Seven long years ago, Fox cut the cord on Futurama. Since then, the creative geniuses behind the show, Matt Groening and David Cohen (The Simpsons and Family Guy also check out on their resumes), have fought to release only a couple "specials" for the show in recent years. My teenage years seemed a little gloomy (dramatic exaggeration) as Futurama looked to be a dead end project for quite some time; I was sure that the last we would ever see of Futurama would be overplayed reruns on Comedy Central every night. But forget the past - back to the future. Comedy Central shifted around some of their resources and syndicated the show at it's Thursday, 10 PM slot with 26 new episodes on the slate.
Recap and Refresher Course: If you've never tuned in, Futurama has a unique format - a cartoon, futuristic sci-fi sitcom set in New New York in the year 3000. In other words, anything goes. Because the main characters work for a severely senile scientist at a delivery company, every episode promises the delivery crew traveling to some ridiculous planet to drop off an appropriately fitting package. Usually referring to past, lost civilizations such as our current American government and cultural systems, Futurama also provides the platform for satire of any and all varieties.
You truly must possess an active imagination to write for the show. Possibly the best known behind-the scenes man for Futurama is not a writer, but the talented voice actor Billy West. West primarily rose to fame in the 80s as a featured guest for the Howard Stern Show, namely for his impression of Larry Fine from the Three Stooges (example: search "Larry Fine-A Woodstock Minute" into youtube and you'll see what I'm talking about). He expanded in the early 90s, becoming a writer and the voice of both Ren & Stimpy on the show. Today, the man of many voices lives through the characters of Fry, Dr. Farnsworth, Zoidberg, Zapp Brannigan and many more on Futurama.
I'm excited. My only worry is that it falls into the same pit as Family Guy has for the past few years, after McFarlane had the series renewed by Fox. What I mean by this is Family Guy was cartoon phenomenon alongside South Park and The Simpsons back in its 1999-2003 seasons and even in the first season or two of its revival. However, for the past few seasons the writers have relied on old, worn out concepts and terrible joke delivery as the last remaining value the show has to offer. (Example: Ollie Williams used to be my favorite character for his original catch phrase, "It's gone rain!" back in the third season. The writers of Family Guy have long since beaten that character to death with similar jokes of poor taste.) Futurama will be airing on a different network than Fox, so here's to hoping the execs at CC allow Groening to work his magic and breathe life into Futurama's new beginnings.
Comedy Central - Thursday, 10 - 11 PM.
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