Rejoice, Futurama fans! News arrived on Friday that the voice cast of the beloved series will be returning after all. Billy West, Katey Sagal, John DiMaggio, Maurice LaMarche, and Tress MacNeil have all signed deals with 20th Century Fox TV to provide the voices for the crew of the Planet Express Ship. To celebrate, I’m going to listen to these quotes from Dr. Zoidberg:
When the call went out for new voice actors last month, most Futurama fans were a nasty combination of bummed out and irate; the show has had such a rocky history that some kind of disappointment almost seemed inevitable. It hasn’t always been easy being a Futurama fan, and this just looked like the latest bait-and-switch.
And we might not be totally out of the woods yet. According to Variety, “Twentieth and Comedy Central have been kicking around ways to make Futurama, originally produced for a broadcast network (Fox), make financial sense for a cable run. … Other costs that were slashed in the process led to a smaller writing staff and a shorter delivery schedule.” The deal between Comedy Central and Fox also gives Fox a “broadcast window” to air episodes before they head to cable, which…well, as someone who watched Futurama on Fox the first time, I don’t think is such a great idea unless you love shows that are on at different times every week.
Grumpiness aside, this is a good day in the land of Futurama fans. Are you with me, PopWatch nation? New episodes are a mere year away! And on the waah waah waah side, if you ran Futurama, where would you make your budget cuts?
Comments (1-15) of 19 Add your comment
So wait, what’s the official word on Phil LaMarr and Lauren Thom?
Exactly, John. In the statement, we’ve heard nothing about Phil LaMarr or Lauren Tom, and their contributions are just as important as the other five confirmed to return. I don’t just want “most” of the cast back, so I’m not quite ready to join the celebration just yet…
Well I’m more hopeful now. I had been sad, but this seems like good news.
Blah, all this talk is just their way to promote the show. Get people clamoring for it. Not that I mind, but don’t take it too seriously, folks.
Yeah, I brought that up before about Tom and LaMarr, but I still haven’t heard anything official as to their status.
I am somewhat happy about the news. On the one hand I am glad the show is coming back. The re-casting idea would have completely killed the come back and now I have reason to be happy. On the other hand I still worry that they will not be able to recapture the original formula.
I do wish that this show could come back with its full production team. With all the writers and a full budget but that aint going to happen.
For now I am willing to give the show a chance now that most of the original cast is back where as there was just no way I was ever going to watch a completely re-cast stripped down version of a show that I absolutely love.
Like others, I am cautiously happy about this. I am totally thrilled about the 5 main actors coming back, but as others have mentioned, what about Tom and LaMarr? And what’s with the rushed schedule and slashed budget? I really hope they don’t screw this show up with crappy production values…
Just how much does it cost to produce an animated show? They make it seem like this show is some kind of budget abyss with all the random cuts they are making…why bring it back if you’re not going to do it right?
Im really excieted but if they do the return series as bad as they did the movies they have done in last couple years im going to be disappointed
I’m with Kayde. 100%. I don’t have anything to add, well done.
News flash for some. If they changed the voice actors for ones who mimiced the original ones, you would not be able to tell the differnce. Don’t think so? Ask Billy West if he can mimic lots of Warner Bros characters (and sound just like Mel Blanc). They could find someone to sound just like West or Katey Segal or anyone else. I’m sure the voice “actors” woke up and realized this. Maybe they remembered they wouldn’t make anything if the show was cancelled again.
If they want the show to be done right, they should hand it over to Adult Swim. This is the second time that [AS] has single-handedly brought a show back from the dead (The first being “Family Guy”), and this is the second time they’ve been overlooked in favor of some much less desirable network (FOX, and Comedy Central). Where’s the love for Williams Street?
Hey Carmen – You don’t know what you’re talking about. Billy West can replace (some) of Mel Blanc’s characters because he can mimic the sounds as well as act. The fact that you derisively put “actor” in quotes when you talk about them shows how little you know about what it takes to do voice work. If you get sound-alikes, that’s all you get. You don’t get the performance that goes along with it.
im just glad is coming back ist better than that dumd a dad f guy k hill shows
I, to, am weary of the “return.” I just remember when F. Guy made it’s triumphant return. It had about a year’s worth of decent writing then went right down the crapper. It’s just awful now. I seriously doubt Groening would allow that to happen to Futurama, but time will tell.