Is FAMILY GUY or FUTURAMA really coming back? (1 Viewer)

[Matthew Prince]

A while ago I heard rumours on the Net that the excellent Family Guy was coming back. That also got me thinking about Futurama. Is it coming back?

In the UK, Family Guy, Futurama and King Of The Hill were all being shown on Channel 4. Disappointingly, the shows were on at 6pm, and if you know Family Guy's and Futurama's more risque humour, you know had to be edited... :frowning:

I heard that Fox were taken by suprise of the success of the high-selling DVD Box Sets of FAMILY GUY (& Futurama) (Another reason why the consumer is ALWAYS right... ) and reconsidered re-comissioning the show. They allegedly promised 16-20 new episodes for 2004.

So what's going on, is it REALLY gonna happen?





M.

 

[Chris]

Family Guy is coming back. I have big doubts on Futurama, as even with DVD + cable success, they really have hit an impass with show creator on that one

 

[Malcolm R]

I don't believe we'll see the new eps of FG until sometime in 2005, though.

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

An episode of Futurama is also probably a lot more expensive to produce than an episode of Family Guy. That might be another reason why Family Guy is coming back, but (AFAIK) not Futurama.

 

[Galen_V]

Not only that, but FOX does not own the licensing rights for Futurama; Matt Groening does. Therefore, there is no incentive for them to bring it back, since they can only make back their money through ad sales and syndication fees. Groening didn't want to get screwed over again by losing out on the lucrative merchandising contracts like he did with The Simpsons; the consequence of this, of course, is that the show had to do well enough for it to be profitable enoough for FOX solely on its broadcasts, and this didn't happen.

On the flip side, FOX does own all of the rights to Family Guy, so they are in an amazing position to cash in if the show takes off next year.

 

[DaveF]

I've now watched the three Futurama seasons about two and half times, on reruns. I could really use some new ones. I've gotten to where I enjoy it much more than The Simpsons these days.

What with all those gravitons and graviolis, how could I not?

 

[Eddy-C]

Family Guy returns to Fox in the summer of 2005, then it'll be re-ran on Cartoon Network IIRC.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

Did Futurama run three or four seasons?

As much as I like Family Guy, I think Futurama is a better show.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

Futurama ran four or five seasons, depending how you count.

 

[Jeremy Allin]

According to TVShowsonDVD, Vol. 4 of Futurama will contain the 'final 18 episodes'.

 

[Robert Ringwald]

Futurama aired 5 seasons, but only produced 4.

The DVDs present the shows in Production order, not airing order.

 

[DanielBH]

For any who are missing Futurama, I would suggest the Futurama comic book if you are not currently reading it. Surprisingly, it captures the flavor of the series very well; and new issues are still coming out (though there can often be a month or two between issues).

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

I snagged a promo card for FAMILY GUY which has the following information:



So June 2005.

-V

 

[Chuck Mullen]

Good job Vince!

 

[Jeff*S*C*]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this yet but a recent EW interview with Groening got me freaking out...

Reruns get great ratings on the Cartoon Network. Any chance of a ''Family Guy''-like resurrection for ''Futurama''?
We're trying to figure it out. If we can do more episodes, we'd love to. It's a very ambitious show, and it's very expensive. That's been a sticking point. What [co-developer] David Cohen and I would love is to continue many of the stories we worked out in advance. All science-fiction epics have an underlying theme, which is ''things are not what they seem to be,'' and that was certainly the case with ''Futurama.'' David and I worked for a couple of years [planning the show] before we even pitched it, and we haven't revealed all of the secrets that are embedded in it. There are even characters that we created back in the beginning of the series that we never got around to introducing. It looks like a goofy cartoon, but the underlying science-fiction ideas are pretty good.



Here's the whole interview: http://www.ew.com/ew/groening

 

[Jeremy_Watson]

Somewhat contradicting Vince's info, but Seth McFarlane (Family Guy creator) was on Love Line last night and said they were still trying to pin down a firm date for the new shows to start airing, but he thought it would be March or May of 2005.

 

[Malcolm R]

The "Family Guy" marathons on Fox network this summer did pretty well, so they're probably anxious to get the new episodes up ASAP.

 

[RyanAn]

Seth MacFarlane's American Day will be debuting after the Superbowl much like Family Guy in January. Family Guy will be starting it's 4th season in May. Futurama has a possible greenlight for a 5th season, which it deserves. These are two excellent shows that possibly helped carry FOX, and they turned their backs on it.

Ryan

 

[Sam Favate]

A report today on Cinescape.com says Futurama may be coming back to Fox for a "limited number of episodes."

http://cinescape.com/0/editorial.asp...5&obj_id=50394

I presume, and I hope, that this is in addition to the direct-to-DVD movies that are said to be underway.

 

[TravisR]

I hope this is true but until I hear the episodes are actually in production, I'm gonnna keep my hopes in check.

Or maybe Fox is just looking to have some more episodes so they can have something to pre-empt for their awesome post game shows.