GOOD NEWS EVERYONE! (Futurama)

[Flagg]

Futurama is still dead. Dead to ME anyway.

[tim31]

It wasn't before for me, but Shark... Jumped.

[loomer]

Well, there go my nascent hopes, crashed upon the jagged remnants of the Planet Express ship as it floats through the void, black and still.

[JME2]

Well, there go my nascent hopes, crashed upon the jagged remnants of the Planet Express ship as it floats through the void, black and still.

Same here. Dammit...

[Alyeska]

I quite like the "GOOD NEWS EVERYONE" in the thread title. How perfectly Farnsworth of you. Anyway, Futurama is absolutely dead to me. I consider the series to have ended with the last season. The movies don't count in my book, they just never felt right.

[Bounty]

Indeed. The original series is still one of my favourite pieces of animation, but they should have ended before the movies came out. Turns out too much of a good thing inevitable starts to slip when you milk it. Who could have known?

The reason for firing the cats is pretty bizarre too. So Fox is surprised that voice actors in a very popular series cost money? Is this news to them or something?

[TheLostVikings]

The reason for firing the cats is pretty bizarre too. So Fox is surprised that voice actors in a very popular series cost money? Is this news to them or something?

Not to mention that completely changing the cast on a show with an audience hardcore enough to bring it back after it was canceled (and enough to sustain several movies) probably isn't such a good idea.

I mean, you quite literally have to be brain dead to even consider that an idea at all.

[Styphon]

Isn't sabotaging the shit out of a show, then acting like they gave it a chance but the audience just wasn't there pretty much par for the course at Fox?

[loomer]

They might just be trying to force the VA's into a lower cost agreement, though. We can keep a glimmer of hope that'll be confirmed or denied within a couple of weeks, to either elevate us once more to the giddy heights of Omicron Persei Eight or drive us to New Jersy and deliver us unto the cold steel bosom of the Robot Devil.

[PhilosopherOfSorts]

Firing the voice actors sounds like a mistake, but I'm going to at least wait untill I see some of the new episodes before I pass judgement, after all they could turn out to be good. Stranger things have happened.

[JME2]

The reason for firing the cats is pretty bizarre too. So Fox is surprised that voice actors in a very popular series cost money? Is this news to them or something?

It's reminiscent of how The Simpsons' cast almost got fired and replaced with new actors during salary negotiations a few years back.

[Crossroads Inc.]

Isn't sabotaging the shit out of a show, then acting like they gave it a chance but the audience just wasn't there pretty much par for the course at Fox?

Pretty much, I wasnt surprised at ALL when I heard about this

[Pick]

I think that Futurama was simply on hiatus too long to be rejuvenated. The movies were... watchable, but the idea of bringing the entire series back just doesn't strike me as particularly likely to work. I'll give it a shot, certainly, but I fear that if they're akin to the films, I'll simply drop off before it takes off, if you get my drift.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

The reason for firing the cats is pretty bizarre too. So Fox is surprised that voice actors in a very popular series cost money? Is this news to them or something?

It's reminiscent of how The Simpsons' cast almost got fired and replaced with new actors during salary negotiations a few years back.

I'd say "almost got fired and replaced" is a bit of an exaggeration; it was more like Fox made the most ridiculously hollow threat they possibly could.

[Deathstalker]

While replacing these talented actors will be difficult, the show must go on.

It will go on without the Deathstalker watching. The voices made the show. Pay them what they want, knowing Fox, the suits will wind up canceling it after a couple of seasons anyway.

[tim31]

By 'a couple of seasons' you mean 'one', right?

I agree with Styphon, it's SABOTAGE!

[frogcurry]

It does seem a bit of a retrograde step, but I'd rather they did screw it up and kill Futurama off for good now than manage to resurrect a limping, half-alive beast from it. The post-TV films have been getting worse the further in they go.

[Thanas]

Isn't sabotaging the shit out of a show, then acting like they gave it a chance but the audience just wasn't there pretty much par for the course at Fox?

Exactly. And Fox doesn't like Sci-Fi anyway...

[Steve]

I suspect a lot of studio execs think of voice actors as minor cogs in the machine that can be replaced at whim. "Nobody can really tell the difference, right?"

[JME2]

I suspect a lot of studio execs think of voice actors as minor cogs in the machine that can be replaced at whim. "Nobody can really tell the difference, right?"

Or studio perception at least.

I'm reminded of a story Billy West gave in an interview a couple of years back regarding his experiences on Space Jam. Apparently during the premiere, the A-list live-action stars got the red carpet arrival while the Looney Tunes VO's got shunted into a side theater, saying the red carpet was for the real stars.

[Vendetta]

At least you can have the mild satisfaction of picturing them having to hire five times the number of voice actors they originally had, just to replace Billy West.

[CaptHawkeye]

I remember hearing years ago rumors about Futurama coming to Comedy Central back when it was canceled in 2003. Those rumors were thrown out though when the crew of the show said Comedy Central didn't have the money to run the show without serious cutbacks in one, or another, departments. Years later Comedy Central decides to take the show, and made the worst cut possible.

Frankly, it doesn't really surprise me. The movies were pretty so-so and Family Guy never quite recovered from its own return. I wasn't planning on watching it anyway based on the trends.

[DaveJB]

Apparently their wage demands weren't actually that much higher than they were when the show was originally cancelled - certainly nowhere near what, for instance, The Simpsons' voice actors are earning. Looks as if the budget for these new episodes is going to be practically zero.

[Invictus ChiKen]

I didn't even know the show was to be restarted. I thought Into the Wild Green Yonder was to be the end of the series it even had Leela returning Fry's feelings, of course the TV show did the same thing so is there relation getting hit with the reset button AGAIN?

[tim31]

Family Guy never quite recovered from its own return.

This is a seriously polarized issue. I think it was much better after its return.