Futurama 2.0

[Glitch Girl]

It's baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/reviews/8092758.stm

[The Hitman]

This better not be any of that "chopping up the 'movies' to form episodes" malarky.

[BWPS]

WOO! And I'm alive and saying WOO! that isn't air escaping from my fat rolls.

This is the best news ever. Unfortunately the movies haven't been too amazing, but a lot of that has to do with the length. 22 minutes is a good size!

[ubergreendragon]

Good news everyone..

[Silver Shocker]

"Hurray, things were bad, but now they're good again. FOREVER!"

Sounds like good news. I hope it is good though and doesn't go downhill (Family Guy has gotten bad IMO)

[The Troll]

Futurama is the greatest show ever made. If they keep the cast and the writers, they could keep going forever...especially if they hold true to the last movie and have the main characters appear in another universe...they could start from scratch.

[BentonGrey]

Ehh, I've been more and more disappointed with the movies, so I'm not sure how I feel about this.  I really loved the show itself...so we'll see.

[Gremlin]

Good news everyone..

"You're now reading these posts in my voice!"

[Camma]

This is good news everybody!

I have to agree with the sentiment that Futurama is one of the greatest shows.  Between Comedy Central reruns and the DVDs I think Ive watched Futurama more than the Simpsons now even though i have the Simpsons on DVD as well (and thats a lot of episodes to compete with).

[Talavar]

So apparently word around the internets is that Billy West, Katey Sagal, John DiMaggio and a couple of others are being replaced on the new episodes - which means Fry, Leela, Bender, Zoidberg, the Professor, Zap Brannigan, Kif, and a number of other characters, are all going to sound wrong in all these episodes.  I doubt a lot of the behind the scenes talent are going to be the same either, so I've got to think, what's the point of even making these?

Damn.

[stumpy]

Yeah, I spotted this note on the new casting when looking for some news on the new production. That's too bad. Ultimately, it's the writing that makes the series, but the voice acting was really brilliant and would be hard to equal. The article made it sound like the door wasn't completely closed on the original cast, but it looks bleak.

[BWPS]

At this point he should just try to make a new show. I'd be very interesting in a new Matt Groening show with new (obviously) voice actors. The man did create the funniest show of all time and then made a show even funnier than that. But Futurama without any of the main characters' proper voices just isn't going to be Futurama and it will be too difficult to accept. Let's hope they work something out.

[deano_ue]

the cast is what made the writing work so well, sadly without the cast this series will have major problems

[Talavar]

I personally don't have a lot of faith in Matt Groening himself; the Simpsons didn't get good until other people were more involved in the show's production like Brad Bird & Conan O'Brien, among others, and Futurama rests more on David X. Cohen than Matt Groening, in my opinion.

[Podmark]

Futurama without the original main cast simply won't work. The whole feel of the series will be gone.

I'm hoping this is just some negotiating ploy.

[deano_ue]

"1:00-1:45 Futurama: Life or Death?!? Be a part of sci-fi history! Join executive producers Matt Groening and David X. Cohen, and stars Billy West, Katey Sagal, John DiMaggio, and Maurice LaMarche for high-stakes thrills as a top-ranking FOX executive decides live, on stage, whether Futurama will make yet another triumphant return or whether it is gone forever! The very fate of Futurama hangs in the balance! Paramedics will be standing by in case the intense excitement causes any panelists to collapse. Raucous celebration or abject despair to follow the news. Ballroom 20 "

with the news of the con i smell a fix, but honestly if this is a pressure thing it could backfire badly

[Talavar]

Bit of a weird source, but word is that the original voice cast are re-signed.  I hope this is true.

http://www.thestar.com/comment/columnists/article/674841

[BWPS]

Bit of a weird source, but word is that the original voice cast are re-signed.  I hope this is true.

http://www.thestar.com/comment/columnists/article/674841

Well they seem pretty sure. God I hope its true.

[marhawkman]

It sounds very plausible.

[BWPS]

Several other places say so!

This is just the greatest news ever.

[marhawkman]

I just hope it'll be as good as those dvd movies were.

[MJB]

I'm just waiting for this news to be truly official...

[Silver Shocker]

This looks like a good sign:

http://tv.ign.com/articles/100/1009858p1.html

20th informed us that voice actor Maurice LaMarche ("Kif Kroker"/Additional Voices) posted that he would be returning on his Facebook page, and that deals with the rest of the cast are imminent and will hopefully be finalized by the end of the day.

Update 2: And now we're completely in the clear! We just got this word from 20th Century Fox: "Just wanted you to know that we now have deals with the entire Futurama voice cast to return: John DiMaggio, Maurice LaMarche, Billy West, Tress MacNeille and Katey Sagal."

Futurama creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen released this statement: "We are thrilled to have our incredible cast back. The call has already gone out to the animators to put the mouths back on the characters."

[Previsionary]

Good news, everyone! Hour long premier of Futurama TONIGHT on Comedy Central. Who's gonna watch?

[BentonGrey]

Well....I felt like it was pretty mediocre.  I'll probably watch a few more episodes to see if it improves.  The second episode was a good bit better than the first, though the ending left a bad taste in my mouth.....ewwww.......

[stumpy]

I enjoyed the episodes, but not at much as the pre-cancellation ones. I almost get the impression they are trying too hard in an effort to have things happen that seem creative and weird. Kind of a "but wait - it gets more bizarre!" attitude. Obviously, a science fiction show is going to have a its share of wacky occurrences, but it seems to me that the best episodes have been the ones that center on some aspect of a character's background or personality. When the writers combine that with a humorous take on some pseudo science - maybe along with a futuristic twist on some classic TV or movie plot - and it seems they can come up with a winner. Really, I think that's why 602 was a little better than 601, though it also suffered from a "let's see how far we can take the risque implications" theme. (Not that I mind that content, but the idea of an out-of-control robot censoring satellite that forces the characters get busy mostly just left me wondering, "Now how did that make sense?")

Of course, it's still early and it's perhaps a bit unfair to compare the first few shows with my favorites of the previous several seasons. I'll still be tuning in to see what they have coming up. The Studio 1²2¹3³ sign gag was enough to get me back at least a couple more times.  

[bredon7777]

"The Studio 122133 sign gag was enough to get me back at least a couple more times."


Yeah, not sure I get this. Care to explain?

Also, this - http://www.flickr.com/photos/pepa_quin/collections/72157624217868063/

This is awesome.  Words fail me- go look.

[marhawkman]

1^2=1
2^1=2
3^3=9

it's a math joke....

[bredon7777]

1^2=1
2^1=2
3^3=9

it's a math joke....

Oh, now I get it. I made the same math error at first= 3^3=27, not 9. 27*2*1=Studio 54.

[BentonGrey]

Math jokes....no such thing.