Futurama

New season. This Thursday. Comedy Central.

Is anyone else as pumped as I am?

Extremely. I’m a little concerned about what it will be like, just given the movies themselves which I thought were pretty good but not nearly as good as the original run. Still I’ll keep an open mind and will definitely be watching.

Likewise, I was surprised I saw it on TV before Qt3. I don’t know how good it will be now that I’ve given up certain . . . humor enhancers, but man I love this show.

H.

What, no more browsing the ‘Everything Else’ sub-forum?

Good news everyone!

All I’m saying is that the episode where they show what happens when you achieve Blurnsball (especially when the giant spider comes out) should be shown at every Phish concert.

H.

As one who never watched it under the influence of certain (hemp-related, I take it) humor enhancers, I can tell you that the show was always clever and often hilarious. We shall see whether the revival lives up to the original series. I’m fervently hoping it’s not another Ren and Stimpy in this regard.

If you are stoned watching Futurama, don’t like half the jokes fly right over your head?

I’m pumped. Hopefully the quality will improve now that the writers aren’t operating under the constraint of needing to produce 90 minute movies that break up neatly into four episodes.

Does. Not. Matter.

Yeah, it’s just better. In fact there are a lot of little subjokes that go over my head sober. Couple that with what is effectively a low-grade continuous orgasm whenever Zap Brannigan is on screen, and you’ve got a stew!

H.

Hearteningly, I felt the movies were at their best when they were doing smaller, TV-sized story arcs instead of actually trying to do feature film size stories. I made comments in its own thread, but Wild Green Yonder splits more or less nicely into four 30 minute blocks. So, hopefully they continue trying to write TV and don’t strain themselves by trying to write “bigger” now that they’ve had a taste of it.

I am excited though.

I definitely think the show is going to work better back in the 30 minute format.

I tend to agree with you, but I really enjoyed the first of the four movies most of all. I’m still pretty psyched about the reboot. Let’s hope it sticks around for a while and Comedy Central doesn’t put in on in a different time slot on a different night every week as some other networks which shall remain nameless did.

Next on Comedy Central: Nascar!

Yes, but the first one had a plot that built on franchise history in a way the others didn’t. I’m not disagreeing, mind. I thought the first one was the strongest as well, in that it did the “feature film story” better than any of the others. But I felt that by the time they got to Wild Green Yonder, they’d acknowledged their shortcomings in writing those kinds of stories, and started writing smaller, punchier arcs, but weaving them together a little more deftly.

That’s a different discussion entirely though.

Comedy Central is unlikely to screw Futurama. Them getting it at all was a pretty huge coup for them, and they understand the value of the franchise (Futurama re-runs have always gotten very good ratings for them). It’s also a summer season, which is clever, because it removes a lot of their competition, especially on a Thursday night, when they traditionally would’ve had strong competition from NBC. (Hmm…I hope it doesn’t run up against new episode of It’s Always Sunny…)

Fox never screwed Futurama with timeslot fuckery, did they? If I recall, they just always put it on Sunday after Football so it was pre-empted 60% of the time?

I can’t wait for this, though I’m not entirely sure how to get hold of it in the UK. The movies made me smile, but returning to the shorter format should suit the show far better.

Futurama premiered in the time slot right after the Simpsons on Sunday night, which is where it should have stayed for at least 6 months in order to let it build an audience. It was moved to a weeknight something like three weeks into the first season (IIRC. I don’t know the precise timing, but it was definitely moved to a weeknight in short order for a while).

It was moved from 8:30 on Sundays after the Simpsons to 7:00 pm on Sunday. Any other nights it appeared on was making up for the frequent preemption.

I remember it was pre-empted by football games going long pretty regularly.

OK, great. So it was basically shafted right after the first couple of episodes, put in a timeslot where it was bound to be preempted by this, that and the other sporting event right from the get-go. Fox F’d Futurama over real good. It’s a testament to how great the show was that it lasted as long as it did despite Fox’s douchebaggery. I’m not bitter or anything.

BTW, from what I read at some point, Fox did this because Groening wouldn’t sign his life away in the deal with them the way he had with the Simpsons, so Fox only lived up to the letter of the agreement and no further.