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No New Series of Futurama

Posted by Hemos on Mon Mar 20, 2006 09:44 AM
from the too-bad-so-sad dept.
Media Television
Nikoth writes "It seems that Billy West got it wrong when he announced that there are 26 new episodes of Futurama on the way, and instead there will only be the 4 movies as planned. "
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[+] Interviews: Ask Futurama Star Billy West About...? 199 comments
In case you haven't heard, Futurama is coming back — in like 2008, so don't go channel-flipping in hope quite yet. This is the first interview Billy West (who voices Fry, Prof. Farnsworth, Zapp Brannigan, Zoidberg, and other Futurama characters) has done since the announcement. Realize, too, that Billy has also been the voices of Ren and Stimpy and hundreds of other animated characters over the years, and old-school Howard Stern fans will remember that part of his career, too. Ask Billy about anything you like; we'll send him 10 top-moderated questions (and maybe he'll answer a few extra ones of his choice, too). We expect to post his answers Wednesday, the day after Freedom Day's 21st Century predecessor, the 4th of July (which, sadly, is not known for nude hot tub parties). Meanwhile, to tide you over, here's a little MP3 voice montage Billy did in his home studio just for Slashdot.
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  • Oops (Score:4, Funny)

    by endrue (927487) on Monday March 20 2006, @09:46AM (#14956541)
    I should have submitted a story that Elvis was still alive. Tons of traffic - no facts needed!

    - Andrew
    • It seems that Billy West got it wrong when he announced that there are 26 new episodes of Futurama on the way, and instead there will only be the 4 movies as planned. "

      Only four movies? What a disappointment.

      The first one isn't even out yet, and already the movie franchise is well underway. Is this isn't success, then I don't know what is.
      • Imho more than 1 movie on any theme is a disaster, stretching reapeating boring stuff. Just look at chuck or seagal, these dudes play the same record for years (or decades, depends on the actor).

          The series were nice tho, i think it's one of the funniest tv cartoons that we have had in the last 10 years.

          Must kill all humans
      • all together now : "doh!"

        oh wait, wrong series...
  • Man, I really wish these tv execs would quit screwing with shows. Firefly, Futurama... it almost seems like they're just trying to see how much we'll put up with.

    What's it going to take to get them to listen to the fans again?
    • It almost seems like nerdy clique shows don't generally rake in a large enough share of the ad revenue for their time slots and get cancelled because more people will sit down and watch a fat woman screaming about GAHGOYLES than a "witty" starship captain and his zany adventures.

      It almost seems like tv execs are trying to make money rather than pander to you personally.

      What an unfair world we live in.
          • seasoned television executive

            My God, that would make him 26 years old! No one that old should be making such important decisions, anyway. Leave the programming decisions to the young guys, grandpa!

            -Eric

    • Love Monkey (CBS)- Man that was a good show with some great support from viewers and corporations (Sony is big into it, introducing many new artists). Too bad they got rid of it after 3 episodes. Rumour has it that UPN will pick it up

      -M

    • Re:Stop screwing with shows (Score:5, Insightful)

      by stlhawkeye (868951) on Monday March 20 2006, @11:46AM (#14957510) Homepage Journal
      What's it going to take to get them to listen to the fans again?

      Advertising revenue. When you're dealing with the people who watch nerdy niche programming, you're dealing with an uncommonly tech-savvy crowd that owns TiVos, refuses to watch commercials and never pays for anything anyway. You've got a fan base of freeloading music and software and movie pirates. Just look at the ads that run during reruns of Star Trek. It's all penis enlargement and debt relief. It's pretty obvious that this isn't a crowd that has much disposable income to squeeze out of it.

      There's a lot of demand for the 18-35 male population, because it spends a lot of money. But our niche, for whatever reason, is VERY undesirable. The above reasons are probably why.

      Note: I am not suggesting that everything in the first paragraph is TRUE, and certainly not of every single person who watches Futurama. But look at the commercials that run on Spike and during Next Gen rebroadcasts... it's obvious what their advertisers think of us, and they hate us. Hence, you can run Battlestar Galactica at 10:00pm on a Friday and get record numbers of us to tune in - they know we're not doing anything else on Friday night from 10-11 pm.

      Anyway ... there's some assumptions being made about their demographics and those assumptions fuel the types of advertisers they get and thus their revenue off broadcasting. I think some of those assumptions can be borne out, as uncomfortable as that may make some of you.

      • When you're dealing with the people who watch nerdy niche programming, you're dealing with an uncommonly tech-savvy crowd that owns TiVos, refuses to watch commercials and never pays for anything anyway.

        Well, except for TiVos, HD sets, fancy home theater gear and the like.

        You've got a fan base of freeloading music and software and movie pirates. Just look at the ads that run during reruns of Star Trek. It's all penis enlargement and debt relief. It's pretty obvious that this isn't a crowd that has much

      • I actually think that Fox may be onto something with their "cancelling great shows" habit. I know you and I think of television as an ongoing thing; success in the American market usually means a long pre-syndication primetime run. But other areas of the world are perfectly willing to run single-season shows. The perfect example of this is Anime - many popular shows, such as FLCL, Evangelion, Trigun, and Cowboy Bebop were written with a single story arc, 26 episodes or less, intended to be taken together

  • I'll make my own series! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Tyten (726456) on Monday March 20 2006, @09:48AM (#14956556)
    With hookers! and Blackjack!

  • A Farnsworth Paradox (Score:5, Funny)

    by CrackedButter (646746) on Monday March 20 2006, @09:48AM (#14956557) Homepage Journal
    Looks like Bender has been using "The What If Machine".
  • April 1st is still 12 days away!

  • Well, bite my shiny metal ass! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 20 2006, @09:49AM (#14956567)
    F*** you, Fox Network!
  • Well that sucks. As a passionate Futurama fan, reading that news this weekend gave me some hope, which has suddenly been dashed.

    "You win again, Gravity!"

  • Well... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by GundamFan (848341) on Monday March 20 2006, @09:51AM (#14956585)
    How hard is it to understand that Fox makes a habit of canceling good shows (or prempting them every week) and holding there rights in limbo and then puting on unwatchable trash.

    The return of Famly Guy was a sign, we can vote with our wallets here we don't need to stand for being told what we like anymore.

      • Uh. . . I'm pretty sure the episodes from before the death-and-resurrection of Family Guy were just as filled with spoofs and references to old TV shows. Maybe you just lost your sense of humor while it was off the air.

        Now if you'll excuse me, it's time for a sexy party.

      • I have only seen a few episodes of the new season of FG -- but American Dad is a trajedy. It's uncomfortable, its unfunny, and it has no reason to exist. I don't understand why they put it on.
      • "Except the new season of Family Guy is unwatchable trash. I liked the earlier seasons, but now we just get 22 minutes of "hey, remember that old TV show? here's a skit spoofing it for no reason!" every week."

        You know, as a fan of Family Guy, I'm getting more than a little tired of hearing this shit. People seem to forget that the show has ALWAYS been like this. It's the basis of the show: paper-thin plot, lots and lots of little in-jokes that attack social morays, pop culture, etc. If you don't like it

        • Re:Well... (Score:3, Funny)

          by Anonymous Coward
          ... social morays ....

          Is that like, a friendly fish, or a metaphor, like "Lounge Lizard"?
        • little in-jokes that attack social morays

          Social morays? Like, eels that socialize? And why on earth do they attack such a thing? I think it's good if fish want to make friends.

  • Or is there... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Bizzeh (851225) on Monday March 20 2006, @09:51AM (#14956587) Homepage
    maybe.... billy west was told about this, and told its a secret, forgot that it was a secret, told the fans of futurama, when it got out that people know, billy was told to tell them its not true... to keep the secret...

  • Early adopters (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 20 2006, @09:53AM (#14956596)
    It seems like early adopters of rumors of this nature experience more bugs!

  • Here comes the quotes! (Score:5, Funny)

    by nherm (889807) on Monday March 20 2006, @09:54AM (#14956604) Journal

    CmdrTaco: Hey, I heard that Futurama is back

    /. crowd: What? Really?

    Hemos: No. we just thought you would enjoy that for a moment.

    Anyway, that was the best nanosecond of my life

  • Life is hilariously cruel.
  • Looks like Billy West needs some grief counseling. ;)

  • GRRR!!! (Score:3)

    by joe 155 (937621) on Monday March 20 2006, @09:55AM (#14956612) Journal
    what can I do to get this series brought back, I've already bought *legally* all 4 DVD box sets! it was a fantastic series, and the DVD sales have been going well... why would they kill really good shows just to stick crap on. I remember the joke at the start of the newest series of family when they went through all the crap shows which have gone down the tiolet since it was cancelled...

  • Oblig. Futurama (Score:5, Funny)

    by everphilski (877346) on Monday March 20 2006, @10:02AM (#14956660) Journal
    Good News, Everyone!

    er... :/

  • Ob. Tinny Tim (Score:5, Funny)

    by doob (103898) on Monday March 20 2006, @10:05AM (#14956686)
    "You raised my hopes and dashed them quite expertly sir!"

  • It's for the best I guess because... (Score:3, Funny)

    by hevenor (931854) on Monday March 20 2006, @10:34AM (#14956909)
    Bender should not be allowed on TV!
  • dolphins still missing
    so long and thanks for all the fish

  • The team should make an "open source" Futurama series.
    -> Mozilla Futurama
    -> SpreadFuturama.com
    -> Fundraising (i would pay)
    -> Mozilla Futurama NY Times ad
    -> FuturamaFlicks.com

  • FanFlicks? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by ah.clem (147626) on Monday March 20 2006, @11:01AM (#14957143)
    I don't recall seeing any fan created versions of Futurama, Family Guy, etc. after they left the air - it seems to me that it would be easier to create an animation homage than do live action movies (like Star Trek). Have there been any home-grown versions of animated series?

    ah.clem
    • No way.

      A student film typically runs about 45 seconds to 2 minutes. It takes one person about four months to storyboard, do layout, animate, clean up and colour. You need a 12-field scanner, which isn't cheap. You need thousands of dollars worth of proprietary software licenses if you want to actually distribute your film. Student films also tend to be simple... 20 cuts at most.

      Now, you can knock out a flash film in much less time, but Futurama it won't be. Futurama had very high-quality traditional animat

  • If anyone needs me... (Score:5, Funny)

    by barzok (26681) on Monday March 20 2006, @11:11AM (#14957228)
    I'll be in the Angry Dome.

  • how interesting (Score:5, Funny)

    by MORTAR_COMBAT! (589963) on Monday March 20 2006, @11:21AM (#14957309)
    no, wait. the other thing. tedious.

  • So Sad (Score:3, Insightful)

    by lewp (95638) on Monday March 20 2006, @01:59PM (#14958734) Journal
    This is the only show out of the current Adult Swim lineup that I still watch. In a block of programming that, IMHO, jumped the shark a long time ago, Futurama is a shining beacon of comedy with replay value.

    I've seen every episode multiple times, own the DVDs, and I'll still sit down and watch it if it's on when I wander past the television. How the hell King of the Hill remains on television while Futurama can't catch a break is beyond me.
    • why in the hell is he saying that another season was in the works if he didn't have a contract signed for it? One would muse that the lead voice actor for a television show would wait until the ink has at least dried on his contract before announcing his next venture.

      from BillyWest.com: I do live to give good Futurama news to people.So I must've died or something.

      Isn't it obvious? He has a brain slug!
    • I'll fill you in: This was a PR stunt. It was meant to generate buzz about the possible return of Futurama so that there would be a higher likelihood that it would be picked up.

      I think the buzz was there, but they just didn't pick it up. At least fans get the movies, though.

      Anyway, I was pretty clear about it when I read the previous report about Futurama that it was speculation and hearsay. Fortunately, some of us know how to take a source into context and realize that this is a quasi-news site, not a

      • Re:Fill Me In (Score:5, Funny)

        by dr_dank (472072) on Monday March 20 2006, @11:14AM (#14957248) Homepage Journal
        Fortunately, some of us know how to take a source into context and realize that this is a quasi-news site, not a courtroom.

        A courtroom-style format would be a breath of fresh air.

        Moderators: Objection! Poster is a troll!
        Meta-mods: I'll allow it.

    • Sometimes rumors get started through miscommunication and just take on a life of their own. That's probably what happened here.

      Fortunately, it's just a TV show, so rumors aren't a big deal. I mean, at least this time there weren't a bunch of coal miners' families who were devastated when told their loved ones were actually dead, when the rumor a half hour previous was that they were alive.

      • Actually I think it is Katey's best role ever. She has the perfect voice for Leela, she can sing, and she obviously really gets into it.

        Ignore the fact that she was Peggy Bundy for a number of years. While she's been pretty much typecast by that role, you've got to admit she does an excellent job on Futurama.

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