Wasn't Futurama suppose to replace the Simpsons on FOX?

[Squall]

Wasn't Futurama originally intended to replace the Simpsons on FOX? I can remember reading in a magazine (don't remember which one, but either TV Guide or Cinescape springs to mind) that FOX had Groening develop Futurama so that FOX would have a flagship franchise in the Simpsons' likeness, but with a new "21st Century flavor" :p , after the Simpsons came to its end, as all shows eventually do.

At the time, I thought that the Simpsons would likely stop around Seasons 10-12 and that Futurama would take its place at the forefront of FOX, and that Futurama would end up with 10-12 Seasons too when it was all said and done.

So, what happened? :confused: That would have been awesome if it had worked out that way...

[CookieS]

Its obvious what happened. On network TV, Futurama didn't do as well as they like, while the Simpsons keeps pulling in average ratings. When they saw that the "21st Century" was pulling in enough viewers as The Simpsons, they decided to ditch it. It probably was a long term plan to have Futurama replace the Simpsons, but when Futurama failed their expectations, they reconsidered extending the Simpsons' lives.

[livingfruitvirus]

That was FOX's original intention, but their original intention was they also wanted it to be like The Simpsons in Space. Matt Groening told them that he didn't want to make something that looked like The Jetsons, and FOX responded with "But we love The Jetsons!"

[Batman's Biggest Fan]

It would've been better that way then we wouldn't so people saying how much the show sucks now. (I get really tired of hearing it after a while)

[Mynd Hed]

What Fox apparently forgot is that it gave the Simpsons a good time slot which it kept for several years, as well as a lot of promotion to help it build a loyal audience, while it gave Futurama the proverbial shaft-- crappy constantly-pre-empted timeslot, lack of promotion-- when it failed to immediately produce results.
Of course, the hefty per-episode price tag of Futurama in an era of dirt-cheap reality shows probably didn't help, either.

[Terminatah]

Its obvious what happened. On network TV, Futurama didn't do as well as they like, while the Simpsons keeps pulling in average ratings. When they saw that the "21st Century" was pulling in enough viewers as The Simpsons, they decided to ditch it. It probably was a long term plan to have Futurama replace the Simpsons, but when Futurama failed their expectations, they reconsidered extending the Simpsons' lives.It's actually the other way around. FOX sabotaged Futurama and made no effort to hide it. They moved it from a semi-decent time slot on Tuesdays to a terrible graveyard kiss of death time slot on Sundays, where it was regularly pre-empted by sporting events. They also stopped advertising it altogether while continuing to play ongoing spots for The Simpsons. The reason for this was that the show's humor was too racy. This didn't stop them from putting it on the air in the first place (who could resist a brand new prime time animated comedy from Matt Groening?), but they've made a habit of destroying their own shows by hiding them from viewers and then blaming it on the show's inability to build an audience. And they're hypocrites, because they do this to clever, high-rating shows with the edge they so often claim to celebrate, while renewing lower-rated shows that stick to boring writing with low-risk cliches.

Also, I don't think they were planning on retiring The Simpsons anytime soon anyway.


It would've been better that way then we wouldn't so people saying how much the show sucks now. (I get really tired of hearing it after a while)Tired or not, it really does suck.

-Terminatah

[Peter Paltridge]

They also stopped advertising it altogether while continuing to play ongoing spots for The Simpsons. The reason for this was that the show's humor was too racy.
Oh come on! 80 percent of Fox is racier than Futurama.

[Terminatah]

Oh come on! 80 percent of Fox is racier than Futurama.Pandering and exploitative, yes, but not necessarily racy.

-Terminatah

[Artimus Gigan]

Pandering and exploitative, yes, but not necessarily racy.

-TerminatahMethod and Red...

or as it was initaly titled The Fresh Prince II: The New England Chronicals

[CookieS]

Yeah, but Sunday nights has been known as Fox's "family" comedy night. Even the Simpsons' tame humor is easy to swallow. Look at this week's Sunday schedule:

Oliver Beene
King of the Hill
The Simpsons
Quintuplets
Malcomb in the Middle
Arrested Development

All of those shows pretty much revolve around families and don't really press any boundaries. I think what happened with Futurama is that the show's satire of drinking, politics, cloning, and other big issues was deemed not family-friendly enough. Homer drinking is comedy. Bender drinking is alocholic. Its not so much the action, but how its carried out. Do you understand? Fox doesn't make these decisions entirely themseleves. Advertisers have a lot of control over the airwaves, through finanicial means. If one company is not happy with something, a network is more that likely change it to make an advertiser happy. What happened on Fox was a shame, but Cartoon Network's redemption of the series, shows people that perhaps network television isn't the place for primetime animation.

[John Pannozzi]

Homer drinking is comedy. Bender drinking is alocholic.
I beg to differ. Homer drinking is alcholic. Bender drinking is staying together. Bender drinks because if he goes sober, he becomes crazy and out of it.

Futurama isn't really racy IMHO (The Simpsons is prob'ly racier, in "Kamp Krusty", we saw Homer and Marge have sex...twice!), except for maybe "Why must a be a Crustaceon in love?" and "Amazon Women in the Mood", and even though eps. are all that bad (in AWitM, Amy realizes her love for Kif.).

[simpspin]

It's actually the other way around. FOX sabotaged Futurama and made no effort to hide it. They moved it from a semi-decent time slot on Tuesdays to a terrible graveyard kiss of death time slot on Sundays, where it was regularly pre-empted by sporting events.

-Terminatah
This came to pass because Matt G. wanted total control of his show, but Fox didn't want to give in.