What does the future hold for “Futurama”?Â
The popular animated series will see a new feature released next week and the fourth and (for now) final installment is in the final stages of production for a release some time next year.  What happens next is anyone’s guess according to executive producer David X. Cohen, though he is optimistic for the series’ chances.
“Hope never dies on ;Futurama;, or not anymore,” Cohen said told SciFi Wire. “It died once, but once you introduce the idea that you can come back from the dead, then the second time you have to have a little bit of hope that you might come back to life yet again. So we do retain hope of resurrection.”
Cohen added that DVD sales for the first two “Futurama” features have been “above” what 20th Century Fox expected and could pave the way for more. “So that’s got to be a good sign, you would think. We haven’t heard anything, yes or no, so it’s familiar territory,” he said.”
Next week’s release, called “Bender’s Game” is an homage to popular sci-fi and fantasy properties “Dungeons and Dragons,” “Lord of the Rings” and “Ender’s Game.”
“We wanted to hit all of these fantasy things,” Cohen said. “We wanted to work in any kind of fantasy we could while we had the opportunity. So it’s not 100 percent referencing any one specific thing, but a melding of these different but related things.”
“The idea of seeing the fantasy versions of our characters was very exciting,” Cohen continued. Â “Seeing Fry as a dragon or Bender [John DiMaggio] as a knight or Leela [Katey Sagal] as a centaur was one of the most fun aspects of the third one.”
And the DVD will include a bonus feature for fans of the popular D&D role-playing game.
“If you get the DVD, there’s a bonus feature called Dungeons & Dragons & Futurama that I really like,” Cohen said. “I host that. It’s for a limited audience. You have the choice to watch it or not, but I think the people who know Dungeons & Dragons will really appreciate it. The movie is not, obviously, specifically about Dungeons & Dragons.”
“Futurama: Bender’s Game” hits stores next Tuesday on DVD and Blu-Ray. Â
I for one love Futurama and would welcome back a weekly dose. SciFi geekdom really needs somethings to kick it in the butt and take it down a notch or two every now and then.
I’m not going to rush out to buy Bender’s Game, as the first two movies declined in quality quite rapidly. I could barely get through them once each, let alone consider rewatching them as I might with nearly any of the TV episodes.
â€Seeing Fry as a dragon or Bender [John DiMaggio] as a knight or Leela [Katey Sagal] as a centaur was one of the most fun aspects of the third one.â€
That gives me pause for thought right now – what would be “most fun” would be tighter, more amusing writing.
“So that’s got to be a good sign, you would think. We haven’t heard anything, yes or no, ” – Take a look at the grading curve for BWABB on Amazon – it’s not stellar.
i would love to see futurama the series return. I don’t get comedy central.
Futurama and The Simpsons make people smarter
The power of TV and cartoons like the Simpsons, and Futurama .
These shows accomplishes what our government and society struggles with, societal change. In the case of the Simpsons one of the great elements of the show is the innocuous manner it communicates to the audience, young and old, the realities of our capitalist dominated, and protected, society thru the characters like Mr. Burns , Chief Wiggam and of course Homer, Lisa and the gang.
With Futurama, besides Bender’s and other characters loveable antics; what I find most powerful about Futurama is the presentation and acceptance of different and varied life forms living in the universe in reasonable harmony and symbiotically; The acceptance of other cultures and life forms that may or may not work together and the subtle ways the show opens one’s eyes to the diversity of life and the possibilities, on this planet and this universe in general.
May 23, 2009 12:29 PM