TVSquad

At last night's FOX party at the Langham Huntington's "Horseshoe Garden," I ran into (TV Squad reader) Katey Sagal, who was there in support of her excellent FX show Sons of Anarchy. Before we could get into any questions about that show, though, I wanted to know about the contentious negotiations between 20th Century Fox and the voice cast of Futurama that finally were wrapped up last week.

Her reaction? Slightly perturbed, but not surprised, given her industry experience. "Well, it's what always happens. We're starting our sixth season, and the actors felt that it was deserving of a sixth-season salary. And we weren't being offered that. We were united in our search for... we wanted what's fair, that's all."

When 20th put out a casting notice looking for replacement voices, Sagal said, "I wasn't surprised. It's business."

Despite a minor derailment that nearly threw all of the show's voice talent head first through a windshield, Futurama is finally full steam ahead ... again.

Variety reports that production on the new Comedy Central episodes has been restarted now that the principal voice talent has been coaxed back to the studio. This means that the show will be able to meet its 2010 target date.

That is, of course, unless there are unforeseen complications like, say, another writers' strike, an animator ink shortage, or an impromptu invasion led by the planet Omicron Persei 8. Negotiations with Lur are still pending.

It looks like it may have all been tactics after all. At least so far. While I'm thrilled that the majority of the Futurama voice actors have signed deals to reprise their roles, they're still missing two of the key talents. Can you really imagine Futurama with different voices for Fry, Zoidberg, Farnsworth and Bender? At the same time, I can't really see Billy West (Fry, Zoidberg, Farnsworth) and John Di Maggio (Bender) walking away from this.

Di Maggio is currently working on Penguins of Madagascar, but neither is working on anything as high profile as Futurama. I can't imagine they have any intention of truly walking away from a revival getting this much press. They were just trying to play hardball, and realized that 20th Century wasn't going to play.

I think it would have been fun if they'd recast the characters. They would have probably even addressed it right in the episodes, having them talk about how they all sound different and coming up with some ridiculous reason for it.

[UPDATE: - Since the composition of this post, all principal cast members have been signed.]

What the....? What do you mean that Fox has put out a casting notice to replace the voice leads on Futurama? Katey Sagal and Billy West didn't mention that when they spoke to Danny in June. What kind of colossal cluster-frak is Fox doing?

As the article notes, this is either a salary negotiation tactic or the dumbest marketing move since new Coke. This is like replacing Seth MacFarlane on Family Guy (which I wouldn't put past the Fox executives in looking to save a buck or two). Everybody, and I mean everybody, would notice if the characters suddenly spoke with a different voice, no matter how much the voice tried to be like the original.

This is a bad idea. Even if they did some sort of lame plot device like having Professor Farnsworth invent a machine that would change everybody's voice, this is a bad idea.

They tried this same tactic years ago with the voices on The Simpsons and that didn't work either. Here's hoping that Fox has similar luck.

Futurama has gone through more frustrating cancellations than a United Airlines flight leaving Chicago's O'Hare Airport. No one knows that better than voice actor Billy West and actress Katey Sagal who respectively provide the voice, heart and soul of the show's two main characters, Fry and Leela.

But what has kept the show going is the camaraderie of the cast and crew. Everyone from the show still keep in touch in between other jobs and even have the occasional reunion from their regular crowded visits at ComicCon to smaller get togethers like when Katey said the cast got together to watch her last concert at the MBar in Hollywood.

Most of all, they said they have the fans to thank for their next big reunion when Futurama goes back into production. They both took a short time out of their busy schedules to chat about Comedy Central's two season order.

If you thought Futurama had nowhere to go after the climatic series-long ending with Into the Wild Green Yonder (and notice I'm not revealing what that ending is so you spoiler-hating surprise junkies don't lose your half-daily hit of whahuh?!?), think again.

Futurama's executive producer David X. Cohen talked to Wired Magazine's Underwire blog about just what lies ahead for the new Comedy Central episodes.

The good news is Cohen seems to be brimming with more crazy ideas than a Hardee's product development retreat, but he doesn't reveal anything too specific in terms of what Fry, Leela and Bender will be doing in the episodes to come.

What was once just internet gossip that spread across the web like a persistent skin rash has now become confirmed fact.

20th Century Fox and Comedy Central are not only reviving Futurama, but they want double the initial number of episodes that Collider.com reported meaning fans can look forward to 26 new episodes the sci-fi comedy series around the middle of 2010.

Variety also reports that actors Billy West, Katey Sagal and John DiMaggio have also signed up to once again provide the voices for Fry, Leela and Bender. I believe that sound you just heard was the universe being ripped open by this awesome time loop.

Day three of Comic-Con 2008 began with waiting in a line that streched the length of the convention center for the Futurama panel, which was followed by The Simpsons panel. Futurama featured the primary voice cast of Billy West, Katey Sagal, and John DiMaggio as well as creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen.

Due to time limitations the panel when right into audience questions. One that was asked pertained to Matt and David's plans for the show. Both meant said that they had the entire story of Futurama planned even before the show began. They didn't know where the show would go, and they still have plenty of secrets to reveal in upcoming DVD releases.

Saturday -- a time of rest and relaxation. A time to put your feet up, grab a lemonade, open a book, and let the cool, summer breezes gently rock your hammock as a lazy July day passes. Of course, that's if you aren't attending the San Diego Comic-Con. Then, it's out of your bed, quick shower (if any), breakfast-on-the-go, and right back into the queues to see your particular favorites talking about their television shows.

Like Friday, Saturday at Comic-Con will be packed with television goodness. This is the day that many of the big guns come to play. Shows like The Office, Lost, Battlestar Galactica will be making appearances. They will be joined by newcomers Chuck, Dollhouse, and Pushing Daisies. There will even be an appearance by the recently single Sarah Silverman. There's also a good bit of television animation being featured, particularly by Nicktoons and B.E.T. Animation.

In order to make sure you get the most out of the money you paid to get into the convention, we here at TV Squad are providing you with a complete list of television-related panels for that day. If you are interested in seeing what else is going on July 25th you can review the official full schedule at the Comic-Con website. Remember, times and appearances are subject to change and seating in all event rooms is on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Thanks to the extreme generosity of Fox Home Entertainment, TV Squad has scored an advance copy of the latest direct-to-DVD Futurama release titled The Beast With A Billion Backs. Previously, we directed you to another DVD review of the show, but now this one is ours! All ours! MWA HA HA HA!

A-hem.

The second direct-to-DVD release of Futurama is a fun movie with loads of extras that make the purchase worth it. They include outtakes, deleted scenes, commentary tracks, and an extra I particularly enjoyed: a "Lost Episode" made from a Futurama video game (which was a bit like watching a video game demo, but with jokes). The DVD also comes with a preview of the next Futurama DVD release which looks to be a satire of Lord of the Rings. Guest voices include Brittany Murphy as Fry's new girlfriend, David Cross as the planet-sized Yivo and Professor Stephen Hawking as himself.

Spoilers after the jump...

I am not one for the traditional holiday fare constantly repeated on television at this time of year (although, I am a sucker for It's A Wonderful Life, and regularly tear up at the very end. Damn you, Frank Capra!) That's why I am very grateful for sites like YouTube, which provide me with an alternative to my holiday viewing. Because of that monster video web site I am able to watch, over and over and over again, perhaps one of my most favorite holiday videos: Twas the Night Before Christmas recited by numerous voice actors.

Yes, I may enjoy this because I am a voiceover wonk, but I just think it's the coolest thing. Not only do you get to hear the story told by great voice actors like Jim Cummings, Gary Owens, Billy West, and Don LaFontaine, but you also get to match the voices you have heard on your television during a normal day with actual faces. In addition, you get to see some television actors -- Nate Corddry and Dennis Haysbert, to name just two -- doing their thing behind the microphone.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do. You can view the video after the clip.

If you didn't get your fill of voice actor Billy West when Joel interviewed him awhile ago, you can listen to an audio interview with the voice actor on the Paul Harris Show by clicking here. West, who, as many of you know, did the voices of a bunch of the characters on Futurama, plus the voice of both Ren and Stimpy during part of that show's run, not to mention a ton of other characters both classic and new. West talks about how he comes up with voices for the characters, and tells a funny story about watching The Diary of Anne Frank because one of the actors, Lou Jacobi, was part of his inspiration for the voice of Zoidberg on Futurama. He also talks about how voice actors often get treated like second class citizens in Hollywoodland. A very funny interview, definitely worth checking out.

[via Mark Evanier]

(S01E13) So we've come to the last episode of Futurama Season One (or, if you believe Fox, the fourth episode of Season Two). As you can tell, it was a good start to a show that continued to get better over its four years on the air. Even in this season, you could tell that the characters became more refined, and the episodes got progressively funnier as the year went on. It all seemed to culimnate with this episode, which I think is the funniest of the season. It shows us what's really in the ubiquitous drink Slurm, whose tagline is the one I think Red Bull should use: "It's Highly Addictive!"

(S01E12) Very few writers can somehow lampoon both Independence Day and Ally McBeal in the same episode and somehow make it look like it makes sense. I mean, take a look at Family Guy; it rockets from one pop-culture reference to the next without much of a thought to context or its relatability to the actual plot of the episode. The writers of Futurama, however, seem to take such a juxtaposition and smoothly incorporate it into the plot of the show. It could be the fact that the show takes place in the future, where you can create something like Monument Beach and make it sound plausible. But it might just be damn good writing (or at least, writing that's not done by manatees).

(S01E11) Is it me or does it seem like a lot of television comedies -- especially cartoons -- do parodies of Animal House? I mean, I've seen that movie's ending scene, where each main character gets freeze-framed as a caption describing what happened to them after college flashes on the screen, mocked a number of times. But, as the old adage goes, it's not the topic, it's the writer's take on the topic that counts. The writers of Futurama do a decent job of making their own version of the venerable movie... complete with a chubby robot with the oh-so-simple name of Fatbot.

Oh, and there's a talking monkey in a bowler. But that's a whole 'nother story.