Posts with tag matt groening
Posted Mar 21st 2008 10:25AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: TV on DVD, Futurama

As the first
Futurama straight-to-DVD movie,
Bender's Big Score, begins airing on Comedy Central (they'll air the movie as a four-episode blok on Sunday night), Fox has announced the name and release date of the second straight-to-DVD epic.
AnimationMagazine.net reports that
Futurama: The Beast With A Billion Backs will be released on June 24, and they note that Fox calls it "the most tentacle-packed
Futurama epic." Since it's a continuation of
Bender's Big Score, I'll talk about the plot of the new movie after the jump, for the benefit of those who haven't seen the first movie yet.
Continue reading New Futurama movie coming to DVD in June
Posted Mar 6th 2008 8:34PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Industry, OpEd, Futurama

According to Trademork.com,
Twentieth Century Fox has trademarked the word "Slurm". For those who are unaware,
Slurm is the highly addictive beverage used in
Futurama that comes out of a giant worm's butt.
The exact trademark relates to "carbonated and non-carbonated soft drinks; fruit drinks; fruit juices; mineral and aerated water; bottled drinking water; energy drinks; syrups and powders for making soft drinks and other beverages, namely soft drinks, fruit drinks and tea; coffee-flavored soft drinks; Ramune (Japanese soda pops); powders used in the preparation of isotonic sports drinks and sports beverages".
Continue reading Slurm: It's highly addictive! And ... real?
Posted Jan 20th 2008 6:16PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: OpEd, The Simpsons, Animation, Futurama

Apparently, someone created a comic book in which the
cast of Futurama meets the cast of The Simpsons. As a fan of both, let me say that it would be pretty cool to see on television.
It's not outside the realm of possibility for the two universes to collide since both products are owned by Fox, much as having the Flintstones meet the Jetsons (both owned by Hanna-Barbera). Matt Groening does own the creative rights to
Futurama, whatever that means.
However, since they're now on two separate channels (
The Simpsons is on Fox and
Futurama will be on Comedy Central), it seems less likely that the two universes would come together on television. Maybe if both were still on Fox, but not now.
I do think it's funny having Morbo filming next to Kent Brockman. And having Flanders running from the Robot Devil. Or having Miss Crabapple flirting with Zap Brannigan. Hell, it's all funny.
[via
Digg]
Posted Nov 26th 2007 11:01AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: TV on DVD, Interviews, Futurama

On November 27,
Futurama comes back in a big way with
Bender's Big Score, an "epic" film involving all the characters from the show that ran on Fox from 1999-2003. The DVD is the first in a series of four direct-to-DVD releases, which will be edited into 16 episodes that will air on Comedy Central in 2008. Fellow Squadder Brad Trechak
gave the disc a positive review last week, which is high praise coming from a big fan of the show as he is.
David X. Cohen, executive producer and show-runner of
Futurama, spoke to me via phone last week. We didn't have much time, only about ten minutes or so, so we got down to the nuts and bolts: how the movies will play on Comedy Central, some information on the show's comeback, a quick preview of the next DVD, and how the Fox executives felt about being ground into all-purpose powder.
Continue reading David X. Cohen of Futurama: The TV Squad Interview
Posted Nov 3rd 2007 10:36AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, Programming
We first told you about this back in August, and now the complete list is out: Turner Classic Movies is letting celebrities program the network for the month of November. Each celeb is picking three or four films, and here are a few of the more interesting choices (it started Thursday with Alfred Molina's picks).
Whoopi Goldberg likes
A Face in the Crowd and
Funny Girl. Jerry Stiller likes A
Night At The Opera. Kermit The Frog loves dancing to
Singin' In The Rain and
The Band Wagon. Martha Stewart would probably have some decorating ideas as
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House.
Continue reading TCM is letting celebrities pick the movies in November
Posted Oct 7th 2007 6:01PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: TV on DVD, OpEd
CollegeHumor.com has a preview up for the new direct-to-DVD Futurama movie Bender's Big Score. It looks like the gang at Planet Express are back.
As someone who owns all four existing seasons of Futurama on DVD, I'm looking forward to this. I always enjoyed Futurama more than, say, Family Guy and if Family Guy can be saved from cancellation, can't other, better cartoons also be saved? Apparently so!
Watching the preview, I enjoy the joke about Fox cancelling the show in the beginning, but I also realize I saw a similar joke on Family Guy when it returned from cancellation. But that was a few years ago now. Surely the statute of limitations for repitition of a joke has passed. The video is after the jump.
Continue reading Futurama: Bender's Big Score preview - VIDEO
Posted Sep 9th 2007 8:01PM by Paul Goebel
Filed under: The Simpsons
Those crazy kids over at CollegeHumor.com have posted a great mash-up of The Simpsons and Star Wars.
I realize that Simpson/Star Wars parodies have been done to death, but this latest one goes into such detail that it stands head and shoulders above the rest.
Pay special attention to how each Simpson plays a specific Star Wars character and the depiction of specific scenes from different films. I am particulalry fond of Ned Solo and Barney "Chewie" Gumble.
Continue reading The Simpsons meet Star Wars
Posted Aug 31st 2007 10:02AM by Adam Finley
Filed under: TV on DVD, TV on the Bigscreen, The Simpsons
The always-informative Simpsons Channel has news from the always-informative TVShowsOnDVD.com about the upcoming DVD release of the Simpsons Movie. The information was relayed to TVShowsOnDVD through some folks in the industry, so everything I mention here is subject to change. Still, I couldn't resist this opportunity to whet fans' appetites.
The DVD will be out on December 18, and it will be circular. Also, the film will be available in both full screen and widescreen formats. I don't know why you'd want to buy full screen, unless you want to sit and pretend you're watching an extra-long episode of the TV series.
Continue reading The Simpsons Movie on DVD December 18
Posted Jul 28th 2007 7:53PM by Julia Ward
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Industry, Celebrities, Futurama

Futurama is back, and now we know in what form. The show will return on November 27th as a full-length high-def film sold on DVD. It will be followed by three additional films, and each film will be divided into four episodes each to be aired on Comedy Central. So, that's 4 DVD movies or 16 new episodes depending on how you look at it.
Continue reading Comic-Con: Futurama panel report
Posted Jul 26th 2007 3:20PM by Anna Johns
Filed under: The Simpsons, Watercooler Talk

7-Eleven stores are cleaning up on merchandising for
The Simpsons Movie, which hits theaters on Friday. Since the beginning
of this month, the convenience store chain has been selling millions of
Simpsons items such as KrustyO's, Buzz Cola, Squishees, Radioactive Man comics, and Sprinklicious doughnuts. And 12 of its outlets have actually been transformed into Kwik-E-Marts, just like on the show.
The Simpsons merch, by the numbers:
- 960,000 cans of Buzz Cola
- 1.1 million Squishees
- 880,400 Sprinklicious doughnuts
- More than 3.4 million units of Simpsons swag
I joined the mass consumerism stampede and bought KrustyO's, Buzz Cola, a comic, and a Squishee (man, those things are pure sugar - blech!). I think it might've been the first time I ever went into a 7-Eleven. What did you buy?
Posted Jul 21st 2007 1:29PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Web, Celebrities
Posted Jul 19th 2007 9:43AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, The Daily Show, Episode Reviews

"
C-SPAN After Dark": The Democrats and the Republicans had a lovely little sleepover to discuss Bush's Iraq policy and gossip about boys. I laughed a little too loudly at Jon's remarks about the Democrat's sad-looking "Let Us Vote" signs because, well, I guess I'm a sucker for font jokes. I'm pathetic like that.
John Oliver reviewed the all-night political play and successfully killed me by calling Barack Obama "the Moor" ("Alluring... Dangerously forbidden... And played out"). Oliver looked like he was about to crack as well. The rating system of five "bullets to the back of Lincoln's head" was also funny, in an awful sort of way.
Continue reading The Daily Show: July 18, 2007
Posted Jul 8th 2007 9:04AM by Anna Johns
Filed under: TV on the Bigscreen, The Simpsons

I'm embarrassed to admit that I'm totally buying into all this
merchandising for
The Simpsons Movie. I've already been to two different 7-Elevens for Buzz Cola, Krusty O's, and a Squishee (man, those things are sugary).
And I just spent a significant amount of time on
The Simpsons movie promotion site, which includes an
avatar creator. And we all like these goofy programs, don't we? It's a good way to kill a couple of hours on a Sunday, making avatars of yourself, your friends, and random celebrities (my attempt at a Brad Pitt avatar was a little pathetic).
The program asks you to login and register, but you don't have to. It's only if you want to 'Save' your avatar. I just finished mine and took a screen grab of it. 'Cuz I'm out of ideas for fake e-mail addresses.
[Via
Lost Remote]
Posted May 26th 2007 10:53AM by Anna Johns
Filed under: TV on the Bigscreen, The Simpsons, Watercooler Talk

It's getting down to the nitty gritty with 16 American towns named Springfield.
They're all vying for the right to premiere
The Simpsons movie in July.
While my personal favorite is Springfield, Oregon because I live in Portland and can easily drive there, I think Springfield, Illinois may be ahead in the running. According to this
LA Times article, Mayor Tim Davlin recently gave a speech where he said "we are indeed
the city that best represents the community on television." Either he's trying to make us think he's the real Mayor Quimby (because that is totally something Quimby would say), or he has never seen
The Simpsons. The Springfield portrayed on the show ain't exactly paradise. It's more of a dump, really.
Davlin says his town's assets are the donut factory, nearby Shelbyville, and the fact that Abraham Lincoln once lived there (think: Abe Simpson). Another contender, Springfield, Mass. is going just a little too high-brow, claiming it should get the premiere because it's the nation's first Springfield, and the birthplace of Dr. Seuss and frozen food.
Posted Apr 19th 2007 4:10PM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: The Simpsons

Has it been 20 years already? Time flies when you are watching a great TV gem such as
The Simpsons. I liked this series so much, especially when it started, that my first website was devoted to them!
Parade has a nice article about this milestone, including an interview with executive producer Al Jean.
Twenty years ago today (April 19, 1987), the world was introduced to the crazy and funny Simpsons thanks to a two-minute short featured on
The Tracey Ullman Show. These sketches, created by Matt Groening, quickly gained in popularity and eventually paved the way to a half-hour sitcom.
Continue reading The Simpsons turns 20 this week
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