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:5, Interesting)
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.
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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!
Re:As a fan, I hate to say this (Score:5, Funny)
Best line in Bender's Game: Is that a hobbit over there? No, that's a hobo and a rabbit, but they're making a hobbit.
Re:As a fan, I hate to say this (Score:5, Funny)
Read em and weep, and then tell me what they are.
Re:As a fan, I hate to say this (Score:5, Funny)
The Tyrannosaurus rex.
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I also think Bender's Game is good, it has plenty of memorable moments. I'm not saying it's better than the first seasons as a whole, but it's at least better than the less memorable episodes.
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).
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Possibly, especially since its allegorical value has plummeted along with gas prices. Or they may have a character spout a one-liner to cover it. I'm just a little bit curious.
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Unimportant spoiler:
They DON'T ignore it, at one point in the movie they're running low on whale oil :>
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I thought they switched to elephant oil?
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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.
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Really? I absolutely loved Bender's Big Score more than I have the words to express. I felt that it was in every way the perfect futurama movie. But Beasts with a Billion Backs was clearly an unfinished piece, with tons of promising gag ideas mutilated by terrible execution, timing, and unconvincing plot. I figured this was likely due to the writer's strike, but I've been afraid to view Bender's Game lest I suffer the same disappoint.
But if Bender's Game and the fourth dvd are half as good as Big Score, I'd
Re:As a fan, I hate to say this (Score:5, Funny)
I second this emotion. :)
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Beast with a Billion Backs sucked
No, it made me feel bad about ever liking Futurama.
I had to rewatch Seasons 1-3 to get rid of it.
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Well actually, Beast with a Billion Backs sucked,
Compared to most Futurama, yeah. It wasn't any worse than "That's Lobstertainment" or "A Leela of Her Own", though.
but the rest were pretty damn good. I thought Bender's Game was completely back on form for Futurama.
Not quite. Bender's Big Score (at least parts of it) put together an enthralling plot that tugged at the heartstrings. And Bender's Game managed to keep the jokes hilarious, original, and steady. But by the time they were in full swing, the or
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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:5, Informative)
Re:As a fan, I hate to say this (Score:4, Interesting)
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I'm really hoping they return to the show format...I think they still have it, they just had to do too much for the movie format.
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But if you can't do better than those terrible new DVD releases ...
Eh, I'm not going to insert my own opinion, merely point out that Beast with a Billion Backs [billboard.com] was 12th and 6th on the charts for DVD sales according to Billboard. Bender's Game was 10th for a week while Bender's Big Score was only 37th and 11th for its two weeks.
... I say bring it back--it's a great idea financially.
Their sales have put them on charts so while I'm not disagreeing with your assessment, someone out there enjoys them.
Honestly, the DVDs are far above 99% of what's on TV right now so
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What an odd way of saying that it was 18th.
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In my opinion (because everybody on the internet has an opinion) all three DVDs have been good, but
Re:As a fan, I hate to say this (Score:4, Informative)
Why is everyone talking about '3' DVDs?
There's a 4th one you know, it just came out yesterday, and I liked it a lot.
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Justin Timberlake sells a lot more records than Caruso. That must make him a better singer, too.
Billy Caruso? I love that guy!
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Justin Timberlake sells a lot more records than Caruso. That must make him a better singer, too.
Billy Caruso? I love that guy!
No. David Caruso.
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Well I've seen two of the movies, and I disagree a little. They weren't amazing or anything, but I would wonder if some of your disappointment was because you were expecting them to be spectacular by virtue of them being "movies". You know, when something is released as a movie, even if it's straight to DVD, you might have higher expectations than if it's just a normal show.
I watched "Bender's Big Score" and "The Beast with a Billion Backs", and I think if they had been released on TV as a bunch of "to b
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They were released that way. They were made to be cut up into 6 episodes each (or was it 4?) to be aired a few months later on Comedy Central.
They had their moments. "Bender's Game" had quite a few.
I agree with some of the others here that the show just doesn't work in a long format like that.
I'll watch again. Better than most stuff out there. Heck, with stuff like "Kath & Kim", old fashioned static or holding patterns are better than some of the stuff out there.
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They were released that way. They were made to be cut up into 6 episodes each (or was it 4?) to be aired a few months later on Comedy Central.
Well that's what I read they were going to do, but whenever I've seen it aired on Comedy central, They're all played back-to-back. On the on-screen guide, it even shows up as a single 2 hour (or however long) block. And they aren't intermixing those episodes with their normal weekly episodes, either.
If they had waited until all the movies were released and then aired them as normal 30 minute episodes, a new one each week, over a few months as though it were a normal TV season, then I think I would have w
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If only Metallica or Saturday Night Live(man, how sad...) could only do the same thing. Personally, I believe that Drawn Together [wikipedia.org] should be resurrected immediately. It's going to be sad times when every show, no matter how good, will run for a few years
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Otherwise I say they tell the executives to screw off and go direct to iTunes and then DVD.
The biggest thing that scares TV executives is a highly popular show getting traction on the internet. Honestly, there is enough rabid fandom for Futurama that they could do it iTunes only and make as much or more money than being aired on FOX again. Plus they get the side benefit of becoming a historical footnote as to what started the destruction of TV networks.
I'd buy new episodes of many shows that went away due
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:5, Funny)
Network President: "Greetings, gentlemen. You already know my execubots. Executive Alpha, programmed to like things it has seen before."
Executive Alpha: "Hey, hey, hey!"
Network President: "Executive Beta, programmed to roll dice to determine the fall schedule."
Executive Beta: *rolls dice* "More reality shows!"
Network President: "And Executive Gamma, programmed to underestimate middle America."
Executive Gamma: "It's funny, but is it going to get them off their tractors?"
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I think it was the movie format in general that sucked for Futurama. It was as though they crammed 45 minutes of jokes into a 90 minute movie. The snap just wasn't there. Getting back into a 22-minute box would eliminate that problem. I watched the first movie start to finish, and was a little disappointed. I waited until Beast with a Billion Backs came to comedy central, and found it to be a slightly better presentation.
Any additional Futurama is welcome.
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I agree with you.
I found watching all the 3 DVD's for the full length got pretty *yawn*. However, If I watched them in a shorter format, they weren't that bad. During the whole DVD run, I was saying to myself "well, that's a Futurama joke, and that's a Futurama joke, but they're just not funny, but it's classic Futurama. Did I just grow up and it's not funny anymore?" hehe
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But the DVD extras! Those are completely and totally...
well they gotta be worth something.
Or maybe not. Like you I waited until they were broadcast to watch them.
I'm surprised at how negative the view of them are in this thread, I enjoyed them. It helped that I wasn't overly analytical in comparing them to some perceived ideal from the series, and that I didn't pay to watch.
Re:As a fan, I hate to say this (Score:5, Funny)
So it came at you fast and hard.
A lot like Branigan's Law, which is like Branigan's love - hard and fast!
Brannigans Law is like a rock, it crushes scissors. But scissors cut paper and paper covers rock! Kiff! We have a conundrum!
Re:As a fan, I hate to say this (Score:5, Informative)
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Sadly, you're right. Each DVD release has gotten progressively worse, and this last one just sent the simple message "Futurama has lost its magic".
Maybe a return to TV would change that, but my hopes aren't high.
P.S. More Al Gore.
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I thought Bender's Game was one of the better Futurama works. I can't think of any single Futurama TV episode or any combination of three Futurama TV episodes that I would say is better than Bender's Game.
Re:As a fan, I hate to say this (Score:5, Funny)
You watched it, you can't unwatch it!
Oblig. (Score:5, Funny)
Good News Everyone!
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Executive powder (Score:3, Funny)
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No, just you're.
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Spooky (Score:2)
I only posted this comment [slashdot.org] a few minutes ago and look what it has wrought!
Kinda Funny (Score:2)
I was never a big Simpsons fan, but I loved Futurama.
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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.
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a sitcom about a female writer living in the city
Are you talking about Sex in the City? ;)
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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.
Futurama yes! Fox No! (Score:5, Insightful)
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They will then begin making new episodes of Shin Chan, continue with Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Venture Brothers, and Frisky Dingo.
They will then split from Cartoon Network, starting up their own channel (HD and SD), which will be on 24 hours a day.
/fantasy time
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Plus the fact that Terminator:TSCC was just moved to Friday as a lead-in to Dollhouse, which will result in both shows dying.
Seriously, the only worse thing they could've done was put those shows on Saturday night.
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Yeah, isn't Dollhouse the second Joss Whedon show that Fox has started out in a Friday night time slot? I mean, really, if you're going to start a new show on Friday night, you may as well just title it "Cancel me".
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Joss Whedon said that with Fox pulling their usual crap for Dollhouse, combined with the success of "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" last year, that he will never again work with a TV network.
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Cable channels dont typically have the budget for something like Futurama. Its one thing to licence reruns and produce low-quality stuff like Aqua Force and another run a show like Futurama. Right now, its Fox or nothing. Has any of the major players expressed interest? Everyone seems to shy from animation except for Fox.
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:Futurama yes! Fox No! (Score:5, Interesting)
Matt Groening has said before that Futurama is so budget-intensive that the smaller cable networks would not be able to financially support the show in its current state. I remember he went on to say that the kind of sacrifices that would have to be made to make the transtion from a broadcast to a cable network cut too deep and he was unwilling to make them.
I can't remember exactly where I read this, but it makes sense. It's very espensive to make an animated show of this nature while maintaining Futurama's standard of quality. Look at how Comedy Cental and Adult Swim save money on their animations. South Park is super cheap because there's no hand animation. Drawn Together has hand animation, but it's crude and ugly when you stand it next to Futurama. For years Adult Swim used stock character animations and used computers to manipulate them (e.g. Space Ghost, Sealab).
Futurama needs Fox's money. Kind of like how Mr. Bungle's California could have never been made without Warner Bros.'s money backing it up.
Re:Futurama yes! Fox No! (Score:4, Informative)
Fox's good series but low ratings failures were due to giving the network over to sports instead of recorded programs.
Fridays during the late 90s and early 2000s, many affiliates carried local baseball games during primetime and they ran the Fox Friday lineup in late night after the local news. So, any series schedule for Friday would get weak rating numbers, and therefore be canceled as a flop.
Sundays were troubled by NFL runovers and the fact that The Simpsons had to start on time at 8pm or not at all, meaning that in many cities the 7:00 and 7:30 programs would be pre-empted by the game being shown in the late afternoon slot. This doomed Futurama because it couldn't be found in a consistent slot.
Another strike against Futurama is that it had to run with an alternate opening due to a showing the Planet Express ship crashing into a large screen, which was considered too close to a reminder of 9/11/01.
However, Fox has fixed all of these problems. Time has passed so the opening is more acceptable. The Friday baseball pre-emptions are now a thing of the past, Fox has let baseball move to regional cable channels, some of which it controls. The Sunday problem has been solved by a postgame show called "The OT" that stations join in progress as the game ends, and runs until 8pm. So, the only thing that can be pre-empted by football is football talk.
Fox is now no longer killing good shows because they're not getting the numbers due to Fox's own mistakes. They've solved that problem.
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.
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>It's going to be interesting to see what's done with Dollhouse. The ratings thus far have been abysmal, and the pilot was very poorly received, but most viewers seem to have been much more positive about the second episode, and that might mean it'll pick up viewers over the next few months.
Haven't seen it, but are you sure they actually ran the pilot? As I recall, the geniuses helped Firefly by running the first few episodes out of sequence.
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That's good to know... I could barely sit through the first episode. Maybe I'll give the second a shot after all.
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I agree. If the show was good enough for them to put it on, at least let it run a full season and build buzz!
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Bet you don't remember Space: Above and Beyond, do you? This antagonism that Fox has to QUALITY programming - IOW, anything that isn't distinctly mediocre and non-controversial - has been going on for a lot longer than most people even realize. I suspect it's rooted in Fox's struggle from birth as a belated network, and having to be better than the Big Three at targeting the broadest market segment possible. That meant that any show that proved too intellectual or (negatively) controversial to a median a
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I thought the most potentially offensive part of The Last Temptation of Christ was the suggestion that Jesus worked as a carpenter making crosses for crucifixions. Made me laugh.
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Ha ha ha.
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I was thinking more like the people that go out and find good content line it up. Then it runs until the p.o.s. that owns the network watches enough of it to see it doesn't impose his world view on others then cans it but I like your version too.
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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.)
Really? Dollhouse? You're putting Dollhouse in the same category as Futurama (which ran for multiple years) or Firefly (which was passed on by UPN, Scifi, etc...I'm sure all of them regret it, but it wasn't just Fox that made that call)? I own several seasons of Buffy, Firefly, and Dr Horrible...and I could barely sit through the first episode of Dollhouse. I too am expecting it to be cancelled, and no doubt, there will be many upset Whedon fans. (And add Arrested Development to your list)
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.
Out of curiosity,
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.
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Family Guy hasn't been as good as it once was, but I don't think that had much to do with the cancellation. If you watch all the episodes one after another, the evolution from original Family Guy to modern Family Guy is very slow and steady.
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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.
All the characters are better and funnier than they used to be. The Stewie character had to change eventually. Honestly, the 'wacky character that is obsessed with global domination' has been played out for a long time, almost as much as either a talking animal/inanimate object, or the self-obsessed, idiot dad. We've seen those things in comics forever and it really isn't much of a gag anymore. The Stewie/Brian-heavy episodes are the best. Anything else is like watching a Lisa- or Marge-heavy episode o
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.
Zoidberg! (Score:5, Insightful)
Honestly, my favorite episodes are the Zoidberg-centric. Or anything Zoidberg.
Sweet Zombie Jesus! (Score:2)
Will Sweet Zombie Jesus be resurrected into the dialogue?
Hope the writing is like the show and not movies! (Score:2)
Movies were mediocre at best :/ The TV show had it's ups and downs but it was brilliant overall.
I'm sure it's already been said but damnit if it isn't true, such a shame about those movies.
Bender should not be on Television! (Score:2)
"Bender must be stopped! I have gone too far. Who does that guy think I am? "
Bender
Will it be in HD like the Simpsons or SD like Fami (Score:2)
Will it be in HD like the Simpsons or SD like Family Guy?
Re:Good news everyone! (Score:5, Funny)
Good News everyone!
... I've invented a device that makes you hear my voice while reading this off the screen!
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Oh my god, he's right!
Re:Good news everyone! (Score:5, Funny)
Nope, there were 5... (Score:2)
You're missing the season that was produced for Comedy Central after FOX dropped them.
Well, I'm an idiot (Score:2)
Those episodes were just the movies spread out... nvm
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It depends on who you ask. Old episode lists follow the Fox order of the original four seasons spread out over five. Newer lists show episodes in the original order with the DVDs episodes as season five.
http://theinfosphere.org/Episode_Listing#Season_5 [theinfosphere.org]
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Re:Oh my god... (Score:4, Funny)
Well, actually, it does care. My soul has a very strong sense of reality.
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
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FIREFLY/SERENITY SPOILER ALERT!!!
Well, cause the primary motivation of the Firefly/Serenity plots was that the Alliance was after River. However, by the end of the movie, it's apparent that River is no longer a threat to the Alliance, so she's no longer a fugitive.
As much as I loved the show, the movie, and the characters, I don't think a new series based on the franchise would be possible. There's not enough motivation for non-boring plotlines involving the Serenity crew continuing to live among the Outer
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didn't Firefly & Serenity have great DVD sales as well
I cant find the reuters article that backs that up but in 2007 it was in the top 10 for a long time.