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This article is about the television series. For the exhibit and ride, see Futurama (New York World's Fair).
Futurama
An opening title for Futurama
The opening title screen for Futurama
GenreSitcom
Comic science fiction
Created byMatt Groening
Developed byMatt Groening
David X. Cohen
Voices ofBilly West
Katey Sagal
John DiMaggio
Phil LaMarr
Lauren Tom
Maurice LaMarche
Tress MacNeille
David Herman
Frank Welker
Tom Kenny
ComposerChristopher Tyng
Country of origin United States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons5
No. of episodes72 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersMatt Groening
David X. Cohen
Ken Keeler
Running time22 minutes approx.
Original release
NetworkFOX (1999 - 2003)
Comedy Central (2008-present)
ReleaseMarch 28, 1999 - August 10, 2003 & March 23 2008 –
present

Futurama is an Emmy Award-winning animated American sitcom created by Matt Groening, and developed by Matt Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox network. The series follows the adventures of a former New York City pizza delivery boy Philip J. Fry after he is accidentally frozen, seconds after the start of a new millennium, on January 1, 2000 and is revived one thousand years in the future.

In the United States, the series aired from March 28, 1999 to August 10, 2003 on FOX before ceasing production. Futurama was then aired on Adult Swim on Cartoon Network, from January 2003 to December 2007, when the network's contract expired. The series was revived in 2007 as four straight-to-DVD films that will be split into a sixteen-episode fifth season. Comedy Central has entered into an agreement with 20th Century Fox Television to syndicate the existing episodes and air the films as new episodes in an episodic format.[1][2] Comedy Central began airing Futurama on January 2, 2008.[3]

The name "Futurama" comes from a pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair. Designed by Norman Bel Geddes, the Futurama pavilion depicted what he imagined the world to look like in 1959.[4]

Cast and characters

See also: List of recurring robot characters from Futurama, List of recurring human characters from Futurama, and List of recurring alien characters from Futurama

Futurama is essentially a workplace sitcom whose plot typically revolves around the activities and adventures of the employees of the Planet Express delivery company.[5] Episodes invariably feature the central trio of Fry, Leela, and Bender, though storylines centered on the other main characters are common.

Philip J. Fry (Billy West)
Philip J. Fry was a pizza delivery boy who was frozen just after midnight on the early morning of New Year's Day, January 1, 2000, reawakening on New Year's Eve, 2999. He gets a job at Planet Express, a company owned by his closest living relative, Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth, where he works as a cargo delivery boy. He is, through actions which he takes in the episode "Roswell That Ends Well", his own grandfather.[5]
Turanga Leela (Katey Sagal)
Leela is the competent, one-eyed captain of the Planet Express Ship.[5] Abandoned at birth, she grew up in an Orphanarium believing herself to be an alien from an unknown race. She later learns that she is actually a mutant from the sewers.[6]
Bender Bending Rodríguez (John DiMaggio)
Bender is a foul-mouthed, alcoholic, cigar-smoking, kleptomaniacal, misanthropic, egocentric, ill-tempered, pessimistic robot originally programmed to bend girders for suicide booths. He is Fry's best friend and roommate.
Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth, a.k.a. The Professor (Billy West)
Born April 9, 2841, Professor Hubert Farnsworth is Fry's distant nephew.[7] Farnsworth founded Planet Express to fund his mad scientist-esque experiments and inventions. He clones himself to create a successor, Cubert Farnsworth.
Dr. John A. Zoidberg (Billy West)
Zoidberg is a lobster-like alien from the planet Decapod 10, and is the neurotic and self-conscious staff physician of Planet Express. His knowledge of human anatomy and physiology is woefully inadequate. Zoidberg is basically penniless, but constantly tries to portray himself as respected and rich.
Amy Wong (Lauren Tom)
Amy is an incredibly rich, spoiled, blunt-speaking and extremely accident-prone long-term intern at Planet Express. She is an engineering student at Mars University and heiress to the western hemisphere of Mars. Born on Mars, she is ethnically Chinese, prone to frequently cursing in Cantonese, and overuses 31st century slang. Her parents are Leo and Inez. Although initially portrayed as somewhat promiscuous, she eventually developed a relationship with Kif Kroker.
Hermes Conrad (Phil LaMarr)
Hermes is the Jamaican accountant of Planet Express. A bureaucrat and proud of it, he is a stickler for regulation. Hermes is also a former champion in Olympic Limbo, a sport derived from the popular dance and similar to the track event of hurdling. He has a wife, LaBarbara, and a 12-year-old son, Dwight.

Setting

File:Futurama - The Future.jpg
Fry's first glimpse of New New York City

Futurama is set at the beginning of the 31st century, in a time filled with technological wonders. Various devices and architecture are similar to the Populuxe design. Global warming, inflexible bureaucracy, and substance abuse are a few of the subjects given a 31st century exaggeration in a world where the problems have become both more extreme and more common. In a jab at segregation, for example, the show depicts the human prejudice against mutants as being so great that the latter have been forced to live underground in the sewers. The characters' home on Earth is the city of New New York, built over the ruins of present-day New York City, referred to as "Old New York".

Numerous technological advances have been made by the 31st century. The ability to keep heads alive in jars was invented by Ron Popeil (who has a guest cameo in "A Big Piece of Garbage"), and has resulted in many political figures and celebrities being active; this became the writers' excuse to feature and poke fun at celebrities in the show. Curiously, several of the preserved heads shown are those of people who were already dead well before the advent of this technology, one the most prominent examples of this anomaly being Richard Nixon, who died in 1994. The Internet, while being fully immersive and encompassing all senses, even featuring its own digital world (similar to Tron or The Matrix), is slow and largely consists of pornography, pop-up ads, and "filthy" chat rooms, though some of it is edited to include educational material ostensibly for youth. Television is still a primary form of entertainment. Self-aware robots are a common sight, as well as being the main cause of global warming thanks to their alcohol-powered systems. The wheel is obsolete (no one but Fry even seems to recognize the design)[8] having been forgotten and replaced by hovering vehicles and a network of large, clear pneumatic transportation tubes.

Futurama's setting is a backdrop, and the writers are not above committing continuity errors if they serve to further the gags. For example, while the pilot episode implies that the previous Planet Express crew was killed by a space wasp, the later episode "The Sting" is based on the crew being killed by space bees instead.[9] The world of tomorrow is used to highlight and lampoon issues of today and to parody the science fiction genre.[10]

Society and culture

Earth is depicted as being multicultural to the extent that there are a wide range of human, robot, and extraterrestrial beings shown in the series who interact with the primary characters. In some ways the future is depicted as being more socially advanced than Fry's, and thus the audience's, reality. The future is often shown, though, to have many of the same types of problems, challenges, mistakes and prejudices of the past. Robots make up the largest "minority" in the series. They are often treated like second-class citizens,[8] while a few are depicted as wealthy members of the upper-class. Most robots are self-aware and have been granted freedom and free-will. However, at times of crisis, robots may have their free-will removed by having their "patriotism circuits" activated, forcing them to serve humans or to serve in the military in times of war.[11] Many robots live in apartments specially constructed for robots, with rooms the size of a typical coat closet and closets the size of typical rooms.[12] Sewer mutants are mutated humans who live in the sewers by law. They hold urban legend status and are regarded as fictional by some members of the public.

Religion is still a prominent part of society, although the dominant religions have altered. A merger between the major religious groups of the 20th century has resulted in the First Amalgamated Church,[13] while Voodoo is now mainstream. New religions include Oprahism, Robotology, and the banned religion of Star Trek fandom. Religious figures in the series include Father Changstein-El-Gamal, the Robot Devil, Reverend Preacherbot and passing references to The Space Pope. While very few episodes focus exclusively on the religious changes in the Futurama universe they do cover a wide variety of subjects including predestination, prayer, the nature of salvation, and religious conversion.[13]

Earthican flag, "Ol' Freebie"

Earth has a unified government, headed by the President of Earth (from season 2 onwards being Richard Nixon's head). Earth's capital is Washington, D.C., and the flag of Earth is similar in design to the flag of the United States, with planet Earth displayed in place of the fifty stars.

The Democratic Order Of Planets (D.O.O.P.) is the fictional organization in the Futurama universe which has been compared to both the United Nations and to the United Federation of Planets of the Star Trek universe.[14] Numerous other galaxies have been colonized or have made contact by the year 3000. Mars has been terraformed and is home to Mars University.

The heads of the past presidents from George Washington to George Bush and many famous people and infamous people from our era are placed in jars. These heads are displayed in the National Head Museum. They are fed food in a similar way to fish.

Linguistics

Alien Language 1 and its equivalent Latin characters.

There are two alternative alphabets that appear often in the background, usually in the forms of graffiti, advertisements or warning labels. Nearly all messages using alternative scripts translate directly into English. The first alphabet consists of abstract characters and is referred to as Alienese,[6] a simple substitution cipher from the Latin alphabet.[15] The second alphabet uses a more complex modular addition code, where the "next letter is given by the summation of all previous letters plus the current letter".[16] They often provide additional jokes for fans dedicated enough to decode the messages.[10] Aside from these alphabets, most of the displayed wording on the show uses the Latin alphabet.

Several English expressions have evolved since the present day. For example, the word Christmas has been replaced with Xmas and the word ask with aks (pronounced axe). According to David X. Cohen it is a running joke in the series that the French language is extinct in the Futurama universe, much like Latin is in the present.[17] In the French dubbing of the show, German is used as the extinct language instead.

Humor

Although the series utilized a wide range of styles of humor, including self-deprecation, black comedy, off-color humor, slapstick, and surreal humor, its primary source of comedy was its satirical depiction of everyday life in the future, and its parodical comparisons to the present.[5] Matt Groening notes that from the show's conception, his goal was to take what was on the surface a goofy comedy and show that underneath were "legitimate literary science fiction concepts".[18] The series contrasted "low culture" and "high culture" comedy; for example, Bender's catchphrase is the insult "Bite my shiny metal ass", while his most terrifying nightmare is a vision of a number 2, a joke referencing the binary numeral system.[5]

The series developed a cult following partially due to the large number of in-jokes, most of which were aimed at "nerds".[5] In commentary on the DVD releases, David X. Cohen points out and sometimes explains his "nerdiest joke[s]".[19] These jokes included mathematical jokes, such as "Loew's -plex" (aleph-null-plex) movie theater,[19] as well as various forms of science humor. For example, Professor Farnsworth complains that judges of a quantum finish "changed the outcome by measuring it", a reference to the observer effect in quantum mechanics.[20] Over its run, the series passed references to quantum chromodynamics (the appearance of Strong Force-brand glue),[21] computer science (two large books in a closet labeled P and NP respectively),[22] electronics and genetics (a mention of Bender's "robo-, or RNA").[23] The show often featured subtle references to classic science fiction, most often Star Trek - many soundbites are used in the series as homage[5] - but also others, such as the reference to the origin of the word robot made in the existence of a robot-dominated planet named Chapek 9,[24] or the black rectangular monolith labeled "Out of Order" in orbit around Jupiter (a reference to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey).[25] Bender and Fry sometimes watch a television show called The Scary Door, a humorous pastiche of The Twilight Zone. Also, the sewer Mutants from New New York worship a nuclear warhead, in reference to the original Planet Of The Apes 2.

Opening sequence

Much like the opening sequence in The Simpsons with its chalkboard, sax solo and couch gags, Futurama has a distinctive opening sequence featuring minor gags. As the show begins, the word "Futurama" is displayed across the screen along with a joke disclaimer such as "Painstakingly drawn before a live studio audience", "Presented in Doublevision (Where Drunk)", "Condemned by the Space Pope", "Filmed on location", or "Dancing Space Potatoes? YOU BET!".[26] After flying through downtown New New York and past various recurring characters, the Planet Express Ship crashes into a large screen showing a short clip from a classic cartoon. These have included clips from Looney Tunes shorts, cartoons produced by Max Fleischer, a short section of The Simpsons from a Tracy Ullman episode,[27] and its own opening sequence in The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings.

The Futurama theme song was written by Christopher Tyng, and is based on the song "Psyché Rock" by Pierre Henry.[28] The theme is played on the tubular bells but is occasionally remixed for use in specific episodes including a version by The Beastie Boys used for the episode "Hell Is Other Robots" in which they guest starred.[26]

File:Logo 30th century fox.jpg
Futurama's original spoof closing logo for "30th Century Fox", the first time that Fox has ever allowed a TV show to change the name of the logo in the end or any part of a TV show.

Production

David X. Cohen with Matt Groening at the Futurama panel of Comic-Con 2007.

Matt Groening began thinking of Futurama in the mid-1990s. In 1997, he enlisted the help of David X. Cohen, then a Simpsons writer and producer, to assist in developing the show. The two then spent time researching science fiction books, television shows, and films of the past. By the time they pitched the series to Fox in April 1998, Groening and Cohen had composed many characters and story lines. During that first meeting, Fox ordered thirteen episodes. Shortly after, however, Groening and Fox executives argued over whether the network would have any creative input into the show.[29] With The Simpsons the network has no input.[30] Groening explains, "When they tried to give me notes on Futurama, I just said: 'No, we're going to do this just the way we did Simpsons.' And they said, 'Well, we don't do business that way anymore.' And I said, 'Oh, well, that's the only way I do business.'"[31] After negotiations, he got the same independence with Futurama.

Production process

It takes six to nine months to make an episode of Futurama.[32][33] This long production time meant many episodes were worked on simultaneously.[34]

Each episode began with the writers discussing the story in a group. Then a single staff writer wrote an outline and then a script. Once the first draft was finished, the writers and executive producers got together with the actors to do a table read.[29] After this script reading, the writers rewrote the script as a group before eventually sending it to animation.[35] At this point the voice recording was also started and the script is out of the writers' hands.[33]

The animation in Futurama was done by Rough Draft Studios, which Groening insisted be used. Rough Draft receives the completed script of an episode and storyboards it into over 100 drawings. Then they create a pencil-drawn animatic with 1000 frames. From there, Rough Draft's sister studio in Korea puts together the 30,000-frame finished episode. The show was also sometimes animated overseas by Tokyo Movie Shinsha.[29]

CGI

Computer generated explosion in Futurama.

In addition to traditional cartoon drawing, Rough Draft Studios often uses CGI for the fast or complex shots such as during the movement of spaceships, explosions, nebulae, and snow scenes among others. Most of the opening credits are rendered in CGI. The CGI is rendered at 24 fps (opposed to hand-drawn at 12 fps) and the lack of artifacts makes the animation appear very smooth and fluid. CGI characters look slightly different due to spatially "cheating" hand-drawn characters by drawing slightly out of proportion or off-perspective features to emphasize traits of the face or body, improving legibility of an expression. PowerAnimator is used to draw the comic-like CGI.[36]

Broadcast

When it came to deciding when the show would air, Groening and Cohen wanted Futurama to be shown at 8:30 Sunday nights, following The Simpsons. The network disagreed, opting instead to show two episodes in the Sunday night lineup before moving the show to its regular time slot on Tuesday.[37] Beginning its second broadcast season Futurama was again placed in the 8:30 Sunday spot,[38] but by mid-season the show was moved again. This time Futurama began airing in the 7:00 p.m. Sunday timeslot, its third position in under a year.[39]

Due to the 7:00 p.m. Sunday timeslot, the show was often pre-empted by sports and usually had a later than average season premiere. It also allowed the writers and animators to get ahead of the broadcast schedule so that episodes intended for one season were not aired until the following season. By the beginning of the fourth broadcast season all the episodes to be aired that season had already been completed and writers were working at least a year in advance.[33]

Ratings

When Futurama debuted in the Fox Sunday night line-up at 8:30 p.m. between The Simpsons and The X-Files on March 28, 1999, it managed 19 million viewers, tying for 11th overall in that week's Nielsen Ratings.[40] The following week, airing at the same time, Futurama drew 14.2 million viewers. The show was then moved to Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m. Futurama's first episode airing on Tuesday drew 8.85 million viewers.[41] Though its ratings were well below The Simpsons, the first season of Futurama rated higher than competing animated series: King of the Hill, Family Guy, Dilbert, South Park and The PJs.[42]

When Futurama was effectively cancelled in 2003, it had averaged 6.4 million viewers for the first half of its fourth broadcast season.[43]

Show status

By the fourth season, Futurama was being aired erratically.[44] In the last episode of Season 4, it was parodied in the opening sequence with a picture of Fry, Leela, and Bender, captioned "See You On Some Other Channel." Its time slot was regularly pre-empted by sports events, making it difficult to predict when new episodes would air. FOX also had not aired several episodes that had been produced for seasons three and four. Although Futurama was never officially canceled, midway through the production of the fourth season, Fox decided to let it go out of production and told the writers and animators to look for new jobs.[45] Fox's decision to stop buying episodes of Futurama led Rough Draft Studios, the animation producers, to fire its animators.[46] Futurama was not included in Fox's fall 2003 lineup.[47]

In January 2003, Cartoon Network began airing Futurama episodes as the centerpiece to the expansion of their Adult Swim cartoon block.[48] In October 2005, Comedy Central picked up the exclusive cable syndication rights to air Futurama's 72-episode run at the start of 2008, following the expiration of Cartoon Network's contract. It was cited as the largest and most expensive acquisition in the network's history. It is currently airing every night, followed by the hit show South Park.[49]

Future and DVD movies

When Comedy Central began negotiating for the rights to air Futurama reruns, FOX suggested that there was a possibility of also creating new episodes. Negotiations were already being made with the possibility of creating two or three straight-to-DVD films. When Comedy Central committed to sixteen new episodes, it was decided that four films would be produced.[50] On April 26, 2006, Groening noted in an interview that co-creator David X. Cohen and numerous writers from the original series would be returning to work on the movies.[51] All the original voice actors still take part in the series. In February 2007, Groening explained the format of the new stories: "[The crew is] writing them as movies and then we're going to chop them up, reconfigure them, write new material and try to make them work as separate episodes."[52]

The first movie, Futurama: Bender's Big Score, is written by Ken Keeler and Cohen, and includes return appearances by the Nibblonians, Seymour, Barbados Slim, Robot Santa, the "God" space entity, Al Gore, and Zapp Brannigan.[53] It was animated in widescreen and was released on standard DVD on November 27, 2007, with a high-definition DVD to follow.[54] Futurama: Bender's Big Score was the first DVD release for which 20th Century Fox implemented measures intended to reduce the total carbon footprint of the production, manufacturing and distribution processes. Where it was not possible to completely eliminate carbon output carbon offsets were used. They refer to the changed processes as "carbon neutral".[55]

According to Rich Moore the titles of the other three movies are The Beast with a Billion Backs, Bender's Game, and Into the Wild Green Yonder.[56]

Futurama is referenced numerous times in Groening's first series The Simpsons. Squeaky Voiced Teen is once seen attempting suicide, jumping off a cliff screaming "Why did they cancel Futurama?".[57][58] Bender has also had numerous cameos,[59][60] the most notable in an episode named in reference to Futurama.[61] Fry has also appeared in The Simpsons, during a couch gag.[62] In addition, when Matt Groening appeared on the episode of The Simpsons entitled "My Big Fat Geek Wedding," he was identified as the creator of Futurama, as The Simpsons does not exist as a television program in its own continuity.

In An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore uses a scene from the episode "Crimes of the Hot" during his initial explanation of global warming.[63] The Futurama cast and crew also made an animated promo titled "A Terrifying Message From Al Gore", featuring Gore and Bender. Al Gore is a recurring guest star in Futurama, his daughter Kristin Gore Cusack being a regular writer and story editor, and he has said that Futurama is his favorite show. The promo is included on the DVD release of Futurama: Bender's Big Score.[64]

In an episode of The PJs, Fry's face can be seen on a milk carton as a missing person, referencing Fry's disappearance after being frozen. This was an act of reciprocation for an advertisement of The PJs etched into a manhole cover in the Futurama episode "I Second That Emotion".[65]

The Slurm logo, a popular beverage in Futurama, can be seen on a vending machine being thrown by Young Avengers' Hulkling.[66]

The Planet Express Ship appears in the Dark Horse Comics miniseries Outer Orbit, and the theme from Futurama was heard in the background of a scene on the moon in The Adventures of Pluto Nash. Also, in Alan Moore's "Top Ten" (issue 11), a discolored Fry, Leela, and Bender can be seen in the background of one of the frames.[67]

A droid with the name 'Probulator' appears in the Lucas Arts / Sony Online Entertainment online game Star Wars: Galaxies.[68]


Awards

Wins[69] Nominations[69]
Annie Awards:
  • Outstanding Individual Achievement for Directing in an Animated Television Production
  • Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Male Performer in an Animated Television Production
  • Outstanding Individual Achievement for Writing in an Animated Television Production
  • Outstanding Directing in an Animated Television Production

Emmy Awards:

Environmental Media Awards:

Writers Guild of America Award:

Annie Awards:
  • Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Television Program
    • 1999 — Futurama. The Curiosity Company in association with 20th Century Fox Television
  • Outstanding Individual Achievement for Writing in an Animated Television Production
  • Outstanding Achievement in a Primetime or Late Night Animated Television Program
    • 2000 — Futurama. The Curiosity Company in association with 20th Century Fox Television
  • Outstanding Individual Achievement for Directing in an Animated Television Production
  • Outstanding Achievement in a Primetime or Late Night Animated Television Production
    • 2001 — Futurama. The Curiosity Company in association with 20th Century Fox Television
  • Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Television Production
    • 2003 — Futurama. The Curiosity Company in association with 20th Century Fox Television
  • Outstanding Music in an Animated Television Production
  • Outstanding Writing in an Animated Television Production
    • 2004 — Patric Verrone for episode "The Sting".
 Emmy Awards:

Nebula Award:

Writers Guild of America Award:

  • Animation
    • 2004 — Patric Verrone for episode "The Sting"

DVD releases

Full season releases

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released all 4 seasons of Futurama on DVD in order:

DVD Name Ep # Release dates Additional Features
Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
Volume 1 13 March 25 2003 January 28 2002 November 27 2002 This three disc boxset includes the 13 episodes from production season 1. Bonus features include commentary on every episode, Animatics for "Space Pilot 3000", Deleted scenes, Script/storyboard for "Space Pilot 3000", Featurette, Interactive still gallery (stills & video) and easter eggs.
Volume 2 19 August 12 2003 November 11 2002 May 13 2003 This four disc boxset includes the 19 episodes from production season 2. Bonus features include commentary on every episode, deleted scenes, easter eggs, still gallery/concept art, alien alphabet.
Volume 3 22 March 9 2004 June 2 2003 September 24 2003 This four disc boxset includes the 22 episodes from production season 3. Bonus features include commentary on every episode, deleted scenes, animatics, still gallery/character art, 3D models from rough draft sequences, easter eggs.
Volume 4 18 August 24 2004 November 24 2003 November 24 2003 This four disc boxset includes the 18 episodes from production season 4. Bonus features include commentary on every episode, deleted scenes from 16 episodes, storyboard, character art and "How To Draw" galleries, animatics, 3-D Models, pencil tests, easter eggs.
Note: The box sets in Region 2 and 4 are marketed as "Season" rather than "Volume".
Note: Each of the box sets represent one of the four production seasons of the series. However, Fox spread out the series over 5 television seasons, often airing the series out of production order. Of note: after the production of Futurama was originally canceled, Fox aired the 16 previously unaired episodes, all from production seasons three and four, as a "season 5", running sporadically between November 2002 and August 2003. The box sets restore the episodes to production order.

Other releases

DVD Name Ep # Release dates Additional Features
Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
Futurama:
The
Complete
Collection		 72 March 22 2005 October 25 2004 November 22 2005 A fifteen disc collection containing the first four seasons of Futurama. All bonus features from the first four box sets are included. The Region 4 version of the collection is significantly smaller than the others.
Monster
Robot
Maniac
Fun
Collection		 4 August 23 2005 May 30 2005 August 22 2005 Contains four episodes, one from each previously released season: "Hell Is Other Robots", "Anthology of Interest I", "Roswell That Ends Well" and "The Sting". New bonus features include an animatic for "Hell Is Other Robots" with commentary, special introductions and an easter egg.

Films

DVD Name Release dates Additional Features
Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
Bender's
Big Score		 November 27 2007 April 7 2008 March 5, 2008 Bonus features include complete commentary, full-length episode of Everybody Loves Hypno-Toad, Futurama math lecture, and promo for An Inconvenient Truth starring Bender and Al Gore.[71]
The Beast with a Billion Backs June 24 2008 TBA 2008 TBA, 2008 Bonus features include complete commentary, animatic, deleted scenes, storyboards, blooper reel, record sessions, 3D models with audio description, Celebrity featurette: David Cross, Bender or Cast reads credits, new character design sketches. [72]

International broadcasters

The Series aired on the Seven Network in Australia when the show first began, but was left off-air for a few years until 2006, when it was picked up by Network Ten which still airs repeats of the series occasionally to this day. The series is also shown most days on subscription based channel FOX8. In the United Kingdom, repeats are occasionally broadcast on the digital channels Sky One, Sky Two and Sky Three on weekends.

Futurama in other media

Comic books

Main article: Futurama Comics

First started in November 2000, Futurama Comics is a comic book series published by Bongo Comics based in the Futurama universe.[73] While originally published only in the US, a UK, German and Australian version of the series is also available.[74] Other than a different running order and presentation, the stories are the same in all versions.

Much like the TV series, each comic (bar the US episode #20, see below) has a caption at the top of the cover. For example: "Made In The USA! (Printed in Canada)". Some of the UK and Australian comics have different captions on the top of their comics (for example, the Australian version of #20 says "A 21st Century Comic Book" across the cover, while the US version does not have a caption on that issue). All series contain a letters page, artwork from readers and previews of other Bongo Comics coming up.

The Futurama comics may not be canonical per se, and while they do draw from the Futurama universe, the events portrayed within them do not necessarily have any effect upon the continuity of the show.

Toys, games and figurines

While relatively uncommon, several action and tin figurines of various characters and items from the show have been made and are being sold by various hobby/online stores. When the show was initially licensed plans were made with Rocket USA to produce wind-up, walking tin figurines of both Bender and Nibbler with packaging artwork done by the original artists for the series.[75] The Bender toys included a cigar and bottle of "Olde Fortran Malt Liquor" and featured moving eyes, antenna and a functioning compartment door; it received an "A" rating from Sci Fi Weekly.[76] A can of Slurm cola actually contains a deck of cards featuring the Planet Express crew as the face cards. A two deck pack of cards was also released.

I-Men released two packs of 2.5 inch high figures: Fry and Calculon; Zoidberg and Morbo; Professor Farnsworth and URL; Robot Devil and Bender; Leela and Roberto. Each figure comes with a corresponding collectable coin that can also double as a figure stand.

The collectible releases include a set of bendable action figures, including Lieutenant Kif Kroker, Turanga Leela, and Bender. There have also been a few figures released by Moore Action Collectibles, including Fry, Turanga Leela, Bender, and the Planet Express Ship. In late 2006, Rocket USA brought out a limited edition 'super' heavyweight die cast Bender. Another special edition Bender figure was released at the San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) in 2006; the figure was called "Glorious Golden Bender".

Toynami is currently producing new Futurama figures.[77] The first series of the Toynami figures is separated into 3 waves; wave one, released in September 2007, featured Fry and Zoidberg, while wave two, released January 2008, consisted of Leela and Zapp. The third wave will include Bender and Kif and currently has no release date. Each figure comes with build-a-figure pieces to assemble the Robot Devil.

Video game

Main article: Futurama (video game)

On September 15 2000, Unique Development Studios acquired the license to develop a Futurama video game for the next generation consoles and handheld systems. Fox Interactive signed on to publish the game.[78] Sierra Entertainment later became the game's publisher, and it was released on August 14, 2003.[79] Versions are available for the PS2 and Xbox, both of which use cel-shading technology, however, the game was subsequently canceled on the Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance in North America and Europe.[80]

See also

References

  1. ^ ""Groening's Bargain to Yield Four Futurama Movies"". Reuters. Jan 28 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-01. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ Wallenstein, Andrew (June 22 2006). ""Futurama" gets new life on Comedy Central". Reuters. Retrieved 2006-10-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ ""Comedy Central TV Schedule"". Retrieved 2008-01-01.
  4. ^ Taylor, Timothy Dean. Strange Sounds: Music, Technology & Culture. pp. 104–105. ISBN 0415936845.
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  7. ^ "A Clone of My Own". Futurama. Season 2. Episode 10. 2000-04-09. 3 minutes in. Fox Network. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ a b "Mother's Day". Futurama. Season 2. Episode 14. 2000-05-14. Fox Network. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ Verrone, Patric M (2003), DVD commentary for "The Sting", Futurama. Original airdate June 1, 2003. No. 12, Season 4. 20th Century Fox.
  10. ^ a b Cohen, David X (2003). Futurama season 1 DVD commentary for the episode "Space Pilot 3000" (DVD). 20th Century Fox. {{cite AV media}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  11. ^ "When Aliens Attack". Futurama. Season 1. Episode 12. 1999-11-07. Fox Network. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ "I, Roommate". Futurama. Season 2. Episode 4. 1999-04-06. Fox Network. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ a b Pinsky, Mark. The Gospel According to the Simpsons. Bigger and possibly even Better! edition. pp. 229–235. ISBN 978-0-664-23265-8.
  14. ^ "Love's Labours Lost in Space". Futurama. Season 1. Episode 4. 1999-04-13. Fox Network. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ "Omniglot". Retrieved 2006-06-13.
  16. ^ "The Day the Earth Stood Stupid". Futurama. Audio Commentary 11 minutes in. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ "Space Pilot 3000". Futurama. Season 1. Episode 01. 1999-03-28. Audio commentary 20 minutes in. Fox Network. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ Keller, Joel (January 31, 2007). Matt Groening talks about Futurama's comeback. TV Squad. Retrieved February 1, 2007.
  19. ^ a b "Raging Bender". Futurama. Season 2. Episode 8. 2000-02-27. Fox Network. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ "The Luck of the Fryish". Futurama. Season 3. Episode 4. 2001-03-11. Fox Network. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help)
  21. ^ "The 30% Iron Chef". Futurama. Season 3. Episode 22. 2002-04-14. Fox Network. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help)
  22. ^ "Put Your Head on My Shoulders". Futurama. Season 2. Episode 7. 2000-02-13. Fox Network. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help)
  23. ^ "Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles". Futurama. Season 4. Episode 9. 2003-03-30. Fox Network. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help)
  24. ^ "Fear of a Bot Planet". Futurama. Season 1. Episode 5. 1999-04-20. Fox Network. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help)
  25. ^ "Put Your Head On My Shoulders". Futurama. Season 2. Episode 10. 1999-04-20. Fox Network. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help)
  26. ^ a b Azrai, Ahmad (2004-10-31). "Farewell to the funny future". Retrieved 2008-01-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  27. ^ "'Flickr Slideshow'". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  28. ^ "BBC-Music Profiles-Pierre Henry". Retrieved 2007-10-09.
  29. ^ a b c Needham, Alex (October 1999). "Nice Planet...We'll Take It!". Retrieved 2007-03-18.
  30. ^ Snierson, Dan (1999-03-26). "Space Case". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2007-03-18.
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  33. ^ a b c ""David X. Cohen boards the Planet Express to find meaning in Futurama"". Sci Fi Weekly. December 17 2001. Retrieved 2007-06-18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  34. ^ "Online Chat with Matt Groening". TV Guide. 1999-04-06. Retrieved 2007-03-18.
  35. ^ "David X Cohen interview with GotFuturama.com". Retrieved 2007-03-18.
  36. ^ "Scott Vanzo of Rough Draft Studios e-mail response". Retrieved 2001-06-20.
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  38. ^ Villanueva, Annabelle (September–October 1999). "Fall TV Preview: Tricks and Treats". Cinescape. Retrieved 2007-03-18.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)
  39. ^ Winer, Adam (1999-12-09). "Futurama Shock". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2007-03-18.
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  42. ^ Sterngold, James (1999-07-22). "Futurama: Bringing an Alien and a Robot to TV Life". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  43. ^ "Fox puts 'Futurama' order on hold". 2002-02-14. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  44. ^ "UPDATE UPDATED!! FUTURAMA Thing of the Past?? Or What??". Ain't It Cool News. February 12, 2002. Retrieved 2006-06-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  45. ^ "Silver screen Simpsons, Futurama facing finish?". BBC News. January 19, 2002. Retrieved 2006-06-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  46. ^ "FOX Says 'No' to 'Futurama'". Zap2it. February 12, 2002. Retrieved 2006-06-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  47. ^ "Remeber Me after my Death!". Can't Get Enough Futurama. May 15, 2003. Retrieved 2006-06-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) [sic]
  48. ^ "Adult Swim". Cartoon Network Pressroom. Retrieved 2007-05-19.
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  50. ^ Katz, Claudia (2007-11-16). "EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Claudia Katz on Futurama the Movie: Bender's Big Score" (Interview). Interviewed by Evan Jacobs. Retrieved 2007-11-29. {{cite interview}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |subjectlink= ignored (|subject-link= suggested) (help)
  51. ^ "Matt Groening". Retrieved 2006-06-14.
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  53. ^ "Ain't It Cool News: "Ben Sinister Has Read The New FUTURAMA 'Movie'!!"". Retrieved 2006-09-18.
  54. ^ "Comic-Con: The 'Futurama' is Clear'". tvblogger.org. Retrieved 2007-07-29.
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  56. ^ Vo, Alex (2007-07-30). "Comic-Con Premieres New Futurama Footage; Plus, We Interview Futurama's Rich Moore". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-01-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  57. ^ "Fraudcast News". The Simpsons. Season 15. Episode 22. 2004-05-23. Fox Network. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help)
  58. ^ Robert Levine (2004-05-23). "TELEVISION: THE EPISODE; The Season Finale That Isn't a Season Finale". Retrieved 2007-09-18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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  61. ^ "Future-Drama". The Simpsons. Season 16. Episode 15. 2005-04-17. Fox Network. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help)
  62. ^ "HOMЯ". The Simpsons. Season 12. Episode 9. 2001-01-07. Fox Network. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help)
  63. ^ "YOU GO, GORE". The Irish Times. September 15 2006. Retrieved 2007-06-24. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  64. ^ Tarnoff, Brooke. "Futurama : Bender's Big Score Review". Retrieved 2007-11-16.
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  74. ^ Press release (2002-09-25) Do you want Fry with that? Titan Publishing. Retrieved from gotfuturama on 2007-03-04
  75. ^ Janulewicz, Tom (2000-02-29). "Pushing Tin: Space Toys With Golden-Age Style". {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |access date= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  76. ^ Huxter, Sean (2001-03-05). "Bender: Matt Groening's Futurama inspires a nostalgia for the inventive toys of future past". {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |access date= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
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