Originally Posted by
SMH
Off the planet
By Michael Idato
December 12, 2005
Science friction ... Matt Groening.
Science friction ... Matt Groening.
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Matt Groening has faith in the relaunch of Futurama, writes Michael Idato.
Nearly four years after it was cancelled, the popularity of Futurama on DVD could breathe life back into the animated television series. On the subject of a rumoured resurrection, creator Matt Groening, best known for his other animated hit, The Simpsons, says, intriguingly: "You never know."
Such a trail was blazed in 2004 by another animated series, Family Guy. Fuelled by DVD sales and high-rating reruns, it spawned a direct-to-DVD film and two seasons of television episodes.
The move caught the television industry by surprise, and left several lost properties, including Futurama, ripe with possibility.
"Three months ago, I would have said we were going to start tomorrow," says writer David X. Cohen, who collaborated with Groening on Futurama. "And one month ago I would also have said we were going to start tomorrow. So ..." He pauses. "My current estimate is that we're starting tomorrow."
The series, relaunched on Ten earlier this month (it previously aired on Seven), was something Groening and Cohen tinkered with in the writer's room at The Simpsons for more than two years. Cohen's background was in computer science, but both, Groening recalls, had a passion for science fiction. "What Matt is saying," Cohen interjects, "is that I stood out as the nerd on The Simpsons writing staff, and that is really saying something."
In the series, pizza delivery boy Philip J. Fry (Billy West) is accidentally frozen in a cryogenic facility and revived in 2999. Signing on with Planet Express, a space courier service, he befriends a one-eyed alien, Leela (Katey Sagal), an alcohol-powered robot, Bender (John Di Maggio), office manager Hermes Conrad (Phil LaMarr) and Dr Zoidberg (also voiced by West), a lobster-like alien.
Sitting in his office, an oasis of organised chaos in the relative calm of Los Angeles's 20th Century Fox film lot, Groening concedes their partnership was lucky but unlikely. "Not everyone wants to tell stories about robots," he says. Cohen adds from across the room: "I only want to tell stories about robots."
In Futurama, Cohen says, they hoped to "incorporate all the craziest ideas from science fiction, but we also wanted to have a point and reflect on life today. I think on our good days we had it both ways."
Their biggest obstacle was being taken seriously, Groening says. "We had this show that looked goofy, with robots and aliens, but was actually very sophisticated. Having people overcome the hurdle of taking us seriously was something we didn't anticipate. Interestingly, it was my original worry on The Simpsons, where I felt for sure kids would watch, but I didn't know if adults would give it a chance. What I love about the reaction to Futurama these days is that people who did give it a chance and fell in love with it are still ardent fans."
Australia is at the vanguard of that popularity, Cohen says. "I made the mistake of giving out my email on one of the DVD commentaries and it was staggering. Loads of email came in, most of it from Australia, so I know we're popular there. Either that or you all have a lot of time on your hands."
Both Futurama and The Simpsons, Groening says, share an ambition to tell timeless jokes. "Both shows are trying to do something which will knock people out the first time they watch it, but will also hold up years later," he says. "Jokes that make sense now, and will also make sense 10 or 20 years from now."
He concedes, however, that Futurama's US network Fox "never understood" the show. The series was cancelled in May 2002 and its final episode, the 72nd, aired in the US in August 2003. The end came, however, at a fortuitous time. "We were cancelled just at the time the DVD market blew up and became huge," Cohen says. "It's far and away the No. 1 factor in a resuscitation if we do have one."
A return to television or, better, a direct-to-DVD feature would be a natural transition for the show, Cohen says. "The more seriously we took the epic nature of the setting, the better the episodes turned out. For that reason, we always thought that would bode well for a movie because then we could take that to its extreme and do something we couldn't do in 22 minutes."
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