The Simpsons & Futurama Fanworks Central

[Archonix]

And now it's reported over at Futurama Madhouse that Comedy Central might be buying more episodes. 13 in total.

My first thought was: I hope they aren't making more movies. 13 episodes would pad the existing set out to a full season's worth of episodes but it could also fit the pattern of another four moviesodes - 3 episodes per movie, plus another made up from bits. I sincerely hope they don't do that.

But still, new Futurama! Possibly!

[Wilde Gray Yonder]

I've been baited-and-switched so long, I no longer know what to think.

But yeah, I hope they're proper episodes.

[Enhas]

Until there's more info, I'm not believing it.

Also, wouldn't 13 episodes be more equal to three movies and not four?  Each movie was roughly 88 minutes, and an episode is about 22 minutes long.

If this is true, I hope they are actual episodes too.  The "Movie-That-Can-Be-Chopped-Into-Episodes" format was a failure overall, because the "episodes" end up being *not* self-contained at all (which makes me wonder why they just didn't do a proper movie format in the first place).

Also, despite what others may think I'm pretty sure they'll press the good ol' Reset Button on THE SHIP yet again if there's a new season.  It's clear to me that *the* final scene in the last movie was added in at the last minute because they were almost sure that Futurama was done for good.  6ACV01 will probably start back at Planet Express with no indication that anything in any of the movies ever happened.  If I'm wrong here, I'll be pleasantly surprised.

Then again, an outcome like that *could* be good if done correctly especially if it would put the four movies as being in an alternate universe (or as a great Take That to everyone, a What-If Machine scenario), and then resume the series almost immediately post-4ACV18.  This would also undo the retcons of the best episodes (Fryrish, Jurassic Bark), and the crap that was Beast With A Billion Backs.

[Wilde Gray Yonder]

The "Movie-That-Can-Be-Chopped-Into-Episodes" format was a failure overall, because the "episodes" end up being *not* self-contained at all (which makes me wonder why they just didn't do a proper movie format in the first place).

Quoted for truth.

Concerning the ending of the last film: while I didn't think it made a very memorable ending (or a very *anything* ending), it did have the advantage of being open-ended.* I mean, did anyone watch that and think "oh, they're going to die" or "oh, they're going to come out in a completely different galaxy and the Futurama: The Next Generation series will see them living on a planet where... dogs talk... and... birds have... human pets"? I guess I'm trying to say the same thing as you here. I'll be beyond shocked if a potential new season actually uses that ending to lead up to a completely different universe and storyline.

*Rather like the ending of "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings", come to think of it.

[gkscotty]

Bah. Give me an announcement or give me death!

[Stretch Dude]

Egads! Hope!

If they do, I'm really hoping they pick where ITWGY left off. Call me an optimist.

[Officer 1BDI]

Good lord, the rumors are true!

Press Release

NEW YORK, June 10, 2009 -- 20th Century Fox Television, the animation powerhouse that brought "Family Guy" back from the dead five years ago, has done it again: Matt Groening and David X. Cohen's brilliantly subversive animated sci-fi comedy "Futurama" will return to production on 26 new half-hour episodes more than six years after the series aired its last original episode. The move comes on the heels of the series' blockbuster performance on DVD and on COMEDY CENTRAL; the announcement was made today by Twentieth Century Fox Television Chairmen Gary Newman and Dana Walden, and David Bernath, senior vice president, programming for COMEDY CENTRAL.

This is really happening. o_o  We're really getting twenty-six new epis-

...

Twenty-six new episodes?!

(I swear if they retcon the ending to ITWGY I will... um, be very very annoyed!  )

[Lisabella]

Damn, beaten by a couple of seconds!

Reuters press release

From Ausiello @ EW.com, who broke the story.

If there is retconning, I predict a riot.

[Stretch Dude]

HUZZAH!!!!

[Enhas]

A whole season of Dallas was once retconned to All Just Be A Dream, so..

Seriously though, I wouldn't really mind if the movies actually were ignored.  The only reason nobody wants them to be is the tacked-on shippy ending of Into The Wild Green Yonder, which I personally didn't find to be so great as a "resolution" to that whole arc.

The movies to me were mediocre at best, except for the fourth which *almost* reaches the quality of a 22-minute episode, but not quite.  Bender's Game was dragged down by Cornwood.  Bender's Big Score was a confusing mess that ended up retconning some of the best episodes.  And Beast With A Billion Backs just sucks, except for Deathball.

So no, I don't really mind if there's retconning if it means that the show could go back to its earlier glory where you know.. the entire focus and expectations of the show by fans wasn't Fry / Leela constantly.  I might sound like a heretic, but just go and watch most episodes from Seasons 1 & 2 and you'll see what I mean.

What I would like to see in a new season in regards to that is Fry and Leela being together, but a return to the early seasons in episode style.  Fry angsting over Leela has run its course and is pretty boring and mundane by now.  Also, I wouldn't want them to make the common fanfic author's mistake of focusing only on them and their relationship, and tossing everyone else aside except for an occasional "Meatbag" comment by Bender.  Early season-style epsiodes, but with the difference of those two being closer, would be great.

How I'd start 6ACV01 (well, maybe not seriously):  All the events of Season 5 were a What-If Machine question asked by Fry, about what would have happened if he never received the Robot Devil's hands (because IIRC, no events of that episode were ever brought up in any form in the movies).  It's only a few weeks after "The Opera", and he and Leela are just newly dating after she finally decided to give him a chance.

The PE crew are crowded around the What-If Machine, and the Professor says something like:

"Boulderdash!  Fry doesn't have a tattoo of Bender on his ass!  Deathball with Wernstrom?  Centaur-Leela?  And something about a wormhole, though I'm afraid that I might have suffered a mild stroke during that."

PATRICK DUFFY'S HEAD: None of that happened.

26 new episodes is quite a lot.  I wonder if they're going to divide them into two seasons, or just one?