Futurama to Return with New Episodes After 10 Years; Adult Swim Renews Birdgirl and Smiling Friends

Thursday, February 10, 2022

Futurama to Return with New Episodes After 10 Years; Adult Swim Renews Birdgirl and Smiling Friends

The future is looking bright for Fry, Leela and Bender at Hulu. 20th Television Animation and Hulu announced the return of Matt Groening and David X. Cohen's brilliantly subversive animated sci-fi comedy, Futurama. The order is for 20 new episodes and the series will go into production in February, with a 2023 premiere. The show's returning voice cast includes stars Billy West, Katey Sagal, Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, Lauren Tom, Phil LaMarr and David Herman.

First airing on Fox from 1999-2003, Futurama was brought back in 2007 with four direct-to-DVD movies that subsequently aired as 30-minute episodes on Comedy Central. Based on their success, Comedy Central ordered new seasons of the series which made a triumphant return to television in June 2010. Futurama is only the second series in the history of the medium to go back into production based on the strength of its DVD sales and repeat airings on cable. Over the course of its storied run, Futurama earned six Emmy(R) Awards--including two Outstanding Animated Program, seven Annie Awards, two Environmental Media Awards and two Writer's Guild of America Awards. Over its seven seasons spanning two decades, 140 original episodes were produced, with the then-final episode airing on September 4, 2013. Futurama focuses on the life of Philip Fry (Billy West), a 25-year-old pizza delivery boy who accidentally freezes himself on December 31, 1999 and wakes up 1,000 years later with a fresh start at life and a "diverse" new group of friends including Leela (Katey Sagal), a tough but lovely one-eyed alien and Bender, a robot who possesses human characteristics and flaws.

Birdgirl

Sticking with more animated comedy news, Adult Swim, the #1 destination for young adults, announced season renewals for two of its hit animated comedy series Birdgirl and Smiling Friends. The second season of Birdgirl is set to premiere this summer, while the return of Smiling Friends will be announced at a later date. Fans can now stream both series on the Adult Swim hub on HBO Max.

In season two of Birdgirl, the Birdteam is back and still not learning from their mistakes. Judy Ken Sebben and the Birdteam attempt to navigate the troubles of modern corporations, tackling everything from ethics in new tech, to cancel culture and rejuvenating skin sack health fads. Will they fail? Spectacularly! But sometimes it's not about the solutions we come up with, it's about the new problems we make along the way. Birdgirl is a half-hour animated comedy series starring Paget Brewster (Criminal Minds, How I Met Your Father) and executive produced by Erik Richter (Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law) and Christina Miller. The animation studio is Global Mechanic and it is produced by Adult Swim's Williams Street Productions.

Smiling Friends

Smiling Friends first premiered on Adult Swim on January 9, when fans were treated to a full run of the entire season that night. The premiere was #1 amongst all ad-supported cable with T12-17, P18-24/34, and W18-24/34 during its 12a-1:45a time period. The block, excluding sports, also won among M18-34/49 and M25-54. As new episodes continued to air during its regular timeslot over four weeks it saw double and triple-digit improvements in audience delivery of the prior four weeks' average. Smiling Friends follows the employees of a small company dedicated to bringing happiness to a bizarre yet colorful world. The quarter-hour animated series is co-created by Michael Cusack (YOLO: Crystal Fantasy) and Zach Hadel (Hellbenders) and animated by Princess Bento Studio.