Futurama Has Been Cancelled (Again)

Comedy Central has decided not to renew Futurama for another season, meaning the 13 episodes scheduled for this year will be its last.

Futurama is a much-loved science-fiction cartoon from Simpsons creator Matt Groening. The show had a strong start (possibly due to Groening’s legacy) but viewership quickly started to drop as it drifted away from mainstream gags and evolved into clever, sometimes a bit risque, humor. In 2003, just as it was starting to get really good, Fox cancelled it. When Comedy Central resurrected the show in 2005, producing four direct-to-DVD movies and then several new seasons, people thought that the home of South Park would be a perfect fit for Futurama‘s style of humor. Unfortunately, it looks like that isn’t the case, as Comedy Central has announced it won’t be renewing the show for another season.

“If this is indeed the end of Futurama, it’s a fantastic finish to a good, long run,” show co-creator and executive producer David X. Cohen said in a statement accompanying Comedy Central’s announcement. “I felt like we were already in the bonus round on these last couple of seasons, so I can’t say I was devastated by the news.” This year’s currently scheduled run of 13 episodes will be the show’s last, with the season finale on September 4 to close off the entire series.

The show will have had a run of 140 episodes, 68 of which came after its first “death.” Comedy Central’s EVP of Programming Dave Bernath views the network’s decision as “the natural end” to the show’s improbable comeback, but Cohen and Groening are not so convinced that this is the last we’ll see of Futurama. “The experience of this show has been so much fun from the very beginning to now – everybody is so happy to work on this show – that it’d be a shame if we all went our separate ways… We would love to continue,” said Groening.

Cohen assures us that this final run of episodes will be “the best last season ever,” featuring special guests such as Larry Bird, Sarah Silverman, George Takei, Adam West, Dan Castellaneta, and Burt Ward. He thinks that some of the episodes will become instant classics, teasing an upcoming episode where Futurama is “reincarnated as various cartoons of your youth, not legally resembling but somehow quite reminiscent of Scooby-Doo, Strawberry Shortcake, and G.I. Joe.”

The show’s second “final season” launches June 19. Is anyone else thinking it’s time for a “save Futurama” Kickstarter?

Source: Entertainment Weekly