The sci-fi comedy Futurama is coming back into our lives with new episodes! According to Variety, the streaming platform Hulu has ordered twenty new episodes of the animated show, with many from the original cast coming back.
According to Variety’s sources, original voice cast members Billy West, Katey Sagal, Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, Lauren Tom, Phil LaMarr, and David Herman will return. The one original cast member that hasn’t been confirmed yet is John DiMaggio, who voiced everyone’s favorite grumpy robot, Bender, though those close to the show hope he’ll also be on board.
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The adult animated sci-fi comedy was created by The Simpsons’ Matt Groening and David X. Cohen. “I’m thrilled to have another chance to think about the future … or really anything other than the present,” Cohen told Variety.
Futurama follows Philip Fry (West), a pizza delivery guy who is cryogenically frozen in 1999 and wakes up 1,000 years later, getting into many, many exploits with his alcoholic robot pal, Bender, and the lovely Leela (Sagal), among others.
Hulu’s revival of Futurama is the second time the show has come back from cancellation. The series first aired on Fox in 1999 and ran for four seasons. When the show gained a strong following via re-runs, four direct-to-video films were released, which then was transformed into a fifth season that ran on Comedy Central. Comedy Central then approved two more seasons of 26 episodes total, which ran from 2010 to 2013.
We don’t have any details on what the plot of these new twenty episodes will entail, though the show will apparently begin production this month and will aim for a 2023 premiere.
“It’s a true honor to announce the triumphant return of Futurama one more time before we get canceled abruptly again,” said Groening.
While we still have to wait at least a year to see these new episodes, we have Futurama’s backlist on Hulu to enjoy until then.
Hooray for Bender! Bender is great! Now get DiMaggio for sure, please!
“Nixon’s back!!!”
I hope they are better than the last revival seasons. But without DiMaggio? No way.
As James Nicoll pointed out on Twitter, it’s been almost as long since the premiere of Futurama as that premiere was from Nixon’s resignation
My gut tells me it’s just a negotiation tactic. They tried to pull the same thing in past seasons with all three of the core stars (Billy West, Katey Segal, and DiMaggio), but they ended up coming back anyway.
I’d be very surprised if we don’t hear the same old Bender (and Elzar, Joey Mousepad, etc.) in 2023.
Omg can’t wait!
