Billy West Says Futurama Might Return To Fox For 6th Season 265
MajikJon writes "After strong sales of the straight-to-DVD Futurama movies, Fox is reportedly considering bringing back Futurama for a 6th season. This according to Billy West in a recent statement at the Anime Supercon in Florida. Here's me with my fingers crossed."
As a fan, I hate to say this (Score:5, Insightful)
I was a huge Futurama fan when it was on TV, so it pains me greatly to say this. But if you can't do better than those terrible new DVD releases, please *DON'T* bring this show back. I don't know if they got different writers for those movies, or whether the writers they brought back just lost their edge, but those were just embarrassing. Each release has managed to be even worse than the previous one.
But if Matt Groening has proven nothing else with The Simpsons, it's that he has absolutely no understanding of the phrase "finishing while you're on top" and all-too-much understanding of "run it into the ground until it's a pathetic shadow of its former greatness."
Re:As a fan, I hate to say this (Score:2, Insightful)
Well actually, Beast with a Billion Backs sucked, but the rest were pretty damn good. I thought Bender's Game was completely back on form for Futurama.
This!
Screw Fox (Score:5, Insightful)
Seriously, screw 'em. They've wrecked one good show after another. I hope another network - any network - picks it up rather than them.
Futurama yes! Fox No! (Score:5, Insightful)
Faux: canceling the shows you love (Score:4, Insightful)
I never really understood how Faux not only greenlit so many wonderful shows but also murdered them in the cradle after barely a season. It seems too much to be coincidence, I think it must be some sort of pathology amongst their programming directors. Keen Eddie, Futurama, Firefly, Dollhouse, all axed. (Ok, might be jumping the gun on Dollhouse by a few weeks.)
There's usually a political explanation for this kind of illogical behavior where Exec #1 gets to feel like he has a bigger penis for sabotaging Exec #2's pet project. It ultimately costs the company more money than it makes but ego is served so nobody cares. It just makes me wish the inevitable decline and destruction of the company would happen sooner before they tease me with any more shows I might like.
Anyone remember that old animated show God, the Devil, and Bob? That fat fuck Jerry Falwell led a crusade against it as being blasphemous, the same way he did with the Last Temptation of Christ. Oddly enough, both examples here had a greater understanding of and sympathy for Christ's point of view than that bloviating, closet-case fucktard and all of his ass-hatted minions.
The Last Temptation one is particularly amusing because the basic premise is "How can Jesus make a sacrifice of rejecting a peaceful human life and accepting the cross if he had no desire for it? Sacrifice without desire is an empty gesture. Giving up brussel sprouts for Lent? Meaningless. Giving up chocolate? Meaningful." So the fundies all flipped out at the idea of Jesus having an erection, Jesus having amorous thoughts about women, about wanting to take a wife and raise a family. Do you idiots read your own fucking book? It says God was made flesh, he is the son of man! One follows the other! What, you gonna flip out if anyone implies Jesus must have had to take a dump or two during his time on Earth? No, Jebus can't poo! Our pitiful little minds cannot contemplate it! Blasphemy!
So the whole point of the movie was showing Jesus wanting that normal life, seeing how good it felt, knowing it could all be his, and sacrificing it for a greater purpose. And this was considered to be the most horrible cinematic sin committed since Ishtar. Stupid fucking fundies.
Re:As a fan, I hate to say this (Score:1, Insightful)
As a fan, I advise you to shut the hell up. Don't like it - don't watch it. Don't call for the canceling of a show that large groups of people still enjoy, in other words, don't be a dick who thinks the universe revolves around his perception of reality.
Re:As a fan, I hate to say this (Score:4, Insightful)
I have to agree. The coolest part of Beast with a Billion Backs was how it tied directly to the end of Bender's Big Score. Other than that, it's my least favorite of the three.
I'm just not sure if or how they'll recover from the Dark Matter situation (Trying to not spoil it for anyone).
Why Fox? (Score:4, Insightful)
Does Fox still have first-air rights? Fox loves to take the best stuff and strangle it to death. Out of order episodes, random slot times, and only a dozen episodes before cancellation is extremely common. They're the ADD child of networks.
Fox doesn't deserve Futurama; if they aren't contractually obligated to bring it back to Fox, West should sell the rights to Adult Swim or Comedy Central. Adult Swim loved showing five hours of Futurama at a time, and Comedy Central just wants more animated filler. They'll both be better homes (though my confidence in [AS] is basically nil now, they've wasted all the class and personality that once made me interested in them).
My other concern is Family Guy syndrome. Maybe it was because the show was off the air for some time, but Family Guy just isn't as good as it once was. Partly it's because they've completely changed the dynamic of every character (usually for the worst--Stewie is now more about "hiding in the closet" now than "take over the world and kill Lois"). Partly it's that the seem to rely more and more on the "like that time when" skits. While Futurama has always had a much different way to go about humor than that, it could still fall flat.
Also, I'm worried that we'll lose all the great "under the table" jokes that require at least some college education to get.
Individual episodes, please (Score:5, Insightful)
If they do decide to bring back Futurama, I hope they'll go back to standalone episodes rather than movies cut up into four episodes. I don't mind an occasional "to be continued", but I find Futurama works better in half-hour chunks.
Re:As a fan, I hate to say this (Score:3, Insightful)
Zoidberg! (Score:5, Insightful)
Honestly, my favorite episodes are the Zoidberg-centric. Or anything Zoidberg.
Re:As a fan, I hate to say this (Score:4, Insightful)
Heads on spikes is sooo 20th century. This is the 31st century... we'll dessicate them and grind their corpses into a fine pink powder.
(Rattles Can)
Torgo's Excecutive Powder, anyone?
Re:As a fan, I hate to say this (Score:3, Insightful)
It seems opinions vary widely. To me, the first one was, while good, filled with fanservice and a little bit of trying too hard, the second was a return to form and the third was excellent.
Re:As a fan, I hate to say this (Score:2, Insightful)
which I think is a poke at Star Trek IV. Whenever something for fuel becomes abundant and cheap, they'll find something rarer and expensive.
Re:Futurama yes! Fox No! (Score:4, Insightful)
This is spot on. Cable networks like USA, TBS, TNT, FX, etc never come up with original programming series or movies.
They just don't have the budget for Monk, Psych, My Boys, 10 Items or Less, Closer, Saving Grace, Nip/Tuck, Sons of Anarchy, It's Always Sunny....
And that's just off the top of my head, I'm sure I omitted many and I seriously doubt their production costs are less than that of animation.
Re:Screw Fox (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Screw Fox (Score:3, Insightful)
NBC hasn't had a new hit TV show in years - that's why they recently moved Jay Leno to 10. They, literally, had nothing that could fill the slot. So yes, I think NBC might be in bad enough shape that they'd be willing to take some risks.