Futurama (season 6)
Encyclopedia
Futurama
sixth production season originally aired on Comedy Central
from June 24, 2010 to September 8, 2011 and consisted of 26 episodes. The season marks the change of networks from Fox
to Comedy Central
.
David X. Cohen
stated that the first thirteen episodes (known as Season 6-A) aired during 2010 as the seventh broadcast season, and the remaining thirteen episodes (known as Season 6-B) aired during 2011 as the eighth broadcast season. This makes the episode "The Futurama Holiday Spectacular" the mid-season finale, despite airing almost twelve weeks after Futurama 100th episode
. The final episode of the season, "Reincarnation", aired on September 8, 2011 as a three-segment non-canonical
special after the official season finale.
The first thirteen episodes of the season have been released on a box set called Futurama: Volume 5, on DVD
and Blu-ray Disc
. It was released in the United States and Canada, on December 21, 2010. The remaining thirteen episodes will be available on a box set called Futurama: Volume 6, due for release in the United States and Canada on December 20, 2011.
was designed to stand as the final episode of the Futurama series. However, both Matt Groening
and David X. Cohen
had expressed a desire to continue the franchise in some form, including as a theatrical film. In an interview with CNN
, Groening said that "we have a great relationship with Comedy Central and we would love to do more episodes for them, but I don't know... We're having discussions and there is some enthusiasm but I can't tell if it's just me."
On June 9, 2009, 20th Century Fox
announced that Comedy Central had picked up the show for 26 new half-hour episodes that began airing on June 24, 2010. Due to budget concessions, the number of returning writing staff had to be reduced.
Initial voice actor contract talks resulted in a dispute, with 20th Century Fox reportedly refusing to meet the cast's demands for US$75,000 per episode. The claim was strenuously denied by members of the cast, and on July 17, 2009 Fox announced that auditions would be held to recast the characters. Groening and Cohen had no part in the discussions, with the former stating "we hope that Fox and the actors can come to an agreement as soon as possible." It was speculated by some in the media that this was merely a ploy in order to get the cast to agree to Fox's offer, citing a similar situation with the cast of The Simpsons
as a previous example. The dispute resulted in the voice cast being unable to attend the Futurama booth at Comic Con 2009. However, a deal was struck and on July 31, 2009 it was announced that the full original voice cast would be returning.
Groening, Cohen and the cast expressed extreme optimism for the return of Futurama, with Katey Sagal
and Phil LaMarr
claiming that the new season's episodes are "hysterical" and "the best yet". Commenting on the revival, Groening revealed that several plots for the upcoming episodes had actually been devised during or even before the original run of the series. Groening has also explained that he had been inspired by J. J. Abrams
' Star Trek film, and had even considered rebooting Futurama, before opting for a "rebirth
".
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Futurama
Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
sixth production season originally aired on Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
from June 24, 2010 to September 8, 2011 and consisted of 26 episodes. The season marks the change of networks from Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
to Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
.
David X. Cohen
David X. Cohen
David Samuel Cohen , primarily known as David X. Cohen, is an American television writer. He has written for The Simpsons and he is the head writer and executive producer of Futurama.-Early life:...
stated that the first thirteen episodes (known as Season 6-A) aired during 2010 as the seventh broadcast season, and the remaining thirteen episodes (known as Season 6-B) aired during 2011 as the eighth broadcast season. This makes the episode "The Futurama Holiday Spectacular" the mid-season finale, despite airing almost twelve weeks after Futurama 100th episode
The Mutants Are Revolting
"The Mutants Are Revolting" is the twelfth episode of the sixth season of the animated sitcom Futurama and is the 100th episode of the series. It aired on Comedy Central on September 2, 2010 as a mid-season finale, with remaining episodes broadcast in November 2010 and in 2011. In the episode, the...
. The final episode of the season, "Reincarnation", aired on September 8, 2011 as a three-segment non-canonical
Canon (fiction)
In the context of a work of fiction, the term canon denotes the material accepted as "official" in a fictional universe's fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction, which are not considered canonical...
special after the official season finale.
The first thirteen episodes of the season have been released on a box set called Futurama: Volume 5, on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
. It was released in the United States and Canada, on December 21, 2010. The remaining thirteen episodes will be available on a box set called Futurama: Volume 6, due for release in the United States and Canada on December 20, 2011.
Production
With the future of the series uncertain at the time of production, the final of the four film releases Into the Wild Green YonderFuturama: Into the Wild Green Yonder
Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder is the last of a series of four straight-to-DVD Futurama movies. The movie was written by Ken Keeler, based on a story by Keeler and David X. Cohen, and directed by Peter Avanzino. Guest stars include Phil Hendrie, Penn Jillette , Snoop Dogg and Seth...
was designed to stand as the final episode of the Futurama series. However, both Matt Groening
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
and David X. Cohen
David X. Cohen
David Samuel Cohen , primarily known as David X. Cohen, is an American television writer. He has written for The Simpsons and he is the head writer and executive producer of Futurama.-Early life:...
had expressed a desire to continue the franchise in some form, including as a theatrical film. In an interview with CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, Groening said that "we have a great relationship with Comedy Central and we would love to do more episodes for them, but I don't know... We're having discussions and there is some enthusiasm but I can't tell if it's just me."
On June 9, 2009, 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
announced that Comedy Central had picked up the show for 26 new half-hour episodes that began airing on June 24, 2010. Due to budget concessions, the number of returning writing staff had to be reduced.
Initial voice actor contract talks resulted in a dispute, with 20th Century Fox reportedly refusing to meet the cast's demands for US$75,000 per episode. The claim was strenuously denied by members of the cast, and on July 17, 2009 Fox announced that auditions would be held to recast the characters. Groening and Cohen had no part in the discussions, with the former stating "we hope that Fox and the actors can come to an agreement as soon as possible." It was speculated by some in the media that this was merely a ploy in order to get the cast to agree to Fox's offer, citing a similar situation with the cast of The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
as a previous example. The dispute resulted in the voice cast being unable to attend the Futurama booth at Comic Con 2009. However, a deal was struck and on July 31, 2009 it was announced that the full original voice cast would be returning.
Groening, Cohen and the cast expressed extreme optimism for the return of Futurama, with Katey Sagal
Katey Sagal
Catherine Louise "Katey" Sagal is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She first achieved widespread fame as Peggy Bundy on the long-running Fox comedy series Married.....
and Phil LaMarr
Phil LaMarr
Phillip "Phil" LaMarr is an American actor, comedian and voice actor. One of the original cast members on the sketch comedy series MADtv, he is also known for his small, but memorable role as Marvin in Pulp Fiction...
claiming that the new season's episodes are "hysterical" and "the best yet". Commenting on the revival, Groening revealed that several plots for the upcoming episodes had actually been devised during or even before the original run of the series. Groening has also explained that he had been inspired by J. J. Abrams
J. J. Abrams
Jeffrey Jacob "J. J." Abrams is an American film and television producer, screenwriter, director, actor, and composer. He wrote and produced feature films before co-creating the television series Felicity...
' Star Trek film, and had even considered rebooting Futurama, before opting for a "rebirth
Rebirth (Futurama)
"Rebirth" is the premiere of Futuramas sixth season, and the revival of the series. It originally aired in North America on June 24, 2010, on Comedy Central. The episode was written by David X...
".
Episodes
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U.S. ratings
| # | Episode | Original air date | Viewers (millions) |
Ratings share (Adults 18-49) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Home releases
| Futurama Volume 5 | ||||
| Set details | Special features | |||
|
|
|||
| DVD release dates | ||||
| Region 1 DVD region code DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region... |
Region 2 DVD region code DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region... |
Region 4 DVD region code DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region... |
||
| December 21, 2010 | December 26, 2011 | November 2, 2011 | ||
| Blu-ray Disc release dates | ||||
| Region A | Region B | |||
| December 21, 2010 | December 26, 2011 | |||
| Futurama Volume 6 | ||||
| Set details | Special features | |||
|
Hubert J. Farnsworth Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth, or simply The Professor, is a fictional character in the American animated television series Futurama. He is voiced by Billy West using a combination of impressions of Burgess Meredith and Frank Morgan. Farnsworth is the proprietor of the Planet Express delivery... featurette |
|||
| DVD release dates | ||||
| Region 1 DVD region code DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region... |
Region 2 DVD region code DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region... |
Region 4 DVD region code DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region... |
||
| December 20, 2011 | ||||
| Blu-ray Disc release dates | ||||
| Region A | Region B | |||
| December 20, 2011 | colspan="2" | |||
External links
- Season 6 on the Infosphere.