Good news, everyone!

The cult sci-fi animated series ‘Futurama’ is back on the air after the FOX network dropped it back in 2003.

Well, it’s kind of back.

First, Cartoon Network aired the show from 2003-2007, and then Comedy Central picked up the show, which is best known for its extremely nerdy science jokes, irreverent humor and plentiful celebrity cameos.

The only catch is the ‘new’ episodes airing right now – and which will culminate in a mashed-together sixth season – aren’t actually new, but serialized versions of the straight-to-DVD ‘Futurama’ movies currently being made.

‘Futurama,’ for the uninitiated, is about Fry, a pizza delivery man who, on New Year’s Eve 2000, ends up in the year 3000. Once there, he teams up with his new best friend, Bender, an alcoholic, cigar-smoking, whoremongering robot; Leela – his one-eyed love interest; and The Professor – a 160-something year old inventor and professor who is actually Fry’s great-great-great (etc.) nephew.

Normally a straight-to-DVD movie is the hex on a dying franchise, but in the case of ‘Futurama,’ it looks to be a fantastic revival of the series.

So far, ‘Bender’s Big Score’ has been the only movie released, and Comedy Central is chopping it up into a couple episodes to satisfy fans who haven’t seen it yet.

The writers have no qualms about addressing the cancellation of the show, alluding to it several times in the opening of the movie, with references to the BOX network (the conglomerate that manages all delivery companies, including Planet Express) canceling Planet Express. The BOX network and its executives are a running gag throughout the movie, but where ‘BBS’ really wins is that it isn’t self-contained. The writers are very aware the movie needs to fit in context with the series, and they do a great job of tying in references to past episodes, obscure ‘Futurama’ facts and running jokes within the series itself.

Writing has always been the strongest part of ‘Futurama,’ at times the very talented writing team almost seems to have written the series entire story-arc at once, with things from the first episode being critical plot points in the fifth season, time-warps, explanations for why Fry is in the future and his importance for being there. They also make seemingly unrelated side-stories connect in mind-bogglingly meaningful ways.

Fans of the series won’t be disappointed by the movie, or its incarnations on Comedy Central – though watching it as a whole will make the plot easier to follow – but luckily, the movie won’t alienate new or casual watchers. There’s some universal humor, from non-sequiturs to nerd jokes to physical comedy that everyone will get along with the hidden jokes and obscure scientific references that have created the strong fan following of ‘Futurama.’

It may be a bit of wait for the rest of the movies, the next one – ‘Beast with a Billion Backs’ – doesn’t come out until June, and then the final two movies will come out at the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009. But I feel confident in predicting they’ll be just as good as what we’re seeing now.

The scoop on upcoming ‘Futurama’ Flicks

‘Bender’s Big Score’

Release: Now playing on Comedy Central

Planet Express sees a hostile takeover by nudist aliens who control Bender to fulfill their schemes. Time travel comes into play again, as do the Nibblonians and Fry’s love for Leela. I don’t want to ruin the genius writing, but Fry and Leela’s relationship plays a bigger part in this than you may think.

‘The Beast with a Billion Backs’

Release: June 24, 2008

The only credible info about this so far is that it’s ‘about a creature that carries on a simultaneous affair with everyone in the galaxy,’ according to an article that appeared in Wired magazine.

‘Bender’s Game’

Release: End of 2008

Writer David X. Cohen told IGN.com that this movie will be a Dungeons and Dragons-style fantasy, and he hinted to Wired it would involve some incarnation of the evil character Mom (of Momcorp) and her sons. The plot has to do with a severe dark matter storage (one pound weighs nearly 10,000 pounds!).

‘Into the Wild Green Yonder’

Release: Sometime in 2009

No credible plot info yet, but fan site gotfuturama.com reports that Snoop Dogg will be playing Chief Justice of the Earth Supreme Court.

ajchavar@syr.edu

Published on March 30, 2008 at 12:00 pm