Futurama
From The TV IV
| Futurama | |
| Premiere | March 28, 1999 |
| Finale | |
| Airs | Weekdays at 9PM (Comedy Central) |
| Creator | Matt Groening, David X. Cohen |
| Network | FOX (seasons 1-5)
Comedy Central (season 6) |
| Style | 30-minute animated comedy |
| Company | The Curiosity Company, Rough Draft Studios, 30th Century Fox Television |
| Episodes | 72 (through season 5) |
| Seasons | 6 |
| Origin | USA |
Futurama (1999–2003, 2008) is Matt Groening's follow-up to the creation of The Simpsons in 1989. The series helped revitalize FOX's animated line-up, along with its contemporary Family Guy. Futurama was met with critical praise and a fanatical fan base because of its deeply layered storylines and occasionally esoteric sci-fi humor.
Futurama's ever increasing acclaim, however, didn't transfer to positive feelings among FOX executives, who thwarted the show at every turn. Episodes' airings were delayed, the showtime was often changed randomly and ultimately it was scheduled for the Sunday night "death slot," the 30 minutes of television which is most often pre-empted for football and baseball games.
While Futurama doesn't follow a long-term plot, the series revolves around the crew of Planet Express, a delivery company which transports packages across the universe in the year 3000. The core of this crew is Philip J. Fry (delivery boy), Turanga Leela (pilot), Bender (all purpose bending robot) and Professor Farnsworth (owner and eccentric inventor). Some plot devices used throughout the show's duration include Fry's relationship with Leela, Leela's history as an orphan, and Fry's attempts to reconnect with his lost past.
The show was ultimately cancelled in 2002, although the final episode wasn't aired until late 2003. Although there were four production seasons, there were so many episodes that had been pre-empted by sports that they were dumped into a fifth broadcast season. Even then, many of those episodes were left unaired, particularly on the East Coast where live sports continued to pre-empt the series. It was left in limbo until Adult Swim picked the show up for reruns. These reruns proved to be massively successful for the network, often breaking the 1 million viewer barrier. Despite this success, the network was outbid by Comedy Central, which purchased the broadcast rights for all 72 produced episodes.
In late 2005, after the very successful return of Family Guy to FOX, 20th Century Fox contacted Groening and asked him about whether or not he would be willing to resurrect Futurama as well on four direct-to-DVD movies. This was not so much announced, however, as it was a series of vague rumors which were confirmed by Billy West, who notoriously jumps the gun in these situations. The four direct-to-video movies will be cut into the 16 new episodes that will air on Comedy Central.
Contents |
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Character | Duration | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main Cast | |||||||
| Billy West | Philip J. Fry | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Prof. Hubert J. Farnsworth | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| Dr. Zoidberg | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| Zapp Brannigan | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| Katey Sagal | Turanga Leela | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| John Di Maggio | Bender | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Elzar | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| Tress MacNeille | Mom | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Hattie | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| Supporting/Recurring Cast | |||||||
| Maurice LaMarche | Lt. Kif Kroker | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Morbo | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| Lrr | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| Phil LaMarr | Hermes Conrad | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Lauren Tom | Amy Wong | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Frank Welker | Nibbler | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| David Herman | Prof. Ogden Wernstrom | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
[edit] Seasons
| Season | Premiere | Finale | # |
|---|---|---|---|
| FOX | |||
| Season One | March 28, 1999 | May 18, 1999 | 9 |
| Season Two | September 26, 1999 | May 21, 2000 | 20 |
| Season Three | November 5, 2000 | May 13, 2001 | 15 |
| Season Four | December 9, 2001 | April 21, 2002 | 12 |
| Season Five | November 10, 2002 | August 10, 2003 | 16 |
| Comedy Central | |||
| Season Six | March 23, 2008 | — | 16 |
[edit] Direct-to-Video Films
| Title | Release Date |
|---|---|
| Bender's Big Score | November 27, 2007 |
| The Beast with a Billion Backs | June 24, 2008 |
| Bender's Game | 2008 |
| The Wild Green Yonder | 2008 |
[edit] In-Depth
- At a Glance: Additional information about the series
- Characters: A listing of characters on the show
[edit] DVD Releases
| Title | Release Date | # | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Episode Collections | |||
| Volume 1 | March 25, 2003 | 3 | purchase |
| Volume 2 | August 12, 2003 | 4 | purchase |
| Volume 3 | March 9, 2004 | 4 | purchase |
| Volume 4 | August 24, 2004 | 4 | purchase |
| Special Collections | |||
| Monster Robot Maniac Fun Collection | August 23, 2005 | 1 | purchase |
| Direct-To-Video | |||
| Bender's Big Score | November 27, 2007 | 1 | purchase |
| The Beast with a Billion Backs | June 24, 2008 | 1 | purchase |
| Bender's Game | 2008 | 1 | |
| The Wild Green Yonder | 2008 | 1 | |
[edit] External Sites
- Can't Get Enough Futurama: Futurama News
- PEEL - The Futurama Message Board
- Futurama at the Internet Movie Database
- Futurama TV Listings, Episode Guide, Photos, Message Board, Cast and More at TVGuide.com
Categories: Program | FOX | Comedy Central | Animated | Comedy | Science Fiction | Time Displacement | Future | Spaceship Crew | New York | New York City | Outer Space | Cancelled Series | Resurrected Series | 1990s | 2000s | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2008 | 1999 Premieres | 2003 Finales | Futurama


