Back to the Futurama?

UPDATE: SADLY, BILLY WEST HAS NOW WITHDRAWN HIS CONTENTION THAT THE SHOW IS LIKELY TO RESUME PRODUCTION, SAYING IT WAS ALL A MISCOMMUNICATION. THIS LEAVES ONLY THE PROPOSED DTV DVDS AS A HOPE FOR FURTHER FUTURAMA MATERIAL.

From a message thread by the man himself at billywest.com (Billy West being the actor who played Frye, the show’s main character):

“The other good news is that they’re doing 26 new episodes of Futurama for TV and we’re hammering out the deal now. The original plan was to have the DVD’s first but that’s no longer the case.”

[At one point the show makers were talking about going some DTV Futurama movies. Presumably this new skein would be in place of that.]

I seldom get very attached to TV shows anymore, and the only two I’ve truly mourned over the last several years have been Futurama and Arrested Development. However, two factors seem to be helping to bring cult shows back to the airwaves (such as the previously resurrected Family Guy), one being lower ratings–in other words, it now takes less of an audience share to make a show comparatively viable–and more importantly, DVD sales. After all, a studio can be making money off DVD and whatever else in the future off this content for theoretically ever. Which is part of the reason, I had to admit, I was surprised they cancelled Star Trek: Enterprise.

No word yet on whether these new episodes, should they happen, will be for Fox (the show’s original home) or the Cartoon Network, where the old episodes are now playing to good ratings. Maybe both. However, this is great news, and if Arrested Development is picked back up too, it’s indicitive of a very good trend for programs with a small but committed audience.

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Tork_110

Unfortunately, gotfuturama.com says that this is unfounded right now. It’s still more likely that they’ll do direct to DVD movies first.

As much as I’d like the show to come back, I’m really cringing at the thought of all the inevitable Nixon == Bush jokes. A couple years ago I would have found them funny, but now I just want to cover my ears until 2009.

Also, the last episode implied that Fry and Leela will become a couple. If they brought it back as a show, they’d probably have to reset their relationship or face the wrath of some fans claiming that the show jumped the shark when they paired up.
BeckoningChasm

Much as I like the show, I think I’d dread its resurrection. Has there been a show that returned from the dead that’s been as good as it originally was?* I fear Futurama would become fan-driven, rather than its own creative animal.

*I liked the original Family Guy but hear the new shows are pretty bad. Haven’t seen them myself.
thanoseid

The first few eps of the new Family Guy were really stiff and awkward. They kept re-using old jokes, like the giant chicken and the greased up deaf guy. The only really great moment was the intro to the first new episode, where Peter listed all the Fox series’ that started and failed after FG was cancelled. There must have been over two dozen of them. But it’s mostly settled back into a decent rhythm. Overall, I’m glad it returned.
Ken Begg

As long as the staff writers and producers come back, I don’t see any reason why Futurama should not pick up where it left off–and it was really, in it’s fourth year, just hitting its stride.

I don’t think the last episode implied that Frye and Leela were becoming a couple. The show was moving in that direction for quite a while, and that last chapter was meant to move them forward on that, but I don’t think they necessily would have hooked up right at that point.
Tork_110

Yeah, you’re probably right. I just see it as something that the writers have to be careful about.

I think the idea of making a movie would be really cool, though. Imagine if the DVD sold so well that FOX decides to put that great animation in a theater.
Tork_110

Oh, and they really need to do an episode/movie where Morbo tries to conquer earth. That anchormonster was always hilarious.

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