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Philip J. Fry (Billy West) is the hero of "Futurama," but his robot buddy Bender (John Dimaggio) is the show's star. A crass alcoholic "lovable scamp" (read: sociopath), Bender is to "Futurama" what Homer is on "The Simpsons."

"Futurama" takes place in the 31st century, and this future is filled with plenty more charming robots than only Bender. From acting unit Calculon (Maurice Lamarche) to the Robot Devil, some of the funniest characters in "Futurama" have silicon souls. 

No one can accuse "Futurama" of being written by Isaac Asimov, but many episodes of the show explore Bender's existence as a robot too. In "Fear Of A Bot Planet," the characters visit a planet that is Bender's paradise (a planet of robots who want to kill all humans). "Obsoluely Fabulous" sees Bender befriend several outmoded robots while he himself deals with fears of obsolescence.

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"Futurama" is filled with loathsome but hilarious characters. Bender the robot (John Dimaggio) wants to kill all humans, but his felonious antics are always a highlight of the show. Professor Farnsworth (Billy West) is a mad scientist who dreams of doomsday devices and atomic monsters, but his mad genius makes him almost as funny as Bender.

Then there's starship captain Zapp Brannigan (also Billy West), a wannabe lech who lacks the charm one needs. He's captain of the Nimbus, a ship in the Doop (Democratic Order of Planets), with beleaguered alien second-in-command Kif Kroker (Maurice Lamarche). Kif is Zapp's Spock, but an abused assistant instead of a trusted advisor.

Zapp, Kif, and their crewmen wear red Doop uniforms, with gold stylings and miniskirts. In "Zapp Gets Canceled," Leela, Fry, and Bender take over the Nimbus and start wearing those same uniforms.

In recent years, the rapid advance of A.I. technology has become an urgent concern across multiple industries. It’s helping students plagiarize papers. It’s imitating your loved ones to scam you on the phone. Before last year’s strikes, members of the Writers and Screen Actors Guilds were raising the alarm that stingy studio heads would use it to replace them. Video game performers are currently on strike, in part over fears about A.I.; the Animation Guild could be next. And earlier this spring, one SAG member went public with her concerns about the technology hijacking her likeness.

But as Scarlett Johansson has kept up her feud with OpenAI all summer — as she should! — Futurama fans know Lucy Liu got there first.

Futurama, now a Hulu original series, is set around 1,000 years after its episodes air. Since its first season, when it aired on Fox, it’s...

In the "Futurama" episode "Where No Fan Has Gone Before", the hapless Fry (Billy West) learns that "Star Trek" has been banned in the 31st century. He visits the severed head of Leonard Nimoy, kept alive in a jar of fluid, hoping to learn more about the fate of "Star Trek." Nimoy, knowing about the ban, initially pleads ignorance. Fry, trying to remind him, describes "Star Trek" as a 1960s TV that had "76 episodes. About 30 good ones."

Nimoy eventually confesses to remembering "Star Trek," but Fry's description of the show's quality isn't wholly unfair. Gene Roddenberry's original "Star Trek" series had many highs, providing popular sci-fi with some of its most indelible images. Additionally, its vision of a country-less, money-free, diplomacy-forward, anti-colonialist future inspired many to be optimistic about things to come. But it can also be true that the show churned out more than its share of stinkers.

In the "Futurama" episode "The Luck of the Fryrish", Fry (Billy West) becomes increasingly concerned about his lack of good luck in the 31st century. He loses at horse races, loses his last dollar, and loses all his hair when he is struck by lightning. Fry figures that his lack of good luck stems from the fact that he lost a lucky talisman when he was a youth. Fry used to have a seven-leaf clover that brought him good fortune, and made him lucky enough to beat his jealous older brother Yancy (Tom Kenny) at basketball. Although Fry had been cryogenically frozen for 1,000 years, he figures his seven-leaf clover is still locked in his childhood safe, preserved in the subterranean ruins of old New York. Into the sewers he must go. 

The episodes cuts back and forth between Fry in the 31st century as he seeks his clover, and Fry in the past,...

Take a look at more footage from the animated science fiction comedy series "Futurama" Season 12, created by Matt Groening, now streaming on Hulu:

"...In Season 12, on this orbit around the sun, our occasionally heroic crew…

“…embarks on mind-bending adventures involving birthday party games to the death…

“… the secrets of the ‘Bender’ ancestral robot village, ‘A.I.’ friends (and enemies)…

“…impossibly cute beanbags, and the true 5 million-year-old story behind the consciousness-altering substance known as coffee.

“And, of course, the next chapter in the ongoing ‘Fry’ and ‘Leela’ fateful, time-twisted romance.

Voice cast includes John Dimaggio, Billy West, Katey Sagal, Tress MacNeille, Maurice Lamarche, Lauren Tom, Phil Lamarr and David Herman.

Click the images to enlarge...

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? It turns out Abner Doubledeal, Dean Suspendington, and the Masked Unity do. Those are all characters voiced by the inimitable Tom Kenny.

Most audiences likely know Kenny's work playing SpongeBob SquarePants, the title character from one of Nickelodeon's biggest shows ever. SpongeBob is a childlike sea sponge, shaped like a kitchen sponge, who lives in blissful joy in his pineapple shaped house in Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob has achieved his dream of being a fry cook at the Krusty Krab, his favorite burger joint, and is rarely seem without a smile on his oblivious face. "SpongeBob SquarePants" debuted in 1999 and has been running ever since, occasionally pausing for a feature film or a spinoff series. The show's creator, Stephen Hillernburg, passed in 2018.

Kenny has been loyal to SpongeBob ever since 1999, but the character is only one small piece of a long comedy career.

“Futurama” came back for Season 12, which means we do want to live on this planet again. The animated sci-fi series set in the 31st century from the mind of Matt Groening debuted the first episode of the new season on Monday, with nine more on the way.

When and where can you catch the new adventures of Fry, Leela, Bender, Professor Farnsworth, Zoidberg and the other employees of the intergalactic delivery service Planet Express?

Here’s what you need to know about the new season of the cult favorite, which was revived — yet again — at Hulu last year.

When did “Futurama” Season 12 Premiere?

The first episode of “Futurama” Season 12 premiered Monday, July 29, on Hulu. New episodes air Mondays on Hulu.

How many episodes are in “Futurama” Season 12?

There are 10 episodes. The names and premiere dates have only been announced for the first six episodes.

Are new episodes of “Futurama” Season...

In the "Futurama" episode "I Second That Emotion", the crass alcoholic robot Bender (John Dimaggio), having become fed up with Leela's pet whatsit Nibbler (Frank Welker), flushes him down the toilet. Leela (Katey Sagal) is distraught, but Bender is fecklessly unapologetic. The Professor (Billy West) finds that Bender may be incapable of empathy, and solves the issue by hammering a high-tech emotions chip into his head. The chip psychically links to Leela, and Bender begins feeling horrible. To solve their mutual sadness, Bender and Leela decide to go into the sewers to rescue Nibbler.

In the lore of "Futurama," the ruins of Old New York are deep underground and the city of New New York was built on its ruins. 

Before going into the sewers, though, Leela finds a nearby manhole cover and removes it with a manhole hook. The manhole cover bears the face of a bored-looking man,...

Futurama returned once more to our screens last year with a fourth outing on Hulu. The long-running animated series about the hijinks of intergalactic delivery crew Planet Express has seen its share of cancellations and comebacks over the years. Originally debuting on Fox in the late 90s to early 2000s, it lived on through movies and a Comedy Central run before that finale was called into question as well.

Now under the banner of Hulu, fans were eager to see what more adventures the creative minds behind Matt Groening and David X. Cohen could conjure up utilizing their blend of sci-fi fantasy and subversive humor. Overall the response was positive, with the new episodes feeling like a natural extension of the beloved world that had been established. It was clear the writers still had more stories to tell and the characters’ charm remained intact despite the passage of time.

With Season 12 now underway,...

Matt Groening, David X. Cohen and the Futurama cast revealed the guest stars of the upcoming season during the show’s 2024 San Diego Comic-Con Panel.

The new season of Futurama premieres Monday, July 29 on Hulu.

Following Hulu’s 2023 revival of Futurama, the sci-fi series from Matt Groening and David X. Cohen returns with ten new episodes. On this orbit, the occasionally heroic crew embarks on mind-bending adventures involving birthday party games to the death, the secrets of Bender’s ancestral robot village, A.I. friends (and enemies), impossibly cute beanbags, and the true five-million-year-old story behind the consciousness-altering substance known as coffee. And, of course, the next chapter in Fry and Leela’s fateful, time-twisted romance.

The series features the voices of John Dimaggio, BIlly West, Katey Sagal, Tress MacNeille, Maurice Lamarche, Lauren Tom, Phil Lamar, and David Herman. Created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X.

Danny Trejo, Ana Ortiz, Tom Kenny, Cara Delevingne, Tim Gunn, Bill Nye, Kyle MacLachlan, LeVar Burton and Neil deGrasse Tyson are among the guest stars appearing on the upcoming episodes of “Futurama,” the show’s producers announced Saturday.

“Futurama” producers Matt Groening, David X. Cohen and Claudia Katz were joined by voice acting stars Billy West, John Dimaggio (Bender), Lauren Tom (Amy), Phil Lamarr (Hermes), David Herman (Scruffy) and Maurice Lamarche (Kif) at San Diego Comic-Con’s Ballroom 20 to share spoilers and more details about the resurrected animated series, which launches its new batch of episodes with Season 12 this Monday on Hulu.

“Futurama” returned to TV last fall, the second time the show had been resurrected. “Sometimes we get canceled during the panel,” Cohen joked.

The ten new episodes promise the next stage of Fry and Leela’s romance, as well as “birthday party games to the death, the secrets...

The galactic explorers of the Star Trek franchise have a lot to worry about, from failing weapon shields to unfriendly alien races to the possibility of going on an away mission and getting stranded in a hostile environment. One thing they don’t need to worry about is money: By the time we meet the characters of the original ‘60s TV series, visitors from the planet Vulcan have shared replicator technology with the people of Earth, such that Starfleet exists in the post-scarcity era. To call Star Trek’s vision of the world socialist might be too simplistic, but aspects of its setting align with early 20th century revolutionaries’ futurist theories.

By contrast, Futurama’s vision of the 31st century could never be mistaken for utopian: New New York has suicide booths on every corner; mutants are forced to live in the sewer; and while robots have taken on some...

In the "Futurama" episode "Time Keeps on Slippin'", the Professor (Billy West) tasks Leela (Katey Sagal), Bender (John Dimaggio), and Fry (Billy West) to fly into a distant space cloud and retrieve several chronitons — marble-size time particles — and bring them back to Earth for an experiment. The Professor has grown five mutant infants in his lab and needs the chronitons to accelerate their growth and turn them into adults within a matter of seconds. The Professor's mutants are meant to serve as the members of a high-octane, superpowered basketball team constructed to take on the Harlem Globetrotters.

When the chronitons were removed from their space cloud, however, it accidentally left a small rip in the space-time continuum. Time began behaving erratically across the universe, skipping forward a few minutes, then a few hours, then a few weeks.

The skips allowed the writers of "Futurama" to squeeze in a few clever gags.

In the "Futurama" episode "Time Keeps on Slippin'", Earth is unexpectedly visited by the Harlem Globetrotters. In the 31st century, the Harlem Globetrotters have evolved into an alien species unto themselves and travel the heavens challenging neighboring worlds to antic-fueled basketball matches. This is when they're not back in their laboratories unlocking the secrets of ultra-advanced physics, chemistry, and theoretical math; the Harlem Globetrotters homeworld boasts the smartest scientists in the galaxy.

The Globetrotters have now arrived on Earth to challenge its denizens to a basketball tournament. In a clever subversion of screenwriting tropes, the Globetrotters announce that there is absolutely nothing at stake in this match, and that Earth will only suffer mild humiliation if they lose. Regardless, Professor Farnsworth (Billy West) becomes infected with pride and immediately grows a batch of creepy infant basketball player mutants in his lab. Then, using specially salvaged time particles -- called chronitons...

In the "Futurama" episode "The Luck of the Fryrish", Fry (Billy West) is incensed when a trip to the racetrack leaves him with only his last dollar. Waving the dollar above his head, he boasts to the fates that it will remain his. A rogue breeze, however, whips the dollar out of his hand and deposits it on top of some nearby power lines. Fry, determined to retrieve his last dollar ... not terribly bright ... climbs up to the power lines with a metal rake, hoping to scoop up his money. Predictably, touching the rake to the power lines electrocutes Fry. Then, to add insult to injury, the rake attracts a lightning bolt, electrocuting Fry a second time. He falls into a garbage can, his hair burned off. 

Later, back at Planet Express, Fry seethes, his bald head still smoldering. Luckily, a Hair Robot -- a character never before seen on...

Time for more Futurama! The animated sci-fi comedy series is returning for its 12th season later this month, and new key art and a trailer have been released by Hulu. The series has already been renewed for two more seasons, through season 14.

The Futurama series, which debuted in 1999 on Fox, stars John Dimaggio, Katey Sagal, Billy West, Maurice Lamarche, Phil Lamarr, Tress MacNeille, Lauren Tom, and Dave Herman. The story follows a pizza delivery boy who is accidentally frozen in 1999 and then defrosted in 2999.

Read More…...

Netflix’s Releases “Heartstopper” Season 3 First Look

The beloved coming-of-age series “Heartstopper” is back for its highly anticipated Season 3 this fall, and Netflix has released the season’s first images.

The rom-com based on the “Heartstopper” book series by Alice Oseman stars Kit Connor and Joe Locke as Charlie and Nick, with Season 3 promising big changes in the pair’s relationship. As the summer holiday ends and the school year begins, with all the social events, parties, and university planning that comes with it, “everyone must learn to lean on those they love when life doesn’t go to plan.”

“Heartstopper” also stars William Gao, Yasmin Finney, Corinna Brown, Kizzy Edgell, Tobie Donovan, Jenny Walser, Rhea Norwood, and Leila Khan with Jensen Clayden joining the cast in the third season.

The eight-episode third season of “Heartstopper” will premiere on Netflix on Thursday, Oct. 3.

Sign Up $6.99+ / month netflix.com Disney Drops...

Fry, Leela and Bender are back. Hulu has unveiled the trailer for Season 12 of the revival of “Futurama,” set to premiere July 29 on the streamer.

The crew embarks on different adventures in the new season, including birthday party games to the death, A.I. friends and enemies, the next chapter in Fry and Leela’s romance and more.

John Dimaggio, BIlly West, Katey Sagal, Tress MacNeille, Maurice Lamarche, Lauren Tom, Phil Lamar and David Herman all return to the animated sci-fi series. Created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen, “Futurama” comes from executive producers including Groening, Cohen, Ken Keeler and Claudia Katz.

Watch the trailer below.

In other TV roundup news:

Trailers

Acorn TV has released a new trailer for its detective drama series “Signora Volpe.” The three-part series is set to return for its second venture on Monday, July 29 and will broadcast on Acorn...

The "Futurama" episode "Meanwhile" was the third series finale, marking the show's third cancelation. "Futurama" debuted in 1999, and ran for four seasons, before being unceremoniously canceled in 2003. The show's first series finale, "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings" (August 10), involved the romantic possibilities for Fry (Billy West) and Leela (Katey Sagal) who teetered on the cusp of romance for years. Robot Devil (Dan Castellaneta) agreed to trade hands with Fry (!) so that Fry would be able to more capably play the Holophoner, a skill very impressive to Leela. 

"Futurama" returned for four straight-to-dvd features in 2008 and 2009. The fourth of the films, "Into the Wild Green Yonder," also served as a series finale, and also ended with a romantic moment between Fry and Leela. After the film's weird adventures, the Planet Express crew were on the run from Zapp Brannigan (West) and his military retinue. They flew into a wormhole, unsure...

Take a look at new footage from "Futurama" Season 12, created by Matt Groening streaming July 29, 2024 on Hulu:

"...In Season 12, on this orbit around the sun, our occasionally heroic crew embarks on mind-bending adventures involving birthday party games to the death…

“… the secrets of the ‘Bender’ ancestral robot village, ‘A.I.’ friends (and enemies), impossibly cute beanbags, and the true 5 million-year-old story behind the consciousness-altering substance known as coffee.

“And, of course, the next chapter in the ongoing ‘Fry’ and ‘Leela’ fateful, time-twisted romance.

Voice cast includes John Dimaggio, Billy West, Katey Sagal, Tress MacNeille, Maurice Lamarche, Lauren Tom, Phil Lamarr and David Herman.

Click the images to enlarge...

The Planet Express crew is gearing up for another round of intergalactic hijinks as “Futurama” prepares to launch its 12th season on July 29. Hulu has released a trailer for the upcoming 10-episode run, promising fans a mix of high-octane action, outrageous comedy, and deeper explorations of beloved characters.

The trailer, unveiled by IGN, showcases the series’ signature blend of sci-fi spectacle and irreverent humor. From a stage-destroying giant disco ball to “a world of steaming brown coffee,” the preview suggests that Season 12 will maintain the show’s reputation for pushing boundaries and defying expectations.

According to the official synopsis, viewers can look forward to “mind-bending adventures involving birthday party games to the death, the secrets of Bender’s ancestral robot village, A.I. friends (and enemies), impossibly cute beanbags, and the true 5 million-year-old story behind the consciousness-altering substance known as coffee.” The upcoming episodes will also delve deeper into the...

The Futurama crew’s Season 12 destinations include at least one “hellhole” and a “world of steaming brown coffee,” as revealed in the new trailer above.

Created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen, Futurama‘s new season will blast off Monday, July 29 on Hulu, releasing episodes weekly.

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In the upcoming 10 episodes, the “occasionally heroic crew” of Fry,...

Photo Credit: Hulu Futurama fans get excited! Hulu has just released the trailer for Season 12 of the animated sci fi comedy series. Prepare to embark on a journey, with Fry, Leela, Bender and the rest of the Planet Express crew in the world of 3023. This season promises a mix of laughter and adventure from perilous birthday party antics to unraveling Benders robot heritage. Additionally we’ll delve into the origins of coffee. Witness developments in Fry and Leelas time crossed love story. The original voice actors like John Dimaggio, Billy West, Katey Sagal and others are back to breathe life into these characters more. Expect the banter, quirky jokes and heartfelt moments that have captivated fans for over twenty years. Save the date for Monday, July 29th when Season 12 of Futurama premieres, on Hulu!

The post ‘Futurama’ Blasts Off Again: Season 12 Trailer Drops, Premiere Date Announced appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.

Hulu has revealed the official trailer and key art for Futurama Season 12, which will debut on the streaming service on Monday, July 29.

Following Hulu’s critically acclaimed 2023 revival of Futurama, the epic sci-fi series from Matt Groening and David X. Cohen returns in 2024 with ten all-new episodes.

On this orbit around the sun, our occasionally heroic crew embarks on mind-bending adventures involving birthday party games to the death, the secrets of Bender’s ancestral robot village, A.I. friends (and enemies), impossibly cute beanbags, and the true 5 million-year-old story behind the consciousness-altering substance known as coffee.

And, of course, the next chapter in Fry and Leela’s fateful, time-twisted romance.

The cast of Futurama Season 12 includes John Dimaggio, Billy West, Katey Sagal, Tress MacNeille, Maurice Lamarche, Lauren Tom, Phil Lamar, and David Herman.

The series was created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen. The executive producers include Groening,...

In the "Futurama" episode "The Day the Earth Stood Stupid", Earth is invaded by a destructive species of gigantic, disembodied brains. The brains, called the Brainspawn, hate all forms of intelligence, and aim to rid the universe of any brainwaves other than their own. They also emanate an energy field that drastically reduces the intelligence of everyone on Earth; shortly after the invasion, everyone decides to play the lottery, buy internet stock, and join the Reform Party. 

Only Fry (Billy West) is immune to the Brainspawn's energy field, thanks to an old time-travel incident that caused Fry to become his own grandfather (don't ask). Fry confronts the Brain Leader (Maurice Lamarche) in the New York Public Library, the ideal place for a brain to hang out. Initially, the Brain Leader psychically inserts Fry and Leela (Katey Sagal) into books like "Moby-Dick" and "Pride and Prejudice," but Fry eventually outwits the brain,...

Have you ever noticed how Tommy from Rugrats sounds just like one of the Powerpuff Girls? Or that Scooby-Doo and Astro from The Jetsons speak very similar dog languages?

Hollywood’s voice-acting community is full of really talented people who can churn out a bunch of different voices, but that doesn’t mean they don’t occasionally have characters that end up sounding exactly alike (it doesn’t help that this group of performers is relatively small).

To that end, here are 10 sets of cartoon characters whose voices are practically interchangeable…

10 Scooby-Doo and Astro

The Jetsons, which debuted as a prime-time show in 1962, is considered a classic today, but it didn’t gain that status until the 1980s when it re-debuted on Saturday mornings with new episodes. And so, when Scooby-Doo came along in 1969, six years after The Jetsons was canceled, voice actor Don Messick thought nothing of re-using Astro...

Welcome to July at Hulu! In addition to a large collection of films joining the streamer’s library on the first of the month, including Jordan Peele’s horror hit Get Out, 1986’s better-than-the-first-film “Aliens,” and more, Hulu will load up the rest of the month with various film streaming premieres, animated series returns, and documentary drops.

This July, check out a wide range of titles from the much-talked-about revenge thriller “Femme” to the new Hulu Original fashion competition series “Dress My Tour,” hosted by Kate Upton.

Last but not least, wrap up the month with the Season 12 (or Season 2 of the Hulu revival) premiere of “Futurama,” which celebrates a quarter-century this year.

Check out The Streamable’s top picks for what’s coming to Hulu this month, and find out everything coming to the streamer in July!

30-Day Free Trial $7.99+ / month hulu.com “Mastermind: To Think Like a Killer” | Thursday,...

In the "Futurama" episode "Calculon 2.0", the famously hammy acting robot Calculon (Maurice Lamarche) had been dead for years, having swallowed poison on stage in an attempt to make his death scene more realistic. He had been replaced on the soap opera "All My Circuits" with a new acting robot named Vextron, and fans hated the new actor. Fry (Billy West) and Bender (John Dimaggio) are so disgusted with Vextron that they resolve to exhume Calculon's mechanical husk and reunite it with his free-floating memory, stored in an ineffable cloud somewhere. The Robot Devil (Dan Castellaneta) hands over Calculon's "soul," and Professor Farnsworth (West) sets up a very, very scientific reactivation process to reunite Calculon with his body.

The process requires the Planet Express crew to wear protective, lead-lined "robes," and active five laser-connect wireless network hubs ... that just happen to form a pentagram. They have to reverse-install Calculon's programming, which...

While, Hulu is not as flashy as some of the other streaming services like Netflix, Max, and Disney+, it has a solid library of shows that are both originals and licensed through various studios. Regarding sci-fi shows, Hulu doesn’t have any big names like 3 Body Problem or Westworld, but it makes up for that by carrying some great new and old shows like Devs and The X-Files, which were loved by millions of people. So, we thought of making a list of the best sci-fi TV shows you can find on Hulu right now.

Rick and Morty Credit – Adult Swim

Rick and Morty is an adult animated sci-fi adventure comedy series created by Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland. The Adult Swim series follows the story of Rick Sanchez, the smartest man on Earth who lives with his daughter’s family. Rick and his grandson go on various life-threatening...

In the "Futurama" episode "When Aliens Attack", Earth is invaded by the brutish -- and TV-obsessed -- Omicronians. It seems that their planet, Omicron Persei 8, was still receiving Earth TV signals broadcast from a millennium before, and they had become very involved in the hottest TV shows of 1999. The leader of the Omicronians, Lrrr (Maurice Lamarche), became incensed when a signal from his favorite show, "Single Female Lawyer," was unexpectedly interrupted, and he led a fleet of warships to Earth in response. How did the season finale of "Single Female Lawyer" turn out? Lrrr needed to know, or else he'd destroy the planet. 

As is often the case when Earth is invaded, the President dispatched Zapp Brannigan (Billy West) to take care of the threat. "Futurama" fans will be able to tell you that this is always a bad idea, as Zapp Brannigan is a dumb, over-confident blowhard with no...

In the "Futurama" episode "A Fishful of Dollars", Fry (Billy West) remembers that he had 93 cents in his savings account when he was cryogenically frozen in 1999. After a thousand years of .25% interest, however, that amount had grown into a fortune of 4.3 billion dollars. Thankfully, inflation hasn't kept pace, and Fry is suddenly one of the wealthiest people on the planet. As anyone with abrupt access to a massive fortune might, Fry immediately begins to squander his riches on frivolous things. He buys the Mona Lisa merely so he may use it as a clay pigeon for skeet shooting. He tries to recreate a slobby, 20th-century apartment just as he remembered it. Most notably, he buys an ancient can of anchovies at auction, a valuable commodity indeed, given that anchovies went extinct many years before. The anchovies, still sealed, are guaranteed to be edible.

Unbeknownst to Fry, however, the anchovies are...

Futurama, the cult animated comedy series created by Matt Groening, is getting the deluxe art book treatment.

Abrams ComicArts, one of the leaders in the trendy format, will release The Art of Futurama, billed as the first art book to delve into the development and history of the acclaimed sci-fi comedy.

The book will be replete with the cool behind-the-scenes visuals the Art of books are known for and will come with commentary from the Groening, showrunner David X. Cohen and producer Claudia Katz.

It examines the first seven seasons of the series, which first aired on Fox in 1999. Readers will be able dive into the development and visual history of all 150 episodes, including brand–new content, never–before–seen concept art, sketches, developmental work, and a complete episode guide for the Emmy-winning show.

For the uninitiated, Futurama was a social satire that cented on a slacker named Philip J.

In the "Futurama" episode "Amazon Women in the Mood", the blustering misogynist Zapp Brannigan (Billy West) takes control of a space-bound restaurant and pilots it through dangerous areas of space, merely because it's more adventurous that way. Naturally, the restaurant is damaged during its voyage and crash lands on a distant, uncharted planet with the Planet Express crew. They discover on the uncharted planet a race of nine-foot-tall Amazon women clad in animal skin bikinis and carrying clubs. The Amazonians rarely see men on their planet and are not exactly sure what men are supposed to be good for.

This premise, of course, is cribbed from any number of pornographic male fantasies stretching back at least to the publication of H. Rider Haggard's "She" in 1886. There is a streak of colonialist fiction that dramatized faraway places (that is: far away from Western Europe) as Edenic locales where women wear...

Killer Collectibles highlights five of the most exciting new horror products announced each and every week, from toys and apparel to artwork, records, and much more.

Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!

Matinee 4K Uhd from Shout Select

Shout Select proudly presents Matinee on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray on June 25. The 1993 comedy has been newly restored in 4K from the original negative, supervised by director Joe Dante, with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos sound.

John Goodman stars as a filmmaker loosely based on B-movie legend William Castle. Cathy Moriarty, Simon Fenton, Omri Katz, Kellie Martin, and Lisa Jakub round out the cast. Charles S. Haas (Gremlins 2: The New Batch) penned the script.

Special features include: a new commentary by film critics Drew McWeeny and Eric Vespe; new interviews with Martin and David Clennon; interviews with Dante, Moriarty, Jakub, production designer Steven Legler, editor Marshall Harvey, and...

In the "Futurama" episode "The Problem with Popplers", the Planet Express crew lands on a distant, uncharted planet hoping to find a fast food joint; the ship had run out of supplies and Bender (John Dimaggio) was only able to make a meal with baking soda and capers. They land on a Class-m planet which, as Leela (Katey Sagal) explains, should at least provide roddenberry bushes. What they find instead are craters stuffed with brown, crunchy, edible meat nuggets ... that are utterly delicious. Snarfing ensues.

No one has set foot on this planet before so the Planet Express crew packs up the morsels and takes them back to Earth to sell on street corners. It's not long before they attract the attention of fast food proprietor Fishy Joe (Maurice Lamarche), and turn the nuggets — nicknamed Popplers — into a global phenomenon.

Naturally, there is something unusual about the Popplers. While Leela eats,...

In the third episode of "Futurama," called "I, Roommate," Fry (Billy West) is still sleeping at Planet Express, not yet having found a place to live. Fry is a slob, however, and his filthy detritus and unsanitary lifestyle become a nuisance for his coworkers. "Someone's been leaving food around," Hermes (Phil Lamarr) says at a company meeting, "and it's attracting owls. And I, for one, am tired of cleaning those owl traps." 

Owls? Yes, it seems that by the year 3000, owls will have replaced rats as New York City's most prolific species of warm-blooded vermin. The owls are rarely addressed directly on "Futurama," but filthy alleyways and garbage-strewn streets are always lousy with owls. From the looks of the animation, they are northern saw-whet owls, although their precise species has never been clarified. Weirdly, the owls are a joke unto themselves, and no one ever makes puns or gags at their expense.

Seven times in its history, "Futurama" has presented anthology episodes that exist outside of the show's normal continuity. Sometimes these episodes will be bookended with recognizable in-continuity material that binds the disparate anthology segments together, but just as often they are offered without context. In "Anthology of Interest II", the Professor (Billy West) reveals that he has repaired his What-If Machine, a prognosticating TV screen that displays short films as answers to what-if questions. The What-if Machine was also responsible for the segments seen in "Anthology of Interest I."

The alcoholic robot Bender (John Dimaggio) steps forward and reveals that he has always wondered what it would be like to be a human. The Professor puts that question to the What-If Machine, and out pops the hypothetical short "I, Meatbag." Within "I, Meatbag," the Professor uses a scientific process he calls reverse-fossilization to instantly turn Bender into a flesh-and-blood person.

In the very first "Futurama" episode, "Space Pilot 3000" (which is full of hidden clues), the dim-witted Fry (Billy West) awakens in the year 2999 after being cryogenically frozen for a millennium. Fry immediately encounters a bizarre future world he doesn't understand. He is informed that, in the 30th century, human beings are implanted with career chips that will determine their professional fate for the rest of their lives. Fry is told that he has been selected by the computer to be a delivery boy -- the same profession he held back in 1999. Fry, terrified by the prospect, flees into the streets of New New York, the city built on the ruins of Old New York. 

Fry is disoriented by what he sees. Aliens and robots stroll the sidewalks, and spacecraft whiz past overhead. He spots a few suicide booths on street corners. Most impressively, he sees a vast, tall network of...

In this brave new world of "Star Wars" fandom, it's almost unfathomable that there exist elements within the various films, novels, comics, and TV shows that don't have some sort of backstory or origin point. While obviously this stems from the huge fanbase for "Star Wars" loving the fictional universe so much that they wish to study and know absolutely everything that's in it, this trend also originated out of an inherent idea popularized by creator George Lucas with the very first movie in the franchise back in 1977 -- the implication that we're seeing a small part of a larger world, and every planet, ship, and creature we see (whether in the foreground or background) has its own history and story.

It's a powerful implication, and one that's essential to constructing a wholly fictional universe. Yet, of course, it's mostly hogwash -- or at least it used to be. While...

The 1990s answer to the classic ’80s series “The Real Ghostbusters,” “Extreme Ghostbusters” came along in 1997, the animated series airing from September 1 to December 8, 1997.

At long last, the complete 40-episode run of “Extreme Ghostbusters” is getting an official DVD release here in the United States, with Sony releasing the set on March 19, 2024!

Check out the box art below and read on for more information.

“Extreme Ghostbusters” ran for just one season, with the voice cast including Billy West, Rino Romano, Tara Strong, Alfonso Ribeiro, Jason Marsden, and Maurice Lamarche.

“Years after the events of The Real Ghostbusters, the original Ghostbusters crew have all moved on to different careers – except for Egon Spengler. After a prolonged quiet period, Egon is now a college professor on the paranormal and the sole caretaker of the firehouse – and Slimer.

“When supernatural activity suddenly resurges across New York and once again threatens the city, he...

"Futurama" is set a thousand years from our present. The show begins in the year 2999, as the world of tomorrow celebrates a happy New Year, and has since moved forward to correspond to the year the episode was aired — the latest, semi-satisfying season 11, reviewed by /Film here, was set in 3023.

This means that the show is set in New New York City (in the state of New New York). In "Space Pilot 3000," while our everyman hero Philip J. Fry slumbers in cryogenic suspension for a millennium, the metropolis outside is destroyed twice by alien invaders. Late in the pilot, Fry, Bender, and Leela find themselves underground in the ruins of old New York City; the place Fry once called home is the foundation upon which his new one rests.

Despite the thousand years of destruction and rebuilding, New New York still has a Statue of Liberty (though who knows if...

Bender (John Dimaggio), the drunken alcoholic robot on Matt Groening and David X. Cohen's sci-fi sitcom "Futurama" is fueled by alcohol. Indeed, if Bender doesn't have a cocktail once or twice a day, he begins to rust, his batteries begin to run down, and he behaves as if he's drunk. Of course, consuming too much booze also makes Bender behave like he's drunk, so it's a careful balance to ensure he's functional. If that seems unclear, don't worry. The characters on "Futurama" don't quite have a grasp of it either. When Bender claims to have seen a werewolf car (!), Fry (Billy West) responds by saying "You've been drinking too much, or too little. I forget how it works with you. Anyway, you haven't drunk exactly the right amount." 

Early in the series, Bender had more of a "drunken" voice, with actor Dimaggio giving the character a slightly raspier effect as well as a slight,...

The 2009 "Futurama" movie "Into the Wild Green Yonder" -- the show's fourth and final -- was, one might recall, supposed to the be definite end of the series. "Futurama" was notoriously canceled in 2004 thanks to flagging ratings, but gained new life through DVD sales. The series was initially resurrected in the form of four straight-to-video movies released in 2008 and 2009, a quartet that was intended to signal the franchise's farewell. Of course, when those four films also sold well, Comedy Central stepped in and resurrected the series for a second time. As of this writing, the show has been canceled and resurrected a third time. New episodes are currently on Hulu. 

Of course, the makers of "Futurama" didn't know in 2009 that they would come back, leading them to give the finale of "Green Yonder" an appropriately epic feel. The story of "Green Yonder" deals with cosmic energies, extinction, and the mass...

The fourth "Futurama" movie, "Into the Wild Green Yonder," was released on DVD on February 24, 2009, and it was intended to be the final word on the series ... again. The initial run of "Futurama" ended in 2002 after encountering poor ratings. DVD sales of the show remained robust, however, and Fox agreed to make four straight-to-video "Futurama" movies as a way of resurrecting the series for what was essentially one final season. The four movies did better than expected, and Comedy Central picked up "Futurama" for a third run, starting in 2010. "Futurama" is the brain that wouldn't die.

But for a while, it looked like "Into the Wild Green Yonder" was going to be the last time audiences would ever see "Futurama," and the makers wanted the story to be appropriately epic. The story of "Green Yonder" involves a sudden cosmic surge of Chi, or life-giving energy, that spontaneously pulsates into the galaxy.

The "Futurama" character Randy (John Dimaggio) has appeared in 17 episodes of the series to date and in three of the four movies. Randy is enthused, catty, and seen throughout the series holding down a wide variety of jobs. In one episode, he is the proprietor of a jewelry store (Dr. Zoidberg spits expensive gems at him). In another, he is seen teaching a prenatal swim class (Dr. Zoidberg froths lobster drool on him). In a third, he builds an ark to save Earth's animals during a great deluge (Dr. Zoidberg remains mercifully absent). In the latter scenario, Randy's husband points out that Randy filled the ark with same-sex couples, which he is quite proud of. "There are some parts of the Bible I like," Randy says, "and some parts I don't like."

Dimaggio has been quite outspoken on "Futurama" DVD commentaries about how much he loves Randy. Randy never emerged...

Voice actor Billy West plays several of the lead characters on Matt Groening and David X. Cohen's 31st-century sitcom "Futurama." His voice for Fry, he has said, is essentially how he sounded when he was in his 20s. He also voices the elderly Professor Farnsworth, the incompetent lobster Dr. Zoidberg, the blow-hard Shatnerian space captain Zapp Brannigan, and the severed head of Richard Nixon. He's also played a wide variety of store clerks, alien slugs, terrifying robots, and North Pole elves in his tenure on "Futurama." There is nothing, it seems, he can't do.

It also takes a great deal of professionalism to be so silly. Voice actors, especially prolific ones, have to recall how dozens of characters sound in a split second, able to call up whatever voices a scene needs. In West's case, he likely has to have conversations with himself, using two or more unique voices in a single scene.

In the "Futurama" episode "War is the H-Word," Fry (Billy West) and Bender (John Dimaggio) discover that they can get a 5% discount on ham-flavored chewing gum if they have a military I.D. Feeling that they would never be drafted into any kind of foolish military conflict, the two sign up for the armed services and absquatulate with their gum.

And then the war came.

Fry and Bender are immediately drafted into a bizarre battlefield excursion they're told very little about. They are trained to fire guns and be generally boorish and sexist, as their commanding officer is the irrepressible misogynist Zapp Brannigan (West). Fry's and Bender's much more capable friend Leela (Katey Sagal) joins the army in disguise (she puts on a beard) just so she can make sure the two dopes don't get blown up on day one of combat. It won't be until they are shipped to...

At the start of Matt Groening's and David X. Cohen's 31st-century sci-fi sitcom "Futurama," the alcoholic robot Bender (John Dimaggio) sounded a little bit more like a drunken vagrant. He slurred his speech more and seemed less able to concentrate. As the show progressed, Bender became more self-assured, like the guy at the bar who — after his fourth shot of Jim Beam — is 100% confident he could thrash the bouncer. Bender became egotistical in addition to being a drunken criminal. On DVD commentary tracks, the makers of "Futurama" have said that Bender, in being a robot, allowed them more explicit depictions of violence and vice; a human character cannot drink a gallon of rotgut whiskey and smoke four cigars simultaneously, but a robot can. The Fox censors are weird.

Prior to "Futurama," Dimaggio only had a few credits to his name. His first gig was playing ancillary voices in...

Voice actor Maurice Lamarche is one of the preeminent elder statesmen of his craft. He started his career in stand up, finding he was a talented mimic, moving into animation in 1980. He appeared in hit shows like "Inspector Gadget" and "Transformers," really hitting his stride in 1985 playing Ego Spengler in "The Real Ghostbusters." He cycled through the KidsWB canon aggressively in the late '80s and early '90s, appearing in "Taz-Mania," "Batman: The Animated Series," "Tiny Toon Adventures," "Freakazoid!," and "Animaniacs" wherein he employed his spot-on Orson Welles impersonation to voice the power-hungry mouse the Brain. His largest sampling of voice caricatures came from his work on the 1994 series "The Critic," where he voiced celebrities ranging from William Shatner to Elizabeth Taylor (but only when she was belching).

In 1999, Lamarche became one of the regulars on Mat Groening's and David X. Cohen's sci-fi sitcom "Futurama" where he played Kif,...