Futurama Getting Cancelled Again? Hulu Reveals Unexpected News
Good news everyone! Despite a number of issues plaguing the film and entertainment industry in the last year or so, including box office disasters, labor strikes, and streaming service price-hikes, the Futurama revival on Hulu has been renewed for two more seasons. TVLine has reported that the twice-cancelled adult cartoon has been picked up for a total of 20 more episodes, in addition to the previously ordered 12th season, which is currently under development.
Futurama Has Been Renewed For An Additional Two Seasons
When Futurama first came to life on Fox back in 1999, the Matt Groening-created series ran only four seasons before getting the axe, resulting in an outcry from fans across the globe. Thanks to a great deal of public support for the science fantasy series, which takes place in New New York in the year 3,000, the Planet Express crew were brought back for a set of four feature films titled Bender’s Big Score, The Beast With a Billion Backs, Bender’s Game, and Into the Wild Green Yonder.
These films, which spanned release dates from 2007 until 2009, inspired such devotion from viewers that Comedy Central picked the series up for a revival, resulting in seasons 6 through 10.
Futurama Returns, This Time Streaming On Hulu
When the show’s Comedy Central run concluded, many fans felt as though the final episode, 2013’s “Meanwhile” was a perfect closer, filled with enough heart, humor, and scientific thought experiments to lay the show to rest for good.
That’s why it came as such a shock in February of 2022 when Fox announced that they were reviving Futurama for another two seasons over a decade later, on Hulu. When the latest episodes finally aired this past Summer, fans were cautiously optimistic that the show would retain its high watermark for quality, even with the passage of time.
Season 11 Was A Successful Revival
Luckily, fans and executives alike seem to agree that the series’ 11th season was a huge success, as Hulu has opted to continue to renew Futurama through seasons 12-14. Though many productions were negatively impacted by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes this year, Futurama may serve as one of the few shows that actually benefited from the labor movements, as fair pay for voice actors was a hot-button debate for much of the Hulu revival’s production.
John DiMaggio Fights For Voice Actors
Bender ‘Bending’ Rodriguez’ voice actor John DiMaggio was originally a long-term holdout for the streaming revival, citing fair pay and benefits for vocal performers before finally signing on to reprise his role.
With fair pay, better benefits, and the appropriate division of labor on everyone’s mind this year, Futurama‘s labor battle was revisited by many in the pop culture sphere as a massive win for television creators and fans alike. Luckily, the streamer seems to have come to an amenable agreement with the Futurama cast and writers, with a contract that extends into the 2026 television season.
Futurama Shows No Signs Of Slowing Down
With new Futurama episodes continually being produced for the foreseeable future, there’s no telling which hot-button issues the politically-minded cartoon series will lampoon. The most recent outing saw the series give its comedically nuanced take on binge-watching, cancel culture, and the theory that we’re living in a simulation, as well as sequel episodes to some of the most beloved adventures of the show’s decades-old run.
