Lower Decks

By now, everyone has heard the news. ‘Futurama’ is back! By far one of the best sci-fi creations of the past decade was an animated series co-created by Matt Groening, the man behind the modern adult cartoon revolution. Expertly blending patently irreverent characters busting with humor and ego with stories that could at times affect genuine emotion, ‘Futurama’ was a pioneer and a successor to the best genre programming. Originally broadcast on Fox and cancelled after a handful of seasons, it next trailblazed the Adult Swim block on the Cartoon Network and was eventually resurrected for four direct-to-DVD feature films, which were themselves broadcast on TV. Led by the always brash Bender, the alcoholic, vice-chomping robot (who, well, bent things), the show left a lasting impression. And then it returned!

Okay, well, not yet. Its fans, however, are more than ready. Given the similar fate of ‘Family Guy,’ which has only increased in popularity since Fox realized its mistakes, the resurrection of ‘Futurama’ has been hotly anticipated, even as each new release of the film series made it that much less likely. The first few, after all, were greeted enthusiastically enough, but by the time ‘The Great Green Yonder’ came out, billed as the “final” adventure, it seemed as if everyone was more than ready to say goodbye. It came off as strange for a fan who sat by as ‘Family Guy’ enjoyed greater approval seemingly every day, which is not even to mention the fact that it didn’t even have to wait as long, and got DVD bonus adventures, too! If ‘Futurama’ didn’t deserve as big a cult following or a similar if not greater level of rebound success, what possibly could?

Hey, I’m also the guy who relished the first two DVD reunions, and haven’t gotten around to the latter two simply as a matter of economics (seriously, they can’t reduce that price already?), hoping that they’ll just bundle the four as a “season,” or at least collection. I thought the Hypno Toad episode bonus was funny! (Seriously, try sitting through it!)

One of the things that made the series so strikingly original was its insistence at maintaining its own mythology, which involved pizza delivery loser Philip J. Fry and the complicated story behind his fateful 1999 trip to a cryonics lab (I.C. Weiner?), a thousand-year nap, and subsequent involvement in a galactic plot orchestrated by the adorable Nibbler. The DVD adventures, the ones I saw anyway, added a few more wrinkles (all in good fun!), which to some fans seemed too irreverent, but to me seemed perfectly in keeping with the spirit of the series. Besides, Fry pining away for cyclopean Leela, the Planet Express crew, Zap Brannigan…Bender! Everything remained lovably intact.

I don’t know, maybe it’s because I’ve been cut off from the Cartoon Network for a few years now, and that I will likely have to wait that much longer to see the new episodes, whenever they debut, but I am tremendously excited to know that ‘Futurama’ will soon be back on a more permanent basis. We were all given a good scare, of course, when the iconic voices behind the characters seemed to be holding out, but that was settled quickly enough that it’s now virtually impossible to believe they wouldn’t return. (Still, my dream guest-vocal would be Zack Braff. Has that seriously not happened yet? You could bring in the entire original ‘Scrubs’ cast, and I wouldn’t complain. That’s another show I can’t believe has managed to stick around as long as it has.)

Whether you’re a fan of the original episodes, somehow only discovered ‘Futurama’ by the DVD adventures, or having been watching for as long as it’s been on TV, you already know that this is good news. What makes it even better is that it finally has a chance to truly extend its legacy, to new fans, who might not until now realized how relevant and entertaining the show still is. It’s already timeless, has been from the beginning. Now it’s waking up from its own cryonic sleep and ready to start all over again.

Welcome to the world of tomorrow!