Futurama Returns Again

Fox can kiss Bender’s shiny metal ass. Futurama is back! According to The Hollywood Reporter the Matt Groenig animated comedy will return for 26 episodes over two seasons for the Comedy Central channel, where repeats of the show, which was originally broadcast on Fox, have been raking in fantastic viewing figures. (It’s a similar scenario to Red Dwarf’s return on Dave… but let’s hope the new episodes of Futurama aren’t similarly disappointing.)

"Futurama" creators Matt Groening and David X Cohen are already working on stories for the new batch of episodes which should premiere on Comedy Central in mid-2010. The first run of the series ended in 2003, since which time there have been four new DVD Futurama movies.

Comedy Central was also the channel that brought back Family Guy. "When we brought back Family Guy several years ago, everyone said that it was a once in a lifetime thing – that canceled series stay canceled and cannot be revived," said Futurama production company 20th TV’s Gary Newman. "But Futurama was another series that fans simply demanded we bring back."

Bizarrely, Futurama could end up being broadcast first on Fox again (though it's unlikely). As with Family Guy, 20th TV has the right to shop the new Futurama episodes to a broadcast network, with Comedy Central getting a second window for a reduced license fee. If they are unable to do this, Newman admits that "the economics will become more challenging," but the studio bets on more strong DVD sales.