Fret for Futurama...

[The Mad Hatter]

Futurama has been renewed for the fall. While that's good news, I worry for its, er, future. Entertainment Weekly just listed the yearly ratings for each show, and the results aren't good. Futurama was tied for #100 with 7th Heaven. While that doesn't make it Fox's least-watched show, the three that were below it (The Lone Gunmen at #111, The $treet at #112, and Freakylinks at #113) have all been cancelled, along with #84 Normal, Ohio. Furthermore, Futurama's numbers are down 20% from last year.

Why does the show endure in the eyes of the number-fetishist execs? Probably as a favor for Matt Groening, whose Simpsons weighed in at #21, a 6% gain from last year and the highest-rated Fox show behind--shudder--Temptation Island. Not to mention the show is a MAJOR cash cow for Fox.

Even so... let the worrying begin.

(Ratings for other prime-time toons: King of the Hill #68, PJs #140, Oblongs #140, Gary & Mike #146, UPN's Celebrity Deathmatch #148.)

[Craig Marinaro]

I think the time slot is an advantage, in one way. If it had stayed in the 8:30 slot, and the ratings began to dip even a bit, Fox would have given it the ax and put something with the potential to do better in its place. But 7 PM has always just been a placeholder anyhow--they've never shown anything really worthwhile there, and they don't expect anything in that spot to get magnificent ratings. It's not like Futurama's eating up valuable space that could be used for something quote-unquote "better." They have a slot to kill, Groening has a show to air. What've they got to lose?

The lack of publicity generated by the show (and the lack of attention from the public) also allow the writers and producers to write more for themselves and for the diehard fans, without the pressure of writing for half the American populace that rests on the shoulders of the Simpsons writers. It's really a cult thing. In a way, that's good. But if nothing else, I really wish they'd stop preempting it every three weeks. =X

-C
Official ToonZone Ice Sculptor.

[E. Penrose]

"-C
Official ToonZone Ice Sculptor."

As is shown by your cutting remarks.

The scripts are often quite erratic for a network production. They are a patchwork of barely connected jokes; and the underlying sentiment -- Fry trying to become better to win Leela -- is too often absent. The gags can be wonderful, but they can misfire without a good script to ground them.

I don't know how to improve consistancy.

(Listening to an Ethyl Merman song, "An Ear Full of Music, And an Arm Full of You." One shouldn't judge a singer from the late performances. She sang wonderfully.)

E. Penrose

[Anthonynotes]

Originally posted by The Mad Hatter
Futurama has been renewed for the fall. While that's good news, I worry for its, er, future. Entertainment Weekly just listed the yearly ratings for each show, and the results aren't good. Futurama was tied for #100 with 7th Heaven. While that doesn't make it Fox's least-watched show, the three that were below it (The Lone Gunmen at #111, The $treet at #112, and Freakylinks at #113) have all been cancelled, along with #84 Normal, Ohio. Furthermore, Futurama's numbers are down 20% from last year.

Why does the show endure in the eyes of the number-fetishist execs? Probably as a favor for Matt Groening, whose Simpsons weighed in at #21, a 6% gain from last year and the highest-rated Fox show behind--shudder--Temptation Island. Not to mention the show is a MAJOR cash cow for Fox.

Even so... let the worrying begin.

(Ratings for other prime-time toons: King of the Hill #68, PJs #140, Oblongs #140, Gary & Mike #146, UPN's Celebrity Deathmatch #148.)

My two cents on Hatter & Craig's comments...

Yes, I'd agree that "Futurama" hasn't been canned for IMO the same reason that King of the Hill hasn't been axed: it's a "placeholder" against the "60 Minutes" ratings juggernaut, and thus they don't feel compelled to put something "better" (like <i>World's Deadliest Fire Drills</i>) in its place. Plus, it's all just lead-in shows for their main ratings pulls, the Simpsons/Malcolm/X-Files triad of shows (despite the Simpsons / X-Files getting on in years). Though given how the "Simpsons" these days doesn't seem to show much influence of its creator, I wonder how much pull Groening has with the Fox execs these days...

As for the "Simpsons", agreed re: it being a cash cow. Read in the paper today a "TV trivia Q & A" column where someone wrote in asking "how long will the Simpsons remain on the air? Homer doesn't deserve to live" (their words, not mine), and the respons was that since the show's been renewed for its 13th and 14th seasons (with a possible 15th season option), the answer was "forever". Hmph, 15 seasons would put it ever so closer to breaking "Gunsmoke"'s record for a prime-time entertainment series IIRC ("Gunsmoke" was on the air for around 20 years, with having started off in radio several years before it went to TV).

As for "Futurama" being targeted at fans: I think it's still a young show, and thus reflective of that with how "fresh" it seems and such; I'm quite sure that if it stayed on the air for 10-11 seasons like the "Simpsons", we'd be seeing "jerk***** Bender" in every episode or a wacky series of gags favored over characterization/plot or somesuch. Basically, I guess to me TV shows generally don't age well past 7-8 seasons (especially comedic series, who are limited by a more rigid format/expectations than dramatic series [where the main characters' situations/personas are allowed to change over time]); hence the comments about the quality of latter-season "Murphy Brown"/"All in the Family" episodes, and the current "Simpsons" eps. I guess I can see why the "Trek" producers limit their shows to a seven-season run max (that, and so they can milk them for any possible movies, but I digress :-)

-B.

[Calhoun07]

Futurama may not be getting hot ratings, but it is a better show than the Simpsons and perhaps it is only a matter of time before people not watching this show realize what they have been missing. Hopefully, the first season DVD set will give the show more exposure (tho I personally have preferred season two to season one, but I like them both quite a bit).

There is something to be said for ending a series at the right time. Jerry Seinfeld may have been very wise in ending Seinfeld when he did. That show will never have a bitter taste in the mouths of fans, which we have gotten with the Simpsons lately. Cash cow or not, the Simpsons really ran on fumes this past season. It is just proof positive that good writing is not a criteria for shows to make it, and there are those among us who wonder why networks don't realize that people want good writing. They don't. Look at what is popular.

[Firefly]

I think it's the time slot When it was on at 8:30 I would never miss it but at 7:00 I sometimes forget it's on,and during football season when fox has a late game it constantly runs past 7:00
I think that they should move it back to 8:30 or move it to another night like wednesday at 8:00. But that might prove to be a problem because I hear on another thread that on Wednesday July 11 Family Guy will occupie that time slot

[James Harvey]

While FUTURAMA does have a lousy timeslot, at least it's a consistent timeslot unlike some shows which are jerked around every month or so.

[Craig Marinaro]

Dick Grayson sez:

While FUTURAMA does have a lousy timeslot, at least it's a consistent timeslot unlike some shows which are jerked around every month or so.

"Consistent"? Are we talking about the same Futurama? I'd hardly call any show that was preempted nearly as often as it aired "consistent." I don't see how anyone could possibly be expected to keep track of when the show was running new episodes, and when it was showing reruns, and when it wasn't being shown at all, and when it was, but only in selected parts of the country, and when half an episode was being shown in certain parts of the country...the only way I kept up was by the wonder of the Internet. Any loyal fan relying on TV Guides or FOX promos would have been hopelessly lost, and any casual viewer who just tuned in would undoubtedly have given up a few weeks into the season.

FOX's treatment of the show has been downright shoddy, and it's no wonder that the ratings are in the gutter. I happened to mention a new episode to some friends a few weeks ago, and they were shocked to learn that the show hadn't been canned in December. Still, I guess we should be grateful that it's on at all.

-C
Official ToonZone First Person to Get Sick of These "Official ToonZone" Gags.

[James Harvey]

I watche dit on GLOBAL, which showed it on the same timeslot and 'shared' the airing of FUTURAMA, and I got it almost every week. For me, it was never pre-emtpted by Football. I guess that's where I get the "consistent" from.