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Futurama is an Emmy Award-winning animated sitcom created by Matt Groening (creator of The Simpsons) and David X. Cohen for the Fox network. The series follows the adventures of a former New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J. Fry, after he is cryonically frozen at midnight, December 31, 1999, and is revived one thousand years in the future. It was written in Hollywood.
The series aired from March 28, 1999 to August 10, 2003, although its timeslot was regularly interrupted and pre-empted by sports events, and eventually went out of production. However, Matt Groening has revealed that Comedy Central has entered into an agreement with 20th Century Fox Television to syndicate the existing episodes and air the new movies as new episodes in an episodic format in 2008.[1][2]
The name "Futurama" comes from a pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair. Designed by Norman Bel Geddes, the Futurama pavilion depicted what he imagined the world to look like in 1959.
Futuramas setting is first and foremost a backdrop, and the writers are not above committing continuity errors if they serve to further the gags. For example, while one episode stated global warming was canceled out by nuclear winter, another episode was built on the premise of continuing global warming. The world of tomorrow is used to highlight and lampoon issues of today, and to parody the science fiction genre.
Futurama is set at the beginning of the 31st century, in a time filled with technological wonders. Various devices and architecture are similiar to the Populuxe design. Global warming, inflexible bureaucracy, and substance abuse are a few of the subjects given a 31st century exaggeration in a world where the problems have become both more extreme and more common. In a jab at segregation, for example, the show depicts the human prejudice against mutants as being so great that the latter have been forced to live underground in the sewers. The characters' home on Earth is the city of New New York, built over the ruins of present-day New York City, referred to as "Old New York".
Numerous technological advances have been made by the 31st century. The ability to keep heads alive in jars was invented by Ron Popeil (who has a guest cameo in "A Big Piece of Garbage"), and has resulted in many political figures and celebrities being active; this became the writers' excuse to feature and poke fun at celebrities in the show. Curiously, several of the preserved heads shown are those of people who were already dead well before the advent of this technology, the most prominent example of this anomaly being George Washington, who died in 1799. The Internet, while being fully immersive and encompassing all senses and seeming to feature its own digital world (similar to ''Tron'' or ''The Matrix''), is slow and consists mostly of pornography, pop-up ads, and "filthy" chat rooms, though some of it is edited to include educational material ostensibly for youth. Television is a primary form of entertainment, though it's now of a higher resolution than real life. Robots powered by either alcohol or mineral oil are commonplace, and most have free will and emotions. The wheel is obsolete, having been forgotten and replaced by hovering vehicles and transportation tubes; these are reminiscent of old-style pneumatic tubes. At one point Fry builds a carriage employing wheels, albeit malformed, to carry his friends because of a robot rebellion, and none of the other characters recognize the wheels - although Leela suggests that they would work better if they were round.[3]
Earth has a unified government, headed by the President of Earth (from season 2 onwards being Richard Nixon's Head). Earth's capital is Washington, D.C. and the flag of Earth looks similar to the flag of the United States, only with planet Earth displayed in place of the fifty stars. Citizens of Earth are referred to as Earthicans.
The Democratic Order Of Planets (D.O.O.P.) is the fictional organization in the Futurama universe which has been compared to both the United Nations and to the United Federation of Planets of the Star Trek universe. It includes Earth and many other worlds, though Earth sometimes acts unilaterally without the aid of other D.O.O.P. members. Omicron Persei VIII is frequently engaged in conflicts with the D.O.O.P.
Numerous other galaxies have been colonized or have made contact by the year 3000. All of the Solar System now operates under the Earth government's sphere of influence. Mars has been terraformed, and is home to Mars University. The Western Hemisphere of Mars is owned by the Wong family.
There are two alternative alphabets that appear often in the background, usually in the forms of graffiti, advertisements, or warning labels. Nearly all messages using alternative scripts translate directly into English. The first alphabet is comprised of abstract characters and is referred to as Alienese[4], a simple substitution cipher from the Latin alphabet.[5] The second alphabet, Beta Crypt III[4] uses a more complex modular addition code, where the "next letter is given by the summation of all previous letters plus the current letter."[6] They often provide additional jokes for fans dedicated enough to decode the messages. Aside from these alphabets, most of the displayed wording on the show uses the Latin alphabet.
Additionally, several English expressions have evolved since the present day. For example, the word Christmas has been replaced with Xmas, and ask has become an archaic pronunciation of aks. According to multiple episodes (and the season one DVD commentary) French is a dead language in the Futurama universe, much like Latin is in the present, though there are several episodes where it is spoken. One example is in the episode "Insane in the Mainframe", where Bender, while pretending to be Napoléon, says things like "Je suis Napoléon!" and "Bonjour, y'all".
Earth is depicted as being multicultural to the extent that there are a wide range of human, robot and extraterrestrial beings shown in the series and who interact with the primary characters. In some ways the future is depicted as being more socially advanced than Fry's, and thus the audience's, reality. Other times, the future is shown to have many of the same types of problems, challenges, mistakes and prejudices of the past.
Crack cocaine, adult pornography, and sex toys seem to all be legal and readily available, albeit still frowned upon. The concept of modesty is seen as primitive, but this idea is not often prevalent in the series.
Religion is still a prominent part of society although the dominant religions have shifted: A merger between the major religious groups of the 20th Century has resulted in the First Amalgamated Church, while Vodou is now mainstream. New religions include Oprahism, Robotology, which Professor Farnsworth derides as non-mainstream, and the banned religion of ''Star Trek'' fandom. Religious figures in the series include Father Changstein-El-Gamal, Preacherbot, and passing references to the The Space Pope
Robots make up the largest "minority" in the series; and are analogous to modern low-income Americans. They are often treated like second-class citizens, while few are depicted as wealthy members of the upper-class. Most robots are self-aware and granted freedom and free-will. However at times of crisis Robots may have their free-will removed (having their “patriotism circuits” activated) and forced to serve man.
Much like the opening sequence in ''The Simpsons'' with its chalkboard, sax solo and couch gags, Futurama has a distinctive opening sequence featuring minor gags. As the show begins, the word "Futurama" is displayed across the screen along with a humorous subtitle (such as "As Seen On TV" or "Bender’s Humor by Microsoft Joke™", or "Featuring Gratuitous Alien Nudity".). Later, after flying through down town New New York past the "Bachelor Chow" and the tubes that include many of the characters flying through them, the Planet Express Ship crashes into a large screen showing a short clip from a classic cartoon. These have included clips from Looney Tunes shorts and even a Simpsons episode.
Several recurring jokes are used throughout the series. The Professor always announces a dangerous mission or bad news with the phrase "Good news, everyone!" or a slight variation of the line. Another catch phrase of the Professor's is "Sweet Zombie Jesus!". Bender will often tell someone to "Bite my shiny metal ass" or a variation depending on the current situation. The catchphrase itself is heavily parodied in the episode "War is the H-Word" where Bender will set off a bomb if he says the word "ass", identified as his most used word. Many jokes about the size of Leela's boots also occur, often resulting in injury. Zapp Brannigan is portrayed as a self-centered incompetent, unaware of his ineptitude, who often pronounces adopted loanwords incorrectly, such as pronouncing champagne "sham-paggen" or "guacamole" as "gwaca-mol." Whenever Scruffy, the janitor, is shown, none of the other Planet Express employees seem to know who he is, despite his claims of being a long time employee and his repeated appearances in the show. Amy also falls down or slips often throughout the series. (On one DVD commentary, it is stated that every time Amy falls, the same scream from episode 2 is used, much like Tom's scream from Tom and Jerry.) During episode 4 "Xmas Story" of season 2, Leela comments on Fry's archaic pronunciation of "Christmas," which should be "Xmas." She then relates this to his mispronunciation of "ask" which she says should be "axe." From that point on, all characters say "axe" in the place of "ask," and "Xmas" instead of "Christmas." The 20th Century Fox logo at the end of each broadcast is altered to read "30th Century Fox," as it is based in the 31st century. In the DVD commentary for the first season, the producers stated that they created the logo themselves when Fox refused to produce a new logo for them. Fry also is the one to say "He's dead" whenever he thinks something has happened to someone, when in reality, it doesn't.
Although the series utilized a wide range of styles of humor, including self-deprecation, black comedy, off-color humor, slapstick, and surreal humor, its primary source of comedy was its satirical depiction of everyday life in the future, and its parodical comparisons of which to the present.[7] Matt Groening notes that from the show's conception, his goal was to take what was on the surface a goofy comedy and show that underneath were "legitimate literary science fiction concepts".[8] The series contrasted "low culture" and "high culture" comedy; for example, Bender's catchphrase is the insult "Bite my shiny metal ass," while his most terrifying nightmare is a vision of an Arabic numeral 2, a joke referencing the binary numeral system.[7]
The series developed a cult following partially due to the large number of in-jokes, most of which were aimed at "nerds".[7] In commentary on the DVD releases, David X. Cohen points out and sometimes explains his "nerdiest joke[s]." These jokes included mathematical jokes, such as "Loew's -plex" (aleph-null-plex) movie theater,[9] as well as various forms of science humor. For example, Professor Farnsworth complains that judges of a quantum finish "changed the outcome by measuring it", a reference to the observer effect in quantum mechanics.[10] Over its run, the series passed references to quantum chromodynamics (the appearance of Strong Force brand glue[11]), computer science (two large books in a closet labeled ''P'' and ''NP'' respectively[12]), and genetics (a mention of Bender's "robo-, or ''R''NA"[13]). The show often featured subtle references to classic science fiction, most often Star Trek - many soundbites are used in the series as homage[7] - but also others, such as the reference to the origin of the word robot made in the existence of a robot-dominated planet named Chapek 9.[14]
Matt Groening began thinking of Futurama in the mid-90s. In 1997, he enlisted the help of David Cohen, then a Simpsons writer and producer, to assist in developing the show. The two then spent time researching science fiction books, television shows, and films of the past. By the time they pitched the series to Fox in April 1998, Groening and Cohen had composed many characters and story lines. During that first meeting, Fox ordered thirteen episodes. Shortly after, however, Groening and Fox executives argued over whether the network would have any creative input into the show.[15] With The Simpsons the network has no input. [16] Groening explains, "When they tried to give me notes on Futurama, I just said: 'No, we're going to do this just the way we did Simpsons.' And they said, 'Well, we don't do business that way anymore.' And I said, 'Oh, well, that's the only way I do business.'"[17] After negotiations, he got the same independence with Futurama.
When it came to deciding when the show would air Groening and Cohen wanted Futurama to be shown at 8:30 Sunday nights, following The Simpsons. The network disagreed, opting instead to show two episodes in the Sunday night lineup before moving the show to its regular time slot on Tuesday.[18] Beginning its second broadcast season Futurama was again placed in the 8:30 Sunday spot[19], but by mid-season the show was moved again. This time Futurama began airing in the 7pm Sunday timeslot, its third position in under a year's time.[20]
When Futurama debuted in the Fox Sunday night line-up at 8:30 pm between The Simpsons and The X-Files on March 28, 1999 it managed 19 million viewers, tying for 11th overall in that week's Nielsen Ratings[21]. The following week, airing at the same time, Futurama drew 14.2 million viewers. The show was then moved to Tuesdays at 8:30 pm. Futuramas first episode airing on Tuesday drew 8.85 million viewers[22]. Though its ratings were well below The Simpsons, Futurama's first season rated higher than competing animated series: King of the Hill, Family Guy, Dilbert, South Park and The PJs.[23]
When Futurama was effectively cancelled in 2003 it had averaged 6.4 million viewers for the first half of its fourth broadcast season.[24]
It takes six months to make an episode of Futurama[25]. This long production time means many episodes are worked on at once.[26]
Each episode begins with the writers discussing the story in a group. Then a single staff writer writes an outline and then a script. Once the first draft is finished, the writers and executive producers get together with the actors to do a table read[15]. After this script reading, the writers rewrite the script as a group before eventually sending it to animation.[27]
The animation in Futurama is done by Rough Draft Studios, who Groening insisted be used. Rough Draft receives the completed script and the first thing they do is storyboard it into over 100 drawings. Then they create a pencil-drawn cartoon with 1000 frames. From there, Rough Draft's sister studio in Korea puts together the 30,000-frame finished episode.[15]
FOX executives reportedly did not like the show and by the fourth season, Futurama was being aired erratically.[28] Its time slot was regularly pre-empted by sports events, making it difficult to predict when new episodes would air. FOX also had not aired several episodes that had been produced for seasons 3 and 4.
Although Futurama was never officially canceled, midway through the production of the fourth season, FOX decided to let it go out of production and told the writers and animators to look for new jobs.[29] A FOX spokeswoman said that "FOX has decided not to order more episodes at this time, but we may do so in the future." FOX's decision to stop buying episodes of Futurama led Rough Draft Studios, the animation producers, to fire its animators.[30] Futurama was not included in FOX's fall 2003 lineup.[31]
In January 2003, Cartoon Network began airing Futurama episodes as the centerpiece to the expansion of their Adult Swim cartoon block.[32]
In October 2005, Comedy Central picked up the exclusive cable syndication rights to air Futuramas 72-episode run at the start of 2008, following the expiration of Cartoon Network's contract in December 2007. It was cited as the largest and most expensive acquisition in the network's history.[33]
After the successful revival of the Family Guy series, 20th Century Fox Television approached Futurama co-creator Matt Groening to produce a direct to DVD Futurama movie. On April 26, 2006, The A.V. Club published an interview in which he discussed plans to create four straight-to-DVD movies. Groening noted that co-creator David X. Cohen and numerous writers from the original series would be returning to work on the movies.[34]
On June 22, 2006, Comedy Central announced that at least 13 new episodes were to be produced. Comedy Central also confirmed that Billy West, Katey Sagal, and John DiMaggio would return for the new episodes, with a 2008 debut planned;[2] however, an unofficial fan site reports that the new Comedy Central episodes would consist of the straight-to-DVD movies, each split into 4 episodes (making 17 new episodes) rather than additional new material.[35] According to an interview with David X. Cohen, as of December 2006 the Futurama team were around half way through writing the new season, and Rough Draft Studios had just started animating.[36] The new season will be set two years after the events of the last season, and will re-visit Fry and Leela's relationship and unanswered questions about Nibbler, dark matter and Seymour the dog.
The first movie, currently under the working title Futurama: Bender's Big Score, is in production. The film is written by Ken Keeler and David X. Cohen, and will include return appearances by the Nibblonians, Seymour, Barbados Slim, Morbo, Robot Santa, the "God" space entity, Al Gore, and Zapp Brannigan.[37] In an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Al Gore confirmed that he would appear in the movie, playing his disembodied head. David X. Cohen later confirmed that he would also appear in the new season, and would be involved in a storyline which will show "what really determined the outcome of the 2000 Presidential election".[36]
In February 2007, Groening clarified speculation as to whether Futurama had been revived in episodic or feature-film form, saying "[The crew is] writing them as movies and then we're going to chop them up, reconfigure them, write new material and try to make them work as separate episodes."[38]
Note: The box sets in Region 2 and 4 are marketed as "Season" rather than "Volume". Note: The box sets represent the original lineup of the series, before FOX changed the order of the episodes. FOX split the series up into five seasons, while originally four were planned. The episodes airing as season five were made up of episodes originally from seasons three and four that weren't aired during the FOX run.
First started in November 2000, Futurama Comics is a comic book series published by Bongo Comics based in the Futurama universe. The comic is the only part of the Futurama franchise which is still being published to date. While originally published only in the US, a UK and Australian version of the series is also available. Other than a different running order and presentation, the stories are the same in all versions.
Much like the TV series, each comic has a caption at the top of the cover. For example: "Made In The USA! (Printed in Canada)". Some of the UK and Australian comics have different captions on the top of their comics (for example, the Australian version of #20 says "A 21st Century Comic Book" across the cover, while the US version does not have a caption on that issue). All series contain a letters page, artwork from readers and previews of other Bongo Comics coming up.
The Futurama comics may not be "canonical" per se, and while they do draw from the Futurama universe, the events portrayed within them do not necessarily have any effect upon the continuity of the show.
While relatively uncommon, several action and tin figurines of various characters and items from the show have been made and are being sold by various hobby/online stores. The collectible releases include a set of bendable action figures, including Lieutenant Kif Kroker, Turanga Leela, and Bender. There have also been a few figures released by Moore Action Collectibles, including Fry, Turanga Leela, Bender, and the Planet Express Ship. Lastly, in late 2006, Rocket USA brought out a limited edition 'super' heavyweight die cast Bender. Another special edition Bender figure was released at the San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) in 2006. The figure was called "Glorious Golden Bender".
Toynami has recently announced new Futurama figures which are currently to be released in 2007.[39]
On September 15 2000, Unique Development Studios acquired the license to develop a Futurama video game for the next generation consoles and handheld systems. Fox Interactive signed on to publish the game.[40] Sierra Entertainment later became the game's publisher, and it was released on August 14, 2003.[41] The game was subsequently canceled on the Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance in North America and Europe.[42]
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