodes of Ren and Stimpy and thinking, "why did I like this? This is horrible." Especially those two minute ultra-grotesque stills.

        It's not because the writers got worse. It's 'cause you got better. Or at least, I did. I can't stand the old Ren and Stimpy episodes now.

        I bought seasons 1-3½ on DVD which contains the original John K. episodes and the obvious downfall episodes after he was fired and Nickelodeon took over. All I can say is that the original first season still cracks me up, but everything afterwards is a sharp downwarn decline.

        The interesting thing is to watch the episodes with the audio commentary by John K. Suprisingly, he does commentary on episodes after his departure, and he really gives a lot of insight to help understand why anything after season 1 simply was garbage. To hit a specific comment of yours, "two minute ultra-grotesque stills": it was something new and unique to R&S. In the early episodes, you can see how those scenes helped build storyline, express context or otherwise simply drive a concept home. However, most people took these scenes at face value and just thought, "ooh! he's got a booger!" or something like that. Yeah, it is accessible at that level. Unfortunately, this is the level that the post-Spümcø felt they needed to continue and exaggerate. To put it in John K's words when seeing a gross close up of Stimpy in a season 2 commentary, "ugly for the sake of being ugly". In other words, no purpose to the scene like there would have been in season 1 episodes.

        Of course, this is a cartoon we're talking about, so it wasn't trying to save the world or teach you to eat your vegetables or anything; it was meant to be stupid humor for you to laugh at. All I'm trying to say is that this really was a groundbreaking show in cartoons and the first season was really something special in its own way. Unfortunately, that "magic" (if you will) was completely mis-interpreted and lost in subsequent episodes once John K. no longer oversaw production.

      • It's not because the writers got worse. It's 'cause you got better. Or at least, I did. I can't stand the old Ren and Stimpy episodes now.

        You call losing your sense of humor "better"? I feel sorry for you. Ren and Stimpy is brilliant beyond words. Not only that but it's been hugely influential. Spongebob Squarepants would not exist without Ren and Stimpy leading the way.

        I don't understand why people change what they like. Ren and Stimpy, Rocko's Modern Life, Eek the Cat, all are as entertaining today as
    • I seem to remember reading that the Ren and Stimpy characters were sold to Nickelodeon or the creator was fired or something like that after the first batch of episodes. So there is good reason why it changed dramatically. As long as Futurama keeps the same creative bunch, there is a good chance that it will be good as ever.

      -matthew

    • Family Guy Season 4+ sucks. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by PhYrE2k2 ( 806396 ) on Friday June 23, 2006 @07:54AM (#15588830)
      As long as they don't try too hard like Family Guy is doing. I have to say, Family Guy these days is boring as anything. First three seasons were mint, but what they're coming out with now is total crap. Previously it was edgy, but funny. Now they just go for offensive for the sake of offensive. The plots are horrible, and just aren't trying.

      -M

  • Better News Everybody! (Score:5, Funny)

    by carterhawk001 ( 681941 ) on Thursday June 22, 2006 @11:38PM (#15587376) Journal
    All thirteen episodes will come in a suppository!

  • YES ! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Joebert ( 946227 ) on Thursday June 22, 2006 @11:44PM (#15587401) Homepage
    Complete with New shinier, easily bitable metal ass.

  • Three cheers for Comedy Central (Score:5, Funny)

    by King Shazbot ( 742285 ) on Thursday June 22, 2006 @11:44PM (#15587402)
    Hip, hip, huzzah! Hip, hip, huzzah! Hip, ah screw it.

  • choice quote (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 22, 2006 @11:46PM (#15587410)
    Sweet Zombie Jesus!!!!

  • Santa is real! (Score:5, Funny)

    by RyanFenton ( 230700 ) on Thursday June 22, 2006 @11:47PM (#15587414)
    ...and apparantly, he's finally gotten around to having that *talk* with the folks at Fox.

    They've been VERY naughty this year. Now they must be trying to make up before Xmas.

    Ryan Fenton

  • I believe it 100%!!! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by denebian devil ( 944045 ) on Thursday June 22, 2006 @11:49PM (#15587418)
    Cuz the actors never get it wrong [slashdot.org].

    P.S. I feel like it's some futurama reference that my CAPTCHA was "breeder." Is Slashdot trying to say something about the human race?

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Thursday June 22, 2006 @11:49PM (#15587419)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • HYPNOTOAD LIVES (Score:4, Funny)

    by Asbradley21 ( 984429 ) on Thursday June 22, 2006 @11:52PM (#15587428)
    HYPNOTOAD LIVES!!!!

  • *sigh* (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Jethro ( 14165 ) on Thursday June 22, 2006 @11:52PM (#15587430) Homepage
    That's too bad. Sure, I'm sad it ended, but it DID end well. Go figure what'll happen now.

    • Re:*sigh* (Score:3, Interesting)

      by SoapDish ( 971052 )
      If you listened to the DVD commentaries, you'd know that they actually had much more planned in the underlying plot of the series, but it got cut short. The final episodes were in no way a conclusion to the series.
  • Let's hear it for ancient readme files.

  • I have a reason to live again (Score:3, Funny)

    by Progman3K ( 515744 ) on Thursday June 22, 2006 @11:53PM (#15587442)
    I know, that sounds sad, even for a geek, but what can I say: Futurama is my favorite show and if you don't like it, you can bite my shiny metal ass.

  • Does this make me happy? (Score:5, Funny)

    by ScaryFroMan ( 901163 ) <scaryfromanNO@SPAMhotmail.com> on Friday June 23, 2006 @12:01AM (#15587475)
    Does this make me happy?
    Is the space pope reptilian?

  • Welcome back! (Score:3, Funny)

    by tkarr ( 459657 ) <tkarr@@@iastate...edu> on Friday June 23, 2006 @12:14AM (#15587534) Homepage
    It's about time! I love Futurama but you can only watch that show so many hundreds of times.

  • Everyone must hear this news! (Score:5, Funny)

    by dark_requiem ( 806308 ) on Friday June 23, 2006 @12:19AM (#15587555)
    Perhaps I'll breed some kind of albino shouting gorilla...

  • Who needs comedy central? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Arthur B. ( 806360 ) on Friday June 23, 2006 @12:27AM (#15587574)
    Ok that's indeed great news... the sad news is Futurama is still dependent on Comedy Central. Why do shows still need this kind of deals? Idealy this would happen: There is an official Futurama web-site, they say they want a new season, they need US $ X to produce it. They sell shares on their website or through ebay using a dutch auction in order to finance the project. Geeks buy them. They make the episodes. They realase them on the internet in a non DRM format and using bittorrent so they don't have to pay for bandwith. People pay a small amount of money to download the .torrent file. If they want to pirate it anyway nothing will stop them so why bother with protection. Many people download that great show, the benefits are given to the shareholders. Everyone is happy. That's really what the RIAA really is affraid of. Artists now have a way to have vertical control, marketting, distribution etc. They claim to fight piracy but really want to make this come as late as they can. Once the artists realize they can actually make more money by short circuiting the distribution cartels a) price will also fall for the consummer b) more competition of works, more quality

    • Re:Who needs comedy central? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by dfjghsk ( 850954 ) on Friday June 23, 2006 @01:40AM (#15587794)
      it costs 1-2 million dollars to produce each episode of Futurama. We could debate whether they could raise that kind of money over the internet..

      also, your model doesn't work for new shows.. if your model was in place before Futurama, it would have never been created.. people won't donate to a show they've never heard of and have no idea if they'll even like it.
    • That's really what the RIAA really is affraid of. Artists now have a way to have vertical control, marketting, distribution etc. They claim to fight piracy but really want to make this come as late as they can.

      How does this pertain the RIAA? The people they go after are the ones sharing material to which the RIAA has rights to. Nothing is stopping individual artists from doing what you describe, in fact there are many independent artists on the net doing their thing and the RIAA/MPAA leaves them alone.

    • Re:Who needs comedy central? (Score:5, Informative)

      by mcrbids ( 148650 ) on Friday June 23, 2006 @03:11AM (#15588027) Journal
      Idealy this would happen: There is an official Futurama web-site, they say they want a new season, they need US $ X to produce it. They sell shares on their website or through ebay using a dutch auction in order to finance the project. Geeks buy them. They make the episodes. They realase them on the internet in a non DRM format and using bittorrent so they don't have to pay for bandwith. People pay a small amount of money to download the .torrent file. If they want to pirate it anyway nothing will stop them so why bother with protection. Many people download that great show, the benefits are given to the shareholders. Everyone is happy.

      You bitch needlessly. All the tools you need are but a few hundred dollars away!

      1) Registering a domain name and getting cheap-ass hosting costs less than a few hundred dollars per year.

      2) You can put a link to your project on your slashdot sig and get surprising amounts of attention that way.

      3) You only need to come up with an idea for a show, and recruit some star talent. Really, you're on your way already, since you have a business plan that's pretty detailed!

      Unless you aren't serious about your business plan. Maybe you wouldn't know a real business plan if it kicked you in the nards. Maybe the idea of actually doing anything outside your mother's basement scares you. In which case, your post is just so much whining and incoherent noise on a populate public blog. There's lots of that already.

      The proof of whether or not you have a good idea is in your ability to make it reality. Otherwise, it's just so much hot air, and thanks to global warming, we have more than enough of that.

      But, I suggest you give it a try. You'll either succeed, or learn lots about how the world around you works - either way, you win, and win BIG.
  • and brannigans antics

  • 2 F's down, 1 to go! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by CharAznable ( 702598 ) on Friday June 23, 2006 @12:39AM (#15587614)
    First Family Guy, then Futurama. Where's Firefly?

  • But what about...? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by mlow82 ( 889294 ) on Friday June 23, 2006 @12:41AM (#15587620)
    Okay, so all of the original actors have signed up. But what I'd like to know is if all of the original writers have signed up.

  • Future Futurama to be... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Hymer ( 856453 ) on Friday June 23, 2006 @12:50AM (#15587641)
    ...DRM'ed. "Geeks don't want DRM, geeks want Futurama (just see @ the Internet) so we will release new episodes of Futurama to sell DRM to those bloody nerds..."
    This is the only reason for Fox to start it again.

    --

    This is not a flamebait... this is bloody serious... Just wait'n'see.

  • Bite My Shiny Metal Ass (Score:5, Funny)

    by trogdor8667 ( 817114 ) on Friday June 23, 2006 @01:01AM (#15587678)
    Professor: Good news everyone. While Fox's quality programming is out of our reach, Comedy Control has decided to take us for some new episodes.
    Fry: Don't you mean Comedy Central?
    Leela: No, Comedy Control. Comedy was outlawed in the year 2045, during the Great War with the Neptutians. Comedy Control comes around and kills everyone involved with animated shows.

  • Holy Crap! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 23, 2006 @01:34AM (#15587772)
    Holy crap! I can't believe it-- someone was actually watching Craig Ferguson!

  • *crosses fingers* (Score:4, Insightful)

    by SamSim ( 630795 ) on Friday June 23, 2006 @01:41AM (#15587797) Homepage Journal
    please not have jumped the shark please not have jumped the shark please not have jumped the shark

  • Good news... kind of. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Arimus ( 198136 ) on Friday June 23, 2006 @02:07AM (#15587869)
    Good news on the surface but until it is confirmed the original writers have signed up I won't be keeping too many expectations of the new series.

    The actors can be replaced, the writing team can not - not if you want to keep the same style of humour.

  • When you see the robot, drink! (Score:3, Funny)

    by IHC Navistar ( 967161 ) on Friday June 23, 2006 @02:54AM (#15587986)
    "Let the feast of a thousand hams begin!"

    -----

    Sig Sauer

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