Futurama Revival Details Finalized

Until not too long ago, news of animated series Futurama coming back on air was little more than some very solid hearsay. What a difference a day makes: Twentieth Century Fox will indeed produce 26 new episodes of the show for Comedy Central.

"It's sweet, and basically everybody who has worked on the show wants it to come back," Matt Groening, who created the show with David X. Cohen, told Variety. "I choose to believe it's more than the economic situation. People had a good time working on this show." The new season, which will begin in winter 2010, will feature Billy West, Katey Sagal and John DiMaggio, who voiced the main characters during the show's original run from 1999 to 2003.

Although the networks, talent and fans of the series are excited about its resurrection, there will undoubtedly be a few hurdles. "The animation on Futurama has always been so intricate, and there are costs associated with that," 20th Century Fox TV chairman Gary Newman said. Changes in production, such as hiring a smaller writing team, have been necessary, and Newman notes that no one, "including the studio," will be getting rich on the endeavor.

But aside from these few behind-the-scenes changes, Futurama fans who have been supporting the show for the last six years by buying DVDs and watching re-runs will be pleased to know that the year 3000 will look very similar on Comedy Central as it did on Fox.