The Zone

by **Doc Holliday** on Tue Apr 17, 2007 6:57 am

...or just your usual 'sloppy posting'...

by **MonkeyM666** on Tue Apr 17, 2007 6:59 am

tapehead wrote:slow day at the office...?

Just a little bit slow today... :lol:

Again, just waiting for my boss to get around to having a meeting with me about future projects(she cares less about teh job than I do :shock:

). So just hanging out for a while until she can be bothered... :roll:

So I'm posting on teh Zone, and buying tickets to go back to Amsterdam in June

:D:D

EDIT: What on earth do you mean by 'sloppy posting' doc?

Soooo.... anyway....

So I just found another interview with Mr. Groening around about here. It’s got a bit of stuff about the Simpsons movie and the like, so I’ll just post the relevant stuff below.

RHYMES WITH RAINING
Crave talks to Matt Groening about the Simpsons and Futurama.
CRAVEONLINE
FEBRUARY 26, 2007

Crave Online: The Simpsons is one of the last examples of traditional animation. What do you think of the new CGI?

Matt Groening: I think there is a certain charm to the hand drawn image that I like. My problem with CGI is that it's so rich in texture that my eyes actually get tired. Everything is in focus down to the littlest leaf. For me personally, when they put things out of focus, a masterful version of that was Brad Bird's, (former Simpsons director), The Incredibles. He knew exactly, I thought, where to limit the detail.

Crave Online: Why did Hollywood go so crazy for CGI?

Matt Groening: I mean, it is amazing. I said personally my taste. It's very hallucinatory. It's very dream-like. I guess if it's charming, the Pixar movies are great.

Crave Online: Are you more involved now than you were in the past?

Matt Groening: The idea that I was not involved with the show or less involved with the show is simply not true. I've always been involved with the show. It's true there's only 24 hours in a day so then I have to work on Futurama. I can't be two places at once but the best thing about having two TV shows is I can go to each show and say I have to go to the other show and then I can go do whatever I want. Talk about a day job and night job, my night job after The Simpsons is Futurama, which is coming back on Comedy Central in 2008, 16 new episodes, and we're going to be running the old episodes, as well. Then, I a draw a weekly comic strip that locally appears in the LA Weekly and it appears in alternative news weeklies around the country. That's something I do just by myself. I get to go and sit at a drawing board. Generally, I put it off as long as possible. It's due on Fridays at 5:30, I have to get it on the computer. So I start drawing it Friday afternoon. I can't twist my ankle. I can't get the flu. I've got to do it. So far, 27 years I've been doing that.

Crave Online: Why do you still want to do a comic strip?

Matt Groening: It's me working by myself. It keeps me honest and The Simpsons is the biggest collaborative project I could imagine and this is me by myself. They serve different needs. The great thing about hand lettering is there's no editing. I don't turn my stuff in and it gets changed around at all. It is what it is and I love it.

Crave Online: Futurama on Comedy Central, are you frustrated that Fox didn't pick it up like Family Guy?

Matt Groening: Well, I was frustrated when it got cancelled, but Fox, 20th Television is the one who came back and said, "Would you like to do a DVD movie?" and we said, "Let's do two" and they said, "Well, why not three?" and we said, "Well, why not four?" and they said, "Okay, four" and then that's it.

Crave Online: Are they really full movies or just three episodes together?

Matt Groening: We're writing them as movies and then we're going to chop them up, reconfigure them, write new material and try to make them work as separate episodes.

Crave Online: Can DVD versions be more extreme than the ones for air?

Matt Groening: Those are the marching orders we gave ourselves, yes, to really try to push it and do things we might not be able to do on TV. And then Comedy Central picked up the show and we went, "Okay, probably there's nothing we can think of that Comedy Central won't run" because I'm astonished at what I see on Comedy Central every day.

Crave Online: How will you turn those into episodes then?
Matt Groening: We are reconfiguring them and writing new material and narration and this that and the other so that they'll stand on their own as episodes.

Crave Online: Could it go on beyond that?

Matt Groening: I hope so. My guess now is that this is basically a season that we're in production on which is complicated because they're also DVDs, so that they'll probably wait and see how they do and then we'll get the pickup.

Crave Online: You never gave up on Futurama, did you?

Matt Groening: Well, I always felt like we were a little bit like the original Star Trek. I always thought that working with my partner, David X. Cohen, that we knew that the people who loved the show really, really loved it and they wrote petitions, they wrote letters and e-mails and it just seemed right. And also, everybody that worked on the show loved it. So when it came time when the show did come back, everybody without exception said, "I'm on board." At this point, I said, "We're thinking of gearing up the show again." They said, "I'm on board." Everybody, Katy Sagal, all the actors, John Dimaggio, Billy West. The original animation team, the original animation house, the original writers. Everybody came back. It was great.

by **Fried Gold** on Tue Apr 17, 2007 7:02 am

It seems like Comedy Central are much more accomodating to Futurama. But they probably don't quite have the resources Fox have.

Although having said that:

In October 2005, Comedy Central picked up the exclusive cable syndication rights to air Futurama's 72-episode run at the start of 2008, following the expiration of Adult Swim's current deal.[32] It was cited as the largest and most expensive acquisition in the network's history.

So they'll probably show the first four series, then show the new ones.

by **Fried Gold** on Tue Apr 17, 2007 7:07 am

Pretty much everything is either here or here.

by **Doc Holliday** on Tue Apr 17, 2007 7:10 am

And so ends Monkey's latest reign of terror....

by **MonkeyM666** on Tue Apr 17, 2007 7:41 am

BA! I'll be back.... I'LL BE BACK DAMN YOU DOC!!!!

EDIT: I didn't even check wiki for any of this info... damnit! I'll never doubt you again wiki

by **tapehead** on Tue Apr 17, 2007 7:44 am

You and SBF should tag-team

by **Doc Holliday** on Tue Apr 17, 2007 7:47 am

MonkeyM666 wrote:BA! I'll be back.... I'LL BE BACK DAMN YOU DOC!!!!

"....and I'll be there to stop you......old friend"

/Xavier

by **MonkeyM666** on Tue Apr 17, 2007 7:48 am

tapehead wrote:You and SBF should tag-team

Na, I'm not really into that kind of thing Tape (even though my AV indicates differently)...

by **LaDracul** on Tue Apr 17, 2007 9:36 am

Bender Bending Rodriguez-BEST ROBOT ON TELEVISION.

And I for one will be happy to see what happens next.

by **Wolfpack** on Tue Apr 17, 2007 11:26 am

Huzzah for our favorite bending major from Bending State University!

by **MonkeyM666** on Tue Apr 17, 2007 11:34 am

B E N D E R..... BBBBEEENNNDER!!! Huh....!

by **morbo** on Tue Apr 17, 2007 11:50 am

MonkeyM666 wrote:
Futurama: Bender's Big Score is the proposed name of the straight-to-DVD movie based on the animated series Futurama to be released around December 2007. The movie is written by Ken Keeler and David X. Cohen, directed by Dwayne Carey-Hill, and is set to include: the Nibblonians, Seymour (Fry's dog), Phil the Chud, Barbados Slim (the limboer who always defeats Hermes), Morbo, Robot Santa, the God space entity, Al Gore, and Zapp Brannigan.[1]

Morbo had to work for scale. :oops:

by **MonkeyM666** on Tue Apr 17, 2007 12:06 pm

Ohhh, Morbo... that sucks. Why did you let the puny humans get away with it?

Isn't your army hiding somewhere close?

by **Adam Balm** on Tue Apr 17, 2007 2:01 pm

MonkeyM666 wrote:That's a good filter...

I can't wait, Futurama is easily one of my favourite shows and it's about bloody time it comes back!

Couldn't agree more. Plus for a geek, there's more subtext than the Simpsons to appreciate, with all the math in-jokes and nods to obscure SF stories. (Like the what if machine episodes)

And just to get something out of my system....I don't know how Aqua Teen Hunger Force can get a motion picture in theatres but Futurama can't.

by **Ribbons** on Tue Apr 17, 2007 5:02 pm

I love the idea of an entire episode of "Everybody Loves Hypnotoad." I'm sure I'll end up turning it off after two minutes, but still, hilarious!

by **MonkeyM666** on Wed Apr 18, 2007 4:41 am

Adam Balm wrote:
MonkeyM666 wrote:That's a good filter...

I can't wait, Futurama is easily one of my favourite shows and it's about bloody time it comes back!

Couldn't agree more. Plus for a geek, there's more subtext than the Simpsons to appreciate, with all the math in-jokes and nods to obscure SF stories. (Like the what if machine episodes)

And just to get something out of my system....I don't know how Aqua Teen Hunger Force can get a motion picture in theatres but Futurama can't.

Hell yeah!

I don’t really like ATHF much at all, so I really don’t understand why it’s getting a film. It must be much, MUCH bigger in the US than I realised.

If Futurama can push through and get another series from these movies/eps than maybe there'll be a chance. I'd also guess that it rests heavily on how The Simpsons movie goes in cinemas. If the Simpsons bombs with such a huge audience, I doubt that they'll bother.

If the film is going straight to DVD does that mean that the rating can/will be higher that a cinematic release? I’m not really sure… but it sounds right to me. They can take more of a gamble considering that they’re aiming for a dedicated fanbase more than the mass public release. I may be talking shit here… does anyone know for sure?

by **The Garbage Man** on Fri Jul 20, 2007 2:47 pm

Not really new news, but Groening gives a "Futurama" update in this Coming Soon article:

Matt Groening also briefly spoke about his other series "Futurama" which will be returning in a big way later this year. "We're doing four straight-to-DVD 'Futurama' movies and then new episodes on Comedy Central starting in 2008. The first DVD for 'Futurama' will be out for the holidays."

Woot!

by **Adam Balm** on Fri Jul 20, 2007 2:51 pm

Now last time they were talking about this, they said something to the effect that the episodes on Comedy Central were just going to be split up versions of the DVD movies. Do we know now if they're going to be doing any original episodes on top of that?

by **Ribbons** on Fri Jul 20, 2007 2:54 pm

Well. I suspect I know what I'M getting for holidays...

Adam Balm wrote:Now last time they were talking about this, they said something to the effect that the episodes on Comedy Central were just going to be split up versions of the DVD movies. Do we know now if they're going to be doing any original episodes on top of that?

That's the impression I got too. I'm still not sure what the difference is between the two (DTVs and new episodes), and that new quote from Groening is just vague enough to go either way.

by **Keepcoolbutcare** on Fri Jul 20, 2007 3:07 pm

Ribbons wrote:Well. I suspect I know what I'M getting for holidays...

and I know what I'm getting a certain special-lady who pwn3d me on the Futurama quiz!

by **Wolfpack** on Fri Jul 20, 2007 3:15 pm

Futurama should never have left. This is gonna be cool.

They way I read Groening's quote, it looks like the Comedy Central episodes are going to be different from the movies. He uses the phrase "...and then new..."

by **buster00** on Sun Jul 29, 2007 3:07 am

GOOD NEWS, EVERYONE!!

The first DVD movie is scheduled for November 27th!

by **burlivesleftnut** on Sun Jul 29, 2007 8:36 pm

I wish I could use the time travel powers of Fry's ass to go into the future and snag this.

by **Fried Gold** on Mon Aug 06, 2007 8:57 am

Now with shaky cam copy of new Comiccon footage

by **bastard_robo** on Mon Aug 06, 2007 9:08 am

I found a comic con COMIC that was given out at the Bongo booth. Its about the return of Futurama after being cancelled. Funny shit!

by **Ribbons** on Sun Oct 07, 2007 10:28 pm

Does anybody know if this is going to run on TV, or is buying the DVD the best way to go?

by **burlivesleftnut** on Sun Oct 07, 2007 10:56 pm

Buy the DVD! The more support we give this, the better our chances of seeing new stories.

by **MonkeyM666** on Sun Oct 07, 2007 10:57 pm

From what I heard ages ago the DVD is the way to go. The only reason that Futurama is coming back is DVD Sales (AKA Family Guy) and I would be surprised if they let such a juicy tit-bit out of their grasp for less then $29.95. Also I've heard NOTHING about it being shown on air as currently it has no network affiliations.... well other then the Simpsons/Foxbut that's a little bit different.

by **Keepcoolbutcare** on Mon Oct 08, 2007 12:39 am

Trailer

by **Ribbons** on Mon Oct 08, 2007 12:44 am

Keepcoolbutcare wrote:Trailer

All glory to the hypnotoad!

by **MonkeyM666** on Mon Oct 08, 2007 2:07 am

bye it... bye it.... bye it.... bye it....

*slaps face...*

<ahem>.... ok wa?... oh yes...

Sweet find, it looks mighty tasty, but reminds me more of the PS2 video game more then the series. I hope that isn't a big thing

by **CeeBeeUK** on Wed Oct 10, 2007 6:31 am

I thought comedy central was going to show it in 4 parts?

Or is that a new series

by **Fried Gold** on Wed Oct 10, 2007 7:28 am

CeeBeeUK wrote:I thought comedy central was going to show it in 4 parts?

Or is that a new series

http://www.tvblogger.org/2007/07/comic-con-futurama-is-clear.html
"It was also reported at Comic-Con that the movie will be spliced into four episodes to be shown on Comedy Central beginning in 2008. The same will be done with the other 3 movies, turning the 16 episodes into Season 5."

by **CeeBeeUK** on Wed Oct 10, 2007 7:58 am

Yay, I'm not mad!

by **MonkeyM666** on Wed Oct 10, 2007 8:03 am

They're trying to make as much money as possible out of it. It's pretty obvious. when you look into it a bit. I mean DVD sales should more then pay it own way for the films but to split and spread it out onto the Comedy Channel, which will then sell the ‘eps’ to other networks, it’s a pretty smart game they’re playing. I think that they have learnt heaps from the family guy film with only just broke even (I think) as DVD downloads took all the cash away.

Man, I am excited about this though. I really hope that they hold up their end of the deal and give us some quality Futurama. Any thoughts on the trailer??

by **MonkeyM666** on Tue Nov 13, 2007 7:45 am

Holy hell!

Amazon have it on pre-order now, and it's going cheap... and the cover looks sweet too. Benders Big score is out from th 27th of this month, be part of history... BBBUUUYYY EEEETTT!

by **ThisIsTheGirl** on Tue Nov 13, 2007 8:06 am

Hi Monkey! Long time no see mate

I don't see any talk of a UK release for this yet, so I pre-ordered this badboy from DVDBoxOffice a couple of days ago. Can't believe I'll be watching new Futurama this xmas!!

by **Keepcoolbutcare** on Tue Nov 13, 2007 8:10 am

who the devil are you?

by **ThisIsTheGirl** on Tue Nov 13, 2007 8:21 am

I'm the Chanukah Zombie

by **The Vicar** on Tue Nov 13, 2007 7:30 pm

ThisIsTheGirl wrote:I'm the Chanukah Zombie

But they're only reanimated for 12 days.....
.....and they're after all the matzos, the undead douches.

by **tapehead** on Wed Nov 14, 2007 10:49 am

At Cinematical, an interview with some of the crew behing 'Bender's Big Score';

Claudia Katz -- Partner at Rough Draft Studios and producer of the Futurama movies and TV series.
Dwayne Carey-Hill -- Director of Futurama movies one (Bender's Big Score!) and three (Bender's Game) and season four of the TV series.
Peter Avanzino –- director of Futurama movies two (The Beast with a Billion Backs) and four (Into the Wild Green Yonder) and seasons one through four of the TV series.

Haven't read it yet, so I can't give a spoiler warning, so, you know, be warned.

also, click here please.

by **Ribbons** on Wed Nov 14, 2007 11:52 am

tapehead wrote:click here please.

All glo-ry to the hyp-no-toad...

by **MonkeyM666** on Sat Nov 17, 2007 1:34 am

ThisIsTheGirl wrote:Hi Monkey! Long time no see mate

I don't see any talk of a UK release for this yet, so I pre-ordered this badboy from DVDBoxOffice a couple of days ago. Can't believe I'll be watching new Futurama this xmas!!

AHHHHhh TITG... my old pal. I too am in disbelief at this little factoid. I know that Tape and I will be watching it as soon as my copy gets here on December 10… maybe the Zone can unite on this and we watch it all together?

The Vicar wrote:
ThisIsTheGirl wrote:I'm the Chanukah Zombie

But they're only reanimated for 12 days.....
.....and they're after all the matzos, the undead douches.

Are we too turning into Facebook here in thh Zone? Please no... I don't want 150 friends and no one to talk too.

by **CeeBeeUK** on Sat Nov 17, 2007 6:41 am

Mine was posted on Thursday. Fingers crossed it gets here today... probably won't though

by **MonkeyM666** on Sat Nov 17, 2007 11:15 pm

It's out already over there??? On Amazon it says the 27th November is the US date... you must have some nice contacts Cee.

by **tapehead** on Sat Nov 17, 2007 11:23 pm

the dvd reviewed - there's some talk of the individual eps containing scenes not seen in the movie version.

Possible Spoilers:

plus NEW OPENING CREDITS! appearances from many of the lesser and one ep characters! NUDE SCENES!!! (please let it be amy and not zoidberg), FRY'S NAKED ASS!

by **MonkeyM666** on Sat Nov 17, 2007 11:27 pm

Sweet sounding review, everything I could have hoped for... and a full length ep of Hypnotoad!

by **tapehead** on Sat Nov 17, 2007 11:50 pm

Specs for the DVD release, touted as the 'first carbon-neutral release' for the studio, whatever that means.

oh, and trailer - those assinine morons at the Box network pulled down the old u toob link.

by **MonkeyM666** on Sun Nov 18, 2007 12:07 am

tapehead wrote:oh, and trailer - those assinine morons at the Box network pulled down the old u toob link.

been there, done that... :-P

The Zone

FUTURAMA DVD-O-RAMAS

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