I have been reading up on what Futurama’s renewal means for the series as well as my hopes that the show will once again reach its height that it ended on with its 4th Season all those years ago. Let me state that I do not include the 4 DVD movies that were released within the ‘seasons’ of the show, despite their separation into episode for tv distribution. Out of these 4 movies I can honestly say that they were a disappointment, Bender’s Big Score was the only one that I felt hit the mark – and it felt like it took a while for the cast to find their feet again in the roles. The others were rather disappointing, The Beast With a Billion Backs was average, Bender’s Game was absolutely dreadful – honestly who thought that retelling the first half of the film slightly differently was a good idea? Beyond the Green Yonder was a step in the right direction however and once again provided an ending to Futurama.
With the announcement that there was going to be a 5th Season I was quite excited despite what the movies had brought into the Futurama universe. Episodic format suits the series and the writers were obviously stretched to create a feature-length story that held the same punch that the original series did.
On to the crux of the matter and the reason behind this post; the renewal. When announced at ComiCon09 that there would be another season, all involved were thrilled;
Katey Sagal commented that "To me, Futurama was one of the smartest written shows that I've ever participated in, so I thought that was a no-brainer that this has to come back. And we've all said goodbye, I can't tell you how many times we've all said goodbye to each other (laughs), but we keep coming back for more, which is fantastic." And Billy West said that he considers himself lucky that the show was coming back and that he would have been a fan of the show even if he had not been involved.
And on this point the question of whether or not he will be involved has been raised. When announced it was stated that all the original cast were returning, and the show was to be aired on Comedy Central (rather than FOX) with a reduced budget and writing staff. And it seems that this reduced budget has affected the salaries of the cast, Comedy Central have issued a casting call for the main cast after being unable to meet the demands placed on them by the cast. Most notably the roles apparently up for grabs are those currently (or previously?) held by Katey Sagal, John DiMaggio and Billy West. For those who are unaware Sagal voices Leela, DiMaggio voices Bender and has also become noticed in his role as Marcus Fenix in the Gears of War games. Lastly, Billy West provides his enormous talent to voice Fry, Professor Farnsworth, Zoidberg, Zapp Brannigan and countless supporting characters.
I’m sorry but on these cast members alone it seems odd that after fighting for the show’s renewal for so long only to replace the cast seems pointless and will definitely lose its audience – no matter how good the writing may be. I am sincerely hoping that the problem resolves with a result that means that no actors will be replaced and the show will not diminish as a result of squabblings over money.
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