Not sure if there are any fellow Futurama fans in here, but in case you are and haven't yet heard, the series has finally been renewed, for 26 all-new episodes, on which the writing staff has already begun work. 'Tis a great day for a fan like myself. Oh, and they will air on Comedy Central rather than Fox, although I understand that the contract is still flexible and Fox could conceivably purchase them for broadcast as well.

EDIT: Source http://www.reuters.com/article/televisionNews/idUSTRE55909G20...

Good news everyone, the series is back... And hello there fellow Futurama fan I read about this too and it is great news indeed.
http://www.tvsquad.com/2009/06/08/benders-back-baby-new-futur...

EDIT: Thanks for the link warioswoods, found some new information there.

This is great news.

Yes, this is FANTASTIC news. I knew this was a possibility, but for it to come out so soon after the final film...that's just a miracle. I wonder how long they've been in talks about this. In the Wild Green Yonder commentary they seemed pretty reluctant to assume they'd be back. I guess they're just good at keeping secrets.

This is great! I still always watch the older series and I cant wait for these ones

I loved much of what they did in the films (except maybe the 3rd film, which just wasn't my kind of humor, also I hate Lord of the Rings and related parodies), but I can't wait to see them return to the 22-minute form that they mastered in the original series. They had a better control of pacing then, and it just fit the style of the writing to be able to take an episode wherever they wanted but not need to sustain the bizarre plot for the length of a film.

While I'm on that topic, I'm going to make this thread dual purpose: which was your favorite of the Futurama feature-length DVDs?

I'll case my vote for Into the Wild Green Yonder, although the only one that I didn't greatly enjoy was the 3rd. The first film was wonderful, and a sentimental favorite in many ways, but overall didn't cohere as well as a unified, well-paced film. The second was almost perfect for the first 2/3, then the last part seemed a bit odd and out of place.

I thought Bender's Big Score was a masterpiece. I mean that truly. Bender's Game and Wild Green Yonder are about tied for second. Each has its big moments and big flaws...Yonder might nudge it out for the truly excellent climax and ending sequence.

Beast With a Billion Backs was abysmal.

That's interesting -- I guess most fans can agree pretty well about the 1st and 4th films (from my experience with fellow Futurama fans), but the 2nd and 3rd are tremendously polarizing.

My problem with the 3rd was that it relied too much on parody and allusion, which I've always found to be the weakest link in cartoon comedy (I hate the constant and pointless pop-culture allusions in Family Guy, for instance, which do nothing but irritate me). I also hated the overload of scatological humor, which is just not my thing. The 2nd film, except for the terrible last third, was great insofar as it returned to the absurdly over-the-top science fiction roots of the show.

Wow, that is cool. I still need to pick up Wild Green Yonder, but I'll get around to it someday...

I disagree about your overall assessment of Bender's Game, but I could not agree more with this particular sentiment.

Out of curiosity, do you find yourself responding better to American Dad? It's far more sparing on the pop-culture stuff and actually (surprise surprise!) features plot, continuity and characterization. In case you can't tell, I think it's around ten million times better than Family Guy.

I thought I was the only person in the world who doesn't like Family Guy. Never saw American Dad though.

@Chicken+Brutus

I suppose you're right about me chastising Bender's Game a little too harshly on the allusions front -- they didn't have that many pointless references, but the whole fantasy-game / LotR parody section made me extraordinarily unhappy. I think much of my problem with it, on further reflection, may stem from the simple fact that I really don't like fantasy / medieval imagery in general -- I find it deeply depressing -- and I love Futurama for usually parodying the tropes of sci-fi instead, which I find much more appealing.

I do hate Family Guy, but I haven't ever watched American Dad. I've kept away due to the association with the former, but the mere fact that Patrick Stewart occasionally voices a character on there does pique my interest a bit. I should give it a go sometime.

Family Guy sucks. American Dad is very, very good. In fact, it inherited a few of Futurama's writers when that show folded, and John DiMaggio and David Hermann do voices periodically. I went into the show expecting it to be a lesser version of Family Guy, but was blown away by how superior it really is.

If you're of a more sci-fi bent, some good episodes with very funny SF overtones would be Roger N Me, Finances with Wolves, The Best Christmas Story Never (time-travel paradox fun!), The Vacation Goo, 1600 Candles...let's just say it has less SF than Futurama, but often has just as much fun with it.

This topic makes me happy! I love that show

Futurama,what is that?

I dislike both of them. I don't like the art style, period and the humour manages to actually descend beneath South Park in the lowbrow stakes. The one episode of American Dad I saw took place in Saudi Arabia and I actually found it offensive -- even South Park never managed to do that!

I truly don't feel that American Dad sinks below South Park in the area of "lowbrow" humor, though Family Guy certainly does. I've got a pretty low tolerance for lowbrow stuff (or, to put it more correctly, I require that my lowbrow humor is earned by the show, rather than resorted to).

Like South Park, however, American Dad manages to raise serious issues, treat them humorously, but come away making a very valid (and complicated) point. At least, the better episodes do. Like all American shows, you'll end up with at least a handful that didn't nearly get where they needed to go.

Ace, although I must admit that I only watched the first feature film (alongside all the TV series', of course). Looking forward to this. I wish that I wouldn't have to wait ages for it to be shown here on a channel that doesn't require money, though.

EDIT: Oh, and on the subject of animated comedy: The Life And Times of TiM premiered in the UK last night. I thought it was decent, but nothing special, although it did raise a smile on a number of occasions, although I was surprised by the way the show had two completely separate stories in, which I thought was quite a unique take for an animated show that doesn't air on childrens TV. That really did sink to some lows though, so it most definitely won't be ol' Brutus' kinda thing.

EDIT AGAIN: And on the subject of Family Guy, I also used to hate it, but then somehow, I caught a few episodes and really got into it. Then, this time last year, I saw the full box set for £50, so I bought it and spent the next few months watching through, and it really grew on me. Since I'm not American, I don't get half the pop culture references, but I still appreciate them and think it's a great show. Haven't seen American Dad though, but I'd love to catch it some time.

The Simpsons still remains as my favourite animated comedy though. If only channel 4 decided to show some episodes from a season later than season 15 already...

I'll make sure to send you my Zoidberg Mii to celebrate!

The Zoidberg Mii is getting a lot of use in Wii Music. If only someone would figure out a good Fry, or Professor. (Or Bender? Yeah right...but a boy can dream...)