Will the new Futurama season suffer the way Simpsons and Family Guy?

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fallingForYou

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As we've seen with Simpsons from Season 11 onward, and Family Guy when it returned from its hiatus, both shows essentially felt different and most hardcore fans felt they declined in quality.

Is anyone worried that Futurama will suffer the same fate? Where the new season will feel decidedly different than the original show, and it will be viewed the same way people view the newer Simpsons seasons?
 
There's no way to know, because the episodes aren't out yet. So.....there's no point in asking this question because there's no answer.
 
I think the movies only suffered because they had a hard time sustaining their plots for 90 minutes. When the story is weak and you don't care about what happens to the characters, all the jokes in the world can't save it. "Futurama" works best as a half-hour show, and I think it'll flourish when it returns to that format. (At least I hope so.)
 
Me too. I also hope that the crew behind the show will figure out the show's weaknesses and address them. For my part, I love certain episodes of the show - "The Sting", "The Devil's Hands etc.", "The Why of Fry", "Time Keeps On Slippin'" and so on, but overall I was not a huge fan of the show. It was a little too bizarre at times, at least for me. I hope it returns as a stronger show...one that will keep me interested and tuned in. We'll see.
 
Just what I was going to say in Futurama's defense, but you worded it better than I could.

As for the Simpsons and Family Guy, like most standalone comedy toons, are more of a make it up as you go along. While that can result in quality entertain, it can only work for so long.

Story based show, however, lend themselves to a lengthier run since the writer plans out many stories and elements in advance.
 
I am sad to say, i believe Futuramas golden age has ended, since the movies weren't anywhere near as good as the show had been. And no, i dont think that was entirely due to difficulty sustaining a plot longer than a TV episode; the jokes just weren't nearly as funny or intelligent as those in the show. And i see no reason to believe that the new episodes are going to be able to re-capture the magic of the original seasons if the movies didn't.
 
Probably, yes, though I will watch anyway :sweat: The movies left me disappointed and though they might be a little better because the writers aren't struggling for a longer story, I don't think it'll be by much. I hope I'm proved wrong!
 
I don't think so, but maybe because I'm a sucker for sci-fi sometimes :sweat:. I thought the movies were great, though Beast With a Billion Backs was the weakest IMO. Maybe because of how Simpsons and Family Guy have gone down the tubes, the Futurama staff is making sure to not go down that path (one can hope...)
 
No, I think he was comparing it more to Family Guy, seeing as The Simpsons has never been canceled. Family Guy had a pretty sizeable following prior to it's cancellation in 2003, but that didn't matter to Fox, and it was canceled. Once Fox saw that the show got good ratings on Adult Swim and that it made good money off of DVD sales, they realized they were wrong, so it looks like Family Guy will be around for the foreseeable future, unless Seth really does decide to end it.

Also, keep in mind the new Futurama will air on Comedy Central, which means it doesn't need as many viewers as a broadcast network(like Fox) requires to keep the show alive, so it will be harder for the show to get canceled.
 
This is what prompted me to post this thread in the first place. I'd rather Futurama have a few good seasons and be a short series than go on for 200+ episodes to the point where everyone hates it.

I just hope that if Futrama's revival isn't that good, they have the sense to end it rather than drag it into the abyss of what happened to some other shows.
 
Me, too. Futurama should just stay gone, but not forgotten, with the four seasons it had sucessfully put in place for itself.

Revivals of ended series' all always a risky ventures without creators, writers, and direction equal to that or better than its originators. Same goes especially for movie adaptations. They aree too many of those to list here.

All I see coming from this revival, knowing how cheap it will be IMHO, is something equal to that of Spongbob or Fairly Oddparents (Don't get me started on The Simpsons or Family Guy here BTW; Those shows need to move on like King of the Hill, which I'm very glad, did) where the writers have no soul for what they're doing, the creativity is lacking or just abysmal in comparision to its early counterpart, or that its filled with fart/toilet humor/ unnecessary sex jokes/ unnecessary violence that only hinders actually intelligent moments...

So yeah, if this revival leads to anything like Spongbob,Fairly Oddparents,The Simpsons or Family Guy, This won't be something viewed for its true purpose, which is entertainment, it'll just be viewed by the more cynical of us viewers as something that had to drop dead so we can better ourselves...

These feelings alone are why Futurama should just stay stay finished and be remembered by DVD or iTunes viewership. The movies hinting at its revival are mediocre at best to poorly done BTW IMHO.
If the new eps are anything like the movies, I'm just being redundant here at this point.
 
I'm hoping that the new Futurama TV episodes will do better than the movies did since they're back to 30-minute increments. Half of the movies didn't fare so well because they were trying to stretch a 22-minute sitcom into 2-hour feature length stories, and the visible strain to keep them interesting and to keep the jokes coming often rang louder than the plot.

Not all shows are suited for features, they work best in small doses. Futurama is one of those shows, IMO. Since most of the same cast and crew are coming back for the new episodes, I'm hoping that they can if not recapture the original magic, do a passable job of simulating it.
 
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