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.
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 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.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Wednesday, January 22
Shifting Gears - "Job" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Riley, desperate for work, reluctantly takes a job at Matt’s shop. Meanwhile, Gabriel and Stitch secretly stray from Matt’s vision on a high-stakes restomod project.
Abbott Elementary - "Strike" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
City buses have stopped running due to a strike, resulting in many students being absent from school. The teachers at Abbott try to find creative solutions and adapt to hybrid learning. Meanwhile, Gregory and O’Shon strike up a friendship.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of January 20)
Wednesday, January 22
- Lucy Liu (Joey/Pearl) - Watch Lucy on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. She also chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Ronny Chieng (Young Rock/Ronny Chieng: International Student) - Ronny hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
- Utkarsh Ambudkar (Ghosts/White Famous), Betsy Sodaro (Ghosts/Duncanville/Disjointed/Animal Practice) and Punam Patel (Ghosts/Return of the Mac/Kevin from Work) - Utkarsh, Betsy and Punam are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - Morris talks about Watson on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am, on CBS Mornings Plus in the 9am hour, and on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Andrew Rannells (Girls/The New Normal) and Nick Kroll (Big Mouth/The League/Cavemen) - Andrew, Nick and Lin-Manuel Miranda are chatting with Drew about their Broadway show All In: Comedy About Love on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings. They're also talking to Drew about parenting advice, how they were raised and how comedy brings people together.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
10/08 - Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete Twelfth Season / The Complete Series
10/22 - Veep - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/12 - The King of Queens - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (2024 Release)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
11/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
12/03 - Angel (1960-1961) - The Complete Series, Volume 1
12/17 - Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (4K UHD)
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
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