Futurama tells the story around a pizza delivery guy, Fry, who accidentally freezes himself in 1999 and wakes up a thousand years later. It earned six Emmys during its original run, including two for Outstanding Animated Program, seven Annie Awards and a two Writers Guild of America Awards.
The animated series has been revived for a 20-episode run on Hulu, after nearly 10 years from its last season, and marks the third platform the animated comedy is running.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the production of the series will start this month and has a planned premiere for 2023.
The original creators, Matt Groening and David X. Cohen, are coming back along with the original voice actors Billy West (who plays the main character Fry) and Katey Sagal (Leela), and those who voiced multiple characters Like Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, Lauren Tom, Phil LaMarr, and David Herman.
The only one missing is John DiMaggio, who decided not to return because he thinks he (and the whole cast) should be paid more. He could come back if the salary dispute is resolved.
Rough Draft Studios will also return to handle the animation.
Why did it get discontinued?
Futurama was originally intended to air as a companion to The Simpsons on Sundays on Fox, given that both share Groening as a creator. However, the network decided to air it on Tuesdays, and later moved the schedule for it so much it ultimately doomed the show.
Groening has gone on record saying that the network didn’t support the series, despite the studio owning it. Fox canceled Futurama in 2003.
The show got its first revival in 2007 with four direct-to-DVD movies on Comedy Central, but they aired as 30-minute episodes. After the network saw their success, they decided to air the subsequent season in mid-2010. The show would end in late 2013 after seven seasons and a total of 140 across two networks.
Why did it get revived?
Futurama will join a roster of original animated series at Hulu, with the Animaniacs revival, Solar Opposites, and Crossing Swords. The platform also has a large catalog of adult animation with Family Guy, Rick and Morty, Bob’s Burgers, South Park, and the original Futurama.
Some of these series are among the user’s most-watched titles, partly because of their repeatability and sizable fan bases. What also helps this type of series is that they have become cheaper to produce than a live-action series and have been largely unaffected by the pandemic.
This is why there’s also a trend for adult animated titles getting revived, like Beavis & Butt-head, a Daria spinoff called Jodie, The Ren & Stimpy Show, Clone High, and rumors of King of the Hill.
The demand for adult animation has become so large that Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, the creators behind Beavis & Butt-head and King of the Hill, have recently launched an animation company called Bandera to help expand the genre, and already has more than a dozen adult animated shows in the works for multiple platforms.
Where can you watch Futurama?
If you want to prepare for the upcoming episodes, all of the original episodes are currently available on Hulu.
So, are you excited to see the new episodes of Futurama? Because we are!
