Fans of the animated futuristic comedy aptly named "Futurama" are not in high spirits today. It has been announced by Comedy Central that the cable T.V. channel will not be renewing the show past its seventh season.
This has not been the first time that the award-winning series has been cancelled. It ran for four years on Fox before getting the axe, and has been on Comedy Central with either reruns or original content ever since 2003.
"Having the opportunity to bring 'Futurama' back for 52 episodes over these last four years has been a thrill for all of us at Comedy Central. The upcoming season promises to be the best final season of 'Futurama' yet," says Dave Bernath, EVP Program Strategy & Multi Programming at Comedy Central.
The cancellation comes as a shock to fans of the show, but not necessarily its creators David X. Cohen and Matt Groening. Groening is also the creator of The Simpsons, which is the longest running animated T.V. show of all time.
"I felt like we were already in the bonus round on these last couple of seasons, so I can't say I was devastated by the news," Cohen told EW. "It was what I had expected two years earlier. At this point I keep a suitcase by my office door so I can be cancelled at a moment's notice."
Futurama has developed a cultish, but sizable following ever since its inception in 1999. The show follows Fry, a modern day guy with a dead end career, as he gets cryogenically frozen and awakes in the future. He ends up working with a rag tag crew of interstellar delivery workers as they venture around the galaxy.
"We're catching our breath and seeing what the fans have to say" says Groening. "The experience of this show has been so much fun from the very beginning to now - everybody is so happy to work on this show - that it'd be a shame if we all went our separate ways... We would love to continue. We have many more stories to tell. But if we don't, this is a really great way to go out... I think these episodes are the best ones we've ever done."
It is uncertain if this will be the last go round for the zany comedy, or if it will try to find a home elsewhere. Futurama has gone the direct-to-t.v. movie route before, releasing a total of four movies that way after being cancelled on Fox. Until that happens, many fans will surely be asking "Why not Zoidberg?"
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