Devin reported this past weekend that Futurama was getting a new chance at an episodic run, and now THR tells us that the order is for two new seasons consisting of 26 episodes. 20th TV is looking to talk with various networks (including Fox) with the intention of finding a large broadcasting home for the new run. Comedy Central will be given the opportunity to take a cheaper license for a second window run. As expected, it will be about a year from now before the show is ready to air.
While the direct-to-video Futurama films have their moments, the quality across the four of them declines on a pretty steep curve. I will grant that it must be tough to make a comedic, feature-length film that also has to function when quartered into half-hour episodes. The films have at least served to keep the crew together, and everyone on the cast and principle crew is expected to be involved. With all this in mind, I hope David Cohen is being genuine when he says, “what we will try to do is go a little bit back to pure comedy, characters and sci-fi.” …which is just what the Futurama universe needs.
The Simpsons demonstrates the lengths that these shows can be stretched out though: far past painful and all the way into fucking numb (the movie had signs of life, I’ll admit). Perhaps Futurama is best put to rest at this point, but the show has had moments so great that I’ll be happy to give it a chance next year.