3 Reasons Why Futurama Has Been Canceled So Many Times

The gruesome production of Matt Groening’s sci-fi series has had many ups and downs and stops. We tell you what were the reasons behind their cancellations.

Few animated series are more iconic than Futurama. The other great success of Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, has not had as much luck as the Springfield family show throughout its history, but today the adventures of Fry and company are still very loved by the public, so much so that their followers are tremendously happy with the imminent return of the series this 2023 after its cancellation a decade ago (this same July 24 the new season will begin on Disney + in Spain, USA and More).

However, that Futurama returns to our screens is not new (not entirely). The series has already done it numerous times after ending up buried. It seems that there is a curse on her. In case you are curious and have ever wondered, we are going to review the history of cancellations and returns of Futurama and the reasons behind them.

Also Read: Futurama Season 11: How To Watch The Show In USA, Europe & India

First cancellation on Fox

Futurama began its run in 1999 for 20th Century Fox. Matt Groening, after reaping great status with the Simpsons series, devised this story about Phillip J. Fry, a poor pizza delivery man who by chance by fate ends up travelling in time to the year 2999 with David X. Cohen. Futurama, like Groening’s other series, was intended to be an animated product aimed at an adult audience, but also in a science fiction tone, with more complex ideas and even more elaborate scripts.

The very particular style of Futurama, the quality of its plots and jokes, and its charismatic characters soon won the audience’s favour and turned it into a cult series for many. However, Fox did not seem to hold this series in such high esteem.

Futurama had 4 first seasons for Fox, from 1999 to 2003, until the chain finally decided not to renew for more episodes.

In its early years, Futurama continued to air on the Fox channel for four seasons, until the chain finally decided to stop buying new episodes in the middle of season four, so the broadcast of more adventures ended up being cancelled. As Groening came to explain, the network executives never properly supported the show and he was probably not wrong, since at least in its original broadcast for Fox the series changed schedules and days numerous times, and even the chapters were replaced by unannounced sporting events.

For many, it was difficult to keep up with the series, and this led to a loss of audience. Some even came to theorize that Fox was afraid that Futurama would compete with The Simpsons, and that is why the chain itself boycotted its broadcast until the inevitable end.

The second stage of movies

After the end of the first run of Futurama on Fox, the series was left hanging in the void for a long time. Cartoon Network acquired the syndication rights to Futurama in 2003, the same year it was first cancelled and was reviving the series for some time until it was announced in 2006 that four Futurama direct-to-DVD films would be produced.

Later, these same films (which were released between 2007 and 2009 and are divided into 16 episodes) ended up constituting what is now known as the fifth season of the series. However, since there were no further projects underway for the series, the last of these films, Futurama: Into the Green Vast, was considered a series finale at the time. Its creators did not know if they would continue to tell more stories about Fry and the company, so the future was uncertain.

The return on Comedy Central and the (almost) final cancellation

Finally, following fan requests and the strong performance of the films on DVD, 20th Century Fox announced in June 2009 that Comedy Central had picked up 26 new episodes of Futurama, which eventually became a sixth season for the series, which would return to television in 2010 with the original creators and full voice cast.

This season had a final episode (Overclockwise) which, once again, was conceived at the time as the possible end of the series, because at that time it was not known if Futurama would continue with another season. Luckily, Comedy Central ended up confirming a seventh season that would have another 26 episodes to go.

Futurama had its second stage on television on the Comedy Central channel, with two seasons that aired from 2010 to 2013.

The seventh season concluded in September 2013 with the episode Meanwhile, written by its creators as the final closure of the series because Comedy Central decided to cancel Futurama and terminate this second stage on television. A real shame, since unlike The Simpsons, Futurama has never been able to remain stable over time, either due to little interest from executives or because of its cult status and unstable reputation.

At least the fans will be able to enjoy new stories from Fry and his friends very soon, since the series will return thanks to Hulu and Disney this 2023 with a season that promises up to 20 episodes and the return of its creators and original casting. Let’s hope you don’t suffer any more unfair cancellations.