See story here.
Yea thats pretty crazy. I am hoping it was a Miscommunication somewhere along the line.
still going to see it–just be a little wierd at first
What does this mean for us and our many fans?
That means no more Billy West (Fry, Professor, and Ziodberg), Katey Sagal (Leela), John DiMaggio (Bender), Maurice LaMarche (Kif Kroker, among others), or Tress MacNeil (Mom, and several others). Worst!
Those sons of effing bitches! Oh, why not just take Fry, Professor Farnsworth, Zoidberg, Bender, Leela and replace them all with different character? Why can’t you just leave good enough alone? My hatred for FOX grows everyday. AHHHHHHHRG.
Just for the last time, I want to hear the professor say, “good news, everyone”! But, sadly, no good news here. Sigh. :mad:
Now, I’m no Fox lover, but let’s not go homicidal on them. It makes perfect sense that, as one of the conditions for reviving the show, the budget of Futurama Mk. II would be significantly reduced. That’s what happened with Heroes, Dollhouse, and Chuck when each was renewed for the upcoming season.
This presents the voice actors with a dilemma. First, they have to decide whether or not they want to return at all. The show has been off the air for a long time, and I’m sure most if not all of them have moved on to new projects. While they may have been happy to return when it fit into their schedules to do the movies, the major commitment to a weekly TV show might not be something they’re all willing to do. To compound this, those that are even interested in returning have to decide whether they’re willing to take a paycut to do so. Unlike live-action TV shows, there aren’t many corners that can be cut when creating an animated series. The cost to produce the actual animation is pretty much set (99% of all non-keyframes are already outsourced to Asia). That means the only ways to save are either paying the cast less or the crew left – or both. Few actors are willing to make this financial sacrifice, especially when better offers are dangling in front of them.
So while I’m not suggesting that they made the wrong choice, the voice actors themselves now largely responsible for this, not just Fox.
But the problem is its the voice actor that makes the character. Even a sound alike still is never is the same. Doing this would be like bringing back Firefly with an entirely different cast that looks close. It wouldn’t work. It would be a different show.
Also the Voice actor have continued to work on the show doing the DVD’s which are really three or four episodes each. They obviously still enjoy doing the work. And from what i know from listening to the Simpson DVD’s its not super labor intensive on their part. They can often to more than one thing at once.
hissssssssssss
As always, Fox can kiss my shiny metal ass! :rolleyes:
Yes, my sentiments exactly. To quote from the list of Bender’s 10 Most Frequently Used Words, I say to the Chumps And Chumpettes of FOX,
Up. Yours.
Bite. My. Shiny. Ass.
(Pimpmobile and Daffodil omitted)
Boo-urns!! I’d rather fewer episodes than a change in cast. Especially Billy West, he voices nearly all the best charachters.
I don’t accept this. They managed to keep the voice actors for The Simpsons around for over 20 years. There’s no acceptable reason for Fox to not hammer out an agreement with Billy, Katey and the gang.
Let’s keep in mind, too, that the DVD sales of Futurama are a huge revenue stream for Fox. The four “movies” did well, and the original series sold enough to get those movies made.
This is the same greed that is ruining all of TV, replacing quality scripted shows with cheaply produced reality crap and horrible sci fi movies produced and filmed in Eastern Europe at what amounts to slave wages in the entertainment industry.
I will have none of it, and I hope the voice actors do not budge until Fox gets real and stops with this obvious ploy to try and get them to work for much less than they’re worth.
There’s nothing wrong with Eastern European TV and film. While I’ll give you that most of the made for sci-fi movies have been terrible, there have been some gems as well (like the Dune miniseries). The lesser quality of the rest probably have much more to do with the inherent crappiness of the scripts, since the region has proven itself capable of impressive productions and many of these shows boast relatively big name actors and actresses. But that’s beside the point…
Again, I’m not saying I’m happy with the situation. While I’m not as big a Futurama fan as many of y’all, I watched it enough in syndication to be disappointed by this announcement. I’m just proposing that it’s fair to look at all the influencing factors rather than simply falling back on an “OMG Fox is teh suckz0rz!” standpoint. Sure, Fox has been able to maintain the Simpsons voice talent for 20 some odd years, but we have to remember that show has been a steady juggernaut for the network for almost that entire run. If it hadn’t been a show with such wide appeal & boasted Futurama caliber ratings (let alone been canceled and revived years later), I’m sure it would be in a similar budget situation.
I’m a monster Futurama fan (I bet it’s at least a little bit obvious), and I’m not happy about this. If you’re bringing a show back, bring it back RIGHT. You don’t cast Gerard Butler as Capt. Mal Reynolds and say, “Look! We brought Firefly back, see?”
I don’t blame the voice actors afer the short shrift Fox gave Futurama for years, from it’s atrocious time slot to its eventual cancellation. These DVDs did well and teh creators have already discussed that the show is already cheaper to make due to advances in animation technology.
Without the right voice actors holding down the principle cast, it’s just not Futurama. The budget is already smaller, the writing staff is smaller (according to Wikipedia), and you know die-hard fans will pay for this show on DVD.
As it stands I might still watch it on Comedy Central, but with my free dollars few and far betwee, I have no intention of supporting a show Fox is so intent on bringing back as cheaply as possible.
In the words of Calculon:
“NOOOOOOOO!!!” :mad:
Man Fox has got it made. If they do this and Futuruma does poorly, which it will they can say “Well people just didn’t really want it back!” motherfrakkers
I’d rather they just kept the name and introduced new characters. There is a symbiotic relationship between the voice actors and the writing staff that affects every joke on the show. Guess we will have to wait and see how the cards fall on this one; hopefully it all turns out for the best.
LordCorbin,
Welcome to the forum! Hope you enjoy participating in the conversations; there are a lot of good people around here. Enjoy!
Audra
And in the words of The Crushinator:
“But Pa! I love him!”
Okay, that wasn’t really related to the discussion on hand, I just love that line. 
As if Fox didn’t already know how to shoot themselves in the foot, they come up with an entirely new angle!
Have you ever heard someone try a Zoidberg impression? LAME!