Futurama, an Emmy-winning cartoon series made by Matt Groening and David X. Cohan that debuted in 1999 has finally returned after its second cancellation in 2013.
Fans lost hope in it coming back once it had been a decade since its last episode. In February 2022, Futurama announced a 20-episode comeback in the Summer of 2023 and it’s finally here.
In an interview with the art director of the original episodes Bill Morrison, he stated that “It couldn’t have happened soon enough.” and that “It’s like it never left.”
The first episode of their 11th season was released July 24, 2023, and is available to stream on Hulu with new episodes every Monday. Some of Futurama’s new episodes tackle newer topics like a Pandemic that spreads throughout Earth, “Momazon”, and Fry’s attempt to binge-watch every single TV show. While still being able to keep original episodes with new ideas making it stay fresh.
It was refreshing to see the makers of Futurama announce that all the original voice actors would be coming back. However, John DiMaggio was not initially on this list over a wage dispute named #Bendergate by the internet. DiMaggio stated that he was “Tired of an industry that has become far too corporate and takes advantage of an artist’s time and talent”. He came back to the role after negotiations were made.
The Hollywood Reporter states that the new season is mainly just “Fun Fan Service” since the new season likes to focus and bring back characters that weren’t really focused on originally. These one-off episodes feature plots like a disease in Nibbler’s litter box, or an episode about Kif and Amy’s children. Although this is true, Futurama still continues to make funny jokes and focus on episode topics that make sense to anyone.
When watching the new Futurama series, it feels very similar to how the older episodes did, which to me feels both good and nostalgic from watching it years ago, but also craving more from the show.
However, it’s hard to judge this since they are restarting the series and having to act like the original “end” to the series of Fry and Leela getting married never happened. Overall, most of the new season 11 episodes usually focus on a certain side character or a certain event which is okay, but as the series goes on I would enjoy seeing more overarching plots like in the later seasons.
Hopefully, we will get to see Futurama thrive in the upcoming years, so shut up and take my money, Hulu.